Texts · 17 · Moses and Joshua
How a fairytale became a story of resistance
Read alone, Exodus 2 is a light tale of an abandoned baby, with no father named. Exodus 1, added later, turns it into defiance of a genocidal Pharaoh.
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Pharaoh ordered the boys thrown into the Nile; Moses' mother complied, technically, with a waterproof basket. The midwives' deception frames the women of chapter 2 as daring resisters. Who Moses originally was remains a mystery; Freud even made him an Egyptian.
Bible reference: Exodus 1:15–22
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 273–275
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