Bithiah
Encyclopedia
According to Hebrew beliefs; Bithiah or in Modern Hebrew Bityah (בִּתְיָה, literally "daughter of God") was an Egyptian
princess
, and a daughter of Pharaoh
. 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). 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 .
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. Bithiah left Egypt with Moses
during the mass Exodus
of the children of Israel
. She married Mered
the Judahite. Her children were Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah (the father of Eshtemoa
).
identifies the two as the same person, and says she received her name, literally daughter of Yah (= YHWH often rendered in English as LORD), because of her compassion and pity in saving the baby Moses. In the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah
1:3), God says to her that because she took in a child not her own, and called him her son (Moses can mean "child" in Egyptian), God will take her in and call her YHWH's daughter (which is what Bithiah means). The Midrash portrays her as a pious and devoted woman, who would bathe in the Nile to cleanse herself of the impurity of idolatrous Egypt. She is mentioned in Chron. 1, 4:18, as being the wife of Mered
from the tribe of Judah
, who is identified in the Midrash as being Caleb
, one of the 12 spies. The Midrash (Exodus Rabbah 18:3) also records that she was not affected by the 10 Plagues
, and was the only female firstborn of Egypt to survive.
, one of four of "the best of women". She is also known as the Pharaoh's wife, not daughter, in the Qur'an
.
(Preparation for the Gospel
9.15) names her as Merris, and Eustathius of Antioch
(Commentary on Hexameron MPG 18.785) as Merrhoe.
In the film The Ten Commandments
, she is portrayed (by Nina Foch
) as the daughter of Ramesses I
and sister of the Egyptian pharaoh, Seti I
, who raised Moses as her own son as her husband had died before they could have children. When Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt, she joins the Exodus.
In the 1956 film, Bithiah is shown as a compassionate and heroic woman, who deeply loved Moses as a mother and wanted him to inherit the throne so he could do good. When Moses is found out to be a Hebrew, the heartbroken Seti forbids her from seeing him again. During the first Passover when the Destroyer is killing the first born of Egypt, she is freed, apparently from a form of fairly luxurious house arrest, and takes part in the very first Passover Seder
. She grieves over the suffering of her people, but casts her lot with the people of Israel
and joins the Exodus
. She willingly and gladly gives up her place on her rich litter to help the weaker Israelites. When the Egyptian chariots attack, she tries to interpose herself between the charging army and the people. Her future husband Mered
(see I Chronicles 4:18) dissuades her from this noble but suicidal action. When the Egyptian army drowns, it is her grieving reaction that the film shows (rather than the singing and dancing of the people, led by Miriam, that the book of Exodus tells about). Mered comforts her in her sorrow.
Chicago Manual Style (CMS): Bithia is one of the last daughters of the pharaohs. In the temple of Akmenra, to this day there are still hyroglyphics speaking of Bithiah.
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
princess
Princess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
, and a daughter of Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
. The name of her father is not in the Bible, but Rabbinic Midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
makes her the daughter of one of the Pharaohs of the Exodus, (see Pharaoh of the Exodus). The Bible and Midrash assert that she was the foster mother of Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
, having drawn him from the Nile and bestowed upon him his name .
In Jewish tradition, she was exiled by the Pharaoh for bringing Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
the Levite
Levite
In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
into the house of Pharaoh and claiming him as her own child. Bithiah left Egypt with Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
during the mass Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
of the children of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. She married Mered
Mered
Mered is a biblical character, who was from the Tribe of Judah and noted as the husband of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh. Bithiah was the foster mother of Moses...
the Judahite. Her children were Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah (the father of Eshtemoa
Eshtemoa
Eshtemoa, meaning obedience, is a name found in the Bible.*A son of Ishbah or maybe a town inhabited by Ishbah's descendants. *A descendent of Bithiah princess of Egypt and Mered ....
).
In the Bible and Midrash
In the Biblical account, the daughter of Pharaoh who rescued Moses is not named. A daughter of Pharaoh named Bithiah is mentioned in I Chronicles . The MidrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
identifies the two as the same person, and says she received her name, literally daughter of Yah (= YHWH often rendered in English as LORD), because of her compassion and pity in saving the baby Moses. In the Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus . It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel in his Aruk as well as by Rashi in his commentaries on , and elsewhere. According to Leopold Zunz, Hai Gaon and Nissim knew and made use of it...
1:3), God says to her that because she took in a child not her own, and called him her son (Moses can mean "child" in Egyptian), God will take her in and call her YHWH's daughter (which is what Bithiah means). The Midrash portrays her as a pious and devoted woman, who would bathe in the Nile to cleanse herself of the impurity of idolatrous Egypt. She is mentioned in Chron. 1, 4:18, as being the wife of Mered
Mered
Mered is a biblical character, who was from the Tribe of Judah and noted as the husband of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh. Bithiah was the foster mother of Moses...
from the tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
, who is identified in the Midrash as being Caleb
Caleb
Caleb is a male given name. A character called Caleb is named in both the Bible and Quran.-Caleb:When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to report on what was...
, one of the 12 spies. The Midrash (Exodus Rabbah 18:3) also records that she was not affected by the 10 Plagues
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
, and was the only female firstborn of Egypt to survive.
In Islamic tradition
In the Hadith, Bithiah is known as AsiyaAsiya
Asiya, wife of the Pharaoh , also known as Asiya bint Muzahim, is revered by Muslims as one of the greatest women of all time. She was the wife of "Fir'awn," the Pharaoh who reigned during Moses's time...
, one of four of "the best of women". She is also known as the Pharaoh's wife, not daughter, in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
.
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 CaesareaEusebius of Caesarea
Eusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
(Preparation for the Gospel
Preparation for the Gospel
Εὑαγγελικὴ Προπαρασκευή , commonly known by its Latin title Praeparatio evangelica, was a work of Christian apologetics written by Eusebius in the early part of the fourth century AD...
9.15) names her as Merris, and Eustathius of Antioch
Eustathius of Antioch
Eustathius of Antioch, sometimes surnamed the Great, was a bishop and patriarch of Antioch in the 4th century.He was a native of Side in Pamphylia. About 320 he was bishop of Beroea, and he became patriarch of Antioch shortly before the Council of Nicaea in 325...
(Commentary on Hexameron MPG 18.785) as Merrhoe.
In movies
She is often portrayed as being the sister or wife of Pharaoh in adaptations of the story, in order to have Moses appear as Pharaoh's son.In the film The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...
, she is portrayed (by Nina Foch
Nina Foch
Nina Foch was a Dutch-born American actress and leading lady in many 1940s and 1950s films.- Personal life :...
) as the daughter of Ramesses I
Ramesses I
Menpehtyre Ramesses I was the founding Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 19th dynasty. The dates for his short reign are not completely known but the time-line of late 1292-1290 BC is frequently cited as well as 1295-1294 BC...
and sister of the Egyptian pharaoh, Seti I
Seti I
Menmaatre Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt , the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II...
, who raised Moses as her own son as her husband had died before they could have children. When Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt, she joins the Exodus.
In the 1956 film, Bithiah is shown as a compassionate and heroic woman, who deeply loved Moses as a mother and wanted him to inherit the throne so he could do good. When Moses is found out to be a Hebrew, the heartbroken Seti forbids her from seeing him again. During the first Passover when the Destroyer is killing the first born of Egypt, she is freed, apparently from a form of fairly luxurious house arrest, and takes part in the very first Passover Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
. She grieves over the suffering of her people, but casts her lot with the people of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and joins the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
. She willingly and gladly gives up her place on her rich litter to help the weaker Israelites. When the Egyptian chariots attack, she tries to interpose herself between the charging army and the people. Her future husband Mered
Mered
Mered is a biblical character, who was from the Tribe of Judah and noted as the husband of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh. Bithiah was the foster mother of Moses...
(see I Chronicles 4:18) dissuades her from this noble but suicidal action. When the Egyptian army drowns, it is her grieving reaction that the film shows (rather than the singing and dancing of the people, led by Miriam, that the book of Exodus tells about). Mered comforts her in her sorrow.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia JudaicaEncyclopaedia JudaicaThe Encyclopaedia Judaica is a 26-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people and their faith, Judaism. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, language, scripture, and religious teachings...
, 1972, Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, Israel. - Jewish Encyclopedia.com
- Bithiah. (n.d.). Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Bithiah
Chicago Manual Style (CMS): Bithia is one of the last daughters of the pharaohs. In the temple of Akmenra, to this day there are still hyroglyphics speaking of Bithiah.