ESFJ Case Study- Prophetess Miriam, Moses’ older sister.

ESFJ Case Study-Prophetess Miram, Moses’ Older Sister.

This group of individuals is known as “caregivers” or “consuls” as they are genuine individuals all around and care about their needs but most importantly that of others. Miriam is a brilliant example of this as shall be discussed in this article. Our modern-day ESFJ celebrities include Larry King, Jessica Alba Selena Gomez, Tyra Banks, High Jackman, Vin Diesel, and Prince Harry of Wales.

ESFJ BREAKDOWN.

1.] EXTROVERTED

They derive energy from people and like to share their energy with others as well. They are among the most empathetic in the Myer’s Briggs spectrum and their understanding stemming mostly from within is usually spread to others.

2.] SENSING.

They are very observative and read social cues quite easily. They enjoy visual, tactile, and auditory stimulation.

3.] FEELING.

They are people-oriented and read people’s feelings very easily. They are good at reading rooms and influencing them by spreading their feelings to others.

4.] JUDGING.

They are great at keeping tabs on what they have learned. They are smart at learning from other people’s mistakes as well and make sure that they keep themselves from doing the same. They create patterns from their mistakes and judge future scenarios with what they have learned in the past, which plays a key role in organizing their way through life.

Seeing as we have understood the general breakdown, let’s get straight to the traits.

POSITIVE ESFJ TRAITS.

1.) Dependable and Loyal.

ESFJs are dependable because they have no qualms about giving of themselves. They are kind and care for others and most importantly in regards to this trait, they are obedient. As a young child, Miriam was asked by her mother to keep watch over Moses as he was put in a basket to escape death. Pharaoh had ordered the killing of the newborns and Moses was put in a basket of papyrus and placed in the Nile where he was left floating away. Miriam kept watch of the basket and reported back to the mother; how she saw the Queen of Egypt picking it up and claiming Moses as her gift from the goddess of the Nile, who was considered the goddess of fertility. Since then, she kept tabs on Moses even without him knowing. She played a crucial role in helping Moses find his identity as an Israelite, and his actions from there culminated in the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Moreover, she showed her dedication to God by remaining celibate all her life, a sacrifice, since at the time the Israelites were rapidly increasing in population. She became a Prophetess for God and held the forte with Aaron every time Moses went for days to commune with God.

2.) Kind and Empathetic.

ESFJs are known for their kindness and “people-pleasing” tendencies. It’s not that they are push-overs, healthy ESFJ genuinely care about others. Miriam took care of her people. As a child, she took care of Moses until he landed in the hands of the Queen. As a slave child, her role was mostly feeding the men and giving them water when they tired. As a Prophetess, she gave consul to high officials such as Aaron and controlled the masses with her empathy when they were unruly, especially in the absence of Moses and they were getting overwhelmed by the harsh conditions in the wilderness. Except for certain instances where she focused more on pleasing people than pleasing God (and she got punished for it by God), her kindness was a great tool and blessing for others to have in such a hard time as then.

3.) Conscientious and Diligent.

“If you do good, you do for yourself,

If you do bad, you do for yourself.”

This is an African saying that is directly translated from Swahili (Ukitenda mema, wajitendea. Ukitenda mabaya, wajitendea), however, it is exactly how ESFJ’s live their life. They are diligent with every work that they are given. Even when they don’t like it, they will still give their all in the job that they do. This is a rare trait to find in anyone nowadays and Miriam lived her life with this trait as a trademark. She started early, not many children would have waited to see what would happen to Moses as he was trailing away in the Nile. Most children would have been distracted, but she wasn’t. She led the women in song and praise of God when they were out of Egypt. She also trained and taught the women of Israel in the ways of God (what Jews call Torah). She took her role of Prophetess and Women leader very seriously, even giving up her sexual desires and marriage altogether for that purpose.

4.) Organized and Practical.

ESFJs are like organizing everything in their life so that they can get the most out of life. They plan events and work diligently towards what they want. Not much was seen in the Bible about Miriam regarding this trait, but a lot was implied. First, she was a leader of women. To be a leader, you cannot be disordered otherwise people will not trust you enough to lead them. She was also a Prophetess of God, our God is a God of order and gives us duties according to our abilities. God cannot choose a disordered lady as a Prophetess.

5.) Outgoing.

This probably comes from their extroverted nature. ESFJ’s like outdoor activities and like it more so when they share them with someone who they have built an emotional connection with. They like to enjoy life and all it has to give. Unfortunately, we don’t get much of Miriam doing this in the Bible, except for the fact that she enjoyed leading women in praise and song for the Lord in the wilderness.

ESFJ NEGATIVE TRAITS.

1.) Judgmental.

When they are in their worst moods or jump to conclusions about someone, it is easy for them to be highly critical and judgemental of others. Take Miriam for example, as an unmarried woman full of chastity, it was easy for her to backbite Moses with Aaron about how Moses had committed a disdainful act by marrying a Cushite woman. God being God decided to punish Miriam by sending leprosy to her. Had it not been for Moses’ urgent prayer after he heard about what happened, the leprosy would have not taken a week to clear. A week of being a leper was punishment enough for such a vice as she had to stay away from the community until she was ritually clean enough to return to the community. Her harsh judgment on a man that God called “Humble” to Miriam directly just goes to show that she jumped to conclusions without truly having the full picture of the man that was her brother. [Numbers 12].

2.) Overly sensitive to criticism.

ESFJs generally do not take negative criticism so well. They might resent you for a time for simply telling them something that they do not want to hear about themselves. It’s almost hilarious if you think about it, how it is easy for them to give judgment but hard for them to take it. Miriam couldn’t defend herself from God when she spoke out against Moses. Nobody can. Wise people with knowledge of God’s mighty power cannot allow you. But I wonder how she would have reacted if she was getting lip-lashing from a meager mortal on the same issue.

3.) Need for Appreciation.

There’s a term for this. It’s called being needy. ESFJs can become needy when they feel that they have not received the positive feedback that they were expecting from doing something nice for other people. It is almost as though they seek validation for their actions. If they do not receive it from you, they will find some other way to make themselves feel better. This can result in spiteful actions such as what Miriam and Aaron were involved in. Besides judging Moses for marrying a Cushite wife, Miriam and Aaron were also jealous of the veneration Moses was receiving for having been in the presence of God.

[Numbers 12:1- “Has the Lord spoken only to Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t He also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this ]. Miriam had dedicated her life to God and it showed in her actions. She was celibate all through her life and chose to serve the living God through leadership and worship. Her giving off such a statement can be assumed to be a sign of jealousy of the approval that she wasn’t getting for all her sacrifice yet Moses was. Being blind to the burden that Moses had to carry all through as the top leader.

4.) They may neglect their own needs to support others.

We have established that ESFJs are selfless. Sometimes a little too selfless that they may forget their selves in the process. They may neglect to care for their health, their wealth, and their diet all for the sake of showing loyalty and dependability. The problem with this is that they can show this too much too soon and people may be too overwhelmed by it. Once they notice that they are love bombing, they will double down on it, which creates strain in the relationship. I found no example of this concerning Miriam, but it is a common trait observed in most ESFJs. Need for appreciation may be a drive for this but mostly it’s just them showing you how much they care (or crave a connection with you). It’s a negative trait but it barely ever comes from a bad place.

5.) They care what you think.

In this day and age, this is not a trait that anyone should want to possess. People can be nasty, and they overindulge in their own opinions about everything and everyone. This world is full of loud warriors and rebels without actual causes and at some point, you will be the cause instigating their rebellion. ESFJs struggle with the fact that they know that they shouldn’t care about what people think about them but cannot get out of their heads about what close people in their lives think about them. This results in excessive self-sacrificing actions to remain on good terms in the minds of their beloved. That is why taking criticism is so hard and that is why they have such high standards for others as they have of themselves; hence can easily become critical of others who do not get to their level of expectations either in giving or appreciation. There was no exact place in the Bible that mentioned Miriam doing this perse, but her critical statements of others’ actions implied this.