Where was Tziporah at the time of the Exodus? |
In Parshat
Yitro, Shmot 18:2-4 we read: Moshe’s
father-in-law, Yitro, took Moshe’s wife, Tziporah, after Moshe had sent her
back home along with her two sons. The name of one was Gershom, because he
(Moshe) had said, “I was a stranger in an alien land.” The name of the other
was Eliezer, because the God of my father was my help, and rescued me from the
sword of Pharaoh. In Shmot 4:19-20
it looks like Moshe brought Tziporah with him to Egypt so how did she end up in
Midian with her father? God said to
Moshe in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt, for they have died- all the men who had
sought your life. Moshe then took his wife and his sons, set them to ride on
the donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt... Rashi explains
what happened: When God said to Moshe in Midian: “Go and return
to Egypt,” Moshe took his wife and his two sons…When Aharon went out towards
him and met up with him at the Mountain of God (Shmot 4:27), Aharon asked
Moshe, “Who are these?” Moshe replied to him, “This is my wife whom I married
in Midian and these are my children.” Aharon said to him, “And where are you
taking them?” Moshe answered “To Egypt.” Aharon said to him, “We grieve for the
earlier (enslaved) ones and now you come to add to their numbers!” At that point, Moshe told Tzipora to return to her
father’s house in Midian. According to Siftei Chachamim, Moshe was worried
that the Egyptians would enslave Tziporah if she came with him to Egypt.
Therefore, he sent her back to Midian. Since Tzipora and their sons were safe, there was no
point in endangering them in Egypt. We now see how Tziporah and their sons ended up meeting
up with Moshe after the Exodus from Egypt, just in time for the Revelation at
Sinai. |