Birth of Moses
1526 BC
📂 BIBLICAL
📖 About This Event
Moses was born during a time when the Israelites had multiplied greatly in Egypt and a new king 'who knew not Joseph' had risen over the land. Fearing the growth of Israel, the Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews and ordered the killing of all newborn Hebrew boys. Moses' mother, a Levite, hid him for three months, then placed him in a basket of bulrushes among the reeds by the river Nile. Pharaoh's daughter found the basket, took pity on the child, and despite Moses' own sister Miriam's offer to find a Hebrew nurse, she ended up hiring Moses' own mother to care for him. Thus Moses was raised by his mother in secret while officially the prince of Egypt.
The birth and rescue of Moses is one of the most remarkable examples of God's providence in Scripture. The same river that was meant to be the instrument of Hebrew babies' destruction became the means of Moses' deliverance. The daughter of Pharaoh, the symbol of Egyptian power, became the unwitting agent of the deliverer's survival. The Catholic Church sees in Moses' basket on the waters a type of the cradle of the Infant Jesus—both placed in humble circumstances, both destined to save their people, both preserved by divine providence against all human expectation.
Moses' name (possibly meaning 'drawn out' in Egyptian or Hebrew) would define his mission: he would be drawn out of the water to draw out His people from bondage. The Catholic tradition has long honored Moses as the great lawgiver and prophet, the type of Christ who leads His people from slavery to freedom. Jesus would be called a prophet 'like Moses' (Deuteronomy 18:15), and the Church sees in the Exodus the great Old Testament type of salvation through Christ. Key Scripture: Exodus 2:1-10; Hebrews 11:23; CCC 69, 71
📜 Key Facts
Date
1526 BC
Category
Biblical
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