Immediate Family
About Bithiah ., Pharaoh's daughter
Encyclopedias:
- Wikipedia: Moses /Bithiah
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Bithiah
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Women: Daughter of Pharaoh: Midrash and Aggadah
Bithiah, Bitya (בִּתְיָה, literally daughter of God) was the daughter of a Pharaoh of Egypt. The name of her father is not in the Bible, but Rabbinic Midrash makes her the daughter of one of the Pharaohs of the Exodus. (see Pharaoh of the Exodus).
Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh rescued Moses, Islamic tradition has her as "one of the four best women", Jewish Tradition Bithiah has highest honors in the Garden of Eden.
The Rabbis applied to the daughter of Pharaoh the verse from the “Woman of Valor” poem. The midrash asserts that Bithiah did not die, but was among those who entered the Garden of Eden while still alive. She was so privileged because she cared for Moses (i.e., rescued him and raised him) (Midrash Eshet Hayil 31:15).
The Bible and Midrash assert that she was the foster mother of Moses, having drawn him from the Nile and bestowed upon him his name (Exodus 2:10). In Jewish tradition, she was exiled by the Pharaoh for bringing Moses the Levite into the house of Pharaoh and claiming him as her own child. She radiated warmth and loved him as if he were her own son, and accordingly was richly rewarded: she married Caleb son of Jephunneh and joined the people of Israel.
Another exegetical tradition has God saying: “Since this one brought salvation to Israel and brought them forth to life, I shall prolong her life. Kallah Rabbati loc. cit.). This midrash attributes the salvation of all Israel to the daughter of Pharaoh, because she saved Moses from death, and thereby facilitated the redemption of Israel from Egypt by means of their leader Moses.
Bithiah was the first-born of her parents, but, through Moses' prayer, was spared at the time of the death of the first-born (Pesiḳ., ed. Buber, vii. 65a). She is numbered among the persons who entered paradise alive; having saved Moses, she was forever freed from death ("Derek Ereẓ Zuṭṭa," i.; Yalḳ. i. 42, ii. 367). Compare Moses in Rabbinical Literature.K. L. G.
Islamic tradition
In the Hadith, Bithiah is known as Asiya, one of four of "the best of women". She is also known as the Pharaoh's wife, not daughter, in the Qur'an.
In Josephus' works The daughter of Pharoh who drew Moses (MO Yses) from the Nile was called Thermuthis and not Bithia.
In Christian tradition Eusebius of Caesarea (Preparation for the Gospel 9.15) names her as Merris, and Eustathius of Antioch (Commentary on Hexameron MPG 18.785) as Merrhoe.
Bithiah ., Pharaoh's daughter's Timeline
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-1390
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Land of Goshen, Ancient Egypt
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-1275 |
-1275
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Kingdom of Pharaoh
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