Things I'm learning....

So I decided to start reading up on my namesake, Miriam, the one from the bible. And I've come to the conclusion that she was a sassy woman.


Things that I learned about her yesterday,

1) She came into the Exodus story silently. She was not acknowledged by name until the children of Israel crossed the sea.

2) There are three women classified in the bible by their relationship to their mother, Miriam is one of them. She is called the daughter of Jochabed. Gotta love 3's in the bible.

3) There is controversy surrounding the song of Miriam. When the people of Isreal cross the Reed Sea and the Egyptians drown, Moses leads the people in song and the exile portion of the story concludes. However, there is another passage tacked on to the end of this story. The end of the story is repeated and this time it is Miriam who leads the people in the exact same song as Moses sang. Some scholars think that this was a tampering with the text. That originally Miriam held a high level of leadership among the people but those who record the history of the Israelites were not interested in portraying a strong female leader and so the passage was messed with. However the happening at the sea was so important that it could not be ignored or so they had to include it. If this is true, Miriam was one of the first characters in the bible to lead the people in corporate worship.

4) Miriam and Aaron confronted Moses about his leadership and some of the shoices he had made. For this God confronted them and even though both were part of the confrontation, only Miriam was punished in the form of leprosy. As a result of this punishment she has been an illustration an example of how not to confront God or question those who God has placed in leadership. But the truth of the matter is that the people of Israel trusted, followed and desired her leadership.
After she was stricken, Moses and Aaron pleaded with God, asking that God heal her and make her whole again. God sent Miriam into the wilderness away from the camp for 7 days to be made whole and clean and then commanded that the people move forward without her. The people refused to go. They waited until her time in the desert was through and then proceeded.

5)Miriam is one of the only women in the old testament to have an obituary. It is recorded where she died and where she was buried, a rather high honor to be paid to a woman. What's even more interesting about Miriam's death is how it is tied to a natural response.
When Miriam is highlighted in the story of the exodus she is always accommodated by water. First at the Nile while she watched over Moses then at the sea where she led the people in worship. The life giving power of the water is reflected in her nurturing spirit she is the mother of the nation, the life provider, the one who enables the people to press on. As long as she was with the people, water followed them even in the desert. Not until Miriam dies do we see the Israelites struggle to find water. Nature acknowledged the loss of the prophetess, the loss of a mother by denying water.

(sidenote; I was leery about this concept of nature responding to the death of Miriam, at least in an academic sense. I first read it in a Feminist Commentary and thought it was a strech b/c the tone of the book is a bit angry. But this concept was reflected in three other books that I flipped through. It's not just the rants of a cynical scholar.)

My study on this woman is far from over. For a while I thought that she was a rather silent woman who had not caught the eye of many scholars but I have been proven incorrect. There are many who have taken the time to look closely at my namesake and it turns out, as is the case with most scripture, there is more to her story then her role in placing Moses in the palace.

That is all, I just like to share what I learn......