Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, and the daughter of Amram and Jochebed. Her story is told in the books of Exodus and Numbers in the Hebrew Bible. Miriam’s name could also be derived from the Egyptian words myr “beloved.”
Miriam enabled the infant Moses to be nursed by his own mother after being adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh. She later became a prophetess in her own right. She led the Israelite women in celebrating the Israelites‘ successful march through the sea, in a verse still sung by millions of Jews today. However, when she and Aaron criticized Moses for marrying a Cushite woman, she was punished by God with a dreaded skin disease. Shortly after her death years later, the Israelites lost faith in Moses and Aaron, causing Moses himself to sin by striking the rock at Kadesh.
Miriam is the only woman in history known to have been allowed to enter the sacred Tabernacle courtyard. She was honored in verse by the prophet Micah, who placed her on a par with Moses and Aaron, and her name was particularly popular among Jews in New Testament times, where it is rendered as “Mary.”
In rabbinical tradition, Miriam was the teacher and leader of Israelite women; as a girl she convinced her parents to risk having additional children despite Pharaoh’s policy of murdering Israelite baby boys; and it was her merit that caused the miraculous, life-giving waters of the desert to flow for her people.