Ark of Bulrushes

Biblical Text and Narrative

The account appears in Exodus 2:1-10. As the children of Israel multiplied, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, commanded that every son born to the Hebrews be cast into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). A woman of the house of Levi bore a son and hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took an ark of bulrushes, daubed it with slime (a sticky black substance similar to asphalt) and with pitch, put the child in it, and laid it among the flags by the river's brink (Exodus 2:3). The child's sister watched from a distance.

Pharaoh's daughter, coming down to bathe, found the ark and had compassion on the child. The sister offered to call a Hebrew woman to nurse him and brought the child's own mother. When the child had grown, Pharaoh's daughter took him as her son and named him Moses, saying, "Because I drew him out of the water" (Exodus 2:10).

Exodus 2 does not name the mother or the sister. The mother appears as Jochebed in Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59. The sister is commonly identified as Miriam.

Background

• Materials: The Hebrew word rendered "bulrushes" is generally understood to refer to a papyrus-type plant that grew along the banks of the Nile. The slime and pitch were applied to make the vessel watertight.
• The word "ark": The Hebrew word tebah, rendered "ark" here, occurs in the Old Testament only in this passage and in reference to the ark of Noah (Genesis 6:14 and elsewhere). The two passages are often discussed together, since in both the vessel preserves life amid judgment by water.
• Which pharaoh reigned at the time of this event is bound up with the question of the date of the Exodus, and scholars hold differing views.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The New Testament looks back on this event twice.

• In his speech, Stephen states that when Moses was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him as her own son (Acts 7:20-22).
• Hebrews 11:23 records that Moses' parents, not afraid of the king's commandment, hid the child for three months, and presents this as an act done "by faith."

Many interpreters set this event alongside the account of the infant Jesus surviving Herod's massacre of the children (the birth of Jesus, the flight into Egypt), reading both as instances of a child destined to be a deliverer being preserved under the threat of death.

Interpretation and Debates

• Traditional interpretation emphasizes God's providence in this event. Although God is not mentioned by name, interpreters note the irony that the deliverer is raised by the daughter of the oppressor.
• Some scholars point to similarities with the birth legend of King Sargon of ancient Mesopotamia. Others stress the differences, pointing to divergent content and purpose.
• Jewish tradition sometimes gives Pharaoh's daughter a name, but the biblical text does not name her.

In Korean Churches

In Korean Protestant churches, this story is frequently used in Sunday school lessons and children's sermons. It also commonly serves as a sermon text on a mother's faith and the raising of children. A Korean gospel song based on this scene, "Jochebed's Song," is reported to have been widely sung.