Also by this author: Miriam's Song
Published by Revell on March 2, 2021
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Biblical
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Miriam and her people have prayed for deliverance from the cruel tyranny of Egypt for generations. She believes her brother is the long-awaited answer to their pleas. But how can the exiled prince-turned-shepherd Moses stand against the most powerful man in the world?
During the past few years, I have read a good amount of biblical retellings of the story of Miriam, the sister of Moses. In spring 2021, Jill Eileen Smith will join this group with her newest book, Miriam’s Song, which starts at the time Moses is born and goes until the time Miriam herself dies as an old woman.
Sometimes when you read multiple stories about the same Bible character, it can get a little monotonous but with Miriam’s Song, there were many things that made me think throughout the story.
For example, normally we assume that Pharaoh’s daughter was a grown woman who had not borne children yet when she found Moses in the Nile river. But in Miriam’s Song, the princess was only seven years old. Truthfully, we don’t know the age of the princess but this was the first story that made her a child.
Also in most stories, Miriam is written as a prophetess of God, which the Bible did state she was. Normally we read that has she was completely devoted to God and never married. The Bible doesn’t state if Miriam actually did marry but since it was the custom of women during that time to marry and bear sons, this story lets Miriam get married and have children. And one of her children in her old age was none other than Caleb, who along with Joshua would be spared and allowed to enter the promised land. Again, there is no biblical proof that Caleb was Miriam’s son, but it certainly was interesting to ponder about.
The Bible is silent about the years Moses spent in the palace of Pharaoh up until he killed the Egyptian. So in Miriam’s Song, he was friendly with his Hebrew family and even tried to sneak away to visit them at times. This was another liberty taken by the author, but since they did raise him until he was about four to five years old, he probably had a very strong bond still with them.
I really love when I read a story that makes me think deeper on a passage of scripture. I always wondered why Goshen suffered the first few plagues with the Egyptians and I haven’t been able to find a solid answer so far. In Miriam’s Song, it is described that it was a punishment on the Hebrews because they had idols among them. And it wasn’t until they rid themselves of all the idols in Goshen and prayed for repentance, that the plagues only touched the Egyptians.
Overall I really loved the story and the writing style of Jill Eileen Smith. She is a master storyteller of Bible stories and really keeps the reader captivated. I think the only complaint is that with almost every chapter, you are skipping ahead a few years in time. Sometimes that is hard to keep up with and I don’t normally like when stories do that. The liberties she took as an author were honestly not too far fetched and really made me think deeper on the scriptures. The only one I couldn’t see myself was the princess being seven years old. I personally think she was a full grown woman.
This is a great new release and I think anyone who loves biblical fiction will enjoy this retelling.