The first time I heard the name Jochebed was during a Bible competition-the kind some people experienced as kids in churches-where uncommon Biblical names and questions were asked. I wondered why the mother of the popular Moses was unknown to me until then. Did I miss this detail in this popular story?
It turns out that Jochebed is mentioned by name only in Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59, both genealogical listings¹. In these passages, she is not only the daughter of Levi but also the wife (and aunt) of a Levite, highlighting the priestly heritage of Moses and Aaron. In addition, Jochebed in Hebrew (yokheved) apparently means “YHWH is glory,” and she is the first person in the Bible to have a name with yah, the shortened form of YHWH (Jehovah/Yahweh in English)¹. Moses’ announcement to the Israelites that YHWH is the name of their God (Exo 6:2–3) is therefore most likely embedded in his maternal lineage: if his mother bore YHWH’s name, then Moses learned it from her¹².
Jochebed, in defiance to Pharaoh’s order that every male Hebrew child be killed, hid her newborn son for three months and then placed him in a basket in the Nile river. Pharaoh’s daughter later found the child, and named him Moses. Moses’s sister Miriam, who witnessed the rescue of her brother, offered to find a Hebrew woman as a wet nurse for the infant. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed and Jochebed became the caregiver for her own son.
Some narratives have shared how lucky she was as a Hebrew woman to not have lost her son at a time when Pharaoh was on the hunt to kill all Hebrew baby boys. One author noted that because of Jochebed’s trust and fear of God, He gave her the courage and ability to think creatively about preserving Moses’ life³. In doing so, she played a vital role in fulfilling God’s redemptive plan for Moses and the entire nation of Israel. This did not come easy, though. Yes, she was blessed to nurse and nurture Moses for a short time, but she had to be willing to relinquish him to be adopted and raised by someone else. Hers was an expression of the sacrificial love and willingness to do the difficult things that parenting requires. I think she demonstrated remarkable faith to trust God’s reasoning and purpose for Moses’ life, and must have had a truly personal understanding of the name YHWH.
This same YHWH-“He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists”²- calls you and me to a close walk with Him through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. You see, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col 2:9), and as the Word of God (Jn 1:1), He is the fullest possible revelation from God to man⁴. Like Jochebed and her son Moses, many great prophets and humans have lived, are living and will live on this earth. Yet Jesus Christ is greater than them all*.
For this reason God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth — Phil 2:9–10, HCSB
How apt then that salvation is through no one else but Him!
For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures… There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:11a, 12, NLT
*Check this article for a study on the book of Hebrews exalting Christ above all, and this for other supporting scriptures.
References
- Meyers, C. (2009, March 20). Jochebed: Bible. Jewish Women’s Archive. Retrieved February 10, 2020, from https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jochebed-bible
- Britannica & The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2020, January 3). Yahweh. Britannica. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yahweh
- Trimmer, A. (n.d.). Jochebed: A Courageous and Astute Mother. The Salvation Army Women’s Ministries. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from https://usw-womensministries.org/jochebed-a-courageous-and-astute-mother/
- How is Jesus greater than all the other great people in history? (n.d.) Retrieved August 1, 2021, from https://www.gotquestions.org/citation.html
