#jochebed

She is everything.

Okay. I hope I don't get too many more Bible character asks, because I'm honestly not religious , but here goes. I'll cover both mother and daughter together, because one of my favorite pictures of them is a painting of them both.

Favorite thing about them:

Jochebed: Her love, bravery, and cleverness in protecting her son Moses, by technically following the law ("Every Hebrew boy must be thrown into the Nile") but putting him in a water-tight basket and having her daughter watch over him until he's safely found.

Miriam: Her status as a revered female prophet, who protected her brother Moses as a child, who led the Israelites in music and dance at the Red Sea, and who earned the respect and loyalty of her people. I especially like the emphasis that modern Judaism places on her holiness and position of power.

Least favorite thing about them:

Jochebed: That she had to give up her son to save his life, the poor woman, though at least she was able to be his wet nurse.

Miriam: Her possible racism in criticizing Moses "because of his Cushite wife." Although people have tried to find a more sympathetic explanation for that passage: for example, one legend has it that Miriam and Aaron were defending Zipporah, because Moses had separated from her to live a more holy life of celibacy, not objecting to Moses having married her. At any rate, at least she's punished and humbled when God strikes her with a temporary skin disease.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I'm part Jewish.

*I have dark hair, as they must have in that time and place.

*Like Miriam with her tambourine, I believe in the spiritual power of music.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I've never been a slave.

*I'm not devoutly religious.

*I've never lived in Egypt.

Favorite line: From The Prince of Egypt:

Jochebed

"Hush now, my baby

Be still, love, don't cry.

Sleep as you're rocked by the stream.

Sleep and remember

My last lullaby,

So I'll be with you when you dream.

River, o river,

Flow gently for me

Such precious cargo you bear

Do you know somewhere

He can be free?

River, deliver him there"

Miriam

Singing as a child:

"Brother, you're safe now,

And safe may you stay,

For I have a prayer just for you

Grow, baby brother,

Come back someday,

Come and deliver us too"

Encouraging Moses as an adult:

"Moses, hear what I say. I have been a slave all my life. And God has never answered my prayers until now. God saved you from the river, He saved you in all your wanderings, and even now, He saves you from the wrath of Pharaoh. God will not abandon you. So don't you abandon us."

brOTP: Each other, Moses and Aaron.

OTP: For Jochebed, her husband Amram. For Miriam, her own husband, whoever he was, if she did marry (traditions vary).

nOTP: Moses or Aaron.

Random headcanon: For Jochebed, she was born very late in her father Levi's life, so even though her husband Amram was her nephew, she was younger than he was. (I hope nothing in the text contradicts this.) Of course, the very fact that Levi, son of Jacob, was her father is hard to believe, because it would have made her an impossibly elderly mother when Moses was born, even older than Sarah was at Isaac's miraculous birth. But we probably shouldn't worry about whether the timeline is realistic or not – it's innately convoluted and full of contradictions, probably because it consists of multiple sources strung together over centuries.

For Miriam, I like the Jewish legend that a well or a spring followed her throughout the desert, providing water for the Israelites, and that it dried up when she died, which explains why in the Book of Numbers there's suddenly no water after her death.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have one.

Song I associate with them:

For Jochebed:

"Deliver Us" from The Prince of Egypt

For Miriam:

"Miriam's Song" by Debbie Friedman

"When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt

Favorite picture of them:

This painting of mother and daughter together with baby Moses.

Of Jochebed:

These stills from The Prince of Egypt. (The first two also featuring little Miriam, little Aaron, and baby Moses.)

Of Miriam:

This modern painting, because unlike most paintings of Miriam at the Exodus with her tambourine, it shows her correct age. Most classic paintings of the scene make the mistake of portraying her as a young woman, but she was Moses's older sister, which means she would have been in her eighties! Please, artists, let elderly women play music and dance!

From The Prince of Egypt, as a child and as an adult. (Even though the movie does make adult Miriam younger at the Exodus than she would have been, that's okay, because it makes Moses younger too.)

Women of the Bible Moodboards // Jochebed

When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.

(Pictured above: Jochebed with her daughter Miriam and infant son Moses)

A Mother’s Hope

Jochebed is first featured in the book of Exodus, although not specifically named until a genealogy list in Numbers 26. She was the mother of three children, Miriam, Aaron, and Moses, all who grew up to be religious leaders.

According to Exodus, Jochebed had recently given birth to Moses when the Pharaoh announced that all Hebrew male infants must be killed, in an attempt to quell any rebellion against the Egyptians.

Desperate to keep her baby alive, she kept him hidden until it was no longer possible to do so. In perhaps one of the most famous biblical acts, she wove a basket out of papyrus and coated it in tar, making it waterproof, and placed baby Moses in it. This basket served as a little ship as she cast it adrift in the Nile, hoping that her son’s salvation lied somewhere beyond Pharaoh’s reach.

Her daughter Miriam kept an eye on her baby brother. In what can be seen as an act of divine providence, Moses’ savior turned out to be none other than the Pharaoh’s daughter herself, who came across the floating basket while preparing to bathe.

Miriam was clever and approached the princess, offering to find a Hebrew wet nurse. The princess agreed, adopted Moses as her own and placed him in the care of the wet nurse Miriam “found”: Jochebed. She had secretly delivered her brother back into their mother’s care and under royal protection.

Jochebed is not heard of again after this, but her children are her legacy. Miriam became a prophetess, Aaron a High Priest, and Moses the deliverer of his people.

Divine Punishment

Miriam and Aaron grew up to come at odds with their brother Moses. Both siblings were opposed to Moses’ marriage to Zipporah, an Ethiopian woman, and gossiped about their union amongst the people.

For her slandering, Miriam was struck with a skin disease, sometimes thought to be leprosy, and was cast out from their society. Moses interceded with God on her behalf, and after seven days she was healed. But there are some questions raised about this punishment.

While both were said to be gossiping, only Miriam is the one punished for her transgressions. Perhaps it was out of jealousy, or because she was the oldest sibling and was used as an example of what happens to those who doubt God and his prophets. Maybe she had overstepped her cultural bounds of the time as a woman. No one can say for sure.**

Regardless, Miriam was still beloved by her people and was the first female prophetess mentioned by name in scripture. She is also known to have started up a celebratory dance upon the exodus out of Egypt:

“Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine, and all the women followed her with tambourines, dancing. Miriam led them in singing, Sing to God-- what a victory!” -Exodus 15:20-21

**Reference: Women in the Bible: Surprising Stories of Faith & Courage. Article by Hannah Roberts.

**Further reading on Miriam’s punishment: click here.