The Two Sons of Moses and Zipporah Moses and Zipporah have two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. The oldest is Gershom (1). His name means a foreigner there because Moses says he’s a foreigner in a foreign land. The younger son is Eliezer (2). His name means God is my helper. Moses acknowledges God as the […]
Learn About Moses’s Wife When Moses flees for his life, he meets seven shepherdesses, the daughters of Reuel. Moses marries one of the daughters, Zipporah. Moses and Zipporah have two sons. They are Gershom and Eliezer. Years later when Moses and his family travel to Egypt, God afflicts Moses. This is apparently because Moses failed […]
Giving Helpful Advice When Moses flees Egypt for his life, he ends up in the desert. There he encounters the seven daughters of Reuel, a Midianite priest. The girls are shepherdesses. When they try to draw water from the well for their sheep, however, other shepherds drive them away. Moses intervenes for them and waters […]
The Example of two Hebrew Midwives Shiphrah and Puah are two Hebrew midwives. They live toward the end of the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt. The Pharaoh of Egypt, fearing their slaves’ mounting numbers, tells Shiphrah and Puah to kill all the baby Israelite boys as they are being born. This is worse than, in effect, […]
A Grandfather’s Blessing Joseph and Asenath have two sons. The oldest is Manasseh, and the younger is Ephraim. They are the grandsons of Jacob, later called Israel. When Israel is on his deathbed, Joseph comes to see his ailing father, bringing his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him. Hearing about Joseph’s arrival, Israel rallies […]
Influencing Your Spouse Pharaoh later gives the-now-freed Joseph a wife. Her name is Asenath, and she’s the daughter of the priest of On. The priest’s name is Potiphera. (Don’t confuse Potiphera with Potiphar.) This is likely a strategic move on Pharaoh’s part, hoping that Asenath will influence Joseph to accept Egyptian perspectives and beliefs. In […]
Potiphar Reacts to His Wife’s Accusations Through a series of events outside his control, Joseph has become a slave owned by Potiphar. Potiphar is one of Pharaoh’s officials and captain of the guard. God’s favor is on Joseph in Potiphar’s household, and he proves himself to the captain. Potiphar eventually puts his entire estate under […]
A Story of Immorality Joseph is an attractive man. Potiphar’s wife notices. She pursues Joseph. We don’t know her motivation. Does her husband ignore her? Is she bored? Perhaps she’s merely promiscuous. Yet her reasons don’t matter. She tries to seduce Joseph. Joseph resists. He explains why he won’t sleep with her, but she ignores […]
The Younger Twin Brother of Perez Zerah is the younger twin brother of Perez. They are sons of Judah and Tamar (1). When Tamar is in labor, the hand of one of her babies emerges. The midwife ties a scarlet thread around his wrist. Then the hand withdraws. The baby who is born first, however, […]
After Tamar (1) tricks Judah into impregnating her, she gives birth to twins. They are Perez and Zerah. The name Perez means “breaking out,” because he broke out of the womb first before his twin brother. Though we know nothing more about Perez and what he did, future generations esteem him. Several generations later, one […]