Old Testament | The Biblical Account of the Birth of Moses

In the second chapter of the Book of Exodus, the origin story of Moses is provided and shares elements with folktales about the birth of a hero. The identify of Moses’ parents are not told at this part of the biblical narrative but are later revealed to be Amram and Jochebed in Exodus 6:20. After the pharaoh orders a decree to have all newborn Hebrew boys killed by being drowned in the Nile River, Jochebed places her infant son in a basket made of papyrus that is plastered in bitumen and pitch and hides him among the reeds on the bank of the Nile. The baby is then discovered by the pharaoh’s daughter and adopted as her son. It’s interesting to note that after the princess found the infant Moses, Moses’ sister - later identified as Miriam in Exodus 15:20 - tell the princess that she will get a Hebrew woman to breastfeed the baby. The woman the princess had care for the infant was Jochebed.