Did Moses have a second wife?

[TonyChanYT]

Numbers 12:

1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.

Barnes thought so:

The Ethiopian woman whom he had married - (Hebrew, "Cushite," compare Genesis 2:13; Genesis 10:6) It is likely that Zipporah Exodus 2:21 was dead, and that Miriam in consequence expected to have greater influence than ever with Moses. Her disappointment at his second marriage would consequently be very great.

Keil and Delitzsch agreed:

a short time before, probably after the death of Zipporah, he had contracted a second marriage with a Cushite woman

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown disagreed:

Their irritating disparagement of his wife (who, in all probability, was Zipporah [Ex 2:21], and not a second wife he had recently married) arose from jealousy of the relatives

Pulpit was reasonable:

Some have thought that this Ethiopian woman was none other than the Midianite Zipporah, who might have been called a Cushite in some loose sense by Miriam. The historian, however, would not have repeated in his own name a statement so inaccurate; nor is it at all likely that that marriage would have become a matter of contention after so many years.

The natural supposition undoubtedly is that Moses (whether after the death of Zipporah, or during her lifetime, we cannot tell) had taken to himself a second wife of Hamite origin. Where he found her it is useless to conjecture; she may possibly have been one of the "mixed multitude" that went up out of Egypt. It is equally useless to attribute any moral or religious character to this marriage, of which Holy Scripture takes no direct notice, and which was evidently regarded by Moses as a matter of purely private concern to himself. In general we may say that the rulers of Israel attached neither political, social, nor religious significance to their marriages; and that neither law nor custom imposed any restraint upon their choice, so long as they did not ally themselves with the daughters of Canaan (see Exodus 34:16).

Did Moses have a second wife?

From a straight and simple reading of the verse, I think so.

 

[L.A.M.B.]

I think so also, in Numbers 12 :: , you quoted; the Cushite woman was different from Zipporah the Midianite woman he married when he fled Egypt.

 

[Wick Stick]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think so.

In at least one other place in the Bible, Midian and Cush are equated:

Hab 3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Also, these terms have more than one meaning. Cushite doesn't just mean "from Cush," it is used in other writings to describe anyone with dark skin. Midianite doesn't just mean "from Midian," it is used to describe any nomadic herder of Arabia.

 

[Mr E]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think so.

In at least one other place in the Bible, Midian and Cush are equated:

Hab 3:7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

Also, these terms have more than one meaning. Cushite doesn't just mean "from Cush," it is used in other writings to describe anyone with dark skin. Midianite doesn't just mean "from Midian," it is used to describe any nomadic herder of Arabia.

According to the Jewish historian Josephus-- he had another Cushite wife-- a princess, named Tharbis. She was likely his first wife.

josephus/Antiquities/AJE02

 

[Eternally Grateful]

he could have had many wives. Abraham and David did. Why not Moses?

 

[Wick Stick]

According to the Jewish historian Josephus-- he had another Cushite wife-- a princess, named Tharbis.

josephus/Antiquities/AJE02

Interesting read. It also has Moses commanding Egyptian armies and conquering Kush. Josephus does a lot of embellishing, so I'm not sure I trust him.

 

[Wick Stick]

he could have had many wives. Abraham and David did. Why not Moses?

The thing about marriages in that period - they were mostly treaties. If Moses, as the head of Israel at the time, was married more than once, that would have meant Israel had a treaty with... someone. And that probably would have been notable enough to have been recorded.

 

[Mr E]

Interesting read. It also has Moses commanding Egyptian armies and conquering Kush. Josephus does a lot of embellishing, so I'm not sure I trust him.

Mentioned also by Irenaeus.

You can trust him. He was a doctor.

Philip Schaff: ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus - Christian Classics Ethereal Library

www.ccel.org

 

[Wick Stick]

Mentioned also by Irenaeus.

You can trust him. He was a doctor.

Philip Schaff: ANF01. The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus - Christian Classics Ethereal Library

www.ccel.org

I like Irenaeus. I read almost all of Against Heresies.

But is his source Josephus? And what was Josephus source? (I doubt we know that)