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Miriam

the prophetess with the tambourine

Who was Miriam?

She is not Mary, the mother of Jesus. Older Catholic Bibles, such as the Douay-Rheims and a Spanish Bible from 1836, call her “Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron”, but she lived many centuries earlier.

The name
No one knows for certain. Many Fathers of the Church understood it as “lady”. Catholic Encyclopedia (1910), “The Name of Mary”
Also called
Mary, as older Catholic Bibles call her Exodus 15:20; Numbers 12:1 · The prophetess Exodus 15:20
From
From Egypt. She was from the tribe of Levi, the daughter of Amram and Jochebed Numbers 26:59
Occupation
Prophetess Exodus 15:20
Miriam, an artistic recreation

What the Bible says

Numbers 26:59

Who had to wife Jochabed the daughter of Levi, who was horn to him in Egypt. She bore to her husband Amram sons, Aaron and Moses, and Mary their sister.

Exodus 15:20-21

20So Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand: and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and with dances: 21And she began the song to them, saying: Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.

Numbers 12:1, 10, 15; Numbers 20:1

1And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the Ethiopian, 10The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed: and behold Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy. And when Aaron had looked on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy, 15Mary therefore was put out of the camp seven days: and the people moved not from that place until Mary was called again.

Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.

The path of Miriam

  1. Before Jesus. When Moses was a baby, one of his sisters watched from a distance to see what would happen to the basket in the river. Exodus 2:3-4
  2. Before Jesus. That sister offered Pharaoh’s daughter to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. The sister called the child’s mother. Exodus 2:7-8
  3. With Jesus. After crossing the Red Sea, Miriam the prophetess took a tambourine. All the women went out after her, dancing. Exodus 15:20
  4. With Jesus. She led the women’s song: they praised the Lord, who had thrown horse and rider into the sea. Exodus 15:21
  5. Afterward. At Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman Moses had married. Numbers 12:1-2
  6. Afterward. God defended Moses, and Miriam became white with leprosy. Moses begged God to heal her. Numbers 12:9-10, 13
  7. Afterward. She spent seven days outside the camp. The people did not move on until she came back. Numbers 12:14-15
  8. Afterward. She died at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and she was buried there. Numbers 20:1

Words of Miriam

“Let us sing to the Lord, for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.” Exodus 15:21

After crossing the Red Sea, as she led the women’s song.

“Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only? hath he not also spoken to us in like manner?” Numbers 12:2

Together with Aaron, when the two of them spoke against their brother Moses.

“Shall I go and call to thee a Hebrew woman, to nurse the babe?” Exodus 2:7

“The child’s sister” said it to Pharaoh’s daughter. The Bible does not give her name in that passage.

What they were like

The greatest thing they did

Not to be confused with

In the Church today

In art, recognized by: The tambourine From Ex 15, 20; this is how Christian art shows her

What people ask

Was the sister who watched over Moses at the river Miriam?

The Bible does not give her name in that story. Miriam is the only sister of Moses that the Bible names. Exodus 2:4; Numbers 26:59

Why is she called a prophetess?

That is what the Book of Exodus calls her. She herself said that the Lord had also spoken through her and Aaron. Exodus 15:20; Numbers 12:2

Why did she get leprosy?

Because she spoke against Moses with Aaron, and God was angry with them. A NAB note explains that she led the complaint and Aaron followed her. Numbers 12:1, 9-10; NAB note on Nm 12, 2

Where did Miriam die?

At Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin. She was buried there. Numbers 20:1

Do other books of the Bible remember her?

Yes. The prophet Micah says that God sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam before his people. Mi 6, 4

Her fall With Aaron, she spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married. Numbers 12:1-2 She was struck with leprosy and had to stay outside the camp…

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Who Miriam is connected to

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All the people of the Bible · The Twelve Apostles · Women of the Bible

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