Mir'iam. (rebellion). The sister of Moses, was the eldest of that sacred family; and she first appears, probably as a young girl, watching her infant brother's cradle in the Nile, Exodus 2:4, and suggesting her mother as a nurse. Exodus 2:7.
After the crossing of the Red Sea, "Miriam, the prophetess," is her acknowledged title. Exodus 15:20. The prophetic power showed itself in her, under the same form as that which it assumed, in the days of Samuel and David, - poetry, accompanied with music and processions. Exodus 15:1-19.
She took the lead, with Aaron, in the complaint against Moses, for his marriage with a Cushite, Numbers 12:1-2, and for this, was attacked with leprosy. This stroke and its removal, which took place at Hazeroth, form the last public event of Miriam's life. Numbers 12:1-15. She died toward the close of the wanderings at Kadesh, and was buried there. Numbers 20:1. (B.C. about 1452).