Meaning of the Name Zipporah
From the Hebrew name Tsippora (Zipporah), meaning 'bird' or 'little bird'; tsippor means 'bird, sparrow'. Safura is the form that became common in Turkish through Islamic tradition, while Turkish Bible translations write Sippora. The etymology is generally clear.
Origin
The name Zipporah is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Zipporah in the Bible?
Zipporah is the daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, and the wife of Moses. She bears Moses two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, and is remembered for the brief, mysterious scene in which she circumcises her son on the way to Egypt. She stays with her father for a time, and after the exodus Jethro brings her and her sons to Moses in the wilderness.
The story of Zipporah in the Bible
We meet Zipporah, known in Turkish as Safura, in the scene where Moses, having fled Egypt, sits by a well in Midian. The seven daughters of the priest of Midian come to water their flocks, but shepherds drive them away. Moses stands up, defends the women and waters their flock. When the daughters return home early, their father asks why and invites the stranger to his home. Moses agrees to stay, and the priest gives him his daughter Zipporah as his wife. She bears a son, and Moses names him Gershom, saying he has become a foreigner in a foreign land. As Moses returns to Egypt at God's call, a mysterious event takes place on the way: the LORD meets them and seeks to kill him; the text does not make clear whether Moses or his son is meant. Zipporah takes a sharp stone, circumcises her son, and the danger passes. This brief scene is much debated. Later Zipporah stays with her father for a time; after the exodus Jethro brings her and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, to Moses in the wilderness. Whether the Cushite woman mentioned in Numbers is Zipporah is an open question among interpreters.
Is Zipporah mentioned in the Quran?
The name Zipporah (Safura) does not appear in the Quran; it tells how Moses helped two women at a well in Midian and how their father offered him one of his daughters in marriage, without giving her name. Islamic tradition knows her as Safura; in the Bible her name is Zipporah.
Verses where Zipporah appears
- Exodus 2:21 —
Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter.
- Exodus 4:25 —
Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”
- Exodus 18:2 —
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away,