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Zipporah Wife of Moses - Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2
Author: Marek Halter

In the time of the Pharaoh, a tiny infant is rescued from the banks of the Red Sea. She is named Zipporah, “the little bird.” Although she is a Cushite by birth—one of the black people of the lands to the south—she is taken in by Jethro, high priest and sage of the Midianites. Jethro adores his adopted daughter, and she i... more »s an honored member of his family. But the blackness of Zipporah’s skin sets her apart and will decide her future: she will be an outsider, and the men of her adopted tribe will not want her as a wife.

But when she becomes a young woman, Zipporah’s destiny changes forever. While drawing water at a well one day, she meets a handsome young man, a stranger. Like her, he is an outsider, a foreigner. His name is Moses. A Hebrew raised in the house of the Pharaoh, Moses is a fugitive, forced to flee his homeland of Egypt after murdering one of the Pharaoh’s cruel overseers. Zipporah knows almost immediately that this man will be the husband and partner she never thought she would have.

At first Moses wants nothing more than a peaceful life with the Midianites. He is content in his role as Zipporah’s lover and the honorary son of Jethro the sage. But Zipporah refuses to let Moses forget his past or turn away from what she believes to be his true destiny. Although he is the love of her life and the father of her children, Zipporah won’t marry Moses until he agrees to return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh and free his people. When God reveals himself to Moses in the burning bush, his words echo Zipporah’s, and Moses returns to Egypt with Zipporah by his side. A passionate lover and a generous, thoughtful wife, Zipporah becomes the guiding force in Moses’ struggle. With the help of her powerful father, she teaches the rebellious young man about the rule of law and the force of justice. Because of Zipporah—the outsider, the black-skinned woman—Moses becomes a defender of the oppressed and a liberator of the enslaved.

A woman ahead of her time, Zipporah leaps from the pages of this remarkable novel. Bold, independent, and a true survivor, she is a captivating heroine, and her world of deserts, temples, and ancient wonders is a fitting backdrop to an epic tale.

As Zipporah and Moses came closer to the queen of cities, the road parted company with the riverbank, and they found themselves facing a vast expanse of palm groves between the river and the hills and ocher cliffs, beyond which the desert began. And there, finally, rising into the blue sky, were the temples of Pharaoh.

There were about ten of them, the largest surrounded by smaller ones, as if they had given birth to them. Seeming to grow out of the rock, the tops reaching up into the sky, they defied belief, so fantastically huge that beside them, even the cliffs seemed mere hillocks. Their faces shimmered in the heat like oil against the transparent sky. The neatly laid brick road leading to them burned in the sun.

Zipporah remembered Moses’ words about the splendor of Pharaoh’s temples, but their hugeness surpassed anything she could have imagined. Nothing here was on a human scale. Not even the stone monsters with the heads of men and the bodies of lions that stood guard before them.

Farther on, beneath great pyramids, they could see vast building sites. Colonnades and needles of white limestone and walls carved and painted with thousands of figures rose on the fronts of palaces hollowed out of the cliffs. There were unfinished monsters without wings, and statues without heads. In places, the roads became mere dirt paths, with bricks piled at the sides. And everywhere, the slaves swarmed, working, carrying, hammering, creating a din that rose into the heat of the day and was carried on the air from the farthest reaches of the building sites. —FROM ZIPPORAH

Look for the Reader’s Group Guide at the back of this book.

From the Hardcover edition.

ISBN-13: 9781400052806
ISBN-10: 1400052807
Publication Date: 4/25/2006
Pages: 288
Rating:

Currently 3.6/5 Stars.

3.6 stars, based on 52 ratings

Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Julie W. (cloverluv) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 2/11/2008 + 129 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

One word comes to mind when I think about this book...boring.

I'm sorry, but I could just not get into this book. I like the idea, a telling of the story of Moses through the eyes of his wife. I like the idea, I like the story of Moses...but I don't know. This version just seemed watered down and ridiculous.

The author went on and on about how Zipporah (sometimes spelled Tzippora in some versions of the Bible) is half black and how "no man would marry her" because of it. It makes Moses seem like he has either some sort of fetish or is sorry for her because of that.

Also, do we really need three whole paragraphs about Moses's buttocks glistening in the water while he skinny-dips? I got it, the guy has a good body, let's move on.

This book was just an obvious display of a man trying unsuccessfully to write from a woman's point of view. I know many male authors who have done this well...unfortunately Mr. Halter is not one of them.

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Elisha D. (TomeRaider) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 10/3/2006 + 20 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

Great book! Wonderful 2nd book in the Canaan series. I highly recommend it.

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Ken H. (kejo9465) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 10/8/2006 + 29 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

VERY GOOD READ.

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Joanne F. (cghs) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 6/20/2006 + 10 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

If you like stories about woman of the Bible you will love this one. It brings Zipporah, the wife of Moses to life.

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Audrey P. (youngharris94) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 7/9/2006 + 60 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

An excellent novel! Very enjoyable and very sad. I was unable to put it down. I think the title of the novel says all you need to know about the plot without giving away the "surprises" of the nuances Halter weaves in with the Biblical ties and historical/geological connections! Amazingly realistic.

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Brenna B. (demiducky25) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 9/9/2010 + 161 more book reviews

This book is the second in Marek Halter's Canaan Trilogy, which breathes new life into women of the Bible. This particular book focuses on Zipporah, the wife of Moses. Unlike the main protagonist of the first book, "Sarah," of whom I was familiar with, I honestly wasn't even aware of the fact that Moses even had a wife, or if I did know that at one point, I certainly had since forgotten. But after reading this book, I will not be able to forget Zipporah. Like Moses, she was rescued from the banks of a body of water and raised by someone who was not her birth family. Even though Zipporah was well-loved by her adoptive father and most of her siblings (one sister being the exception as you will see if you read the book), she knows that she will forever be an outsider because of her dark skin. One day, she and two of her sisters are attacked at the well and a stranger named Moses saves them. Zipporah is instantly attracted to this stranger, recognizing him from a dream she once had, and she knows that he is destined for greatness, even though he's struggling to figure out who he really is after escaping Egypt. As the old saying goes "behind every great man, there's a great woman," and in this story it is the woman behind the great man who seems to be the voice of wisdom, pushing her husband to do what will eventually be his destiny, even as he tries to resist it. As I said with my review on "Sarah," yes there are some liberties taken to fill in gaps from the Bible & since none of us were there, we will never know what actually happened, but it's an interesting take on a typically male-centric story from the Old Testament.

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JoLaine D. (queenmother) reviewed Zipporah, Wife of Moses (Canaan Trilogy, Bk 2) on 12/3/2008 + 110 more book reviews

Wonderful book to read,Halter is one of my favorit authors. Very touching book,Zipporah was a great woman. My favorit of the three books.

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