Miriam

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MIRIAM

MIRIAM , or, in Hebrew, Miryam; Israelite prophetess who flourished, according to tradition, in the thirteenth century bce. Biblical tradition recalls Miriam as the sister of Moses and Aaron who helped Moses lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt (Mic. 6:4). Exodus 15:20–21 describes how she led the women of Israel in a hymn of victory to YHVH, Lord of Israel, after he had split the Sea of Reeds, enabling the Hebrews to pass through and escape their Egyptian pursuers:

Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the drum in her hand. All the women went out after her with drums and dances. Miriam declared to them: "Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed; horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea."

Modern scholars now tend to view the sibling relationships between Miriam, Aaron, and Moses as an embellishment on earlier traditions. Miriam was originally identified as an associate of Aaron, Israel's first priest, and later as his sister. When biblical tradition similarly developed a sibling relationship between Aaron and Moses, the great leader, prophet, and lawgiver of Israel, Miriam became known as the sister of Moses too (Nm. 26:39). In the story of Moses' birth (Ex. 2:2–7), the unnamed older sister who guards him is assumed by Jewish and Christian tradition to have been Miriam. If her name were of Egyptian origin, as some have explained, that would reinforce the conclusion that she was of the priestly tribe of Levi, as several prominent Levites bore Egyptian names.

Miriam figures primarily in one episode in the Pentateuch, Numbers 12:1–16, in which she and Aaron reproach Moses for having taken a Cushite wife—who may or may not be identified with his Midianite wife, Zipporah—and in which they challenge the superiority of Moses' prophetic stature to their own. YHVH responds to their challenge by asserting the unique and intimate nature of his revelations to Moses and responds to their reproach by afflicting Miriam with leprosy. Moses intercedes on Miriam's behalf at Aaron's request—thereby demonstrating his intimacy with God—and after a seven-day quarantine, Miriam's health is restored. The legendary quality of the episode is suggested by the fact that Miriam's leprosy became an admonition to any who would fail to heed the priests (Dt. 24:8–9). Miriam predeceased Aaron and Moses (Nm. 20:1) and, so far is known, never married.

The references to Miriam's leadership in Micah 6:4, to her prophetic status in Exodus 15:20, and to her importance to the Israelites in Numbers 12:15, create the impression that Miriam was an even more significant figure than the present form of the Pentateuch suggests. According to rabbinic legend, Miriam was on par with Moses and Aaron. The Israelites were sustained by water drawn from Miriam's well, which traveled with the Israelites on their journey in the wilderness.

Bibliography

On the difficulty of establishing Miriam's historical position, see Martin Noth's A History of Pentateuchal Traditions, translated with an introduction by Bernhard W. Anderson (Chico, Calif., 1981), pp. 180–183. Miriam is most extensively discussed in connection with the challenges to Moses, for analysis of which see G. B. Gray's A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (Edinburgh, 1903), pp. 120–128. The most exhaustive, but a very technical, analysis is Heinrich Valentin's Aaron: Eine Studie zur vor-priesterschriftlichen Aaron-Überlieferung (Göttingen, 1978), pp. 306–364; Valentin also discusses (pp. 377–384) Exodus 15:20. Martin Buber's Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant (New York, 1958), pp. 167–169, attempts to connect the two challenges to Moses. On Miriam's name, see Alan H. Gardiner's "The Egyptian Origin of Some English Personal Names," Journal of the American Oriental Society 56 (1936): 189–197, esp. pp. 194–197.

On the apparently suppressed significance of Miriam, see Phyllis Trible, "Bringing Miriam out of the Shadows," Bible Review 5/1 (February 1989): 14–25, 34. Rabbinic lore on Miriam's well is gathered in Louis Ginzberg's The Legends of the Jews, vol. 3, translated by Paul Radin (Philadelphia, 1911), pp. 50–54, 307–308.