By Deacon Scott Dodge–
I am in the process of finishing a presentation for the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s statewide convention of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. The title of my presentation is Women of Faith: Six Portraits of Greatness. My presentation features profiles of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, Deborah, the woman Judge of Israel, Ruth, the Moabitess, Priscilla, who, with her husband Aquila, was co-worker of St Paul’s, Sts Teresa of Avila and Gianna Molla.
By way of preview, I offer my profile Miriam:
Miriam: Prophetess
It is possible, but not certain, that Miriam first appears in the Bible at the beginning of the second chapter of the Book of Exodus. Exodus begins by conveying that a man and woman both from the tribe of Levi, who remain nameless, married and had son. Because Pharaoh, fearing an uprising,[1] decreed that all male children born among the Hebrews (a name that may mean “foreigner”) were to be thrown into the river Nile (all Hebrew females were to be permitted to live),[2] when her son was 3 months old, his mother made a floating crib for him and “placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.”[3] “His sister,” Scripture tells us, “stood at a distance to see what happened.”[4]
What happened was Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket among the reeds that lined the banks of the Nile.[5] Upon discovering the basket held a crying male child, whom she recognized as a Hebrew, she took pity on the infant.[6] Seeing this, the child’s sister, who had been watching, went to Pharaoh’s daughter and offered to find a Hebrew wet nurse to nurse the baby.[7] The child’s sister went and fetched their mother to nurse him.[8] Apparently, she did not inform Pharaoh’s daughter the nurse was the child’s mother. The child was given the Egyptian name “Moses,” which does not have the etymology given in Exodus (i.e., being drawn from the water), as if Moses was originally a Hebrew name. Moses is likely a shortened form of the Egyptian name the child was given.[9] It is quite likely that Miriam, too, a common Jewish female name, which was the name of our Blessed Mother, is of Egyptian origin.[10] Assuming this unnamed sister was Miriam, her first act was quite heroic, not only seeing her brother saved but, in a sense, keeping their family intact.
The next time Scripture refers to Miriam is after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry land while the water engulfed and drowned Pharaoh’s army. After the long song that “Moses and the Israelites sang … to the LORD,”[11] the inspired author conveys –
Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing. And Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the LORD, for he has
Triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into
the sea”[12]
The Pentateuch (i.e., the first books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy- revered by the Jews as the Torah) in its completed form, the form in which it was written down and handed on, dating from around 1000 BC, consists of a combination of sources. Both the chronology and the geography of the Pentateuch were not considered of great importance to the ancient writers and redactors. The purpose of the Pentateuch “is to celebrate the deed by which God saved his people…”[13] The Pentateuch is perhaps best described as Israel’s “song of adoration” to God, which “aspect is highlighted by the canticle of Miriam (Ex 15).”[14]
The longest passage in the Sacred Scriptures about Miriam is Numbers 12. This chapter is a vignette about what happened when Aaron and Miriam speak against their brother, Moses. Their complaint was twofold: his wife, Zipporah, was a non-Israelite;[15] and, likely experiencing jealousy, they complained, “Has the LORD only spoken through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?”[16] As a result of these complaints, God summoned the three siblings to the “tent of meeting” and upbraided Aaron and Miriam. Aaron quickly expressed contrition. As a result, Miriam was afflicted with leprosy. Seeing her diseased condition, Moses uttered a five-word Hebrew prayer to God on her behalf: El nah refa nah la[17] (“O God, please heal her”[18]) Hearing Moses, God saw to it that Miriam was afflicted for seven days, during which time she was forced, as a penance, to spend outside of Israel’s camp. Stories like this one in the Bible seem to have been written to make the point that we “often overlook God’s gifts and focus only on [our] hardships”[19] and/or perceived slights.
In the first verse of the twentieth chapter of the Book of Numbers we read that Miriam died and was buried “in the wilderness of Zin.”[20] It has been noted that rock Moses struck at God’s behest and from which water flowed traveled with Israel throughout the rest of their desert sojourn, providing water for both people and animals.[21] The coincidence between this moving rock drying up and Miriam’s death was noted in ancient times. When Miriam died “the waters stopped.”[22]As a result of this coincidence, some ancient scholars called the rock “the well of Miriam.”[23] “It was Miriam’s virtuous nature,” in the view of many ancient interpreters, that caused God to continue providing the Israelites with water from this mobile fountain.[24]
According to the Sacred Scriptures, Miriam played a key role in salvation history. She saved Moses. She was a prophet in her own right, a true worshiper of God and a leader among the women of Israel.
Footnotes:
[1] Exodus 1:8-10.
[2] Exodus 1:22.
[3] Exodus 2:3.
[4] Exodus 2:4.
[5] Exodus 2:5.
[6] Exodus 2:6.
[7] Exodus 2:7.
[8] Exodus 2:8.
[9] James L. Kugel, How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, 205.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Exodus 15:1.
[12] Exodus 15:20-21.
[13] Francois Castel, The History of Israel and Judah In Old Testament Times, 48.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Numbers 12:1.
[16] Numbers 12:2.
[17] Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Thing to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People, and Its History, 60.
[18] Numbers 12:13.
[19] How to Read the Bible, 329.
[20] Numbers 20:1.
[21] How to Read the Bible, 239.
[22] Ibid., 239-240.
[23] Ibid. 240.
[24] Ibid.
