References (5)
Then Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe in the river. Her friends (young women) walked [along] the shore. When Pharaoh's daughter saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to fetch it.
Then his sister [Miriam] said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Do you want me to go and get a Hebrew nursing woman to nurse the child for you?"
Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Yes, go." So the young teenage girl went and called the child's mother.
Pharaoh's daughter said to her [Jochebed, the child's mother], "Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed it.
When the child grew older [probably 3-4 years old], she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses (Hebr. Mosheh), for she said, "I drew him up (Hebr. mashah) from the water."
[The name Moses may relate to Egyptian words for "son" or "to give birth to a son." Here, the explanation for the name is given as how he was drawn up, where there is a similarity to the Hebrew verb for to draw up. Perhaps the princess spoke Hebrew, or in contact with Moses' parents and family, she learned a few words and decided on this name. It is possible that he was given this name by his parents already in connection with his circumcision on the eighth day. Regardless, the princess consciously honors her son's Hebrew origins and at the same time makes him a legitimate Egyptian with a name in her own language that emphasizes that she is adopting a son.]
