9. Miriam
Miriam is the one sister of a much more famous Biblical figure: Moses, savior of the Israelites. When her mother, Jochebed, another strong and crafty Biblical woman, sends her son Moses in a rush basket down the river Miriam hides in the reeds and watches her brother being found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. She had the presence of mind to jump out of the weeds and offer to help find a nurse to care for the baby, thus preventing the Pharaoh’s daughter from simply leaving Moses in the water.
When Moses leads the Israelites to freedom through the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of the Egyptian army, Miriam broke into a song of praise, singing “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Miriam is named a leader of the Israelites by God in Micah 6:4, along with Moses and their brother Aaron. From the earliest days of her life, she was a clever and faithful woman who dutifully served the Israelites.