Miriam is Moses’s sister and the first woman mentioned among the prophets in the Bible. She is Amram and Jochebed’s daughter and Moses and Aaron’s older sister. She watched over the basket of jute in which her brother, Moses, was placed and floated on the waters of the Nile. When Pharaoh’s daughter discovers the baby, Miriam sister of Moses is there. At her mother’s urging, she seems to intervene. Ensuring that Moses is nursed at her mother’s breast, even though she was called a nurse.
Miriam was the sister of Moses. The prophetess Miriam witnessed the oppression of her people by Egyptian power, participating in the suffering of her brothers and sisters and the struggle for the people’s liberation. After the exit from Egypt and the miraculous passage through the Red Sea, Miriam, leading the chorus of the women of Israel, sings a beautiful hymn to the Lord: Let us sing to the Lord, for He has been glorified! He has cast horse and rider into the sea! When Moses was born, Miriam was 16 years old.
Miriam did not enter the Promised Land because she had sinned against God, who punished her. Even Moses had doubts in Canaan.
Who is Miriam in the Bible?
Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, but the three were not considered brothers until the post-Babylonian period. Jochebed gave birth to Aaron and Moses, but there is no mention of Miriam. This can be explained by the fact that Miriam was only about Moses and Aaron later.
Miriam of the Bible is a prophetess, the sister of Moses and Aaron. She was blessed with a prophetic gift. Miriam praised God and the Jewish people in times of historical restriction. Through all her work and the moral example of her life, the prophetess Miriam inscribed her name among the honorable men of her nation. Miriam would continue her journey to the Holy Land with her fellow citizens, but in the wilderness of Sin, in place of Kadesh, she passed into eternal life and was buried there.
Because Miriam had a righteous character, when her people escaped Pharaoh’s wrath and wandered in the desert, a fountain appeared behind her to quench the people’s thirst and accompanied them until Miriam breathed her last. Like Miriam, you must believe in the power of justice even when the people around you seem to have lost hope. You know exactly what to say about suffering and offer trusted advice.
Biography of Miriam
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Biblical places from the times of Miriam
- Edom- Is Edom a biblical region?
- Arabian Desert- Is the Arabian Desert the place Miriam went to?
What did Moses’ sister Miriam do?
Miriam appears for the first time in the episode of the child Moses being rescued from the water, although here she is not mentioned by name, like the parents, but is only shown as a young woman of marriageable age, which means she must have been at least 14 years older than Moses. After Pharaoh’s horrific command to throw all Jewish first-born into the Nile, the mother entrusted the three-month-old baby Moses to the waters of the Nile, placing him in a tar-glazed basket, and his sister was asked to see what the outcome would be.
Miriam was a biblical prophetess and singer. After the Israelites had passed through the sea as dry land waves with Miriam’s army were swallowing up Pharaoh’s army, the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took the eardrum in her hand, and all the women came out after her singing. And Miriam answered before them to sing to the Lord. Miriam is mentioned again only on the occasion of the exodus from Egypt, which took place about 80 years later.
Miriam was a prominent figure in early Israel’s history, whose enormous significance is evident from the fact that later tradition placed her alongside Moses as a prophetess and Aaron, making her their sister. Yahweh reminds Israel that he sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as guides to the chosen people in the exodus from Egypt.
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Why did Miriam speak against Moses?
Miriam is already assigned a leadership role for Israel, although she appears in this role only once, when, near the Sea of Galilee, she precedes the women in inviting them to sing in praise of Yahweh. According to a text in the Targum, Moses, Aaron and Miriam are three prophets: Moses to teach tradition and the laws, Aaron to impose reconciliation on the people, and Miriam to instruct the women.
According to biblical writings, Miriam rebelled and spoke against Moses because she thought he wanted to lead the people of Israel to perdition. For her pride, Miriam was stricken with severe leprosy that she became white as snow, consumed like a stillborn child.
The fact that Aaron was not punished either does not indicate misogyny but reflects that the original tradition was only about Miriam’s rebellion. At Aaron’s request, Moses intercedes with God.
Key Verse related to Miriam
“Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing.”
What nationality is the name Miriam?
One of the most beautiful Christian names, the name Mary has special spiritual meanings and particularly beloved versions. Miriam, Mara, Mary, Anamaria, and several words come with Mary’s beautiful name, and all have the same meanings.
The name Miriam is of Jewish nationality and origin, a variant of the name Mary. In Aramaic, Maryam means lady or mistress. According to the Blessed Jerome, in Hebrew, the name would be composed of mar, which means drop, plus yam, which means sea, so a drop of seawater. But the Hebrew name Maryam or Miryam could also be of ancient Egyptian origin, derived from the verb MRI, to love, with the Hebrew affective suffix am, therefore the dear ones, the beloved one.
The Greek version of the Septuagint renders Mirjam with Mariam and the Vulgate with Maria. The meaning of the name is unknown, but mainly because of the interest in the name of the Mother of God, a sense has always been sought, offering numerous meanings such as beloved or seer or sovereign, none of which, however, is philologically convincing. In all likelihood, we are dealing with a Semitic name, even if its origin is sought in the Egyptian beloved.
How long was Miriam’s leprosy?
Miriam is mentioned by name for the first time, but strangely, she is introduced as the sister of Ados, not appear on, who in the episode of crossing; therefore, it all. It would have been more before for her to be presented as the sister of who is the protagonist of both events and on whose lips the song of victory at the crossing of the sea is placed about Miriam’s song. This suggests that Miriam was first put about Aaron before both were considered Moses’ brother and sister. The title of prophetess ascribed to Miriam here indicates, from the context, an ecstatic person or divinely inspired singer.
After her rebellion, Miriam was sick with leprosy for seven days. But through Aaron’s intercession, she was healed. Miriam was delivered from terrible leprosy, it is true. Still, she was isolated outside the camp for seven days, a rule prescribed, as it turns out, not only for the cured leper but also as punishment for a daughter who behaved particularly badly toward her father, as the spitting-in-the-cheek reference shows. Of Miriam, it is further related that she died in the Kadesh oasis, where she was buried.
The Bible reports that the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, and Miriam. The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony. Mariam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not go on their journey until Mariam was clean. After this, the people departed from Hazeroth and were encamped in the wilderness of Paran.
Primary Takeaways
- A grave mistake was made by Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ brother and sister, both older than Moses. We can easily conclude that although both participated in the Sin, Miriam had the initiative. This view is fully justified by what has emerged from this lesson, which shows that God’s punishment remained upon her and not upon AaroThe Lord recognized Miriamord as a prop. She led the Israelite women into the triumphal city she who, with her tambourines, after the crossing of the Red Sea of the Israelites and after the sea had destroyed the pursuing EhAsm who, as a young Miriam g child, had betrayed Pharaoh’s daughter when she went to bathe in the Nile. Where Moses was found in a basket is the same Miriam rushed to bring her mother to the palace to nurse the foundling. The same Miriam, no doubt, had special privileges with Aaron through Moses’ trust in all the affairs of Israel under the Lord.
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Conclusion
Miriam has unquestionably fulfilled the role of the first lady, how her name presents her. It was only natural that she should feel the loss of position and the influence her work gave her. She was affected by the situation because her new sister-in-law was from a different lineage.
This fact seemed to give Miriam a religious basis for her jealousy. She undoubtedly thought to herself and convinced herself that her hostility to her sister-in-law was not based on jealousy but on a high moral ground that affected the honor of God, his people, Israel, and the future possibilities of Abraham’s seed in the Promised Land.
If you enjoyed reading our article, check out the next Bible Trivia to test your knowledge about Miriam and her brother, Moses.
Quizlet about Moses and his sister, Miriam
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Explanation of biblical words
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Bibliography
- Crawford, S. W. (2003). Traditions about Miriam in the Qumran Scrolls.
- Janzen, J. G. (1992). Song of Moses, song of Miriam: who is seconding whom?. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 54(2), 211-220.
- Reiss, M. (2010). Miriam rediscovered. Jewish Bible Quarterly, 38(3).
- Schoenberg, A., Reich, G., Devos, L., & Gielen, M. (1975). Moses and Aaron. Columbia.
- Willmington, H. (2018). A Biographical Study of Miriam.
