Slender Reeds: Jochabed’s Hope

Gregory vividly paints a picture of the many perspectives that surround the story of Moses being drawn from the bulrushes. Jochabed is a Hebrew in ancient Egypt, suffering daily from Pharaoh’s oppression. Marked among her own people for her father’s actions, she feels the need to prove her worth as a woman. She finds a friend in Shiphrah, who bears the secrets and scars of her former Egyptian life. Shiphrah adopts the Hebrew ways, making them her people—but she’s unaware she has a deeper connection to Hebrew heritage. Her job as a midwife keeps her established among the women. However, her faith is shaken when the evil Pharaoh, Ramses, starts to fear the Hebrews’ growing numbers and orders Shiphrah to oversee the deaths of the newborn baby boys. She is horrified by the command to destroy a life she brought into the world just moments before. Now she must weigh the values of two lives—hers and a helpless baby’s. When Jochabed’s baby is born, their worst fears are realized when they discover the child is a boy. Knowing she cannot keep him hidden for long, Jochabed forms a basket and sets him afloat the Nile, trusting her God with her baby’s life. Gregory’s novel is a fine introduction to two lesser known, though extremely important, female characters in the Hebrew Bible. (Nov.)