This post is the fifth of Faithlogue’s 2023 Summer Series: “The Women of the Exodus.” Click here to receive each week’s post in your inbox!
Last week we learned about Miriam’s role in returning Moses to Jochebed. Her decisive actions were possible because of the compassion of today’s heroine—the daughter of Pharoah.
According to Exodus 2:5-10, Pharoah’s daughter discovered Jochebed’s tiny ark among the reeds as she bathed in the Nile. She asked one of her attendants to bring the basket to her. Then, when she opened the top, she discovered a crying baby boy.
Pharoah’s daughter recognized the infant as a Hebrew baby. The NIV translation of Exodus 2:6 states that Pharoah’s daughter “felt sorry” for the child. The Hebrew term for this emotion is hamal, meaning to spare, pity, or have compassion.[2] In other words, Pharoah’s daughter’s sorrow for the baby boy went beyond mere feeling to a call to action.
The instant Pharoah’s daughter opened the tiny ark, Miriam emerged from her hiding place and asked, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” (Exodus 2:7). Pharoah’s daughter agreed, so Miriam found Jochebed. Pharoah’s daughter then entreated Jochebed to nurse the baby in return for payment (Exodus 2:9).
What a wonderful moment for Jochebed! She was reunited with her son and given a second chance to nurse him with compensation that surely benefited her family.
After the boy grew, Jochebed brought him back to Pharoah’s daughter, who adopted and raised him as her son. According to Exodus 2:10, Pharoah’s daughter gave the boy an Egyptian name meaning “I drew him out of the water.” In Hebrew, this name translates to Moses, or mose, meaning “to draw out.”[1]
According to Stephen’s recitation in Acts, “Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action” (7:22). However, Moses also knew his Hebrew heritage (Acts 7:23). Although Moses would falter in power and wander in a sheep pasture for decades before he was ready to lead God’s people, surely God used the Egyptian knowledge Moses gained as a boy in powerful ways for the benefit of the Israelites.
In contrast to her father’s opposition to God from his increasingly hard heart, Pharoah’s daughter cooperated with God from a compassionate heart for His people. Because of this, God worked through Pharoah’s daughter to rescue Moses.
This same child she drew from the Nile would one day draw God’s people away from the Nile through the Red Sea toward the land God promised them. Like the midwives, Jochebed, and Miriam before her, Pharoah’s daughter also unwittingly participated in God’s rescue plans for the Israelites.
As we will learn next week, Pharoah’s daughter is not the only foreign woman to rescue Moses. Therefore, her influence reminds us that just as God prepared His people for rescue from Egypt, He also began to prepare the hearts of those who did not know Him. In that way, Pharoah’s daughter represents us—foreigners who would come to share in the promised inheritance of God’s people through the compassionate coming of Christ Jesus.
© 2023 Lori Myers Berry
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Pharoah’s daughter gave Moses his name, raising him out of the water into life out of her compassion for him. Her actions shadow Jesus’s greater compassion for us when He gave His life to adopt and rescue us from eternal death. Because of His compassion, Jesus gave everyone the right to be named the children of God.
With that in mind, I would like to point you to the ministry of Hosanna Wong. I had the privilege of hearing Hosanna speak today at a conference, and she also shared a spoken word about God’s names for us. Following is the YouTube version of the single she shared entitled, “I Have a New Name.” May it remind you of God’s compassionate heart for you. Enjoy!
[1] James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1996), s.v. “H4872.”
[2] Strong, s.v. “H2550.”