BIBLE STUDIES

The Face Is Familiar: Remembering Unnamed Women in Scripture

The Face Is Familiar Contents | Monologues | Introduction | Workshop

Overview
The story of Pharaoh's daughter is the story of child advocacy on its most political and personal levels. Pharaoh, probably Ramses II, (George Buttrick, ed., "Exodus" in The Interpreter's Bible, (New York: Abingdon, 1952), p. 836.1. Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1991), p. 8.) commands all the people of Egypt to throw the Hebrew baby boys into the Nile River. When Pharaoh's daughter discovers just such a threatened child floating in a basket in the river and hears his cries, she is moved with compassion. Risking her position as a member of the royal household and defying her father's order, Pharaoh's daughter rescues the baby from the Nile. But her action on behalf of the child does not end there. In this desperate situation, she contrives with the child's mother and sister to ensure Moses' future and, as it will turn out, the future of his people. Her name is forgotten but her face is familiar in the many women who make "standing for children" more than a slogan, but a real and costly commitment to life.

Historical Background
The first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah or Pentateuch, are the foundational documents of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Drawn from many sources, utilizing various literary forms, and compiled over hundreds of years, the Pentateuch traces God's formation of a chosen people from the call of Abraham and Sarah to the establishment of the covenant with Israel as a light to the nations. The book of Exodus in its present form comes from the period of Israel's captivity in Babylon, although it reflects all the major source documents characteristic of the Pentateuch.(Bernhard W. Anderson, Understanding the Old Testament (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice­Hall, 1975), p. 8.)

Within the Pentateuch, Exodus recounts the watershed moment that made Israel a self-conscious historical community---an event so decisive that earlier history and subsequent experience were seen in its light. (James D. Newsome, Exodus, Interpretation Bible Series (Louisville, Ky.: Geneva, 1998), p. 9.) That event was the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

Only a Promise
A promise hangs over Exodus---that God would make Abraham's offspring into a great nation, giving them land and through them, blessing the world. That promise seems anything but likely as Exodus begins, and God is not an active presence in the opening narrative.

Abraham's offspring have ended up in Egypt where a new king has arisen. Fearing them as a potential threat to his empire, the king first subjects the Hebrews to hard toil. When this does not reduce their numbers, he orders the Hebrew midwives to kill the boy babies. But the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, cleverly refuse to comply with his order and the people continue to increase (Ex. 1:15--21). Finally, Pharaoh makes a general command that all boy babies are to be thrown into the Nile and drowned.

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INTERPRETIVE TOOL BOX

Literary Criticism. There are various questions to ask of a text in order to understand its meaning, including when, where, and for whom the text was written, what sources the author drew on, and what literary form the passage reflects (hymn, lament, liturgy, letter, poetry, or other class). These questions suggest that the Bible incorporates all of these different literary forms, and in its final form it is a composition of amazing craft! The biblical writers were wordsmiths using irony, humor, foreshadowing, symbol, repetition, plays on words, and other devices to convey their meaning. The words they chose, the order and placement, were all intentional. Reading scripture as literature can tune our ears to the authors' artful nuances of meaning that can help us hear God's voice in their voices.

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1. Has there ever been a time or situation when you felt God's absence and had to rely on God's promise? What was the promise? How did the promise affect your handling of the situation?

The Baby in the Basket and the Women at the River
From the grim horror of this general death decree, the scene shifts to one Hebrew man, his wife, and their baby boy. The mother, who later will be named as Jochebed (Ex. 6:20), hides the baby for three months and when she can no longer hide him, carefully constructs an ark. [the Hebrew word here for basket is the same as the word for Noah's ark. (Fretheim, p. 38.)] She places the baby in the basket and, ironically carrying out the letter of Pharaoh's law, though not its spirit, puts him in the Nile. Here another female character suddenly emerges---the infant's sister---stationed at the banks of the river to see what will happen.

Again the scene shifts---this time to an Egyptian, a woman of the ruling class, the daughter of the murderous Pharaoh himself. She has come to the river, along with her attendants, to bathe. She sees the basket among the reeds and sends, not one of the attendants, but her personal maid to bring it to her. In a series of actions that parallel God's own action toward the Hebrew people, Pharaoh's daughter "'comes down,' 'sees' the child, 'hears' its cry, takes pity on him, and draws him out of the water and provides for his daily needs" (see Ex. 3:7--8).(Danna Nolan Fewell and David M. Gunn, Gender, Power and Promise: The Subject of the Bible's First Story (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1993), p. 93.)

Seeing and hearing, she takes pity. The word pity can also be translated as compassion, and elsewhere is used for God's merciful compassion on humanity (Ps. 86:15, for example). She perceives immediately that he is one of the babies her father has ordered drowned. Yet her compassion extends to a people despised by her father and feared by her people. In a complete and literal defiance of her father's orders, she takes the Hebrew baby boy out of the Nile.

At this point, the baby's sister emerges again. She offers to find a Hebrew wet nurse for the child. Pharaoh's daughter agrees to the offer, the child's mother is brought, and the princess, in turn, offers payment to the child's mother to nurse him. Did she know what she was doing? Was she duped? Or did this daughter of Pharaoh, moved by compassion, discern as quickly as she discerned the child's ethnicity, all the dimensions of this desperate attempt to save his life---the tiny waterproof basket, the young girl stepping out of the reeds, the lactating Hebrew woman the girl brings back as nurse? In the exchange between princess and sister, held within the hearing of her court attendants, we hear the princess' controlled understatement and carefully avoided questions. Under their watchful eyes, we see the silent exchange of the two women's "knowing looks even as infant and money changes hands." (Alice Ogden Bellis, Helpmates, Harlots, Heroes: Women's Stories in the Hebrew Bible (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 1994), p. 101.) In the center of the royal entourage, Egyptian princess and Hebrew slave conspire to defy the Pharaoh's order and save a child's life.

When the child is grown, his mother brings him to Pharaoh's daughter who takes "him as her son" (v. 10) through what some scholars believe may have been a primitive form of adoption, though adoption per se was not a Hebrew practice. (Brevard Childs, The Book of Exodus (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1974), p. 19.) Then, Pharaoh's daughter gives the child a name and a mission. She names him Moses. Moses is an Egyptian name meaning "son" (Ra moses---Rameses---for instance, means, son of the god Ra). (Megan McKenna, Not Counting Women and Children: Neglected Stories from the Bible (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1994), p. 45.) But the Egyptian princess explains the name by way of a Hebrew root of the same verb---moseh---draw out. His very name returns him to his roots and points him to his future. Whether due to a lack of knowledge of the Hebrew language or due to a prescient knowledge of who he could become, the princess uses the participle so that instead of "I drew him out" the name literally means, "the one who draws out," which is precisely what this rescued baby eventually will do for his kindred, the Hebrew slaves.

2. Read Exodus 3:7--8. What is significant about this series of actions and the fact that they are the actions of both Pharaoh's daughter and of God?

3. What do you think of the princess' disobedience to her father and ruler?

Pushing Privilege
As readers of this Bible study, we are women of privilege, if for no other reason than we live in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. We have access to housing, public utilities, education, health care, and opportunity unequalled by most of the world. Beyond that basic position of privilege, some of us have considerable assets and power. It is just such privilege that Pharaoh's daughter pushes aside to take the side of the child of a slave. She risks her own privileged position to put it to use on behalf of one who had no such privilege and whose very life was at risk. She shares the advantages she enjoyed with the child of a subjugated people.

This has enormous consequences not only for Moses, but also for all Hebrew people. In a sermon recorded in Acts, one of the Apostles, Stephen, credits Moses' effectiveness to Pharaoh's daughter who provided him access to "all the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22).

Pharaoh's daughter is motivated by pity. Although the word pity can connote condescension in our culture and language, the Hebrew writers seem to have had no such associations. On the contrary, pity or compassion is the steadfast and fiercely protective love for another that prompts bold and caring action. The psalmists will use the same word to describe God's loving way toward humanity. Pharaoh's daughter "takes pity" on the child. This is not lady bountiful taking pity on a poor little baby and pressing a $10 bill into the impoverished mother's hand before getting in her big car and driving down the road. God so moves this woman's heart that she places the resources of her household at the baby's disposal. What begins, perhaps, as a woman's compassion for a helpless child, becomes an act of political defiance on behalf of life.

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For the Children
It may not be coincidental that Pharaoh's daughter is moved by a child in need. There is something about the vulnerability and defenselessness of children and their utter dependence on the goodwill of adults that touches hearts. Yet, worldwide, children are not faring well. Consider the statistics provided by the Children's Defense Fund about children in the United States itself:

· One in five children lives in poverty during the first three years of life.
· One million children are homeless at least part of the year.
· More than nine million children have no health coverage.
· Every eleven seconds a child is abused or neglected.
· Every three hours a child or teen is killed by a firearm.
· Every forty-three seconds a baby is born into poverty.

Around the world, the statistics are even grimmer. An estimated twelve million children under the age of five die every year, mostly of easily preventable causes. Yet, the United States remains one of the only member nations that has not ratified the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child.

Suggestion: As a group, write your congressional representatives and find out why the United States has not ratified The rights of the Child. When you receive an answer, discuss whether or not this answer is acceptable to your group.

As women who stand in the tradition of Shiphrah, Puah, Moses' mother and sister, and Pharaoh's daughter, we are the ones who can save those children's lives. As theologian and author Megan McKenna points out, "[These women's actions have] massive ramifications for choices today. One child, any child of any woman, is worth wrapping our whole life around and keeping alive." (McKenna, p. 48.)

The Children's Defense Fund Web site, www.childrensdefense.org, describes the organization's work and provides resources and ideas for involvement on behalf of children.

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4. While we may lavish care on our own beloved children, what does this story suggest about extending the same care to the children of our enemies? Does this have any implications for potential United States wars in which many of the casualties will be children?

5. If we can speak of someone being underprivileged, can we also speak of someone being "overprivileged"? Why or why not? Name some of the privileges you enjoy. In what ways can you use your privilege for others?

Faithful Disobedience
Pharaoh's daughter not only risks her favored status in society by rescuing the Hebrew baby; she also defies her father and ruler of the land. Knowingly taking a position against her father and king, she makes the choice for life and not for death. She will not cooperate with his brutal politics and commits herself instead to long-term noncompliance. The title of one of Miriam Therese Winter's books, Defecting in Place, perfectly describes Pharaoh's daughter-she does not leave her family or people but refuses, nonetheless, to cooperate with laws, policies, or fears that demean and threaten life for others. Such civil disobedience has been a major force for social change throughout history.

As Her Son
Pharaoh's daughter raises Moses as her own son---naming him, providing for his welfare and education, loving him, and launching him into his future. "In the Jewish midrash [scripture commentary] she is seen as the first single-parent adoptor." (Patricia J. Williams, "In Search of Pharaoh's Daughter" in Out of the Garden: Women Writers on the Bible. Edited by Christina Buchmann and Celina Spiegel. (New York: Fawcett, 1994), p. 70.) Adoption, in this tradition, means she steps in to care for Moses but does not replace his Hebrew parents. She takes a dangerous and courageous risk. Commenting on a single-parent media controversy involving sitcom character Murphy Brown some years ago, Patricia Williams, an African American attorney, reflected on her own experience of single parenting. "It is time to stop demonizing single mothers or anyone else who makes family where there was none before." (As quoted by Cheryl J. Exum, "You Shall Let Every Daughter Live: A Study of Exodus 1:8­2:10," Semeia 28 (1983): pp. 81­82.)

Not only is Pharaoh's daughter single, in addition, as a member of the dominant race, she accepts a child from a minority race, religion, and culture into her home and her life. Such adoptions occur commonly in the United States. They present issues for the children's racial and cultural identity and affiliation, as well as raising larger socioethical concerns.

By giving Moses a name imbued with meaning in his own language, and by returning him to his birth mother for his early life, Pharaoh's daughter helps provide Moses with bonds to his people that are never severed. The writer of the Hebrews notes that Moses ultimately "refused to be called a son of Pharaoh's daughter" and embraced his Hebrew heritage (Heb. 11:24).

6. What are the pros and cons of single-parent adoptions? Does the story of Pharaoh's daughter affect your view? Why or why not?

7. What are your experiences of biracial/cultural adoptions?
To what extent should adoptive families develop in the children a sense of their birth heritage?

A Despicable Gang of Conspirators?
Author Luise Schottroff cites Greek historian Octavius who considered early Christians a group of unintelligent men and "credulous womenfolk" who form a "despicable gang of conspirators" (see Lesson 8, page 61). Also commenting on women's conspiratorial roles, biblical scholar Phyllis Trible wrote that if Pharaoh had anticipated the effectiveness of the women in thwarting his plan, he might better have commanded that all female infants be killed! (Exum, p. 75.) At a time when the oppressive and death-dealing politics of the empire threatened God's people and promise, God acted through five women whose defiance of the politics of Pharaoh made possible God's future of freedom and new life. Crossing religion, race, and economics, these women conspire to undermine Pharaoh and take the side of life. None of them is particularly powerful or well-placed. They have no reason to trust each other. Yet, acting together, these midwives, mothers, and daughters change the course of history. Without Moses there would have been no liberation, but without the women there would have been no Moses! As Presbyterian women from different races, cultures, and economic situations, we too are called to conspire together on behalf of life and when we do-the Pharaohs of this world cannot prevail.

8. Each of the five women in the opening chapters of Exodus (Shiphrah, Puah, Moses' mother and sister, the Pharaoh's daughter) takes enormous risks. What motivates them to take these risks? What are some ways that Presbyterian women have and can "conspire" together for God's future?

Summary
Executive director of the Children's Defense Fund Marian Wright Edelman said in a speech at the Peacemaking breakfast at the 214th General Assembly (Columbus, 2002), "Let's invest in leaving no child behind. We don't have a money problem; we have a values problem and a priorities problem. We've got to wear out our leaders, until they hear our voices and do justice for our children."

Just as a promise hung over our biblical story, so a promise hangs over our story as Christians today. It is the promise of God's gracious future where God "will wipe every tear from [God's people's] eyes . . . mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Rev. 21:4). There are times when that promise seems very unlikely---especially for the twelve million children in the world under age five who will die this year. Yet as Pharaoh's daughter illustrates, it is precisely those times when God can use the powerful force of women's compassion to bring about life. Like Pharaoh's daughter, our bold action on behalf of children can change the world.

In response to the needs of children, the Presbyterian Church designated 2000--2001 as the "Year of the Child," and the 213th General Assembly (Louisville, 2001) extended that emphasis through the first decade of the twenty-first century. Indeed, the Presbyterian Church has long been an advocate for children, with its General Assemblies calling for equitable education (1972, 1987, 1991, 1996), comprehensive health care (1988, 1991), quality child care (1986, 1991, 1995), protection from violence and abuse (1986, 1991), the eradication of exploitative labor (1996), and the United States adoption of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of the Child (1992, 1995, 1996).

Prayer

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Ancient Texts, Modern Voices

The Road of Compassion
by Patricia K. Tull

The book of Exodus begins with an elaborate description of the multiplication of Jacob's descendants in Egypt. Mirroring the divine command at creation to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth," the Israelites "were fruitful and prolific; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them" (Ex. 1:7). The Pharaoh in Joseph's day was a friend to Jacob's family, but the Pharaoh who arises generations later is afraid of this foreign family's numbers. He perceives them as stronger and more numerous than the Egyptians themselves. Though he proposes to "deal shrewdly" (Ex. 1:10) with them, neither his logic nor his policies reflect shrewdness. By brute force, he enslaves the Hebrew people. He does not realize that by doing so he makes enemies not only of them, but also of their God.

The story that unfolds is a wickedly funny underdog tale. Not satisfied with slavery, exuding animosity and fear, the Pharaoh decides to kill off his own future slave force, the baby boys who would have grown up to work for him. But the agents of life that he recruits for the task, the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah, fail to cooperate. When he asks them why they are allowing the babies to live, they disingenuously claim that it is not their fault. Unlike the Egyptian women, the Hebrew women are "vigorous" (literally translated "alive") and give birth before the medical staff can even arrive.

Though the amazing birth rate of the Hebrews no doubt reflects providential presence, the first actual mention of God in the book of Exodus occurs in response to the midwives' actions. Because they fear God more than the political powers, God deals well with them and rewards them with households of their own. Clearly God is a partisan in this conflict.

The Pharaoh next tries to make the Nile itself into an agent of death, directing the Egyptians in general to throw Hebrew boy babies into the river. But the results are even more pointedly disastrous. In Exodus 2, a mother, a sister, and a daughter all conspire to thwart the Pharaoh and to save one child. Through this one child, the entire Hebrew nation is eventually rescued.

We are not told what Moses' mother had in mind when setting his basket among the reeds on the riverbank. We are also not told anything about the Pharaoh's daughter, except that she saw the basket, opened it, and had compassion for the crying Hebrew child inside it. Was she a rebel against her father's policies? Or was her heart newly awakened by the immediacy of his need? She knows what she is doing, though---responding to the prompting of Moses' sister, she hires his own mother to feed him and she raises him as her own. The Pharaoh's murderous policies have resulted in his unwitting role as foster grandfather, contributing to the care and feeding of the one who will lead the Israelites out of his grasp.

As North American Presbyterians, how do we read this story? A few of us may have jobs or callings that enable us to change public policy and address injustices directly. Others of us, emigrants or descendants of slaves ourselves, may easily identify with Shiphrah, Puah, and Moses' mother and relish their craftiness. But the vast majority of us stand closest to the place of Pharaoh's daughter, privileged and pampered, but far removed from both the poor and the powerful. Shuddering over the news about the lives and deaths of impoverished children in our own cities and around the world, we may be tempted to give in to helplessness or indifference.

The Pharaoh's daughter shows a different way. Though she cannot change her father's laws or heart, she listens to the baby's cries and responds generously. Even though her actions may have seemed insignificant to her, saving one child made all the difference. The rescue of this one baby eventuated in the downfall of the slave system, the creation of the Israelite nation, the birth of the Jewish faith, and consequently the life of Jesus, the origin of Christianity, and our own reading of the exodus story.

If the rescue of one crying baby on the riverbank could have such dramatic consequences, what immeasurable good can be accomplished by many thousands of North American women who follow the road of compassion?

Patricia K. Tull is professor of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and author of the 2001--2002 Horizons Bible Study, Esther's Feast: A Study of the Book of Esther.

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Read more from Patricia Tull in the July/August '03 issue of Horizons. To subscribe call Presbyterian Distribution Service (PDS), 800/524-2612 or visit www.pcusa.org/horizons

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Suggestions for Leaders

Preparation

· Read the Overview, Historical Background, and Interpretive Toolbox for this lesson.

· Pray for the Holy Spirit's help in hearing God's truth.

· Read the assigned texts and make notes of your reactions and questions as they arise. Consider reading the texts again from another translation.

· Read through the entire lesson. Choose the discussion questions from the lesson and the ideas from this page that you want to use in your session.

· Write key ideas on newsprint or make copies for everyone.

· Make or gather materials for name tags. Collect the name tags after each meeting so they can be used again if necessary.

Beginning

· Distribute name tags or have each participant make her own. Take time for introductions, even if there are no newcomers to your group. Ask each person to share her name and tell something about her name (examples: how her name was chosen, whether she likes it, if she has a nickname) or about herself (examples: where she was born, how long has she lived in the community, how long has she been a part of this church).

· Paraphrase the Introduction to the study, then read aloud the Key Idea and the Overview for Lesson One.

· Encourage participants to read each lesson before coming to the group meeting and to mark in her study book what is of special interest or concern to her.

· Invite participants to pray with you.
Holy God, may your Word speak to us this day, take root in our hearts, and bear fruit to your glory and honor, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Listening to Scripture

· Invite one or more members of your group to read aloud the scripture passages for this lesson (Exodus 1--2:10; Acts 7:17--22; Hebrews 11:24).

· Ask if anyone heard anything in the Bible readings that she hadn't heard or noticed before. Invite group members to comment on the scriptures that were read. (What did you like? What challenges you? What connects with your life or our world right now? What raises a question for you?) If no one responds immediately, be prepared to offer an observation of your own. If a difficult question or issue arises, assure the group that such questions or observations are good and that if together you cannot find an appropriate response, you will talk with a pastor, experienced elder, or teacher in your church who may have a suggestion.

Exploring the Lesson

· Depending on how much time you have and what you know of your group, do one or both of the following activities:

A. Choose (or ask the group to choose) one or more of the questions in the study. Spend some time reading the material that comes just before the question and then discuss the question together.

B. Invite the group to reflect on responses to the plight of children---from the perspective of a single woman, a woman whose children are grown, and a woman who never had children. Encourage participants to speak honestly about their feelings (examples: "I always wanted children and now I try to avoid them." "I did my part and now it's someone else's turn." "If people have children they ought to be responsible for them.") If these or similar responses are not given you might suggest that some women feel these ways. Talk together about the privilege and calling to provide for children and how your church and community might do better.

Closing

· Use the prayer at the close of the lesson, inviting participants to pray aloud with you.

· Collect the name tags.

Contact the PC(USA)'s Child Advocacy office, National Ministries Division, 888/728-7228, ext. 5838, and ask for recommended resources or visit www.pcusa.org to learn more about the ways our denomination cares for children.

To order this Bible study call 800-524-2612
Past and Future Bible studies are listed on other pages on our Web Site.

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