You are a bridegroom of blood to me! This expression probably comes
from some ancient ritual or formula now unknown to us. Literally, it means “You
are a marriage-relative of bloodshed to me.” The word chathan, translated as bridegroom
or “husband,” is a general term referring to a person who becomes related to
another family through marriage, and so it is sometimes translated as
“son-in-law.” If it is pronounced chothen,
it means “one who has a son-in-law,” or “father-in-law.” In the Arabic language
chathan means “to circumcise,” and chothen means “circumciser.” This is why
some scholars believe that here it means “one who is circumcised.” In this
sense the mother is speaking to her son, not her husband, and saying “You are a
blood-circumcised one with regard to me.”
The basic idea seems to be that
of a relationship (through marriage) that in some way is brought about by
blood. One may be able to say “Through this bloodshed you are now
marriage-related to me.” If this is not possible or desirable, the translator
will have to choose Moses or the son as the one to whom Zipporah speaks. If we
choose the son, we may say “Through this bloodshed you are now my circumcised
child”; but if it is Moses, one may say “I have shed this blood, so now you
[Moses] are related through marriage to me.”
Most translations prefer the
second choice, that Zipporah is speaking to Moses. In either case, a footnote
can explain that the term may mean either “a blood-circumcised one” in
reference to the son, or “a bridegroom/husband of blood” in reference to Moses.
But since there is little evidence to suggest that Zipporah was angry or
disgusted, the negative connotation of “bloody husband” (kjv) should be
avoided. (Noel D. Osborn and Howard A. Hatton, A Handbook on Exodus
[UBS Handbook Series; New York: United Bible Societies, 1999], 99)
