Moses-in-the-Cradle = Tradescantia spathacea

Moses-in-the-Cradle is Tradescantia spathacea.  It is once popularly known as Rhoeo discolor, then renamed and reclassified under genus Tradescantia, yet remained in the family Commelinaceae.  Other synonyms includes : R. spathacea, T. bicolor.

The name of the genus honors the English naturalists John Tradescant the Elder ( ca. 1570s -1638 ) and John Tradescant the Younger ( 1608 – 1662 ).  The obsolete genus name, Rhoeo, was named after a mythical Greek goddess.

Moses-in-the-Cradle also known as Moses-in-a-boat, boatlily, oyster plant, and many other names in many languages and dialects.

Moses-in-the-Cradle is a herbaceous plant originated from South American rainforest.  The leaves are long, sword-shaped, green on top with violet underneath, capable to grow up to 12 feet in length.  The small white 3-petaled flowers are hidden in the boat-shaped purple bracts nestle in the leaf axiles, thus getting its name "Mosses in the cradle".

It is planted as an ornamental.  In some places, it becomes noxious weed as it is easily sprout from broken rhizomes.  In Mexico, it is widely used in traditional medicine.  The Chinese, although just recently encountered it, also recognized its medical properties.

 

Biblical Narrative

Exodus 1

 1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt.

 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

 8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”

 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

 20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

Exodus 2

1 Now a man ( Amram (Exodus 6:20) ) of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman ( Jochebed (Exodus 6:20) ), 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister ( Miriam (Exodus15:20) ) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. 6 She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

 7 Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

 8 “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”