After many hardships, Moses was used by God as his servant to free the Hebrew people from slavery and lead them to the edge of the promised land. (NIV). Another proof that "bare" in Numbers 26:59 cannot indicate an immediate father-son or father-daughter relationship is found by considering that this verse states Jochebed was a daughter of Levi. Probably about 3 years. Answer Moses' mother, Jochebed, was a Hebrew woman living in slavery in Egypt before the exodus. 'YHWH is glory') was a daughter of Levi[1] and mother of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. In Ex., ii, 10, a derivation from the Hebrew Mashah (to draw) is implied. I felt like cold water had been poured all over me. Faith is not testing God by jumping off bridges or having oneself deliberately bitten by rattlesnakes. teaches that Jochebed put the ark in a protected place, where bushes and reeds grew. By faith, Jochebed and her husband Amram hid their son Moses even against the king of Egypts edict that all Hebrew boys should be put to death at birth. 2 tells of the birth of Moses. Part of her reward was an extremely long life, living to witness the positions of leadership held by her children, and she was even one of the Israelites who entered the land of Canaan. Reason was Pharaohs edict. Perhaps God might use him to fulfill the Promise. He went from her arms to the arms of Pharaohs daughter. Exodus 6:20 And Amram took his aunt Jochebed to him for a wife. Also not to the tribe of Levi. That Jochebed could still be bearing children at the age of forty-eight might seem unlikely by modern standards. Yet the Bible reveals that Levi and his son and grandson all had very long life spans. "the written Torah." "Jochebed: Midrash and Aggadah." However, when Amram married his aunt, this was before the Torah had been goven on Mount Sinai, soits laws didn't apply yet. When Moses was born, Jochebed saw (Ex. Zavada, Jack. "Jochebed: Mother of Moses." She was convinced that her son would be used for an important work. She did not sit down and brood about the current situation in Egypt, and say, If this child is to be Israels deliverer, God will somehow spare him and deliver him; theres nothing we can do; so well throw him in the river, and if God wants him, He can save him. She knew that God expects us to do our part, and that He will not do for us what we are able to do for ourselves. (Viewed on March 1, 2023) . He had a string tied to the boat and was holding the string in his handbut the string slipped from his fingers, and a breeze carried the boat beyond his reach. The Egyptians believed that the waters of the Nile possessed the ability to impart fruitfulness and to prolong life.4 Dr. Thomas Constable, While her attendants were walking up and down the banks keeping undesirable people and animals away, she saw the basket. So Jochebed got her own child back, at least for a while. Verbs tell us that she herself opened it and saw Moses and at that very moment he cried. This king observed that the Hebrew people were growing in numbers, and fearing that they might soon outnumber the Egyptians themselves, the new Pharaoh began seeking ways of reducing the number of Hebrews and keeping them subject to Egyptian authority. God saw to it that the baby should weep at this very moment. She caulked it with bitumen and pitch (Ex. Growing up, we wanted him to have all the normal experiences of childhood, sleepovers, soccer, basketball, baseball, and football, field trips, then dates, eventually college and marriage: without me. Jochebed had such a deep abiding faith in the trustworthiness of Gods Word that it drove her to act. According to the Bible, Jochebed (/jkbd/; Biblical Hebrew: , romanized:Yee, lit. Of never-failing skill, THE BIRTH OF THE DELIVERER. The Pharaoh had decreed that all their baby boys were to be thrown into the Nile, because he feared that they might become too powerful. To protect Moses from Pharaoh's command that every male Hebrew child be killed, she placed him in an ark of bulrushes on the river. All her choices were difficult. Terah coordinated the journey, intending to go to this new land, but stopped in the city of Haran along the way, where he died at the age of 205. . The Rabbis say that when the daughter of Pharaoh asked of Jochebed: Take [helikhi] this child and nurse it for me (Ex. Further study: We learn that secret by reading Hebrews 11:23, which says, By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the kings commandment. Moses was hid in his home for three months, and then in the reeds by the river, not because Jochebed could not bear to see her child perish, or because she loved him too much to cast him into the river. She is described as the daughter of Levi, born to him in Egypt (Num. Moses was tov, beautiful, fine, good, and not ordinary. What some call fate or luck or it just happened is really Gods providential care. Just so, the Son of Righteousness is still shining, although in the dark tunnels of our trials and afflictions, sometimes we fail to see Him. Joseph had saved the country from a famine, but eventually, he was forgotten by the Egyptian rulers, the Pharaohs. Here is part of the irony of the passage: What was perceived by many to be a womanly weakness compassion for a baby is a strong enough emotion to prompt the (this) woman to defy the orders of Pharaoh. God, who is the great Architect of our destinies, allows nothing to come into our lives except that which is for our ultimate good and blessing (Romans 8:28). Jochebed: Levi's daughter and Amram's wife. Thus Jochebed nursed her son until he was old enough and brought him to the Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son. And down through the ages mothers have gone to great measures that required courage to guide and protect their children. Consequently, Miriam came and offered to the daughter of Pharaoh her mother Jochebed, who was a Hebrew (Ex. Jochebed was surrounded by grieving mothers. How did Jochebed help Moses become a Hebrew? Thats how God does things. She named him Moses. According to one midrashic view, Shiphrah and Puah were mother and daughter Jochebed and Miriam, while another states that they were daughter-in-law and mother-in-lawJochebed and Elisheba daughter of Amminadab. The midrash apparently understands builds her house in a broad sense, because Jochebeds wisdom in the raising of her own children led to the building and firm establishment of the entire people of Israel. Surely this was a time of great trial for Jochebed, but instead of manifesting fear and despair, she seemed to have confidence and hope. It was not uncommon for Pharaohs and other Egyptians to bathe ceremonially in the sacred Nile River, as many Indians do today in the Ganges River. There are several data points we have to nail down in order to properly defend the Bible 's assertion that 600,000 men left Egypt with Moses in the Exodus. Moses said: The mouth that will speak with God will not nurse something impure [the milk of non-Jews]. Maybe its a relationship that is toxic and you need to make a hard choice. 2. Gods providence was seeing to it that Jochebed was being paid from royal funds to look after her own child. Accordingly, Prov. Can you imagine what it would be like to give away your 3-month-old baby, not knowing what would happen to him? [5] Jochebed is also called Amram's father's sister in the Masoretic text of Exodus 6:20, but ancient translations differ in this. 78). So she made a little miniature Nile boat for her baby.2) She put the child in the basket among the reeds near the bank of the river. Subscribe our channel: http://bit.ly/1MeurZHBeginners Bible - Encounter a time in ancient Egypt when Baby Moses was plucked from the reeds of the Nile River . Imagine the emotions, the feelings Jochebed had as she placed him down and backed away. When the plan to have the midwives kill all the male newborns failed, Pharaoh gave the order to throw all baby boys into the Nile, drown them. Amram and Jochebed committed Moses to the ark, and the ark would come between Moses and death. Yet another tradition explains that she shiprah her actions before God (i.e., performed good deeds that were pleasing to the Lord). 4041). While he was still in Egypt, Moses killed an Egyptian guard who was assaulting a Hebrew slave, and he hid the body. Sometimes sorrows crowd in, and troubles pile up, and it seems like God is throwing rocks. Not only was Moses spared, but his older sister (later identified as Miriam in Exodus 15:20), who was standing somewhere within sight, offered the Egyptian princess her services. Amram and Jochebed had a daughter, Miriam, and two sons, Aaron and Moses. When he saw that Pharaoh had decreed that all the boys be cast into the Nile, he proclaimed: Are we laboring in vain? (we give birth to sons who will eventually be killed), and so he divorced his wife. This sequence omits a lengthy period of time, for Jochebed and Amram already had two other children (Aaron and Miriam) when Moses was born. When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months. At that same time, Pharaoh's daughter was bathing in the river. She is only mentioned twice by name in Scripture, but she is the mother of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. The question of Jochebeds kinship to Amram arises from the statement in Ex. 4. Faith and trust in God knows that God often works behind the scenes of our lives. Reply Paul Irvine, CA April 5, 2009 Yes, Miriam is watching from a distant place on the shore, but she, his mother had to let him go. Jochebed, his biological mother, loved her son and kept him as long as she could after he was born. In all three explanations, Jochebed immediately comprehended that her son was meant for greatness and she discerned that he possessed unique spiritual qualities. This word conveys the possibility that Jochebed sensed something was special about her new baby boy. A desperate measure. Jacob, his sons, and their families had gone into Egypt to live because there was a severe famine in their land, and they were able to find food in Egypt. One of the arguments advanced by Moses was his mothers suffering. [23] According to biblical scholars, the Torah's genealogy for Levi's descendants, is actually an aetiological myth reflecting the fact that there were four different groups among the Levites the Gershonites, Kohathites, Merarites, and Aaronids;[24] Aaron the eponymous ancestor of the Aaronids couldn't be portrayed as a brother to Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, as the narrative about the birth of Moses (brother of Aaron), which textual scholars attribute to the earlier Elohist source, mentions only that both his parents were Levites (without identifying their names). Miriam, the baby's sister, watched to see what would happen. Jochebed was paid to nurse and care for the boy, her own son until he grew. 6:20). [24], It has been proposed by a number of Biblical scholars that Ichabod and Jacob may ultimately be linguistic corruptions of Jochebed, and possibly once have referred to the same individual.[26]. And her influence is felt to this day by the followers of the God of the Bible as we read about the great things that her son did for the people of God of his time. When she no longer could keep him, she gave him away to save his life. After all she did have a husband and two other children to consider and take care of.