We know him as the great leader, the lawgiver, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt. But what about his birth, his infancy, those perilous first months? The Book of Jasher, an ancient text that expands on stories from the Hebrew Bible, gives us a beautiful, detailed account.
It all starts with Miriam. Yes, Moses' sister, a prophetess in her own right. According to the Book of Jasher, "the spirit of God was upon Miriam," and she prophesied that her parents would have a son who would save Israel from Egypt. Imagine the courage it took to utter those words, to hold onto that hope in the face of such oppression!
Her father, Amram, hearing this prophecy, remarries his wife Jochebed, whom he had sent away because of Pharaoh’s decree to kill all male Hebrew children. They reunite, and soon Jochebed conceives. The Book of Jasher tells us that she gave birth after only seven months. And when he was born, their house was filled with "great light as of the light of the sun and moon." A sign, perhaps, of the extraordinary destiny that awaited him.
But joy quickly turned to fear. The Egyptians, growing ever more paranoid, were determined to wipe out the Hebrew population. The text paints a grim picture: Egyptian women would bring their babies to Hebrew homes, and when those babies cried, the hidden Hebrew infants would cry in response, revealing their presence. A terrifying game of cat and mouse, where the stakes were life and death.
For three months, Jochebed hid her son. But the risk was too great. In desperation, she makes a tevah, an “ark” or basket, out of bulrushes, waterproofed with slime and pitch. Sound familiar? It's the same word used for Noah's Ark. She places her baby inside and sets it afloat on the Nile, entrusting him to God's care.
Miriam, ever watchful, positions herself nearby to see what will become of her little brother and her prophecy. Her presence is a testament to her faith, her courage, and her unwavering belief in a better future.
Then comes Pharaoh's daughter, Bathia. She goes to bathe in the river and spots the ark. Upon opening it, she finds the baby and is immediately moved by his cries. "This is one of the Hebrew children," she declares, defying her own father's cruel edict.
But here’s where the story gets even more interesting. According to Jasher, all the Egyptian women nearby try to nurse the baby, but he refuses. It was "from the Lord," the text explains, "in order to restore him to his mother's breast." A divine intervention, ensuring that Moses would be raised by his own family.
And who should be conveniently nearby? Miriam! She approaches Bathia and offers to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Bathia agrees, and Miriam, of course, brings back Jochebed. Talk about a miraculous turn of events! Jochebed is even paid two bits of silver daily for her services.
For two years, Jochebed nurses and raises her son, instilling in him, we can imagine, the values and traditions of his people. Then, when he is old enough, she brings him to Bathia, who adopts him as her own son and names him Moses, explaining, "Because I drew him out of the water."
But that's not the only name he had! The Book of Jasher lists a whole host of names given to Moses by different family members, each reflecting their own experience and hope connected to his birth. Amram calls him Chabar, because it was for him that he reunited with his wife. Jochebed calls him Jekuthiel, because she hoped for him and God restored him to her. Miriam calls him Jered, because she went down after him to the river. Aaron calls him Abi Zanuch, because his father left his mother and returned to her on his account. Kehath, Amram's father, calls him Abigdor, because on his account did God repair the breach of the house of Jacob. The nurse calls him Abi Socho, saying, In his tabernacle was he hidden for three months. And all Israel calls him Shemaiah, son of Nethanel, for they said, In his days has God heard their cries and rescued them from their oppressors.
Imagine the significance of these names, each a thread in the tapestry of his identity. They speak to the hope, the fear, the faith, and the love that surrounded his birth.
And so, Moses grows up in Pharaoh's house, among the king's children, yet forever connected to his Hebrew roots. His destiny, shaped by prophecy, courage, and divine intervention, is just beginning.
Isn't it amazing how much richness and depth these ancient texts can add to stories we think we already know? The Book of Jasher reminds us that even the most extraordinary lives often begin in the most ordinary, and precarious, of circumstances. And that even in the darkest of times, hope, faith, and a little bit of divine intervention can make all the difference.
Sacred-texts Apocrypha Index Previous Next Book of Jasher, Chapter 68 1 And it was at that time the spirit of God was upon Miriam the daughter of Amram the sister of Aaron, and she went forth and prophesied about the house, saying, Behold a son will be born unto us from my father and mother this time, and he will save Israel from the hands of Egypt. 2 And when Amram heard the words of his daughter, he went and took his wife back to the house, after he had driven her away at the time when Pharaoh ordered every male child of the house of Jacob to be thrown into the water. 3 So Amram took Jochebed his wife, three years after he had driven her away, and he came to her and she conceived. 4 And at the end of seven months from her conception she brought forth a son, and the whole house was filled with great light as of the light of the sun and moon at the time of their shining. 5 And when the woman saw the child that it was good and pleasing to the sight, she hid it for three months in an inner room. 6 In those days the Egyptians conspired to destroy all the Hebrews there. 7 And the Egyptian women went to Goshen where the children of Israel were, and they carried their young ones upon their shoulders, their babes who could not yet speak. 8 And in those days, when the women of the children of Israel brought forth, each woman had hidden her son from before the Egyptians, that the Egyptians might not know of their bringing forth, and might not destroy them from the land. 9 And the Egyptian women came to Goshen and their children who could not speak were upon their shoulders, and when an Egyptian woman came into the house of a Hebrew woman her babe began to cry. 10 And when it cried the child that was in the inner room answered it, so the Egyptian women went and told it at the house of Pharaoh. 11 And Pharaoh sent his officers to take the children and slay them; thus did the Egyptians to the Hebrew women all the days. 12 And it was at that time, about three months from Jochebed's concealment of her son, that the thing was known in Pharaoh's house. 13 And the woman hastened to take away her son before the officers came, and she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 14 And his sister Miriam stood afar off to know what would be done to him, and what would become of her words. 15 And God sent forth at that time a terrible heat in the land of Egypt, which burned up the flesh of man like the sun in his circuit, and it greatly oppressed the Egyptians. 16 And all the Egyptians went down to bathe in the river, on account of the consuming heat which burned up their flesh. 17 And Bathia, the daughter of Pharaoh, went also to bathe in the river, owing to the consuming heat, and her maidens walked at the river side, and all the women of Egypt as well. 18 And Bathia lifted up her eyes to the river, and she saw the ark upon the water, and sent her maid to fetch it. 19 And she opened it and saw the child, and behold the babe wept, and she had compassion on him, and she said, This is one of the Hebrew children. 20 And all the women of Egypt walking on the river side desired to give him suck, but he would not suck, for this thing was from the Lord, in order to restore him to his mother's breast. 21 And Miriam his sister was at that time amongst the Egyptian women at the river side, and she saw this thing and she said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and fetch a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? 22 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go, and the young woman went and called the child's mother. 23 And Pharaoh's daughter said to Jochebed, Take this child away and suckle it for me, and I will pay thee thy wages, two bits of silver daily; and the woman took the child and nursed it. 24 And at the end of two years, when the child grew up, she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he was unto her as a son, and she called his name Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water. 25 And Amram his father called his name Chabar, for he said, It was for him that he associated with his wife whom he had turned away. 26 And Jochebed his mother called his name Jekuthiel, Because, she said, I have hoped for him to the Almighty, and God restored him unto me. 27 And Miriam his sister called him Jered, for she descended after him to the river to know what his end would be. 28 And Aaron his brother called his name Abi Zanuch, saying, My father left my mother and returned to her on his account. 29 And Kehath the father of Amram called his name Abigdor, because on his account did God repair the breach of the house of Jacob, that they could no longer throw their male children into the water. 30 And their nurse called him Abi Socho, saying, In his tabernacle was he hidden for three months, on account of the children of Ham. 31 And all Israel called his name Shemaiah, son of Nethanel, for they said, In his days has God heard their cries and rescued them from their oppressors. 32 And Moses was in Pharaoh's house, and was unto Bathia, Pharaoh's daughter, as a son, and Moses grew up amongst the king's children. 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