This post is the fourth of Faithlogue’s 2023 Summer Series: “The Women of the Exodus.” Click here to receive each week’s post in your inbox!
Today we begin where we ended last week—standing on the shore beside Jochebed as she launches her three-month-old son on the Nile in a tiny ark. As we wait here, we are not alone. According to Exodus 2:4, “His [Moses’] sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.”
Meet Moses’ sister, Miriam.
The Hebrew pronoun alma used to describe Miriam in Exodus 2:8 indicates she is a young woman of marriageable age.[1] This distinction suggests Miriam is at least a decade older than her infant brother.[2] As his older sibling, Miriam likely watched over her brother during the first three months of his life in hiding, so we can understand her interest in his welfare on the Nile.
According to Exodus 2:7-8, when Pharoah’s daughter discovers the infant crying in his boat, Miriam emerges from her hiding spot along the Nile and asks, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” (Exodus 2:7). Pharoah’s daughter agrees, so Miriam returns the baby home to his mother, Jochebed, for nursing.
Moses will grow up far from Miriam. However, many years later, she will reemerge alongside him and their brother, Aaron, to help rescue the Israelites from Egypt and return them home to the promised land.
The prophet Micah affirms that Miriam co-led the Israelites with Aaron and Moses (Micah 6:4). We also discover details about her leadership in two narratives in Exodus and Numbers.
Exodus 15:20 calls Miriam a prophet. She is the first woman in Scripture to bear that title. In her role as a prophet, Miriam leads the people in singing and dancing to the beat of the tof, a handheld drum.[3] Her first chorus appears in Exodus 15 after the Israelites escape the Egyptian army through the parting of the Red Sea.
Like her brothers (and most other biblical leaders), Miriam later falters in her leadership role (Numbers 12). During that time, Moses was weary and discouraged by the challenges of leading the Israelites (Numbers 11). He asks the Lord to either kill him or provide others to share his burden (Numbers 11:14-17). In response, the Lord allows His Spirit to rest upon seventy elders of the people, and they prophesy in unison (11:24-27).
This event encourages Moses but troubles his aid, Joshua (11:28). It also upsets Aaron and Miriam. In response, they criticize Moses’ selection of a foreign wife and reassert their status as co-prophets with Moses (Numbers 12).
Scholars ponder the motivation behind their complaints, but the Lord’s anger is clear. God summons the three siblings and calls Aaron and Miriam forward to face Him in a cloud pillar. There, the Lord reminds them that of all the prophets, only Moses hears Him plainly and encounters His form (Numbers 12:5-8).
As a consequence of their rebellion, Miriam contracts leprosy, a contagious skin-wasting disease. Scholars debate the reason for Miriam’s singular suffering. However, remember that Moses’s hand also became leprous as a prophetic sign of God’s sovereignty before Pharaoh (Exodus 4). Perhaps Miriam’s leprosy also symbolizes God’s sovereignty as a prophetic reminder for the Israelites. Miriam is a prophet, and God often works through his prophets in physical signs.
Aaron and Moses intercede for her, and God heals Miriam. However, she still faces community exile for seven days (12:14).
This incident marks the last recorded proclamation from Miriam. In Numbers 20:1, she dies and is buried in Kadesh. However, her role and legacy continue to resonate through her brothers and the Israelites.
For example, Miriam’s song in Exodus 15:21 begins a biblical tradition of women lifting praises to God and proclaiming His works through psalms, singing, dancing, and playing instruments. We see her legacy repeated in the songs of Deborah, Hannah, and Mary.
Throughout the stories of her life and leadership, the Old Testament does not associate Miriam with a husband or children. She maintains her status as “sister.” In this role, Miriam exemplifies the mutual role of God’s people as sisters and brothers under His sovereignty.
When she falters, Miriam’s leprosy exiles her from the community. However, according to Numbers 12:15, “The people did not move on till she was brought back.” Just as Aaron and Moses pled for her recovery from leprosy, the Israelites recognized Miriam’s absence in exile. In this way, Miriam’s leprosy reminds the people of God’s holiness (Deuteronomy 24:8-9), and her exile reveals the people at their best as a unified community.
Finally, Miriam’s name in Hebrew translates as “rebellion.”[4] Throughout her life, Miriam’s words and actions mirror the rebellion of the Israelites as they throw off the yoke of Egyptian oppression and battle toward the promised land. Also, like her brothers and sisters, Miriam both seeks out and rebels against the Lord.
After studying Miriam, I believe her life and actions reflect the journey of the Israelites in this season of oppression, rebellion, worship, and wandering. Like the Hebrew women, Miriam thrived in oppression under God’s provision. She also rebelled against the malicious intent of Pharoah alongside her sisters. Finally, when God called Moses to rescue His people, she joined her brother and led the people to praise the Lord for delivering them.
Like her brothers and sisters, Miriam also rebelled against God when the journey became difficult. As a result, she lost community for a time. However, Miriam recovered in the grace of God’s long-suffering love. Thus, her life prophesies the ongoing journey of the Israelites in relation to God as they cycle through seasons of trust, rebellion, exile, praise, and restoration.
In both her faith and her rebellion, Miriam also represents each of us—sisters and brothers in need of God’s sovereignty, provision, and saving grace. By His grace, Miriam stands alongside us in the blessing of all nations through the salvific work of Jesus Christ on the cross. All of our journeys of rebellion end there. So, may we lift our voices in praise alongside Miriam and “Sing to God—what a victory!” (Exodus 15:21 MSG).
© 2023 Lori Myers Berry
[1] James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1996), s.v. “H5958.”
[2] Rob Fleenor, “Miriam the Prophetess,” The Lexham Bible Dictionary, Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016). Logos.
[3] Carol Meyers, “Women with Hand-Drums, Dancing,” Women in Scripture, Edited by Carol Meyers, et al. (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001), 190.
[4] Strong, s.v. “H4813.”