When Jocheved sent away her son Moses, was it for the welfare of him or a slower death?

Question

We've all heard of Moses, right? Along with other famous people in history, like Jesus or Mohammad. But their histories are different. Moses whom is known in all three religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam had been born in Egypt. But his family had descended from Joseph whose Jewish followers had been on rocky terms with God for quite a while. They were put into slavery by the Egyptians then freed by Moses.

When he was born, his life was at risk. The pharoah had decreed that all Jewish newborns were to be killed. In order to "save" her son, Jocheved put him into the Nile river. Most mothers that hear their newborn sons are to be killed, don't run to nearest river to send them away. Jocheved's actions are quite questionable. Was it for the betterment of Moses's life to be dropped into the Nile, or was it simply that she had the intent to kill him, thinking that drowning wasn't fast enough and death by starvation and thirst (irony: being in water by not able to drink it)?

It is quite understandable to save your son, but who in their right minds would put their sons in a river, in a basket?! Though Moses turned out ok I don’t see the logic behind her actions. Unless God or Adonai as Jews call him, had instructed her to put her son in the Nile, or unless she had dementia or paranoid schizophrenia, she probably would have done what most mothers would have done. Hide him. Two words. I want you all, you pious people of the world to answer this question: When Jocheved sent away her son Moses, was it the welfare of him or a slower death?

Answer 1

Jochebed was a woman of faith; she trusted in her God Jehovah. In defiance of Pharaoh’s decree she refused to kill her baby, later named Moses, and after three months, when he could no longer be concealed in the house, she placed him in an ark of papyrus and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile
Moses’ sister, Mir·am, was told to stand nearby and see what would happen.

Soon Pharaoh’s daughter, as an established custom, came down to the Nile River to bathe. This act would have been known by Moses Mother.
After she discovered the babe she felt compassion for it, and recognized that it was one of the children of the Hebrews.
Miriam was free to approach the royal woman and said 'Shall I go and call an Israelite woman to nurse the baby for you?’
She agreed as was hoped. When Moses’ mother came to the princess, the princess said: ‘Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.’

It is apparent then that Pharaohs daughter was known to be a kind and good woman.

So Moses’ mother took care of her own child. Later when Moses was old enough, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her own son. That is how Moses came to grow up in the house of Pharaoh.

Answer 2

First of all she knew the habits of the pharohs sister. She knew she went to the river on that day and at that time of day.

When baby Moses was put in the river, she sent her older daughter to follow the basket until it got to the pharohs sister.

If pharohs sister did not claim the child as her own, but instead turned him in to be killed, the mother had nothing to lose by trying this method.

But Pharohs sister did claim the baby and even "hired" moses' mother to be his wet nurse.

You can see that Moses' mother didnt just drop him in the river and leave it at that. She tried a last ditch effort to save her baby, and in this case it worked.

Answer 3

You missed one part of the story. When his mother put Moses into the basket, she left his older sister Mirian to watch over it. (See Exodus 2:4) Her intent was not to kill the child, but to protect him. At night, she would have gone and bring him home. The next day she would hid him in the basket again. Nothing in the scriptures suggest that she was going to abandon him in the basket. God had other ideas, and caused the basket to be found by Pharoah's daughter.

Answer 4

Jachobed put her son in a basket lined with pitch so the basket would not leak, therefore not sink. She trusted in Yahweh enough to surrender control of her son and put Moses in His hands. She did this because she knew if she kept Moses, there was nothing she could do to save him. The only way we can allow God to save us or lead us is to surrender to Him. To one who is not familiar with trusting the Lord this often may seem crazy, but it makes perfect sense to one who has experienced God's power in his/her life.

Answer 5

Actually she hid him for a while before she put him in the Nile, but it was for his welfare. All of Egypt (basically) centered around the Nile so someone was bound to find him. It's just like people today who leave their babies in hospitals or churches. They can't take care of their baby, but they know that if they leave them there someone will.

Answer 6

if she didnt put her son in the nile then he would have been through in the nile by the pharoah. she put her trust in god and did the ONLY thing she could by saving her baby!

Answer 7

She put him in to give hima chance to be saved. we can see that because she sent miriam to watch over him and see what wold happen to him. If she wanted to kill him, she kind of could've just thrown him in.

Answer 8

Have you read this book ?
What is your opinion, from the list below, provided by Spencer in his book?

The Truth About Muhammad
by Robert Spencer

Meet the real Muhammad:


Muhammad's bizarre reaction to his first "revelation": "I will go to the top of the mountain and throw myself down that I may kill myself"

The heretical Christian who convinced Muhammad he was a prophet – and may have taught him his erroneous views of Christianity

Islamic borrowings from Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism – and Muhammad's enraged replies to charges that he borrowed material rather than received actual divine revelations

The "revelation" that allowed Muhammad to marry his beautiful daughter-in-law

The strange incident in Muhammad's life that makes it virtually impossible to prove rape in Islamic countries today

The real "Satanic Verses" incident (not the Salman Rushdie version): how Muhammad's attempt to win over his opponents ended with his saying he had been inspired not by God, but by Satan

How the Qur'an's teaching on warfare against unbelievers developed – with constant war to establish the hegemony of Islamic law as the last stage

The first year of the Muslim calendar: not when Muhammad was born or became a prophet, but when he became a warlord

How Muhammad used the graphic lure of Islamic Paradise to urge his warriors to fight furiously to extend his rule

"Kill every Jew who comes into your power": why Muhammad became so angry with both Jews and Christians – with disastrous consequences that are still playing out in the world today

The momentous command by Muhammad that led to good being identified with anything that benefited the Muslims, and evil with anything that harmed them --without reference to any larger moral standard

Muhammad's child bride – and the terrible consequences his marriage to a nine-year-old still has in the Islamic world

"This is the caravan of the Quraysh possessing wealth. It is likely that Allah may give it to you as booty": how Muhammad gave divine sanction to the Muslims' bloody raids

"War is deceit": the permission Muhammad gave his followers to lie in order to gain an advantage over their enemies

How Muhammad broke the principal treaty he entered into, again setting a pattern for Muslim states thereafter

Muhammad's commands to his followers to wage perpetual war against non-Muslims, including Jews and Christians

Muhammad on women's rights: women "are prisoners with you having no control of their persons"

"If justice is not to be found with me then where will you find it?" Why Muhammad still stands for Muslims as the supreme model for human behavior

"I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula, and will not leave any but Muslims" – and other statements by Muhammad that contemporary jihadists take very seriously

Islamic tolerance? The onerous tax burden and other discriminatory regulations mandated for non-Muslims under Islamic law

How Muhammad ordered the killing of apostates from Islam

The massacre of a Jewish tribe by Muhammad that was invoked by modern-day jihadists at the beginning of Israel's July 2006 operations against Hizballah in Lebanon

"Embrace Islam, and your lives and property will be safe": Muhammad's threatening letters to the rulers of the lands around Arabia

Muhammad's frequent avowals that the Muslims would overcome the empires bordering on Arabia and one day stand as masters of the world

"I have been made victorious with terror" – and other statements of Muhammad on his deathbed

Six steps that American leaders can and must take in order to protect our nation from Islamic jihad terrorism

Answer 9

Better to posssibly die than to certainly die.