Miriam kept eye on Moses after he had been placed as a baby in a boat

Miriam was the older sister of Moses who kept a sisterly eye on him after he had been placed as a baby in a little boat in the papyrus reeds on the side of the Nile river.

After talking to the Pharaoh’s daughter who had found the baby, Miriam organized for the baby Moses to be looked after by his own mother.

Miriam later was to play an important part in the Israelites forty years in the desert.

One of the meanings in Hebrew for Miriam is: star of the sea.

Background Reading:

Moses is Born

2:1 A man of the family of Levi married the daughter of a descendant of Levi. 2 Later, the woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a beautiful child, and hid him for three months. 3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus container, coated it with asphalt and pitch, placed the child in it, and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 Then his sister positioned herself some distance away in order to find out what would happen to him.

Pharaoh’s Daughter Adopts Moses

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile River to bathe while her maids walked along the river bank. She saw the container among the reeds and sent a servant girl to get it. 6 When she opened it and saw the child, the little boy suddenly began crying. Filled with compassion for him, she exclaimed, “This is one of the Hebrew children!”

7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the nursing Hebrew women so she can nurse the child for you?”

8 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Go,” so the young girl went and called the child’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter instructed her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I’ll pay you a salary.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 After the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, because she said, “I drew him out of the water.”
Exodus 2:1-10


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