Facts About Miriam: Are They True or False? Quiz

Answer: True

True. Miriam is described as a prophetess. Other woman in the Hebrew Bible, or the Old Testament of the English Bible, to have such a distinction are Deborah, the dynamic female judge of Israel (Judges 4:4), and the wife of Isaiah (Isaiah 8:3). Exodus 15:20 is the first mention of Miriam by name.

Answer: True

True. According to Scripture, Amran married Jochebed, "his father's sister" (Exodus 6:20). They were the parents of Aaron, Moses and Miriam (Numbers 26:59).

According to the Web site Christiananswers,net, Amram means high people or kindred of the High. The same Web site reports Jochebed means Jehovah is her glory.

Answer: True

True. The song of Miriam appears in Exodus 15:20-21, just after the song of Moses.

Exodus 15:20-21, in the NKJV, states: "Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them:
'Sing to the LORD,
For He has triumphed gloriously!
The horse and its rider
He has thrown into the sea!'"

According to Scripture, the Egyptian army drowned when the LORD parted the Red Sea enabling the Israelites to make an exodus out of Egypt while on a 40-year journey to Canaan, known as the Promised Land. After the Israelites had crossed over, the Red Sea closed in on the Egyptian army which was in pursuit, as per the 14th chapter of Exodus.

Answer: False

There is no indication in Scripture Miriam was bitterly opposed to Aaron's decision to make a gold calf. At the same time, there is no indication she was supportive of his move. When Moses returned from the mountain after being given the ten commandments by the LORD, the 32nd chapter of Exodus indicates the Israelites were worshiping a gold calf that had been created by Aaron.

There is no mention of Miriam's name in the entire chapter, so the correct answer has to be false.

Answer: True

There is no indication in Scripture of Miriam's age. However, many theologians believe she was the sister of Moses who is referred to in Exodus 2.

In that chapter, baby Moses is put in a basket and left along the banks of the Nile River where the Pharaoh's daughter discovered him. Exodus 2:4 tells of Moses' sister looking on from a distance while verse 7 reports that his sister told the Pharaoh's daughter she would call a nurse from among the Hebrew women to nurse the infant.

Exodus 15:20 is the first mention of Miriam by name. Notes in the NKJV Study Bible suggest "most likely she is the one intended in the story of Moses' birth" in chapter 2 of Exodus. If this were the case, Miriam would have to be older than her two brothers. In other words, Moses would have been the youngest of the three. According to Exodus 7:7, Aaron was three years older than Moses. The verse states Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to the Pharaoh in a bid to get approval for the Israelites to leave Egypt.

Answer: True

Miriam was afflicted with leprosy, but ended up being cured and re-instated into the Israelite camp. According to Scripture, the grumbling about her brother Moses' selection of an Ethiopian woman as his wife caused serious problems for Miriam. Numbers 12:5 tells of Miriam and Aaron stepping forward and the LORD coming down in a pillar of cloud.

When the pillar of the cloud had disappeared, Aaron noticed his sister Miriam was leprous and "as white as snow". After Moses pleaded to God to cure Miriam of her leprosy, she was healed and reinstated into the Israelite camp after a seven-day absence.

Answer: False

There appears to be no clear indication in Scripture as to whether Miriam was married and had children. As discussed in Question Six, Moses was married to an unnamed Ethiopian woman. The marriage is believed to have taken place after the death of Moses' first wife, Zipporah. According to 1 Chronicles 23:15, Moses was the father of Gershom and Eliezer. Meanwhile, Aaron was married to Elisheba and they were the parents of Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, as per Exodus 6:23.

Although many people assume there is no mention in Scripture of Miriam being married, Wikipedia offers this information: "Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews states that Miriam was the wife of Hur, who is mentioned in Exodus as a close companion of Moses." Wikipedia goes on to state another school of thought is that Miriam was Hur's mother, based on the belief that Ephrath, the wife of Caleb, was another name for Miriam. (1 Chronicles 2:19).

Regardless of the views expressed at Wikipedia being true or not, the answer to this question has to be false. There is no indication in Scripture that Miriam was married to Eleazer and they had five daughters.

Answer: True

True. According to Numbers 20:1, Miriam died and was buried at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin. And true to form, shortly after her death, the Israelites were on the brink of staging a full-scale rebellion against Moses. Once again, the Israelites were upset over the lack of water.

No details are given about Miriam's death. Notes in the NKJV Study Bible speculate her death took place during the 40th year of the sojourn of the Israelites.

Answer: True

True. However, not much is known about her as she is mentioned in passing reference. According to 1 Chronicles 4:17, the other Miriam was one of the descendants of Judah.

Incidentally, the name Mary is an English version of the name Miriam, according to the Web site Christiananswers.net.

Answer: False

There is no mention of Miriam in the New Testament. Her brothers Moses and Aaron are mentioned a number of times in the NIV Bible. In fact, Moses' name appears more than 80 times and according to Mathew 17:3, Mark 9:4, and Luke 9:30, he made an appearance on Mount Transfiguration with Jesus and Elijah. Meanwhile, Aaron's name appears five times in the New Testament.