Moms in the Bible - Jochebed

Chapter 11 – Jochebed

This mom is more famous than you think. Do you recognize her name right off the bat? It’s very unusual and should be familiar, but if it’s not, here’ clue #1: this mom married her nephew. Yuck, you say, well I’m thinking that since child-bearing years covered many decades (and multiple wives) that Jochebed was not necessarily older than her husband, Amram. Marrying a relative was not prohibited until later.

Clue #2:

Her first two children were pretty famous, too, though greatly overshadowed by her third child, who comes in 4^th place among the top ten most famous men in all of human history. (Jesus is #1.)

Clue #3: Jochebed was paid to nurse her own child.

Last Clue: Jochebed lived under slavery right at the time that Pharaoh commanded that every newborn boy be thrown into the Nile. You know who she is now, don’t you? Jochebed needed a way to save her son. She hid him for three months and then made a basket, coated it with tar and pitch and floated the baby among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Technically this mom followed the command, but she trusted God to solve the problem. Pharaoh’s daughter found the child and adopted him, hiring Jochebed as wet-nurse to Moses.

Next Saturday – Judith and Bashemath

Subscribe to Edge of Escape by Email