He was, like Ahijah of Shiloh, one of the long-lived saints whose life extended over many generations of Jews, to whom he became a transmitter of ancient lore. He instructed even Ahijah, the prophet, in the doctrines taught by the patriarch Jacob. When war broke out between Egypt and Canaan, and the Israelites saw this to be the opportunity for taking the bones of all the sons of Jacob except Joseph's to the Holy Land and burying them in the cave of Machpelah, Amram was one of those who took part in the sacred task, and, while most of the people returned to Egypt, he with a few others remained for a long time in the city of Hebron Book of Jubilees, xlvi.
Table of Contents. Patriarchs, pp. And the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years. Amram married his father's sister Jochebed, and had other children: Moses' brother Aaron and sister Miriam see 1 Chronicles He lived to a ripe old age of despite living as a slave in Egypt.
Amram, whose name means "the friend of God" or "exalted people," was lauded along with his wife Jochebed for their faith in hiding Moses. Both of them recognized that God gave them a special son, and they defied the Pharaoh's command in order for the child to live. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king's command.
We do not read a record of Amram's interactions with young Moses, so we can only imagine how he and Jochebed cared for their child, but as they are recorded as people of faith, we can be sure they were godly parents in the time they had him before he was picked up by Pharaoh's daughter see Exodus Who was Moses' father?
They took a great personal risk to save many Hebrew babies from death, after Pharaoh had commanded all baby boys to be killed. Women worthy of commendation and being remembered by name.
The second chapter opens by saying that some guy from the house of Levi marries a woman also from the house of Levi, and that they had a son. Later on in chapter six, we find a surprise. In verse 14 the naming of names begins again, as the heads of each of the houses of Israel are listed and details given about their offspring. The house of Levi is described, and it is in the house of Levi that Amram, the father, shows up.
In verse 16 we learn about his wife too:. These are that Moses and Aaron. What is going on? Why are their identities hidden at the beginning and then emphasised like this only here and now? I think the clue is in verse 16, and the unusual nature of their marriage. Leviticus 18 verses 12 and 16 makes it quite clear that marrying your aunt is off limits. Clearly Jochebed and Amram married before the prohibition was given, but it is a bit of a shocker that for all those Israelites who knew the law looking back on it with hindsight.
Moses, the great law-giver, was born within what would soon be seen as an unlawful union.
0コメント