שמות, פרק ד׳, פסוק כ״ה

In a moment of sudden, life-threatening danger on the journey to Egypt, Zipporah realizes that God's wrath is directed at Moses for failing to circumcise their son. With quick resourcefulness, she takes immediate action to save her husband's life, performing a dramatic act steeped in symbolism and devotion. She grasps a sharp stone to serve as a scalpel [אבן עזרא, רשב״ם, בכור שור]. The choice of stone over a metal blade reflects the ancient conservatism surrounding sacred rituals; even after the advent of metal tools, people maintained the ancestral custom of using stone for holy acts [קאסוטו, שד״ל, אם למקרא]. Moses himself was unable to perform the rite because he was weakened and incapacitated by the divine encounter [חזקוני, בכור שור]. It is also possible that Moses had intended to wait until he could use an iron tool, which is the ideal way to fulfill the Commandment, but Zipporah recognized the immediate mortal danger and rushed to use the available stone to ensure his immediate rescue [חתם סופר].

The child had remained uncircumcised either because of his tender age, the harsh conditions of travel, or a prior arrangement between Moses and Jethro regarding which children would undergo the rite [שטיינזלץ, רש״ר הירש]. By cutting the foreskin, Zipporah intended for the blood of the Commandment to serve as an atonement, actively saving her husband from the death penalty hanging over him [העמק דבר]. Her decisive action establishes the legal precedent that a woman is fully qualified to perform a circumcision [תורה תמימה].

Following the circumcision, Zipporah brings the foreskin or its blood into contact with feet. The primary approach among commentators is that she cast it at the feet of Moses [רש״י, אבן עזרא, רשב״ם]. In this context, the blood functioned as a protective offering, much like the blood of the Passover sacrifice placed on the doorposts in Egypt to ward off destruction [אבן עזרא, חזקוני, קאסוטו]. Other perspectives suggest she touched the blood to the angel's feet to signal that the sin was rectified and the divine mission completed [רשב״ם, תורה תמימה], or to the baby's feet to finalize the ritual [תורה תמימה, חזקוני]. Conversely, this detail might simply describe a natural consequence of the event: lacking experience, Zipporah was unable to stem the heavy bleeding, which naturally flowed down to the child's feet [רלב״ג].

Zipporah then utters a cryptic declaration about a bridegroom of blood, a phrase understood in various ways depending on whom she was addressing. Some suggest she was speaking to the infant, as a child is traditionally called a bridegroom on the day of his circumcision [ריב״א, ביאור יש״ר]. In this view, she either cries out that the child is the reason her husband was nearly killed [רש״י, אבן עזרא הקצר], or she declares that the child is given to her as a bridegroom whose spilled blood serves as an atonement for her husband [העמק דבר].

However, the more widespread understanding is that Zipporah was addressing Moses. Some interpret her words as an expression of guilt, acknowledging that her own delays had bound Moses to death [רש״ר הירש], or that the danger befell him simply because he married a Midianite woman [הטור הארוך, חזקוני]. Others view her declaration as a joyous affirmation of life and renewal: through the blood of the circumcision, she saved his life, and he is now returned to her anew, a bridegroom acquired through blood [קאסוטו, ספורנו, נתינה לגר, שטיינזלץ]. Finally, a unique astrological perspective notes that Jethro's family practiced stargazing. Zipporah may have believed Moses was under the fatal influence of Mars, the planet governing blood. By applying the blood of the Commandment, she sought to neutralize this cosmic decree, declaring him wedded to the holy blood to appease the destructive astrological force [מלבי״ם].