Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Aaron, the first high priest of the nation of Israel; Moses, who led . Conservative scholars date the "Exodus," a landmark in Israel's history, at 1446 B.C. One of the most stimulating accounts in the Bible, pointing to great faith during trial, is that of Job. One such mother is Jochebed in the Bible. The proving of our faith is planned by God to bring praise and honor and glory to Him in the day when Jesus Christ reveals himself at His Second Coming. 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. He ordered all male Hebrew babies to be killed. She also was a descendant of Levi, born among the Levites in the land of Egypt. 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. At the time when the account opens in Exodus 2, the condition of the Children of Israel was very pitiful. That Jochebed could still be bearing children at the age of forty-eight might seem unlikely by modern standards. And the woman took the child, and nursed it (Exodus 2:9). Jochebed just happened to put Moses in the right spot on the Nile? Doing nothing would have condemned Moses to death at the hands of the Egyptian death squads. Exodus 1:10-14 describes the hardships placed upon the Hebrew people. 2:2) how good [tov] he was. The Rabbis ask what Jochebed saw that was special in her son, on account of which she sought to save him from Pharaohs death decree. It is our Christian duty to walk by faith in this world, until we come to live by sight in the eternal world. The time of darkness is planned by our Heavenly Father to bring praise and glory to Him in the great day when Jesus returns. Did Amram marry his aunt? Faith and trust in God knows that even when God seems silent, He is always working for the good of His children. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. When a womans heart and a babys tears meet, something happens. Further study: Jesus says to us, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:31-32). Jochebed which in Hebrew means: Jehovah is glory both she and her husband were from the tribe of Levi the priestly tribe. Now if Jochebed was Levi's immediate daughter, than she would have been born sometime during Levi's lifetime. According to another midrash, Moses rejected the breasts of the Egyptian women because he said: God will speak with me. An Impossible Problem Solver. 26:59; cf. When Moses was born, Jochebed saw (Ex. Jochebed herself was from the tribe of Levi, and her two sons Aaron and Moses attained the High Priesthood and the scepter of royalty (BT Suspected adulteressSotah 11b). God always honors such faith as theirs. The expected thing for her to do was to have the little boy tilted over into the water. Would he forget me? Years passed. Robert Lehigh, Editor
It was Jochebed's love and devotion to Moses that preserved his life and allowed him to lead the greatest salvation event in Old Testament history. Have an update or correction? Verbs tell us that she herself opened it and saw Moses and at that very moment he cried. The afflictions of life are like driving through a tunnel. Exodus 2:1 A man from the household of Levi married a woman who was a descendant of Levi. Would I ever see him again? After you had given birth, held that baby, nursed, rocked and stayed up all night trying to ease his crying and then to give him up? But soon he noticed that the stones were going beyond the boat and forming huge circular waves in the waterand those waves were bringing his boat toward the shore. (We learn later, in Exodus 6:20, that the father and mother of Moses are named Amram and Jochebed.) Exodus 2:3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch. An additional midrashic explanation of her name is that she smoothed over (shiprah) her daughter Puahs words. The Jews had been in Egypt for 400 years. Rabbah 1:25; for the identification of Jochebed with Shiphrah, see above). Answer Moses' mother, Jochebed, was a Hebrew woman living in slavery in Egypt before the exodus. This kind of marriage between relatives was later forbidden by the law of Moses. Probably about 3 years. Amram and Jochebed still enjoyed a forbidden sexual relationship which produced three famous children, Aaron, Miriam and Moses, Exodus 6:20, 15:20. F. Hebrew 11:23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Born into a Levite family, Moses' natural parents, Jochebed (mother) and Amram (father) reared Moses until he was about 3 months old. Ed, Issue 46, Winter 2023, Women of Influence Surrounding the Life of Moses. The Nile was home to alligators, snakes and all other manner of dangerous animals. His wonders to perform; 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. Im curious, how many here are either adopted, have adopted children or someone in your family has been adopted? [25] Biblical scholars suspect that the Elohist account offers both matrilinial and patrilinial descent from Levites in order to magnify the religious credentials of Moses. To save her son's, Moses' life, she made a wooden . In the New Testament, she is praised for her faith in God.[3]. Although the Torah asserts that Jacobs household who came to Egypt numbered seventy souls, the Rabbis noted that only sixty-nine individuals are listed in Gen. 46. She is identified as Shiphrah, one of the Hebrew midwives who saved the newborn baby boys from Pharaoh. 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. Lit. 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. "Jochebed: Mother of Moses." 2:1), and thus was Amram's paternal aunt (Ex. Imagine the emotions, the feelings Jochebed had as she placed him down and backed away. According to Jewish legend, she is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias. But once again we see God behind the scenes! [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. By letting go and trusting God, an even greater dream was fulfilled. Jochebed was married to Amram. To save her son's life, she waterproofed a basket and put the child in it. I would have wondered if he would be safe? She is described as the daughter of Levi, born to him in Egypt (Num. 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. (Viewed on March 1, 2023) . Moses would become God's servant who would lead Israel out of Egypt. When Moses was about to die, he addressed God and begged for his life. She sent one of her attendants, took it. 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. Jochebed was able to use her amazing creativity and courage to solve an impossible problem. The prophecy of 400 years of bondage (Gen 15:13) was coming to a close. We indeed must marvel at Jobs faith. F. Pharaoh's daughter knew Moses was a Hebrew baby. For unknown reasons, Terah never made it to their destination but stopped and settled in Harran instead. There, Moses stood up for seven young women who were drawing water who were being driven away from the well by shepherds. The next day the Egyptian women would say that I nursed the one who speaks with the Shekhinah [the Divine Presence] (Ex. The child, found by the pharaoh's daughter while bathing, was reared in the Egyptian court. She was the only surviving child of Thutmose I . 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. Life comes with the opportunity to learn the art of Releasing when we have no control, of dealing with extenuating circumstances that we can do nothing about. But in the midst of this trial, she had confidence and hope. Maybe the princess once had a baby of her own who had died, and the sight of baby Moses may have torn the wound open and made it bleed afresh. The latest date that Jochebed could have been born was 2385 AM (1620 BC), the year her father died. Go then, earthly fame and treasure, She had hard problems to face just like you and I have. Yet the Bible reveals that Levi and his son and grandson all had very long life spans. Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. When you let go, when you released that person or that thing, did you feel like part of you was breaking; now there was some new emptiness in your life? Thus Jochebed nursed her son until he was old enough and brought him to the Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son. ), wife of Amram and mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (Num. Yes, Miriam is watching from a distant place on the shore, but she, his mother had to let him go. Gods providence was seeing to it that Jochebed was being paid from royal funds to look after her own child. He wanted her for his wife and was willing to . We are thinking of faith in this lesson, not as saving faith, but as sustaining faith. 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. Where it didnt matter which decision you made, they all seemed risky? [22], Textual scholars attribute the genealogy to the Book of Generations, a hypothetical document originating from a similar religiopolitical group and date to the priestly source. Possible that he was alive during the Exodus, remember Moses was 80 years old then. Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, And she bore to him Aaron and Moses. Jochebed his father's sister. Learn Religions, Sep. 4, 2021, learnreligions.com/jochebed-mother-of-moses-701165. 31 December 1999. According to the masoretic text, Jochebed's family tree is as follows: According to the Septuagint however, Jochebed would be a cousin of Amram or Kohath: Along with the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush and the Ten Commandments: The Quran relates the story of Moses with some added details and slight differences. The parents of Moses believed the simple promise of Gods Word, and the revelation that after 400 years Israel would be delivered, and that their son was a proper childand so, instead of casting baby Moses into the river, they hid him for three months, and then turned him over to God. 4 Then his sister positioned herself some distance away in order to find out what would happen to him. Much of what we know about Jochebed is recorded in the first ten verses of Exodus 2. ): 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. As we journey through life, all of uslike the parents of Moseswill have our faith tried. And after Jochebed did all that she could, she went back homeundoubtedly with a great sense of trust that God would work things out according to His plan. A compilation of the commentary and discussions of the amora'im on the Mishnah. The Apocrypha calls her Tharmuth, other names suggested are Merris, or Bityah, perhaps even the well-known Hatshepsut( HAT shep shoot). If you want to read the first two Bible studies check out: Zarephath Widow Bible Study - A lesson in courage and surrender. Also not to the tribe of Levi. (Amram lived to be 137 years old).". I was in shock. Adoption is a wonderful way to unconditionally love someone but it comes with a painful price tag (as well see in our story). 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. Was born, Jochebed, was a descendant of Levi how did jochebed die born to him in the Tomb of the on... To it that Jochebed could have been born was 2385 AM ( 1620 how did jochebed die ), thus! 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