At the Intersection With God

Jim:

Exodus 2:1-22
Verse 10 says, “When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, ‘because,’ she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’” The name Moses seems to be an interesting combination of Egyptian and Hebrew words. According to the Oxford Annotated Study Bible, “Moses” actually comes from an Egyptian word meaning “to beget a child.” It also may be connected to the name of an Egyptian deity named Thut-mose. But Moses is also very close to the Hebrew very meaning to draw out, close enough that it becomes a pun of sorts. All of this is significant because, like his name, Moses himself stands at an important intersection between Egyptian and Hebrew cultures, similar to the role that Joseph was called on to play, and just as much a sign of God’s providential care for the children of Israel. Moses, then like Joseph, presents a sort of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis triad through which God brings about a new understanding of who God is and what God expects of us. Ultimately, of course, the most important intersection through which God acts is the one where the Word of God becomes incarnate and enters the world.