for a still clearer revelation of the
nearness of God to man, and for the possibility of an absolute union
between the Creator and His creature.

It was on his way into Egypt, with his wife and children, that a
mysterious interposition forced Zipporah reluctantly and tardily to
circumcise her son.

The meaning of this strange episode lies perhaps below the surface, but
very near it. Danger in some form, probably that of sickness, pressed
Moses hard, and he recognised in it the displeasure of his God. The
form of the narrative leads us to suppose that he had no previous
consciousness of guilt, and had now to infer the nature of his offence
without any explicit announcement, just as we infer it from what
follows.

If so, he discerned his transgression when trouble awoke his conscience;
and so did his wife Zipporah. Yet her resistance to the circumcision of
their younger son was so tenacious, with such difficulty was it overcome
by her husband's peril or by his command, that her tardy performance of
the rite was accompanied by an insulting action and a bitter taunt. As
she submitted, the Lord "let him go"; but we may perhaps conclude that
the grievance continued to rankle, from the repetition of her gibe, "So
she said, A bridegroom of blood art thou because of the circumcision."
The words mean, "We are betrothed again in blood," and might of
themselves admit a gentler, and even a tender significance; as if, in
the sacrifice of a strong prejudice for her husband's sake, she felt a
revival of "the kindness of her youth, the love of her espousals." For
nothing removes the film from the surface of a true affection, and makes
the heart aware how bright it is, so well as a great sacrifice, frankly
offered for the sake of love.

But such a rendering is excluded by the action which went with her
words, and they must be explained as meaning, This is the kind of
husband I have wedded: these are our espousals. With such an utterance
she fades almost entirely out of the story: it does not even tell how
she drew back to her father; and thenceforth all we know of her is that
she rejoined Moses only when the fame of his victory over Amalek had
gone abroad.

Their union seems to have been an ill-assorted or at least an
unprosperous one. In the tender hour when their firstborn was to be
named, the bitter sense of loneliness had continued to be nearer to the
heart of Moses than the glad new consciousness of paternity, and he
said, "I