Tag: Miriam

Adapted from, She, Volume 2/pp 57-58

Read: Exodus 2

“She had a Specific Task, for which the LORD had a Great Purpose.”

RECAP: During the Hebrews’ period of enslavement in Egypt, Pharaoh decreed that all male Hebrew babies should be killed (Exodus 1:15–16). When that plan did not work, he issued another decree to throw all Hebrew baby boys into the river (Exodus 1:22—2:4). A mother named Jochebed, however, kept her baby son hidden for three months. “But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile” (Exodus 2:3). The baby’s name was Moses, and his mother’s faith and courage in saving her son would be pivotal in shaping world history.

Today, we explore another woman who was pivotal in the story of baby Moses. We only know her as the daughter of Pharaoh, ironically, the same Pharaoh who issued the decree to throw all Hebrew baby boys into the river. While we do not learn much about her in this passage of Exodus, we do know that she was a princess. We also know that God used her for a specific task and a great purpose. Ironically, that purpose was to rescue baby Moses from the Nile.

As explained by Bibleref.com: “The daughter of Pharaoh’s identity is uncertain, though there are possible candidates to fit this description. One is Hatshepsut, daughter of Thutmose I. She would have been the appropriate age at the time of Moses’ birth. Her historical account also portrays her as a kind princess who could fit the description found in this biblical passage. Another possibility is Sobekneferu, the daughter of Amenemhat III. Amenemhat had no surviving sons, and Sobekneferu had no children, making her more likely to adopt a child. Whoever this daughter was, her attitude is clearly much different than her father’s”, who, as previously mentioned “commanded all infant sons to be thrown into the Nile River to die.”

Bibleref.com goes on to explain that “This royal woman comes to the Nile to bathe, a common practice in her time. Her servant girls would have been present. Moses’ mother also likely knew the location. She probably placed Moses there in hopes he would be cared for by this woman or one of the other women who bathed there. Though this verse says Pharaoh’s daughter “saw the basket” and had a servant get it, her very first notice might have been hearing him cry (Exodus 2:6).” And this is where we learn of her compassion.

It is worth noting again the irony of the story that unfolds here. Moses’ mother, in order to somehow protect her son from the edict Pharaoh had given, places him in a basket, prepared for the water, and leaves her daughter to watch and see what happens to him. Pharaoh’s daughter spots the basket, has her maids bring it to her, and despite her father’s edict, she has compassion on the child when he cries. Her compassion results in her adopting Moses; this presented an immediate need to provide a means for him to be fed and cared for in the early years. Of course, God had perfectly orchestrated everything. Miriam(the sister of Moses), who had been planted there by her mother, speaks up, offering to get a Hebrew nursemaid for Pharaoh’s daughter, who sends her to do so, which resulted in Moses’ own mother, was blessed by God to not only nurse and care for her son during those early years, but was also paid to do so.

“And the child grew and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and she said, ‘Because I drew him out of the water.’”

Exodus 2:10

As our study guide for today points out, “God saw the plan for Moses long before he was placed in the ark of bulrushes.” He also chose who would find him, who would nurse him, and who would be his adopted mother. (It should be noted that while some would say Pharaoh’s daughter converted to Judaism and is numbered among God’s children, there is no Scripture that I could find that makes that clear.)