Women in Moses’s Life

Shiphrah and Puah

Without the midwives Shiphrah and Puah (see Exodus 1:15–21), Moses may not have survived his birth. Shiphrah and Puah oversaw the births of the Hebrew women. The Hebrews were in bondage during this era, but Pharaoh worried that the Hebrews were becoming too numerous to control (see Exodus 1:9). Pharaoh not only enslaved the Hebrews but also assigned taskmasters to oversee them and increase their burdens (see Exodus 1:11). Still, the Hebrews multiplied in number and grew in strength (see Exodus 1:12).

Pharaoh became apprehensive of the children of Israel (see Exodus 1:12) and turned to the midwives Shiphrah and Puah. He ordered them to kill all male infants born to the Hebrew women (see Exodus 1:16). This was surely a hard task for any woman, even when ordered by the king of the land. Yet Shiphrah and Puah “feared God” (Exodus 1:17), and they put their obedience to God above all else, including their earthly king. Both midwives refused to kill the infant males; thus Moses was allowed to live past birth. When questioned by Pharaoh, the midwives said, “The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them” (Exodus 1:19).

Whether the midwives were purposely delaying their arrival at a birthing or deliberately thwarting Pharaoh’s orders, Moses was allowed to live. This, of course, didn’t prevent the killing of male infants to happen at a later time.

Question to consider:

• The midwives’ choice surely took courage and faith. When and how have you been blessed by choosing to act in faith and put the Lord’s will above your own rather than giving in to fear?
  

Jochebed and Miriam

Jochebed, Moses’s birth mother, did all she could to preserve his life. For three months, Jochebed hid her son (see Exodus 2:2). This would have been a challenge, to be sure, because infants cry and take round-the-clock care. In this mother, we see another example of a woman “fear[ing] God” more than a king’s orders.

But as Moses grew older, his mother needed another solution. Jochebed’s plan to preserve her son’s life was a risky and bold move. After fashioning an ark of bulrushes and sealing it “with slime and with pitch” (Exodus 2:3), she set her young baby inside. Then she laid the ark at the edge of the Nile River—a river full of crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and other dangers. But Jochebed was not leaving her son to float aimlessly down the river; she had an inspired purpose behind her actions.

As the ark floated among the reeds, Jochebed’s daughter Miriam followed along and “stood afar off” to watch (Exodus 2:4). When “the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river” with her maidens, “she sent her maid to fetch” the ark (Exodus 2:5). Miriam showed courage and love as she followed the ark and also as she spoke to Pharaoh’s daughter when needed.

God had a work for Moses to do (see Moses 1:6), and there’s little doubt that Jochebed sought and acted on inspiration and that Miriam’s careful watch was honored.

Questions to consider:

• How have you seen the hand of God guide you to make sacrifices for loved ones to help them accomplish their purposes?
• If we look at Moses as a type of Christ, what can we learn from Jochebed’s experience about how Heavenly Father sent His Son on His journey through mortality?

Pharaoh’s Daughter

The daughter of the Pharaoh also influenced Moses’s survival. She spotted the ark and asked her maid to retrieve it (see Exodus 2:5). Once she opened the ark and discovered the crying baby, her heart was touched. It was no secret that the child was Hebrew, yet she was full of compassion toward the helpless infant (see Exodus 2:6).

Miriam, having followed the ark, presented herself at the right time and place. She asked the Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?” (Exodus 2:7). The Pharaoh’s daughter agreed, and whom did Miriam fetch for the nursemaid? Jochebed, Moses’s own mother (see Exodus 2:8).

Questions to consider:

• Many children around us need love and compassion. How can we minister to them to help them become what God would have them become?
• It was a large responsibility for young Miriam to follow the ark and speak to the royal princess. Has there been a time in your life when you’ve been entrusted with something important and precious but felt overwhelmed or unprepared? How did the power of God strengthen you in those moments?

Zipporah and the Daughters of Reuel

Moses was raised with all the privileges, education, and military training that any young man living in a royal palace might have. Yet he also had a compassionate heart. When he came upon an Egyptian taskmaster smiting a Hebrew slave, Moses intervened and killed the Egyptian (see Exodus 2:11–12). This made Moses a wanted man, and now he had to make a choice—face the Pharaoh and execution (see Exodus 2:15) or flee for his life.

Moses fled. He traveled the wilderness until he reached Midian. By this time, he was probably in a rough condition physically. We don’t know if he had weapons or hunting skills or how long it had been since he’d eaten or had water. He found a well, and there he could get some refreshment. The well was also the central gathering place for the people of Midian to draw water for their flocks (see Exodus 2:16).

When the seven daughters of Reuel (Jethro), a priest of Midian, arrived at the well to draw water and fill the troughs for their flocks (see Exodus 2:16), a group of shepherds showed up. Seeing the unprotected women, the shepherds scattered the women’s flocks. Unbeknownst to the shepherds and the women, Moses was nearby. He assessed the situation and rose up to defend the women against the shepherds. After driving the shepherds away, Moses helped the women draw water to fill the troughs for the sheep (see Exodus 2:17).

The women didn’t know who Moses was, but they assumed he was an Egyptian (see Exodus 2:19). Because of his actions to help them, the women decided they trusted him enough to bring him to their father’s homestead. Again women played a crucial role in the survival of Moses. The daughters of Reuel were filled with compassion toward Moses and provided a place where he could be fed and recover from the elements of the desert.

Zipporah, one of the daughters, later married Moses (see Exodus 2:21). She was another beacon of goodness and compassion in his life. As they worked side by side, raising their children and doing the Lord’s work, Zipporah supported Moses in his new calling from God—to return to Egypt and deliver the Hebrews out of bondage.

Question to consider:

• Instead of turning Moses away because they assumed he was a foreigner and of a different religion, the daughters extended compassion to him. How can we show an increase of love to include and welcome everyone around us?

A Great Influence

From before Moses’s birth, decisions were made by faithful women who would preserve his life. From two midwives who refused to take Moses’s life to a mother who did everything she could to preserve it to a sister who became a vehicle for his survival to the compassionate daughter of the Pharaoh to, finally, the inspired daughters of Reuel, the love and nurturing of women helped Moses grow from boyhood to manhood and prepare to fulfill his calling as a prophet of God. Perhaps the everyday labors of these compassionate women may not have seemed consequential at the time. But “by small and simple things,” the Lord was able to bring great things to pass (Alma 37:6) through these women who helped to raise, teach, and prepare the prophet Moses.