PERSON · PROPHET
Miriam
Miriam is explicitly called a prophetess and is one of the few women in the Hebrew Bible given that designation (Exodus 15:20). She is identified by God himself as a co-leader of Israel during the Exodus alongside Moses and Aaron (Micah 6:4), and her early role in watching over the infant Moses in the Nile contributed to his survival (Exodus 2:4–8).
Exodus 15:20–21
- Ministry
- Exodus period, wilderness wanderings, approximately 15th or 13th century BC
The Story
Before Moses ever stood before Pharaoh, before the plagues fell on Egypt, before a nation walked dry-shod through a divided sea — there was a girl standing at the edge of the Nile, watching a basket. Scripture does not tell us how old she was. It does not tell us what she felt as she kept her distance, eyes fixed on the woven ark of reeds that held her infant brother. What it does tell us is that she was there, and that when Pharaoh's daughter drew the child from the water, it was this girl who stepped forward with a question that would change everything: shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
7Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
Exodus 2:7·KJV
The princess said yes. The girl ran. And Moses's mother held her own son again — paid wages by the very court that had sentenced him to death. Miriam's alertness that day made it possible.
Her name appears in a genealogy in the book of Chronicles alongside her brothers Moses and Aaron, all three children of Amram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi.
3And the children of Amram; Aaron, and Moses, and Miriam. The sons also of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
1 Chronicles 6:3·KJV
It is a spare entry — the kind that anchors a person in time and family without expanding on the story. But Scripture does not keep Miriam spare for long. By the time Israel crosses the Red Sea, she has grown into someone the text identifies with a title given to very few women in all of holy writ: prophetess.
The moment at the sea is one of the great scenes of the Old Testament. Egypt is behind them, drowned. The people are on the far shore with mud drying on their sandals and a story they will never finish telling. Moses leads the congregation of Israel in a song of triumph and deliverance. And then — Miriam. She takes a timbrel in her hand. The women of Israel follow her with timbrels and with dancing.
20And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.
Exodus 15:20·KJV
She sings the same refrain her brother sang, the same declaration that the LORD had triumphed gloriously. She is not an observer of this worship. She is its leader. The text names her plainly as a prophetess in this very moment, binding her prophetic identity to this act of communal praise at the water's edge.
Life & Legacy
Death
ScriptureMiriam died and was buried at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin during the wilderness wanderings of Israel.
Numbers 20:1
Legacy
ScriptureGod, through the prophet Micah, named Miriam alongside Moses and Aaron as leaders sent before Israel during the Exodus from Egypt. She is also called a prophetess and led the Israelite women in song and dancing with tambourines after the crossing of the Red Sea.
Micah 6:4; Exodus 15:20–21
Character
ScriptureScripture records Miriam as a prophetess who led communal worship after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20–21), but also records that she and Aaron spoke against Moses and challenged his unique prophetic authority, for which she was struck with leprosy by God (Numbers 12:1–10). Moses interceded for her healing, and she was restored after seven days of exclusion from the camp (Numbers 12:13–15).
Exodus 15:20–21; Numbers 12:1–15
Significance
ScriptureMiriam is explicitly called a prophetess and is one of the few women in the Hebrew Bible given that designation (Exodus 15:20). She is identified by God himself as a co-leader of Israel during the Exodus alongside Moses and Aaron (Micah 6:4), and her early role in watching over the infant Moses in the Nile contributed to his survival (Exodus 2:4–8).
Exodus 15:20; Micah 6:4; Exodus 2:4–8
DeathScripture
Miriam died and was buried at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin during the wilderness wanderings of Israel.
Numbers 20:1
LegacyScripture
God, through the prophet Micah, named Miriam alongside Moses and Aaron as leaders sent before Israel during the Exodus from Egypt. She is also called a prophetess and led the Israelite women in song and dancing with tambourines after the crossing of the Red Sea.
Micah 6:4; Exodus 15:20–21
CharacterScripture
Scripture records Miriam as a prophetess who led communal worship after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20–21), but also records that she and Aaron spoke against Moses and challenged his unique prophetic authority, for which she was struck with leprosy by God (Numbers 12:1–10). Moses interceded for her healing, and she was restored after seven days of exclusion from the camp (Numbers 12:13–15).
Exodus 15:20–21; Numbers 12:1–15
SignificanceScripture
Miriam is explicitly called a prophetess and is one of the few women in the Hebrew Bible given that designation (Exodus 15:20). She is identified by God himself as a co-leader of Israel during the Exodus alongside Moses and Aaron (Micah 6:4), and her early role in watching over the infant Moses in the Nile contributed to his survival (Exodus 2:4–8).
Exodus 15:20; Micah 6:4; Exodus 2:4–8
Artist's impression