Zipporah at The Inn

Zipporah at the inn is the name given to an episode alluded to in three verses of Exodus. It is one of the more unusual, curious, and much-debated passages of the Pentateuch.

The verses in question are Exodus 4:24–26, the context is Moses and his wife Zipporah reaching an inn on their way from Midian to Egypt to announce the plagues to the Pharaoh:

Leningrad Codex text:

24. ויהי בדרך במלון ויפגשהו יהוה ויבקש המיתו׃

25. ותקח צפרה צר ותכרת את־ערלת בנה ותגע לרגליו ותאמר כי חתן־דמים אתה לי׃

26. וירף ממנו אז אמרה חתן דמים למולת׃ פ

Translation:

24. And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.

25. Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

26. So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.

New Revised Standard Version translation

On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the L met him and tried to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin, and touched his feet with it, and said, "Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" So he let him alone. It was then she said, "A bridegroom of blood by circumcision."

The standard interpretation of the passage is that Yahweh wants to kill Moses for neglecting the rite of circumcision of his son. Zipporah averts disaster by reacting quickly and hastily performing the rite, thus saving her husband from Yahweh's anger.