#Jochebed

[never-oaky]

It's missing her hours

She is everything.

I shouldn't watch SW right after finishing The Prince of Egypt. Rip to my friends that have to listen to me rant about Shmi Skywalker while listening to Jochebed's part of Deliver us and The river lullaby on repeat.

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Miriam and Jochebed

Okay. I hope I don't get too many more Bible character asks, because I'm honestly not religious , but here goes. I'll cover both mother and daughter together, because one of my favorite pictures of them is a painting of them both.

Favorite thing about them:

Jochebed: Her love, bravery, and cleverness in protecting her son Moses, by technically following the law ("Every Hebrew boy must be thrown into the Nile") but putting him in a water-tight basket and having her daughter watch over him until he's safely found.

Miriam: Her status as a revered female prophet, who protected her brother Moses as a child, who led the Israelites in music and dance at the Red Sea, and who earned the respect and loyalty of her people. I especially like the emphasis that modern Judaism places on her holiness and position of power.

Least favorite thing about them:

Jochebed: That she had to give up her son to save his life, the poor woman, though at least she was able to be his wet nurse.

Miriam: Her possible racism in criticizing Moses "because of his Cushite wife." Although people have tried to find a more sympathetic explanation for that passage: for example, one legend has it that Miriam and Aaron were defending Zipporah, because Moses had separated from her to live a more holy life of celibacy, not objecting to Moses having married her. At any rate, at least she's punished and humbled when God strikes her with a temporary skin disease.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I'm part Jewish.

*I have dark hair, as they must have in that time and place.

*Like Miriam with her tambourine, I believe in the spiritual power of music.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I've never been a slave.

*I'm not devoutly religious.

*I've never lived in Egypt.

Favorite line: From The Prince of Egypt:

Jochebed

"Hush now, my baby

Be still, love, don't cry.

Sleep as you're rocked by the stream.

Sleep and remember

My last lullaby,

So I'll be with you when you dream.

River, o river,

Flow gently for me

Such precious cargo you bear

Do you know somewhere

He can be free?

River, deliver him there"

Miriam

Singing as a child:

"Brother, you're safe now,

And safe may you stay,

For I have a prayer just for you

Grow, baby brother,

Come back someday,

Come and deliver us too"

Encouraging Moses as an adult:

"Moses, hear what I say. I have been a slave all my life. And God has never answered my prayers until now. God saved you from the river, He saved you in all your wanderings, and even now, He saves you from the wrath of Pharaoh. God will not abandon you. So don't you abandon us."

brOTP: Each other, Moses and Aaron.

OTP: For Jochebed, her husband Amram. For Miriam, her own husband, whoever he was, if she did marry (traditions vary).

nOTP: Moses or Aaron.

Random headcanon: For Jochebed, she was born very late in her father Levi's life, so even though her husband Amram was her nephew, she was younger than he was. (I hope nothing in the text contradicts this.) Of course, the very fact that Levi, son of Jacob, was her father is hard to believe, because it would have made her an impossibly elderly mother when Moses was born, even older than Sarah was at Isaac's miraculous birth. But we probably shouldn't worry about whether the timeline is realistic or not – it's innately convoluted and full of contradictions, probably because it consists of multiple sources strung together over centuries.

For Miriam, I like the Jewish legend that a well or a spring followed her throughout the desert, providing water for the Israelites, and that it dried up when she died, which explains why in the Book of Numbers there's suddenly no water after her death.

Unpopular opinion: I don't think I have one.

Song I associate with them:

For Jochebed:

"Deliver Us" from The Prince of Egypt

For Miriam:

"Miriam's Song" by Debbie Friedman

"When You Believe" from The Prince of Egypt

Favorite picture of them:

This painting of mother and daughter together with baby Moses.

Of Jochebed:

These stills from The Prince of Egypt. (The first two also featuring little Miriam, little Aaron, and baby Moses.)

Of Miriam:

This modern painting, because unlike most paintings of Miriam at the Exodus with her tambourine, it shows her correct age. Most classic paintings of the scene make the mistake of portraying her as a young woman, but she was Moses's older sister, which means she would have been in her eighties! Please, artists, let elderly women play music and dance!

From The Prince of Egypt, as a child and as an adult. (Even though the movie does make adult Miriam younger at the Exodus than she would have been, that's okay, because it makes Moses younger too.)

[stingrayextraordinaire]

Women of the Bible Moodboards // Jochebed

When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.

(requested by anonymous)

[pomegranatetemples]

Moses and Jochebed (1884) - Pedro Américo

[narmothewraith]

Was listening to "Deliver Us" from Prince of Egypt and the part of the river lullaby inspired me to draw baby Moses.

[kdmiller55]

The Faith of a Father and Mother

23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. – Hebrews 11:23 ESV We read it in Exodus 1: “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8 ESV). Joseph was gone. Time had passed and the preferential treatment received by his family was about…

[random-brushstrokes]

Pedro Américo - Moses and Jochebed (1884)

[tanakhsexywoman]

TANAKH SEXYWOMAN ULTIMATE POLL

You've asked for it, so here you have it! The Tanakh Sexywoman Tumblr poll. (not affiliated with Tanakhsexyman)

-The pairings have been randomly generated.

-Sexual assault victims like Tamar bat David and Dina are not included, because it teeters on victim-blaming to call them sexy, even in jest.

Round 1:

Deborah vs. Vashti

Batsheba vs. Serah daughter of Asher

Queen of Sheba vs. Sarah

Rahab vs. Jezebel

The anthropomorphized Jerusalem in Lamentations vs. Tzipporah

Jephthah's daughter vs. Whoever Song of Songs was written about

Eve vs. Pharaoh's daughter

Ruth vs. Potiphar's wife

Rachel vs. Huldah

Naomi vs. Abigail

Zelophehad's daughters vs. Tamar

Gomer vs. Jael

Hannah vs. Jochebed

Hagar vs. Delilah

The Witch of Endor vs. Queen Esther

Miriam vs. Abishag

*The polls will go live at 9:00 AM 2/8 EST*

Happy voting!

Round Two List

Round Three List

Semifinals

[nogitsunbae]

Manacled by senlinyu, aka the only dramoine fic I’ve ever read.

I started this fic to see what all the hype was about, not expecting to get sucked in. Surprise, I was obsessed. I told myself I wasn’t going to bind it. Surprise, a week later I was working on cover designs.

I wanted to feature women of the Bible who are often left out of Sunday school for one reason or another. Whose work is downplayed or straight up ignored. Please note: I was raised in the south, with Southern Baptist churches everywhere. So this is going on what I was taught, not exactly what I believe in ✨

Volume One features Mary Magdalene, who was a disciple of Jesus but usually not recognized as one, at least where I’m from.

Volume Two features Lilith, the first wife of Adam, who was cast out of the Garden of Eden for refusing to be subservient to him.

Volume Three features Jochebed, mother of Moses, who had to make the ultimate decision when it came to the safety of her child. Not much is mentioned about her in the Bible, other than her hiding Moses then putting him in a basket on the Nile.

These were always the women I looked up to growing up, who did what they had to do, who fought how they could, and usually didn’t get a single thank you for it.

Anyway, sounds familiar in the context of Manacled.

Typeset is by the lovely ladybobbitt on instagram, thank you so much!! Cover was designed on Canva.

Manacled, by senlinyu, is available to read for FREE on ao3. Mind the tags. Keep fanfiction free. Stop selling this, for the love of all things holy.

One more note: JK Rowling is a horrible, horrible person. This is a fanwork, that is incredibly well written. Support fanworks, not her.

[eesirachs]

thinking about the co-emergences of m/others and girls in the bible. jochebed and miriam, naomi and ruth, leah and dinah, gomer and lo-ruhamah. these are feminine almost-spaces. these are asymmetrical, plural, and fragmented matrixial subjects unassimilated by the text itself. miriam, made into a sign act by god, is likened to a walking miscarriage. ruth, on the threshing floor at naomi's request, evinces judges nineteen and non-con dismemberment. with dinah, the text finally offers the birth of a girl, and with lo-ruhamah, the weaning of one. but an intra-uterine split has preceded both, has preceded all

[godforbidwomendoanything]

wow another piece titled "jochebed" thats revolutionary

[stingrayextraordinaire]

Jochcbed (idk how to spell it) from the Bible

Wow, this is a really interesting one! I can't promise how well it will turn out, but I will definitely give it a shot! Thank you for the request :)

[emmatiedemann]

The Prince of Egypt

Roundtable Discussion

In what ways does the film’s score situate the story with its narrative context?

timestamp: (1:19)

The film’s score acts as a major storytelling device. Each song provides key information about the narrative, explores developments in characters, and can show the passage of time within the story. In “Deliver Us”, we learn about the context of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt, the order from Pharaoh to kill every newborn Hebrew boy, and Moses’ mother Jochebed’s attempt to save him from the infanticide. “The Plagues” serves a similar plot-based purpose and definitely situates the narrative within the book of Exodus while maintaining the rivalry between brothers. The film’s score uses an overture and several reprises to fully embed the songs into plot and characterize this narrative as epic.

How do songs use character performance to push cultural authenticity in the film’s diegesis? 

Songs include Hebrew language in their lyrics to push cultural authenticity. For example, Ofra Haza’s vocal performance in “Deliver Us” is one of the few vocal performances from a non-white person in the film. Like Armstrong notes, “Moana is not the first production for which Disney hired cultural ‘natives’ to grant cultural authority to offset criticism of imperialism”.

Haza's inclusion as the mother of Moses is a powerful and meaningful role, but she only appears at the beginning of the film. This character performance is used to push cultural authenticity as Ofra Haza is a famous Israeli singer who sings Hebrew in the song. The fact that she “stands out” is indicative of the limited casting—she is casted alongside famous, mostly white American actors. 

In what ways does the film use musical “framing” to structure the score within familiarized styles?

Like in Moana, musical framing is also present in The Prince of Egypt’s score, composed by Hans Zimmerman. Traditional and culturally significant instruments like the shofar (which sounds like a horn), the flute, and percussion like the Darbuk and Toft, seem to be included in the score. These "unfamiliar" instruments however are sandwiched by and interspersed with “a familiar set of ‘normal’ musical sounds” like Armstrong mentions. The score is “framed” with choir vocals, french horn, strings, and other Western instruments.

[themousefromfantasyland]

Moses and the Miraculous Staff

We already have plenty of movies inspired by Moses’ life and the Exodus from Egypt, but most of these come from Christian interpretations of the story. That makes me wonder: How would a Moses film be like if it were inspired sorely by Jewish legends and folk tales surrounding his life.

I think it would look a little like this.

@ariel-seagull-wings @thealmightyemprex @tamisdava2 @amalthea9 @princesssarisa @the-blue-fairie

It all starts with a rod, Moses’ staff. Moses’ staff is described as being a sapphire stick, engraved with the tetragrammaton and the initials of the ten plagues destined for Egypt. The rod was created by God on the sixth day of creation, Friday afternoon, and was given to Adam, and then it was handed down through Enoch, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Joseph.

During the period when the Hebrew were been enslaved by the Egyptians, the rod went in possession of the pharaoh’s court. But one day a Midianite man went to Egypt, stole the rod and planted on his own backyard. That man was Jethro, or Reuel, Zipporah’s father.

Back to Egypt, Pharaoh is told by his soothsayers of the coming of a liberator to the children of Israel, a man that shall destroy all Egypt. Around the same time, young Miriam started having visions and prophesized to her father, Amram, that:

“Behold a son will be born unto us from my father and mother this time, and he will save Israel from the hands of Egypt.”

When Moses was born, a peculiar and glorious light filled their entire house.

Back to Pharaoh, still fearing the prophecy, he immediately ordered for:

“Go now and seek throughout the land of Goshen where the children of Israel are, and see that every son born to the Hebrews shall be cast into the river, but every daughter you shall let live.”

I swear to you, I’m not making that up. This happens next:

“And when the children of Israel heard this thing which Pharaoh had commanded, to cast their male children into the river, some of the people separated from their wives and others adhered to them.

And from that day forward, when the time of delivery arrived to those women of Israel who had remained with their husbands, they went to the field to bring forth there, and they brought forth in the field, and left their children upon the field and returned home.

And the Lord who had sworn to their ancestors to multiply them, sent one of his ministering angels which are in heaven to wash each child in water, to anoint and swathe it and to put into its hands two smooth stones from one of which it sucked milk and from the other honey, and he caused its hair to grow to its knees, by which it might cover itself; to comfort it and to cleave to it, through his compassion for it.

And when God had compassion over them and had desired to multiply them upon the face of the land, he ordered his earth to receive them to be preserved therein till the time of their growing up, after which the earth opened its mouth and vomited them forth and they sprouted forth from the city like the herb of the earth, and the grass of the forest, and they returned each to his family and to his father's house, and they remained with them.

And the babes of the children of Israel were upon the earth like the herb of the field, through God's grace to them.

And when all the Egyptians saw this thing, they went forth, each to his field with his yoke of oxen and his ploughshare, and they ploughed it up as one ploughs the earth at seed time.

And when they ploughed they were unable to hurt the infants of the children of Israel, so the people increased and waxed exceedingly.

And Pharaoh ordered his officers daily to go to Goshen to seek for the babes of the children of Israel.

And when they had sought and found one, they took it from its mother's bosom by force, and threw it into the river, but the female child they left with its mother; thus did the Egyptians do to the Israelites all the days.”

When Moses is exactly three months-old, his mother, Jochebed, built a small ark of bulrushes and sealed with slime and pitch, sending his son in safety through the waters of the Nile, while Miriam watches by.

It happens that God sent an intense heat upon Egypt, “which burned up the flesh of man like the sun in his circuit, and it greatly oppressed the Egyptians.”

Because of the intense heatwave, Bithia or Bathia, the pharaoh’s daughter, went to bathe in the waters of the Nile with her maidens when they found baby Moses’ ark on the reeds.

Now, because God imposed that the mouth which was destined to speak with him could not take unclean milk, Moses refuse all the attempts of the princess and her maidens to breastfeed him. However, because Miriam happened to be closer, she gave the princess a brilliant idea, why not Jochebed? That Moses was nursed by a Hebrew woman, that unbeknownst to the princess, was the baby’s own mother.

This part I found hilarious because everyone gave a complete different name to the baby. It would be understandable if it were just the Hebrew and the Egyptian households that gave the boy different names based on their distinct cultures, but no. Everyone in the Hebrew household gave him a different name.

“And at the end of two years, when the child grew up, she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he was unto her as a son, and she called his name Moses, for she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

And Amram his father called his name Chabar, for he said, It was for him that he associated with his wife whom he had turned away.

And Jochebed his mother called his name Jekuthiel, Because, she said, I have hoped for him to the Almighty, and God restored him unto me.

And Miriam his sister called him Jered, for she descended after him to the river to know what his end would be.

And Aaron his brother called his name Abi Zanuch, saying, My father left my mother and returned to her on his account.

And Kehath the father of Amram called his name Abigdor, because on his account did God repair the breach of the house of Jacob, that they could no longer throw their male children into the water.

And their nurse called him Abi Socho, saying, In his tabernacle was he hidden for three months, on account of the children of Ham.

And all Israel called his name Shemaiah, son of Nethanel, for they said, In his days has God heard their cries and rescued them from their oppressors.”

Now, it has to be said that although modern works depict Moses as not knowing his Hebrew heritage while growing up in Pharaoh’s court, nothing in the sacred texts, folk tales or rabbinic interpretations mentions this fact. It’s most likely a trope used to make Moses’ story much more dramatic. Everyone knows he is a Hebrew, even his own people who, initially, deeply resent him because of that.

At three years old, sitting at the king's table in the presence of several princes and counselors, Moses took the crown from Pharaoh's head and placed it on his own. The princes were horrified at the boy's act; and the soothsayer said that this was the same boy who, in accordance with their former predictions, would destroy the kingdom of Pharaoh and liberate Israel. Balaam and Jethro were at that time also among the king's counselors. Balaam advised the king to kill the boy at once.

The angel Gabriel, who was pretending to be one of the Pharaoh’s advisers, said that the boy should first be examined, to see whether he had sensed enough to have done such an act intentionally. All agreed with this advice. A shining piece of gold, or a precious stone, together with a live coal, was placed on a plate before the boy, to see which of the two he would choose. Gabriel then guided his hand to the coal, which he took up and put into his mouth. This burned his tongue, causing him difficulty in speaking that would only be healed when he received the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

This episode is very infamous, and it’s the only one that I could find with artistic depictions.

Anyway, Moses grows up in the royal court, but he is still somewhat close to his blood family and is deeply concerned with his people. It is thanks to him that Pharaoh gives the slaves a day of rest, the Sabbath.

Eventually, Moses has to flee Egypt, because he murdered an Egyptian man that tried to rape an Israelite woman. It’s clarified that, technically, Moses didn’t commit murder at all, as Egyptian merited death because “he had forced the Israelite woman to commit adultery with him”.

Pharaoh forgave Moses for a lot of stuff, but this wouldn’t be one of them.

“And Pharaoh heard of this affair, and he ordered Moses to be slain, so God sent his angel, and he appeared unto Pharaoh in the likeness of a captain of the guard.

And the angel of the Lord took the sword from the hand of the captain of the guard, and took his head off with it, for the likeness of the captain of the guard was turned into the likeness of Moses.

And the angel of the Lord took hold of the right hand of Moses, and brought him forth from Egypt, and placed him from without the borders of Egypt, a distance of forty days' journey.”

If you know the story by the movies or even by the “official” telling in the Book of Exodus, you may think that now Moses will go straight to Midian, where he will marry Zipporah, but you would be wrong. There’s an entire new chapter in Moses’ life between these two events, one in which Moses would be king of Cush, Etiophia.

The fugitive Moses went to the camp of King Nikanos, or Kikianus, of Ethiopia, who was at that time besieging his own capital, which had been traitorously seized by Balaam and his sons and made impregnable by them through magic. Moses joined the army of Nikanos, and the king and all his generals took a fancy to him.

When Moses had spent nine years with the army when King Nikanos died, and he was made general. He drove out Balaam and his sons, and was proclaimed king by the Ethiopians. He then was obliged, by the wishes of the people, to marry Nikanos' widow, Adoniya. He became king at age 27, and ruled Ethiopia for 40 years, during which he considerably increased the power of the country. After forty years his wife, Queen Adoniya, accused him before the princes and generals of not having cohabited with her during the many years of their marriage, and of never having worshiped the Ethiopian gods. She called upon the princes not to suffer a stranger among them as king, but to make her son by Nikanos, Munahas or Munakaros, king. The princes complied with her wishes, but dismissed Moses in peace, giving him great treasures. Moses, now 67 years old, went from Ethiopia to Midian.

By now you would think the story finally would go the way other retellings of Moses’ life go. Wrong.

In Midian, Jethro keeps Moses in a dungeon for ten years, receiving as food only small portions of bread and water by Zipporah, without her father's knowledge. After ten years she reminded her father that he had at one time cast a man into the dungeon, who must have died long ago; but if he were still living he must be a just man whom God had kept alive by a miracle. Jethro went to the dungeon and called Moses, who answered immediately. As Jethro found Moses praying, he believed that he had been saved by a miracle, and liberated him.

Remember the staff?

Jethro asked every one who wished to marry one of his daughters to pull up the staff from his back garden; but no suitor had yet succeeded in doing so. Moses, on being set at liberty, walked in the garden, saw the rod, and read the inscription. He easily pulled it out of the ground and started using as a staff. Jethro thereby recognized Moses as the deliverer of Israel, and gave him the virtuous Zipporah as wife, together with much money.

Well, I will end the story here, because there’s so much wilder stuff ready to happen and I feel like this is enough for today. There’s so much more to tell like the way the completely unhinged way the Pharaohs treat the Hebrews:

“And whenever any deficiency was found in the children of Israel's measure of their daily bricks, the task-masters of Pharaoh would go to the wives of the children of Israel and take infants of the children of Israel to the number of bricks deficient, they would take them by force from their mother's laps, and put them in the building instead of the bricks;”

For the curious, the source I used for this was mostly “The Book of Jasher.” It’s not actually the Book of Jasher mentioned in Joshua and 2 Samuel, no matter how much translations such as that of Moses Samuel in 1840 want you to believe. Sefer haYashar (ספר הישר) is a medieval Hebrew midrash from the 16th century. Mormons strangely LOVE this book.

For all my Jewish friends I wish a happy Passover 😘😁

[son-of-dracula-flow]

Opps said my magic was child’s play, so I threw their fucking kids into the Nile. They thought I was Jochebed of Egypt.

[kwebtv]

In The Beginning - NBC - November 12-13, 2000

Biblical Drama (2 episodes)

Running Time: 189 minutes total

Stars:

Martin Landau as Abraham

Jacqueline Bisset as Sarah

Billy Campbell as Moses

Eddie Cibrian as Joseph

Fred Weller as Jacob

Alan Bates as Jethro

Steven Berkoff as Potiphar

Geraldine Chaplin as Jochebed

Amanda Donohoe as Zuleika

Christopher Lee as Ramesses I

Art Malik as Ramesses II

Rachael Stirling as Young Rebeccah

Diana Rigg as Mature Rebeccah

Victor Spinetti as Happatezoah

David Threlfall as Aaron

David Warner as Eliezer

Terri Seymour as Eve

Sendhil Ramamurthy as Adam

Sean Pertwee as Isaac

Andrew Grainger as Esau

Jonathan Firth as Joshua

Danny Webb as Laban

Frank Finlay as God's voice (uncredited)

Archie Panjabi as Basya