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The biblical author, however, devotes more time to Moses’ actions as an adult in delivering the Hebrews from slavery than to the preceding years. These two chapters are a sort of “bare bones” narrative with little comment by the writer(s). The writer makes clear that God blessed the midwives because their actions reflected fear of God. Moses’ mother followed in their footsteps by subverting the plan of the pharaoh. Chapter 2 ends with God noticing the suffering of the Hebrews and remembering his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But even while living with the princess, Moses was not separated from his true mother, because she continued to nurse him. ” For Gregory, she represents secular wisdom, something that may be necessary, but is certainly inferior to the Church’s milk. 10–13). The daughter, however, did not remain in a negative light. The early medieval midrash Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer considered her worthy of eternal life for having saved Moses (chapter 48). In contrast to Gregory of Nyssa’s 26 Exodus 1–2 characterization of her as profane philosophy, opposed to the Church’s milk, just the opposite appears in a stained glass window from a series which the abbot Suger included in the twelfth-century reconstruction of the church of St Denis, near Paris.

By juxtaposing the finding of Moses with the death of the firstborn, the poem focuses attention on the latent irony of the biblical story, as well as on the attitude of the wealthy toward the poor. By interpreting Jocheved, Miriam, and the pharaoh’s daughter together, rather than separately, some have used the birth of Moses to reflect on the Hebrew exodus. On April 16, 2000, the oratorio Women of Valor had its debut in Los Angeles, a world premier, performed by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. Composed by Andrea Clearfield, the oratorio highlights ten women from the Bible, including Jocheved and Miriam.