Exodus Reflections (1): Moses' Six Deliverers
Everyone knows Moses is the great deliverer of the Hebrew people. He took on Egypt’s Pharaoh and led his people out of slavery there through the Reed Sea and on Mt. Sinai where YHWH gave him the Ten Commandments for his people. Yet not as many are perhaps aware that this august figure, the greatest in the Old Testament, himself needed deliverers. Six of them, in fact. And they were all women! It’s of course a commonplace that the Old Testament is primitive and retrograde in its view of women. And in a lot of ways that commonplace is true. But less than you might think. There’s a surprising number of figures and stories that feature the strength and wisdom of women. And those about Moses’ six deliverers are important examples. The Hebrews are in Egypt, having moved here to survive a famine, under the good offices of Joseph, Pharaoh’s chief administrator. He’s long gone but the people continue to grow like nobody’s business....