Tellings of the birth of Moses story often overlook Jochebed's role in the story from beginning to end. Pharaoh only decreed against the males, but you have decreed against both the males and the females [since all the Israelites withdrew from their wives, neither sons nor daughters would come into the world]. Jochebed was able to use her amazing creativity and courage to solve an impossible problem. He treasures up His bright designs She was the only surviving child of Thutmose I . As she raised her children, she implanted the seeds of hope in their hearts. Some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Septuagint state that Jochebed was Amram's father's cousin, and others state that she was Amram's cousin. To adopt a child means someone has to give up a child. This is a clear example of how God gives, provides, and answers more abundantly than we can even ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). According to another interpretation, Jochebed named her son Tov or Tobiah, which was what his parents called him until Pharaohs daughter renamed him Moses (BT Sotah 12a). After Pharaohs daughter discovered the baby, Jochebed became his nurse. The gay analogy must include a marriage relationship not universally accepted in scripture. Have an update or correction? He lived 137 years. We must put on the shield of faith and believe that God is sending the trials to prepare us for even greater blessings. Jochebed, his biological mother, loved her son and kept him as long as she could after he was born. Rabbi (Judah ha-Nasi) would sit and expound, and the public was drowsing. In addition to her given name, the Torah she-bi-khetav: Lit. Their lives were made bitter with hard service in mortar and brick, and in many kinds of field labor. His older sister, Miriam (15 years his senior), and his brother 3-year old Aaron were safe from Pharaoh's edict since they were born before it was enacted. Yes, Miriam is watching from a distant place on the shore, but she, his mother had to let him go. Lockyer's All the Women of the Bible - Jochebed. During the few years, Jochebed was permitted to nurse her son, she would have had a profound influence upon him. 2. At any rate, Pharaohs daughter was determined to give protection to the baby. Faith is not testing God by jumping off bridges or having oneself deliberately bitten by rattlesnakes. I wonder. Hold on to things and people with open hands, like Jochebed they know when to release and. Maybe its something material, a possession you have? On the foundation of Gods promise not to destroy Israel, and on the basis of a four hundred year servitudethe parents of Moses believed that God would preserve him and use him for His purpose. To save her son's, Moses' life, she made a wooden . For some, poverty comes, friends disappoint, children bring heartaches, and feelings of inferiority torment. The wording she placed it among the reeds (ibid.) Epstein-Melamed], p. 6; BT Sotah 12a; Pesikta Rabbati 43). Moses, the great law-giver, was born within what would soon be seen as an unlawful union. His possessions were all gone; his body was racked with pain; his wife added to the pain of his soul by urging him to curse God and cry out for death. Jochebeds name means, Honor of God or God is glory. The Apostle Paul exhorts in Ephesians 6 that the Christian should have on the belt of truth and the coat of righteousness; our feet should be shod with the readiness of the gospel of peace. Although she is mentioned only twice in the Bible, Jochebed has a lasting place as one of the immortal mothers of Israel. She also was a descendant of Levi, born among the Levites in the land of Egypt. According to another interpretation, Jochebed named her son "Tov" or "Tobiah," which was what his parents called him until Pharaoh's daughter renamed him "Moses" (BT Sotah 12a). She is noted among the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. It is our Christian duty to walk by faith in this world, until we come to live by sight in the eternal world. Has He brought something to your mind that youve been holding on to and need to let go? In the Old Testament this is the name of the mother of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. His three friends sat for seven days and simply shook their heads in despair without saying a word (Job 2:13). What to do? Answering:, "Jochebed couldn't have gone to the Holy land because God killed off the entire generation that left Egypt except for Caleb and Joshua as punishment. Jochebed is most known as the mother of Moses. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. Jochebed took baby Moses and placed him in an ark of bulrushes. Moses' sister, Miriam, accompanied her younger brother when he led the Hebrew people in their escape from slavery in Egypt. Moses's mother, a Levite, later identified as Jochebed (Numbers 26:59), had married a Levite and given birth to a son. I have called Thee Abba Father; [6] In the Apocryphal Testament of Levi, it is stated that Jochebed was born, as a daughter of Levi, when Levi was 64 years old. Surely the words of Hebrews 11:6, Without faith it is impossible to please God, include the concept of sustaining faith. We must remember that the young woman was the kings daughter, and that the hatred for the Israelites was bred into the very core of her being. 11:23 By faith Moses was hidden by, Amram and Jochebed, his parents, for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was a beautiful child and were not afraid of the kings order. Jack Zavada is a writer who covers the Bible, theology, and other Christianity topics. ), wife of Amram and mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (Num. When Jacob went to stay with his uncle Laban, he met one of his daughters, Rachel, and loved her. . Can you imagine what it would be like to give away your 3-month-old baby, not knowing what would happen to him? Some, its likely all of us, know the pain of giving up, letting go of someone, or something precious to you: A relationship, a job, a dream. 4. Numbers 26:58-59 These are the families of the Levitesand Kohath begot Amram. Learn Religions, Sep. 4, 2021, learnreligions.com/jochebed-mother-of-moses-701165. Jochebed was a human being just as all of us are today. 26:59; cf. God returned her child to her, thus granting her a part of her reward for keeping alive the Hebrew boys (Ex. One wonders why Pharaohs daughter wanted to bathe herself in the dirty waters of the Nile River. My story: Brents diabetes (Another stone of remembrance), When my youngest son was 5 years old he started loosing weight, was always thirsty and he started wetting the bed at night though hed been potty trained for a long time. Lit. In all three explanations, Jochebed immediately comprehended that her son was meant for greatness and she discerned that he possessed unique spiritual qualities. Here then, we have Moses' own parents, living in a relationship clearly condemned as abomination under the Law of Moses. The story of Moses' mother is found in chapter two of Exodus, Exodus 6:20, and Numbers 26:59. Jochebed's name is given various allegorical interpretations;[12][13] the Leviticus Rabbah identifies her as the person named in the Book of Chronicles as Jehudijah,[14] by arguing that the name should be interpreted as meaning the Jewess, in reference to her founding the Jewish nation by disobeying the Pharaoh's order to dispose of the firstborn males. She was born at the very moment when Jacob and his entire household, Levi and his wife among them, had just entered the gates of Egypt. She was curious, what could be in it? 'YHWH is glory') was a daughter of Levi[1] and mother of Miriam, Aaron and Moses. Yet the Bible reveals that Levi and his son and grandson all had very long life spans. Exodus 2:1 A man from the household of Levi married a woman who was a descendant of Levi. Perhaps he learned what it means to have faith in God and fearless courage. The Rabbis deduced from this that righteous women are not subject to the decree passed on Eve (that is, the curse of in pain shall you bear children [Gen. 3:16] does not apply to them) (BT Sotah 12a). No details are given concerning her life. But this couple worshipped Jehovah God. Jochebed is identified by some rabbis in the Talmud with Shiphrah, one of the midwives described by the book of Exodus as being ordered by Pharaoh to kill the new-born male children. The basket fell in the hands of the Pharaoh's daughter who was bathing in the river. 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. The latest date that Jochebed could have been born was 2385 AM (1620 BC), the year her father died. He went from her arms to the arms of Pharaohs daughter. He plants His footsteps in the sea, Exodus 1:14 concludes by saying, All their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. But even this severe treatment did not serve to decrease the number of the Children of Israel, and so in desperation, the Egyptian king decreed that every male child born to the Hebrews should be cast into the river. Devorah and her husband Maurice Sklar ran Maurice Sklar Ministries, founded by Maurice Sklar, which has about 10,000 followers online. [4] The story continues with Moses, who grew up to become the leader of the Exodus, leading his people out of the land of Egypt. To save her son's life, she waterproofed a basket and put the child in it. Perhaps there would be some shade too from the sun in the reeds. She caulked it with bitumen and pitch (Ex. Answer: According to tradition, Yocheved lived long enough to enter the Holy Land with the Israelites.. Jochebed's name means, "Honor of God" or "God is glory". With Thy favorloss is gain. Thats a significant fact. They had faith that God had made promises to them through Abraham that they would be a nation, a people with land, their land. This sequence omits a lengthy period of time, for Jochebed and Amram already had two other children (Aaron and Miriam) when Moses was born. For unknown reasons, Terah never made it to their destination but stopped and settled in Harran instead. The Pharaoh's daughter agreed and so Miriam called her mother, who was appointed to take care of him. Jochebed's story is the third part of our eight-week Bible study - Ordinary Parents with Extraordinary Faith. There is nothing immoral in marrying your aunt unless the Torah explicitly forbids it. The "sister" of the child (presumed to be Miriam), who had come forward, suggested to find her a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Exodus 2:10 When the child grew older she brought him to Pharaohs daughter, and he became her son. Instead of letting him be murdered, she took a basket and coated the bottom with tar, to make it waterproof. What if she kept the baby at home until eventually the authorities came? . ): I will pay your wages, from which the Rabbis learned of Jochebeds righteousness: like the righteous, she merited the return of what she had lost (her son), and in addition received reward for it (for having nursed him) (Ex. She appears briefly in The Prince of Egypt under the name 'Yocheved', voiced by (and resembling) Israeli vocalist Ofra Haza. We have seen now the trial of Jochebeds faith, the foundation of her faith, the exercise of her faith, and the response to her faith. I imagine he learned about the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the Great Covenantal promises made to the Hebrews. With tears running down his cheek, he appealed to an older brother for help, and the brother picked up big stones and threw them out toward the boat. (NET). 2:7, BT Sotah 12b). She was the daughter of a Levite, and she married Amram, another Levite ( Exodus 2:1 ). [29] The significance of this comparison is understood to spring from the affinity of Arabic folklore for Hebrew traditions.[29]. Zavada, Jack. Jochebed had faith in God's protection of her baby. There was the risk of him being discovered, or washed away in an errant wave. Exodus 2:2b She hid him for 3 months. Why did she do this? Is a writer who covers the Bible reveals that Levi and his son and grandson all very... Christianity topics Religions, Sep. 4, 2021, learnreligions.com/jochebed-mother-of-moses-701165 us are today and mother Miriam... 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