- “Look...look at your people Moses. They are free.”
- ―Tzipporah.
Tzipporah is the wife of Moses and the deuteragonist in the DreamWorks film, The Prince of Egypt. She was voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer, who did both her speaking and singing voice.
Background[]
Personality[]
Tzipporah is independent, kind, determined, and brave. She loves her family fiercely but can come off teasing at times. Regardless, she will go to great lengths to protect them (and herself) when threatened. When Tzipporah is captured at the start of the film, she is hostile and aggressive. But later in the film, when Moses gets to know her, her hostility melts away into sarcasm and playfulness. She proves to be a loyal, loving wife to Moses, a kind sister-in-law to Moses' siblings (Tzipporah is shown to be especially close with Moses' sister Miriam). Like her Father and Moses, she seemed to be a woman who has faith in God.
Physical Appearance[]
Tzipporah is an extremely attractive and beautiful young woman of average height. She is dark-skinned, has high cheekbones, and a thin nose. Her curly, dark hair is waist length. She wears it tied back in a thick ponytail with four small braids on the sides of her face. Like the rest of her family, she has honey brown, almost golden eyes. Her outfit consists of a sleeveless teal shirt with a matching skirt and light blue sash. She wears a variety of gold jewelry, including armbands and earrings.
Role in the film[]
Tzipporah is first seen in the film as a present to Rameses II (assumedly a concubine) from Hotep and Huy, who call her a "desert flower". Rameses approaches her to "examine" her and she tries to bite him. When Rameses amends his statement and calls her a "desert cobra", Moses jokes about him "not being much of a snake charmer". Rameses jokingly gives her to Moses, who resists as he pushes him towards her. Tzipporah remarks that she won't be given to anyone and calls Moses a "pampered palace brat". She then retorts that they don't deserve any respect and breaks free from Hotep in an effort to escape. Moses grabs a hold of the rope she is tied to and orders her to hold still. However, Tzipporah struggles and demands that he let go, which he does, making her fall into a small pool behind her. Rameses has Tzipporah sent to Moses's room and appoints him as Royal Chief Architect. The Queen looks on, ashamed of how Moses has humiliated Tzipporah, which makes Moses regret what he did. He goes to his room to find Tzipporah and apologize, but finds a servant tied up instead. After discovering Tzipporah sneaking away with a camel, Moses helps her escape by distracting two guards. He silently follows her to a well and watches her ride off into the distance.
After Tzipporah returns home to Midian, she finds her sisters "trying to get [a] funny man out of the well". At first believing her sisters to be playing pretend, she jokes that she never heard "that one" before. But she is soon shocked to hear someone cry out from the bottom of the well. Tzipporah begins to pull him up with a rope but discovers that this "funny man" is actually Moses. She spitefully lets go of the rope and saunters away, leading one younger sister to explain to the others how that sort of behavior is exactly why Tzipporah will never get married. As Jethro welcomes Moses, Tzipporah sarcastically tells him that Jethro is the high priest of Midian as well as her father, alluding to how she is the royalty now and he is the one with no identity. That night at the banquet, Tzipporah is incredulous and confused when she hears Moses admit that he has done nothing honorable in his life. As time passes, Moses remains in Midian and becomes close to Tzipporah. Eventually, the two fall in love and are married by Jethro. After Moses confronts God, he runs to Tzipporah and tells her of the encounter and of his plan to set his people free. Although she is frightened for Moses and at first questions how "one man" can change anything, she eventually supports his mission and decides to travel with him to Egypt.
Together, Tzipporah and Moses confront Rameses (who has succeeded his father Seti as Pharaoh) in his palace. She stands by his side as Moses performs his first miracle: turning his staff into a cobra. Pharaoh, however, does not believe the "trick" and sends the couple away, only doubling the slaves' workload.
As Tzipporah and Moses leave the palace and make their way towards the Hebrew encampment, Moses is knocked down into a mud pit by a handful of mud thrown by one of the angered slaves. Tzipporah rushes to his side and defends him against the accusations of his brother, Aaron. Moses, however, agrees with his brother, admitting how he was narrow-minded and oblivious to the plight of the Hebrews. When Moses sees Rameses on the Nile, he approaches the river and tells Ramsese to let his people go. When Ramsese send his soldiers to bring Moses to him Tzipporah attemps to defend him but Aaron holds her back. However, God instructs Moses to take his staff and with it, turns its waters into blood. Tzipporah runs to its banks only to look in awe along with Aaron and Miriam.
Tzipporah is later seen after the destruction of the plagues, full of hope after hearing that the Hebrews had been freed by Pharaoh. She, Moses, Miriam, and Aaron lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and to the Red Sea. After Moses parts the waters, she helps get people through the pass.
After the waters collapse and engulf Pharaoh's army, Tzipporah embraces Moses and then Miriam. She is seen walking with Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. She stops Moses as they go, telling him, "Look. Look at your people, Moses. They are free."
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Her name can also be spelled Zipporah.
- Her name is derived from the Hebrew word for "bird".
- In the Bible, she was the oldest of seven daughters rather than just four daughters.
- In the original story in the book of Exodus, she and Moses had two sons before coming to Egypt, but Moses sent her and them back to Jethro before going on alone.
- It is possible that Moses and Tzipporah did have their sons already, because, in the Biblical story, Jethro brings them to Moses after the Exodus, along with Zipporah.
