Miriam - OT Prophetess

Miriam

The First Prophetess named in the Bible (OT)

In today’s study, we will look at Miriam.  She was the sister of Moses, who helped rescue him as a baby from the Pharaoh who ordered Jewish midwives to murder the males.  She was heroic as a young teen, an inspirational leader as a woman, and called a leader by Micah, a prophet of God. Miriam is credited with writing a song of worship - more on that in a bit.  We are going to look at three parts or moments of Miriam’s story.

Let’s Read  (3 passages)

Scene 1: Miriam helps her mother rescue her brother. Exodus 2:1-10

1 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses,[b] saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Miriam is not named in this passage, but we know she was most likely the sister in the story, as she is the only daughter named of Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6).  

Hebrew/Greek Word of Interest

Miriam’s name 

 The Hebrew name for Miriam has an unclear origin.  There are three possible meanings, Beloved, Rebellion or Myrrhs (plural of Myrrh) This is especially interesting given that the Hebrew name Mary is derived from Miriam.

• Egyptian word for Beloved (is Merari) - many Levite names for some reason were of Egyption origin.

• from the verb מרה (mara), to be rebellious.  ← This is the one scholars lean toward

• from the word מר (mor), myrrh

• From the noun ים (yam), sea, west or future.

Moses’ Name - sounds like the egyptian for the words “draw out”

Things we might wonder? 

1 - How did Aaron survive the Pharaoh’s law to kill all male children?   Aaron was three years older than Moses. The Pharaoh hadn’t issued that law/proclamation yet.

2 - Notice why Moses?  Aaron is the elder.   Remember in ‘God Sees You’ first session we spoke often of God turning man’s expectations on its head.  Subverting what we think is the ‘order’ of things.  I.e. he chose Jacob the younger son over Esau, David was younger than his brothers, Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s.  God often chose and called the youngest, the second born, until Christ who is the true firstborn!

Scene 2: Miriam leads the Israelite women in song of worship. Exodus 15:1-18

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

“I will sing to the Lord,
    for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
    he has hurled into the sea.

2 

“The Lord is my strength and my defense[a];
    he has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 

The Lord is a warrior;
    the Lord is his name.

4 

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army
    he has hurled into the sea.
The best of Pharaoh’s officers
    are drowned in the Red Sea.[b]

5 

The deep waters have covered them;
    they sank to the depths like a stone.

6 

Your right hand, Lord,
    was majestic in power.
Your right hand, Lord,
    shattered the enemy.

7 

“In the greatness of your majesty
    you threw down those who opposed you.
You unleashed your burning anger;
    it consumed them like stubble.

8 

By the blast of your nostrils
    the waters piled up.
The surging waters stood up like a wall;
    the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 

The enemy boasted,
    ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them.
I will divide the spoils;
    I will gorge myself on them.
I will draw my sword
    and my hand will destroy them.’

10 

But you blew with your breath,
    and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead
    in the mighty waters.

11 

Who among the gods
    is like you, Lord?
Who is like you—
    majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
    working wonders?

12 

“You stretch out your right hand,
    and the earth swallows your enemies.

13 

In your unfailing love you will lead
    the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
    to your holy dwelling.

14 

The nations will hear and tremble;
    anguish will grip the people of Philistia.

15 

The chiefs of Edom will be terrified,
    the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling,
the people[c] of Canaan will melt away;

16 

    terror and dread will fall on them.
By the power of your arm
    they will be as still as a stone—
until your people pass by, Lord,
    until the people you bought[d] pass by.

17 

You will bring them in and plant them
    on the mountain of your inheritance—
the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling,
    the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

18 

“The Lord reigns
    for ever and ever.”

19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen[e] went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 

20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing.

 21 Miriam sang to them:

“Sing to the Lord,
    for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
    he has hurled into the sea.”

Scene 3: Miriam and Aaron speak against Moses. Numbers 12

12 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.

3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

4 At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. 5 Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
    I speak to them in dreams.
7 But this is not true of my servant Moses;
    he is faithful in all my house.
8 With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;
    he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”

9 The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

10 When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous[a]—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

14 The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

16 After that, the people left Hazeroth and encamped in the Desert of Paran.

The next time we read about Miriam in Numbers 12, she and Aaron challenged the actions and authority of Moses. The Israelites were camped and Miriam and Aaron are perturbed that Moses is the only one able to speak on God’s behalf.  They feel slighted, and are also speaking against Moses for marrying a non-Israeli woman.

God steps in and ironically calls them out personally, speaking to them in the one-on-one manner  from a pillar of cloud that they were jealous of Moses for, but God rebukes them.  God makes it very clear that he speaks to prophets (to Aaron and Moses) most often indirectly, in dreams.  But to Moses he speaks face to face and God takes it personally, He is angry that they should speak against the one he/God has chosen.  As soon as God disappears, Miriam is covered in a white skin disease which is usually translated as leprosy. This is mentioned again as a warning of disobedience in Deuteronomy 24:9 – Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your journey out of Egypt. Aaron is so shocked that he begs God’s forgiveness and for Miriam to be healed. Moses intercedes and God does heal her, but God states that Miriam has to be excluded from the Israelite camp for seven days before she can return.

It is strange that on the one hand Miriam is the faithful believer who leads the people in their victory song, yet here she is accused of defying God when she doesn’t accept Moses’ authority over her and Aaron. And unlike Aaron, she is punished and ostracized from the camp.  We might ask why? But we aren’t really told.   

Some scholars speculate that perhaps since Aaron was the priest, he couldn’t neglect his priestly duties if he were made to leave the camp for seven days. Commentators have also speculated that since we don’t hear of her until a very brief description of her death, that she was removed by God from any form of leadership role.  Commentators also noted that Miriam’s death is described so briefly in Numbers 20:1 with no account of the community’s response to her death as a leader.  This is not exactly a fair comparison, many deaths in the Old and New testament are glossed over without much response from the people.  

Make no mistake, we are assured that she was considered by God to be a leader of his people along with her brothers.  When the prophet Micah comes on the scene years later, In Micah 6:4 the prophet warns the people and reminds them of God’s provision.  In this verse, Miriam is described alongside Moses and Aaron as delivering the Israelites from exile in Egypt.

The biblical tradition suggests that during the Exodus, the leadership model was held between three people all called “prophet”: Moses, Miriam, and Aaron. This is remembered later in Micah 6:4 when Micah recalls how God delivered the Israelites:

For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
Aaron, and Miriam.

Let’s Discuss: 

1. How is Miriam an example for us?

• Protector of her brother

• Wise and quick thinking enabled her mother to raise Moses - and be paid!

• Is there anything else you noticed in the passage?

• In Rabbinic literature, Miriam was thought to be acting prophetically when she was watching over her brother.  They believe she knew he was going to be a savior for the Israelites and spoke over him.  This is interesting, but not specifically stated in scripture.

2. Notice two of the scenes in today’s study happen by the water - do you think this is significant?  Why or why not?

Interesting to note:

1. Likely Miriam is the author of the Song of the Sea, not Moses.

Upon first reading of the passage above, it seems like Miriam’s song is a summary of the song from Moses.  However some scholars now agree that it is more likely that Miriam is the original author for a number of reasons. 

More than 500 years ago, two biblical scholars, Frank Moore Cross and David Noel Freedman argued that the long hymn in the passage we read above should be designated “The Song of Miriam”.  There were Dead Sea Scroll fragments that attribute the longer version of the poem to Miriam.  This combined with the fact that it was traditionally a female role to lead songs of victory.

2. Women were the spiritual worship leaders in Biblical times.

A scholar noted that women would play the toph (drum - pronounced taaf or t-off) and lead songs of victory.  That there might be men participating as well, but always would be women.  Their songs in biblical times served the people to remind them of the theological implications of the events that happened and to reflect on the power and goodness of God.  One author noted the difference between Miriam’s call to worship and Aaron’s leading astray with the golden calf.

Throughout the scripture, women’s songs define and summarize theological themes: they emphasize God’s role, our response, and the importance of practicing a life of faithfulness and hope.  They celebrated God and his gifts to the people.  

Miriam, in leading the women in worship at God’s triumph at the Red Sea, immortalized the theological importance of the moment by creating a song about it.

We all know how important spiritual songs and worship songs are in reminding our souls of God’s faithfulness.  Songs can be a ministry to the tired, the waiting, and the confused.  How wonderful it is, when we hear a song that speaks to our hearts about the very thing we need to hear from God.

Do you have a spiritual song that helped you through a tough time?  A song that encourages you to look to God and keep trusting Him?

How can you be like Miriam - and remind your family, your church that our victory comes from God alone?

God Sees Miriam:  How do you think God sees Miriam?

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God Sees You:   How does God see you?

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Resources on Miriam study:

1. Prophetesses in the Bible:  https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/prophetesses-in-the-bible/

2. Miriam’s song of the sea: A women’s victory performance:  https://www.thetorah.com/article/miriams-song-of-the-sea-a-womens-victory-performance

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