Miriam, Leader of Israel (2)

Miriam the Prophet

Part 2 of 4

After Miriam’s initial appearance in Exodus 2, she next shows up in Exodus 15 after the Hebrew people have fled Egypt and crossed the Reed/Red Sea. In Exodus 15:20, Miriam, explicitly called a prophet, takes up a tambourine and leads the women in dancing, singing “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously, horse and rider he has thrown into the sea!” Narratively, this is on the heels of Moses’ longer song of victory (15:1-18), however scholars believe that Miriam’s song is perhaps the oldest portion of the Hebrew Bible (and that the longer song probably belonged to her as well!).

A text from caves at Qumran, part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, contains an expansion of Miriam’s song. The manuscript in which the song is contained is named 4Q365, which means it is numbered the 365^th manuscript or fragment from the fourth cave (of eleven) at Qumran.  The extended song of Miriam says:

…I will sing to YHWH for he has triumphed gloriously.  Yah is my strength and might…You are great, delivering your people…The enemy’s hope has perished and his memory is forgotten…Your enemies perished in the mighty waters…Your people will exalt you to the heights, for you gave a covenant to our fathers…the one doing glorious things.

This song roots Miriam in covenant relationship with YHWH, referring either to the Noahic covenant in Genesis 9 or the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 15. It may also refer anachronistically to the Mosaic covenant from Exodus 20.

Though the text explicitly names Miriam as a prophet, she does not act in ways many understand to be prophetic. That is to say, she does not foretell future events or speak on behalf of the divine to her people. Miriam’s activity here is, however, representative of a much larger understanding of prophetic activity in the ancient world. 

Wil Gafney, in Daughter’s of Miriam (41), reviews the activities of biblical characters who are undisputedly considered prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Gafney’s analysis demonstrates that prophetic activity took a variety of forms:

*intercessory prayer *delivering oracles on behalf of YHWH(sometimes *resolving disputes in ecstasy, sometimes demonstratively)
*dancing *mustering troops and fighting battles
*drumming *archiving their oracles in writing
*singing *experiencing visions
*giving and interpreting laws *working wonders

Thus, Miriam’s activity in leading the liberated Hebrew women in song immediately following their escape from Egypt is decidedly prophetic.

Pseudo-Philo’s Latin Antiquities is a reworking of the biblical narratives from Adam to the death of King Saul. This text, compiled sometime in the mid-first to mid-second century CE, contains expansions, omissions, paraphrases, and summaries of canonical material. In this version of the Exodus 2 story, Miriam prophesies over Moses.  The text reads as follows:

And the spirit of God came upon Miriam one night, and she saw a dream and told it to her parents in the morning, saying, “I have seen this night, and behold a man in linen garment stood and said to me, ‘Go and say to your parent, “behold he who will be born from you will be cast forth into the water; likewise through him the water will be dried up. And I will work signs through him and save my people, and he will exercise leadership always.”’” And when Miriam told of her dream, her parents did not believe her.

As with the Biblical text, Miriam is a prophet without explanation, qualification, or credentials. In the third part of this series, I’ll examine Miriam’s role as a communicy leader.