By Charles A. Jennings
One of the seemingly difficulties of the Bible is the true genetic or ethnic identity of Zipporah, the wife of Moses. The common misconception among many Christians is that Moses married a woman from the modern country that we know of today as Ethiopia, formerly called Abyssinia. The answer to this difficulty is in identifying the location of the land of Ethiopia during Bible times and the correct translation of the original Hebrew word, which was ‘Cush’ and not Ethiopia.
In Numbers 12 we read, “And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman.” According to Strong’s Concordance #3568 and 3569 the word Ethiopia is translated ‘Cush’ which was the name of the son of Ham, the son of Noah (Gen. 10:6).
The Jewish Encyclopedia gives three locations for the geographical areas known as Ethiopia. “The translation in the authorized version, following the ancient versions, of a name covering three different countries and peoples, viz: 1) Ethiopia proper; 2) parts of northern Arabia; and 3) the regions east of Babylonia.” P. 258
The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia identifies the land of Cush as; “The people and land of Cush. The word is usually but not consistently translated Ethiopia in the King James Version. The designation of Ethiopia is misleading, for it did not refer to the modern state of Ethiopia or Abyssinia. The Biblical Cush (Egyptian Kosh) bordered Egypt on the S, the land of Nubia or modern Sudan.” Vol. 1 p. 411
Moses’ wife which was referred to as the Ethiopian woman was also referred to as being from the land of Midian, Exodus 2:15-22. She was living in the land that was settled by Midian, who was a son of Abraham through Keturah (Gen. 25:1-2). Under the entry, ETHIOPIAN WOMAN, the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia gives the following explanation. “The Cushite wife of Moses is so described in Numbers 12:1 (see RSV). Miriam and Aaron rebuked Moses for assuming authority beyond that which they possessed, and criticized his marriage to a person who was not of their national background, possibly lowering his prestige in the eyes of his contemporaries.
“Two solutions are suggested for the problem of the Cushite woman. First, Zipporah, Moses’ Midianitish wife (Exodus 2:21), may have been called by this title. The name Cush has been applied to the territory stretching from Assyria on the E to Ethiopia on the W and S. The exploits of Nimrod, a descendent of Cush, in establishing Nineveh, are described in Genesis 8:10-11. However, this term was never widely applied to this whole territory. Arabia may be recognized by the term Cush in I Chron. 1:9 and by the related term Cushan in Habakkuk 3:7. Thus, the term Ethiopian woman may reflect the fact that Zipporah came from a part of Arabia.” Vol. 1, p. 556.
The commentary concerning the reference to the “priest of Midian” of Exodus 2:16, Finis J. Dake wrote the following. “Jethro was chief of a large tribe and as such exercised the right of priestly functions for his people, as did Melchizedek (Gen. 14) and Job (Job 1). What Moses learned from Jethro is not stated, but they had common knowledge of their ancestors and many traditions of the family of Abraham, from whom both had descended - one through Isaac and Jacob, and the other through Midian (Gen. 25:1-7).” Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible p. 66
Dake again gives commentary concerning the ‘Ethiopian’ woman whom Moses married as recorded in Numbers 12:1. “Heb. Kuyshiy, Cushite, or descendant of Cush, a son of Ham. Moses married a Midianite, a daughter of the priest of Midian. The land of Midian in Arabia was the land of Cush as well as Ethiopia because one branch of Cush settled there in ancient times. Midian was a son of Abraham through Keturah (Gen. 25:1-4). Therefore, Moses married a descendent of the son of Abraham, and not a member of the Negro race, as some think. She was simply a Cushite because of dwelling in the land of Cush, in the same sense that a German or an Italian is an American because of citizenship and dwelling in America. Just as being an American does not identify one as to color and race, so being a Cushite did not identify Zipporah as to these matters.” P. 169
Moses’ father-in-law was a priest of a religious order within the family of the descendants of Midian. The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia has the following comment under the entry, JETHRO. “Apparently also called Reuel (Ex. 2:18) and Raguel (Num. 10:29). He was a priest of the nomadic Midianites living near Mount Sinai (Ex. 2:16; 3:1; 4:18). A descendant of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:1-2), he consequently possessed remnants of the true knowledge of Yahweh (Ex. 18:10-12).” Vol. 1 p. 556
Therefore Moses married a Midianite who was the daughter of the priest of Midian. The land of Midian was in Arabia and was therefore also known as the land of Cush, because the Cush family settled there in ancient times. This land was mistakenly translated as Ethiopia. Therefore we see where Moses did not marry a black woman of the land now known as Ethiopia as many people believe, but he married a descendant of Midian. This Midianite family was living in the larger land of Cush which was settled by one of the sons of Ham, who was the son of Noah.
While Moses was in exile in the land of Midian, he was initially identified as an Egyptian by the daughters of Jethro. Jethro later became his father-in-law. He was no doubt identified as such because he was clothed in the traditional dress of Egypt where he was born and raised. This did not make him an Egyptian by family descent, because he was a Levite of the family of Israel. This is an example of how someone can be misidentified by the use of an improper designation. Someone could be identified by a geographical location, but it does not prove genetic or family descent.
The complaint of Aaron and Miriam against Moses was prompted by their envy over the matter of spiritual authority. After complaining about Moses’ wife, they continued their attack by saying, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath He not spoken also by us?” (Numbers 12:1-2) It is very obvious in the Scriptural text that the reason for the leprous curse upon Miriam was because she challenged Moses’ spiritual authority and not because she disagreed with his choice of a wife.
In Numbers 18 is given an interesting and enlightening account of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. Jethro brought Zipporah, Moses’ wife and his two sons into the camp of Israel to visit Moses. After hearing of the miraculous deliverance of Israel from Egypt, Jethro made sacrifice and worshiped the God of Israel. He no doubt was familiar with this form of spiritual worship, because of his ancestral connection with his forefather Abraham. Scripture records that, “And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them. And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father in law before God.” (Ex. 18:9-12).
Jethro then offered Moses some wise counsel in setting up of the judicial court system which Moses implemented in Israel (Ex. 18:13-27). In another Scriptural account, Jethro is again referred to as a Midianite, not as an Ethiopian (Numbers 10:29). It stands to reason, if Zipporah’s father was a Midianite, she also was a Midianite.