Miriam

This page is about the biblical figure and sister of Moses. For other meanings of the word Miriam, please see Miriam (disambiguation)

Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, and the daughter of Amram and Jochebed. She appears first in the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. Her Hebrew name (מִרְיָם, Standard Hebrew Miryam, Tiberian Hebrew Miryām) means either "wished for child", "bitter" or "rebellious".

It was Miriam who, at Jochebed's request, hid Moses (then a baby) by the side of a river to evade the Pharaoh's order that newborn Hebrew boys be killed. She watched as the Pharaoh's daughter discovered the infant and decided to adopt him. Miriam then suggested that the princess take on a nurse for the child, and suggested Jochebed; as a result, Moses was raised to be familiar with his background as a Hebrew.

Miriam is called a prophetess, and composed a victory song after Pharaoh's army was drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20-21) Later, she objected to the marriage of Moses to a Cushite (i.e. black) woman, possibly Zipporah, which made her guilty of speaking Lashon hara (gossiping, or speaking negatively about someone), for which she was struck with tzaraas, often mistranslated as leprosy. After Aaron asked Moses to intercede for her, Moses uttered a five-word prayer: El nah refa nah-la — "O Lord, make her well," and she recovered within seven days. (Numbers 12). A passage in Micah suggests she had a legacy with significant regard among later prophets. ("And I brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, and I set before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam" Micah 6:4.)

Miriam is a popular figure among some Jewish feminists. Some place a "Cup of Miriam," filled with water, beside the customary "Cup of Elijah" (filled with wine) during the Passover Seder. The cup contains water in memory of Miriam's well, which accompanied the Israelites on their journey through the desert. Some Modern Orthodox have revived a millenium-old custom of adding a piece of fish to the seder plate, with the lamb, egg and fish jointly symbolizing the three prophets referred to in Micah 6:4, and also alluding to the mythical beasts (the bird Ziz, the animal Behemoth, and the sea-creature Leviathan) which, according to Midrash, are to be served at the Siyum Hiyat HaMatim, the feast for the righteous following the resurrection of the dead, which the Passover Seder (and the Cup of Elijah) allude to. The fish represents Leviathan as well as Miriam and is also a water symbol. [1]

Christian views

Some (mostly Messianic Jewish followers) usually render this name, as the original name of the Virgin Mary. It is said to be of Egyptian origin, which is strongly backed up by the fact that Miriam, possibly the first-known bearer of the name, was a Hebrew woman born in Egypt at the time of the Prophet Moses . Others, insist on the other translation of the name, "Miriam" but which most scholars say has little in common with the etymology of the original name and is clearly a more modern rendition .