What Does the Bible Say about Jochebed (Moses' Mother)?
Share
God has a special love in His heart for mothers. They are the ones who accept the responsibility of bearing God’s children. They care for them and prepare them to step into God’s plan for their lives. As we see throughout the Bible, women like Sarah, Hannah, Rebekah, Leah and Rachel, Elizabeth, and Mary the mother of Jesus are rightly acknowledged for their courage, faithfulness, and obedience. However, if we’re going to talk about heroic mothers who trusted God through difficult times, acted in faith and courage, and put everything on the line for their children, the story of Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, must be told.
What Do We Know about Jochebed’s Background and Family?
Most people are familiar with the life and legacy of Moses, the man who would eventually lead God’s people out Egypt, part the Red Sea, and receive the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. However, Moses’ journey to becoming God’s chosen leader of Israel began with the faith and courage of his mother, Jochebed.
What we know of Moses’ mother comes from the early chapters of the book of Exodus. There, the Bible tells us that Jochebed, whose name means “Jehovah is glory," was a daughter of Levi and had married a man named Amram, who was also from the tribe of Levi (see Exodus 2:1; 6:20; Numbers 26:59). Other than his name and tribal heritage, not much is known about Amran, who lived to the age of hundred and thirty-seven and likely died in Egypt.
For context, Jochebed and Amran’s ancestor Levi was the third son of Jacob (Genesis 29:34), who was eventually renamed Israel by God in Genesis 32 (Genesis 32:28; 35:10).
Like his older brother Simeon, Levi had a reputation for violence. In fact, it was Levi and Simeon who avenged their sister Dinah by slaughtering the family and looting the village of the man who had previously defiled her (Genesis 34).
Levi had also participated in selling their younger brother Joseph to a caravan of Ishmaelites heading to Egypt and then told his father his younger brother had been killed by a wild beast (Genesis 37:18-36).
Though Levi, like his brothers, would eventually be rescued and redeemed by Joseph, on his deathbed, Jacob prophesied over his sons Simeon and Levi, “their swords are implements of violence. Let my soul not enter into their council; let not my glory be united with their assembly; because in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they lamed oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will disperse them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” (Genesis 49:5-7)
The fact that Moses, the chosen deliverer of God’s people, was a descendent of Levi speaks to God’s ability to use and redeem people from even the most unsavory family history. It is also worth noting that God would later set apart the descendants of Levi, under Aaron’s leadership, to serve as priests to the nation of Israel. Despite the many sins of the sons of Israel, God was faithful to His covenant with Jacob.
Near the end of his life, Jacob (Israel) took his sons and their families to Egypt to live during a time of famine. In Egypt, Jacob’s son Joseph had survived and become the second most important ruler after Pharaoh. Even after their deaths, the descendants of Israel thrived and multiplied greatly (Exodus 1:7).
However, a new king eventually came to power who did not know Joseph or remember Israel’s contribution to Egypt (Exodus 1:8). Fearing the growing size and strength of the Hebrew people, the pharaoh moved to enslave the children of Israel and sentenced them to forced labor, making their lives “bitter” (Exodus 1:9-14). Yet the children of Israel were still fruitful and multiplied.
Years later, a new Egyptian pharaoh would implement a terrifying new policy in an attempt to control the Hebrew population. Here, the stage was set for Moses’ dramatic birth.
What Does the Bible Say about Jochebed’s Courage and Faith?
Fearing the Hebrew slaves might eventually outnumber and overwhelm their Egyptian masters, the Pharoah commanded that every Hebrew baby boy be killed at birth. This edict was initially given to the Hebrew midwives (Exodus 1:15-21). However, when the midwives who feared God refused to carry out the king’s wicked decree, the Pharoah expanded his proclamation to the entire nation. “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22).
In this time of unspeakable suffering and grief for the mothers of Israel, Jochebed, a daughter of Levi, conceived and gave birth to a baby boy (Exodus 2:2).
How many Hebrew boys had already been murdered by the Egyptians, we do not know. Nevertheless, the Bible tells us that for three months Jochebed hid her son. We can only imagine the lengths she went to conceal her newborn’s existence from those who wished to end his life.
As a slave, escape to a safer land was not an option. Every cry had to be silenced. Every dirty diaper had to be carefully disposed of. Jochebed’s older children Aaron and Miriam had to be thoroughly coached on what to say if questioned. Jochebed’s movements had to be carefully planned out and her alibis carefully constructed to explain any absence or unusual behavior. And with the king ordering the entire nation to participate in the murder of the Hebrew babies, Jochebed had to wonder which, if any, of her neighbors could be trusted to keep their secret.
However, through all the turmoil, stress, and uncertainty, Jochebed remained vigilant and committed to protecting her son. But after three months of living in the shadows, Jochebed knew that she could not hide her son forever. As the boy grew, so would his needs. The growing risk of being caught or found also put everyone in Jochebed’s house at risk, including her two other children.
Therefore, the Bible tells us that, “when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile” (Exodus 2:3). Here, Jochebed’s faith and courage were on full display.
Not only did Jochebed risk discovery by carrying Moses to the banks of the Nile, she had to construct a basket that would keep her baby afloat, warm, and safe on the water. However, unlike some cinematic adaptations, Jochebed did not throw caution to the wind and abandon her baby to the river current. In the hands of God, she knew that her son was not helpless. And yet, the Bible makes clear that Jochebed’s actions were courageous but also strategic.
In faith, Jochebed hid her baby in a basket on the banks of the Nile near the royal bathing place. This was probably not an accident. Putting her son in the basket was done in the hope that he would eventually be found. She also instructed her daughter Miriam to stand at a distance and watch to see what happened (Exodus 2:4). At the very least, Jochebed seemed to have expected that something good might happen. In the end, Jochebed’s faith was rewarded.
Sometime after she had placed Moses on the river, the Bible tells us that, “the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, ‘this is one of the Hebrews’ children’” (Exodus 2:5-6).
Of course, the princess could have immediately handed the child over to the Egyptian guards, having identified him as a Hebrew baby. However, by the grace of God, she was moved by compassion and willing to defy her father’s decree to rescue the Hebrew baby. In doing so, she had safeguarded the life of God’s chosen leader. Soon after, Moses would enter the palace to be raised by the daughter of the Pharaoh. However, Jochebed’s influence over her son’s life would not end at the Nile.
What is Jochebed’s Legacy as a Mother?
After the daughter of the Pharaoh found Moses on the river, the Bible tells us that Moses’ sister Miriam stepped forward and cleverly offered to help find a nurse to feed and care for the baby. Had Miriam been instructed to do this by her mother? Was this the plan all along? We do not know. In any case, Miriam returned to her own mother, relaying the miraculous news of Moses’ rescue.
When Jochebed returned to the Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess told her to, “take the child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages.” (Exodus 2:9)
There are a few details in this verse that reveal the extent of Jochebed’s faith and the favor that God would show her and her family as a result. God did not just protect Moses in preparing him to lead His people out of bondage; He protected and provided for his mother.
For example:
- As a baby, Moses would eventually be given back to Jochebed to be nursed and cared for by his own mother. The emotional and physical connection that forms between a nursing mother and her child has been well-documented throughout history. In His grace, God restored that connection to Jochebed.
- The Pharoah’s daughter also offered to pay Jochebed for her services as a “wet nurse.” Jochebed, therefore, returned home having saved her son but also securing unexpected financial provision for her family.
- By agreeing to help nurse the new “son” of the Pharaoh’s daughter, Jochebed had secured physical and legal protection for her and her family as the temporary guardian and wet nurse for the Pharoah’s “grandson."
- In nursing Moses, Jochebed was also given additional time to spend with her son. Even though Moses would eventually be brought to the palace as he got older, Moses received love, wisdom, and instruction from his mother in his formative years. In that time, he was given an all-important spiritual foundation by his mother that would shape and prepare him for the years to come.
So what is Jochebed’s legacy as a mother?
One could argue that it is the success and spiritual leadership of her children that set her apart as a great mother. However, the author of Hebrews also includes Jochebed (and Amram) in the list of the heroes of the faith, citing their courage and faith. He writes, “by faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s edict” (Hebrews 12:23).
From slavery to the death decree that put Moses’ life at risk, the circumstances surrounding Jochebed’s life were as terrible and foreboding as can be imagined. Most parents will hopefully never have to face the same hardships that Jochebed endured during the life of her son. But be it war, sickness, family turmoil, political upheaval, or economic hardship, the spiritual lessons from Jochebed’s example are the same.
Faith overcame even her greatest fears as a parent. And as a mother, Jochebed chose life for her son over death and hope over despair. More importantly, she chose God’s plan for her children above even her own desires, giving her the strength to do the most difficult thing a mother could do for her son: let him go. However, in surrendering Moses to God’s power, protection, provision, and plan, Jochebed played an integral role in God’s plan for her family and the nation.
Further Reading
Who Was Jochebed in the Bible?
5 Characteristics We Can Learn from Jochebed, Moses’ Courageous Mother
Top 10 Most Influential Mothers in the Bible
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
