Lily of the valley = Convallaria majalis

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis), sometimes written lily-of-the-valley, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe, but is considered generally invasive in parts of North America.

Despite its name, it is actually not really a lily.  it is scientifically classified as a part of the Asparagaceae (asparagus ) family. 
 

Taxonomy

In the APG III system, the genus is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). It was formerly placed in its own family Convallariaceae, and, like many lilioid monocots, before that in the lily family Liliaceae.
 
There are three varieties that have sometimes been separated out as distinct species or subspecies by some botanists.
Convallaria majalis var. keiskei – from China and Japan, with red fruit and bowl-shaped flowers
Convallaria majalis var. majalis – from Eurasia, with white midribs on the flowers
Convallaria majalis var. montana – from the United States, with green-tinted midribs on the flowers
 

Mention in Bible

I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.

Song of Songs 2:1

Christ's Thron

Denoting sin, sorrow and hardship, the thorn is one of the most ancient symbols in the world; together with the rose, it represents pain and pleasure, and the thorn is an emblem of Christ's passion, as with the crown of thorns.

 

After Jesus’ trials and subsequent flogging, and before He was crucified, the Roman soldiers “twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said” (Matthew 27:29; see also John 19:2-5, NIV).

 

There are two native species of thorn that are predominant in the region of Judah : Paliurus spina-christi, and Ziziphus spina-christi. ( Ongzi : I hope my info is accurate )  So, either species or combination of both might be used by the Roman soldiers twisted into a crown.

 

 

  

 

 

Tares = Lolium temulentum

稗子的比喻 ( 和合本 CUV )

²⁴耶稣又设个比喻对他们说：“天国好像人撒好种在田里，²⁵及至人睡觉的时候，有仇敌来，将稗子撒在麦子里就走了。²⁶到长苗吐穗的时候，稗子也显出来。²⁷田主的仆人来告诉他说：‘主啊，你不是撒好种在田里吗？从哪里来的稗子呢？’²⁸主人说：‘这是仇敌做的。’仆人说：‘你要我们去薅出来吗？’²⁹主人说：‘不必，恐怕薅稗子，连麦子也拔出来。³⁰容这两样一齐长，等着收割。当收割的时候，我要对收割的人说：先将稗子薅出来，捆成捆，留着烧，唯有麦子要收在仓里。’”

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares ( NKJV)

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Tares was translated from Greek word ζιζάνια (zizania), plural of ζιζάνιον (zizanion).  The word is thought to mean darnel ( Lolium temulentum ), a ryegrass which looks much like wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) in its early stages of growth.   The similarity between the two plants is so great that darnel is referred to as “false wheat” in some region.

The recognizable differences are apparent when the ear appears.  The spikes of darnel are more slender, with single glume, and black in colour.  Whilst the wheal will have fuller spikes, with double glume, and appear brown when ripe. 

The darnel can be infected by a fungus of the genus Neoryphodium, which will produce poison which is intoxicated and can be fatal.  Thus it is logical to sabotage the enemies’ wheat field by sowing darnel.   

  Triticum aestivum

                                                                                        

Lolium temulentum 

Judas Tree = Cercis siliquastrum

Judas tree, also known as redbud tree, is Cercis siliquastrum, a small deciduous tree in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the Fabaceae family, originated from Southern Europe and Western Asia, which is noted for its prolific deep pink flowers in spring.

Besides being planted as ornamental tree, the flowers are eaten in mixed salad or made into fritters.  The wood is used in veneers for its attractive grain.

Judas tree was first described by Linnaeus in 1753.   The Generic name derived from the Greek word kerkis, meaning a “weaver’s shuttle”, in allusion to its flat, woody seedpods.  The specific epithet derived from the Latin word siliqua, meaning “pod”.

There are several varieties and subspecies :

1. nothosubsp. yatikinii (Ponert) Govaerts

2. var. hebecarpa Bornm.

3. var. siliquastrum

4. var. alba Weston

There is a myth that Judas Iscariot hanged himself ^{( Matthew 27:1-10 )} from a tree of this species.  This belief is possible related to a corrupted derivation of the plant’s French common name, Arbre de Judée, meaning “tree of Judea”, referring to the hilly regions of the country where the tree were used to be common.  Another possible reason is the flowers and seedpods dangled from the trunk, in a way reminiscent of Judas’ suicide.

  

Matthew 27:1-10

¹ Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Seven Species

Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.  

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land —

a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 

a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 

a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing…

 Deuteronomy 8:6-9

你要谨守耶和华─你神的诫命，遵行他的道，敬畏他。

因为耶和华─你神领你进入美地，

那地有河，有泉，有源，从山谷中流出水来。

那地有小麦、大麦、葡萄树、无花果树、石榴树、橄榄树，和蜜。

你在那地不缺食物，一无所缺。

 申命記8:6-9

The Seven Species ( Seven Kinds ) are seven agricultural products that are listed in the Bible as being special products of the Land of Israel.  They were the staple foods of the Jewish in the Promised Land during biblical times.

Wheat

Emmer wheat ( Triticum dicocum ), a tetraploid hybrid, was first cultivated in the Fertile

Crescent at around 10,000 BC.  However, emmer wheat require time-consuming pounding or roasting to remove its husk. 

During the Iron Age ( 1,300 – 600 BC ), durum wheat ( Triticum durum ), another tetraploid hybrid become the dominant cultivated species.  Durum wheat yield higer, easily detached from chaff, and easily hulled.  However, it was difficult to grind to obtain fine flour, thus was seldom use for making bread.   

After the Greek conquest ( circa 300 BC ), common wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), a hexaploid hybrid, replace the durum wheat as the primary wheat crop.  As did usage of wheat flour for bread-making, replacing barley and durum wheat.

Wheat is harvested around the time of Shavuot ( Festival of Weeks ) ( Exo 34:22 ) ( Christian : Pentecost ) in the month of Sivan.  20,000 cors of wheat were sent to Hiram king of Tyre year after year, in exchange of cedar and juniper logs King Solomon wanted for building the Temple ( 1Kings 5:11 ). 

Barley

Barley is Hordeum vulgare L., a self-pollinating, annual, diploid grass species with 14 chromosomes.    The wild ancestor of today’s domesticated barley is Hordeum vulgare spontaneum, grown abundantly throughout the Fertile Crescent.

Barley is made into bread ( Judges 7:13, 2Kings 4:42, Ezekiel 4:12, John 6:9-13 ), used in soups and stews.  Barley was considered cheaper by half of the finest wheat flour. ( 2Kings 7:18 )

The 7^th plague was that of hail, which destroyed the then blooming flax and headed barley ( Exo 9:31 ).  The event took place just prior to the first Passover, which falls in the spring month of Nisan.  Barley and wheat were both sowed in autumn, yet barley matured faster and would be harvested sooner.  Thus the bread during the Feast of Unleavened Bread would have been barley.

Gideon dreamed of a barley bread tumbled into the Midianites camp ( Judges 7:13 ), Elisha fed a hundred men with twenty loaves of barley bread ( 2Kings 4:42 ), and Jesus feeds the five thousand with five loaves of barley bread and two small fish ( John 6:9 ).

Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread is celebrated during the onset of barley harvest, in April

Vines ( Grapes )

The grapes are most probably Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia.  

Today’s cultivated grape include American species V. labrusca, V. riparia, V. rotundifoia, and Asian species V. amurensis.

Grapes are deciduous woody vines.  The fruit is a berry, grows in clusters of 15 to 300, colour ranging from crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green, orange, to pink.

Grape are propagated via cuttings, clefting, and layering.   Vineyards are planted on fertile hill , fenced with watchtower, and in-house winepress ( Isa 5:1-2, Mat 21:33 ), harvested together with olive in October, during Feast of Tabernacles.

Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a liquid.  Freshly pressed grape juice with 7-23% of solid content ( pomace ) is called as “must” ( H : tirosh, G : gleukos ).  The juice is often sold fresh or fermented, and made into wine ( H : yayin, G :methusma ) , brandy ( H : shekar, G : sikera ) or vinegar ( H : chomets, G : oxos ).   Dried grapes are called “raisin”.

Fig

The common fig is Ficus carica, a temperate species native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region.

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs and vines, occupying a wide variety of ecological niches.  Specific identification can be difficult, but figs as a group are relatively easy to recognized.  Many have aerial roots, latex-producing, tri-veined, paired stipules or circular stipule scar, and syconium fruit.

Fig fruit is a false fruit.  The flowers and seeds grow together to form a single mass, called a multiple fruit.  Each fruit can contain up to several hundred to several thousand seeds.  The syconium often has a bulbous shape with a small opening at the outward end to allow access to pollinators.

Common fig plants are gynodioecious, meaning female individuals coexist with hermaphroditic individuals ( flowers with both male & female parts ) in the population.   The female individuals produce the ‘edible figs’, while the hermaphroditic individuals produce the ‘inedible figs’ or ‘caprifigs’.

Propagation is done by seeds, cuttings, air-layering or grafting.

Another fig species mentioned in the Bible is sycamore fig ( Amo 7:14 ), Ficus sycomorus, which was also used for food, but much inferior ( Jer 24 ) and cheaper, often eaten by the poor .  At Jericho, Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore fig tree to see Jesus as he passed by ( Luke 19:4 ).

Pomegranates

Pomegranate is the fruit of Punica granatum, originated from the middle East.  It has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region. 

It is a deciduous shrub.  The fruit is a berry, rounded hexagonal shaped, with thick reddish skin.  Seeds varies from 200 to 1400 seeds, embedded in astringent pulp, with colour ranging from white to red or purple.

Pomegranate taste differs depending on the variety and its ripeness.  A desirable taste would be sweet with little bit of sour.  It is often consume fresh, made into juice or used in cooking.  The aril can be dried and used as an acidic agent in food preparation.

 The Bible describes the robe of the ephod embroiled with pomegranates ( Exo 28:33-34 ).   The capitals of the 2 pillars ( Jakin and Boaz ) in front of Solomon’s Temple were engraved with pomegranates ( 1Kings 7:13-22 ).

When Israel spies were sent to explore Canaan, the Promised Land, they brought back grapes, pomegranates and figs ( Num 13 ).

Olive

Olive is the fruit of Olea europaea, native to the costal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin.

Olive tree is an evergreen tree.  The fruit is a drupe.  Olive has been cultivated for olive oil, fine wood ( 1Kings 6:23, 6:32-33 ), olive leaf and the olive fruit.

Olive tree grows well on mineral soil with good drainage.  They tolerate drought well.  Olives grow slowly but can live for several centuries.   Propagation is via cuttings, layers, or grafting, and sometime from seed.  Olive trees are regularly pruned for better fruiting.  Harvesting is done in the winter, during the celebration of Feast of Tabernacles.

Olive are rarely eaten fresh.  They are naturally bitter and unpalatable due to oleuropein and phenolic comounds.  Curing with brine, lye, salt, or fresh water make them more palatable.

Olive oil is produced by grinding whole olive and extracting the oil by mechanical or chemical means.  Olive oil is commonly used in cooking ( 1Kings 17:7-16 ), offering to God ( Exo 29:2, 29:23, 29:40 ; Lev 2:1-7, 6:14-18, 7:11-12, 8:26, etc ), anointing oil ( Exo 30:22-29 ), tithe ( Neh 10:37-39 ),  anoint kings ( 1Sam 10:1 ),  medicine or as fuel for traditional oil lamps ( Exo 23:11. 25:6,  27:20, 35:8, 35:28, 39:37 etc ).

When Noah send out a dove to check out the flood, it returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf ! ( Gen 8:11 )

Honey ( Dates )

Date palm is Phoenix dactylifera, a palm tree originated from around the Persian Gulf.

Date palm has been cultivated for its edible sweet fruit since ancient times.  The fruit is known as a date.

Date palm is dioecious, having separate male and female plants.  It can be easily grown from seeds, but the dates are often smaller and poorer quality, hence most commercial plantation use cuttings for propagation.  Date palms fruit after 4 to 8 years after planting, and remain yielding for up to 10 years.

Fresh dates or dried dates are eaten directly.  Chopped dates are added into dough to make date nut bread.  It can also be processed to produce sweetened syrup ( palm date honey ), alcohol or vinegar.

The Temple was decorated with engraftment with date palms motives ( 1Kings 6:29,32,35 , 7:36 ; 2Chronicles 3:5 ; Ezekiel 40:16,22,26,31,34,37, 41:18-20, 25-26 ).  The leave fronds were used to make roofs ( Nehemiah 8:15 ), used during Feast of Tabernacles ( Lev 23:40 ), and Jesus triumphal entrance into Jerusalem ( John 12:13 ).

Date palms were symbol of righteousness ( Psalm 92:12 ), beauty ( Songs 7:7 ), and victory ( Rev 7:9 ).   

The Trees : By the Rivers of Babylon

Psalm 137 ( KJV )

 ¹By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

 ²We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

 ³For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song;

and they that wasted us required of us mirth,

saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

 ⁴How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?

 ⁵If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

 ⁶If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth;

if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

 ⁷Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem;

who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

 ⁸O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed;

happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

 ⁹Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

1611’s KJV and a lot of other bible translations ( ASV, CEV, Darby, ESV, GNT, NASV, Wycliffe, etc ) refer the tree as ‘willow’, apparently influenced by ancient Latin translations.

Salix babylonica ( Babylon willow, Peking willow or 垂柳 ) is a species of willow native to dry areas of northern China.  It was planted along the famous ancient trade route - the  Silk Road, which began c.200 BC.  It is subsequently introduced to Europe via middle East.

It was described and named by Carolus Linnaeus in 1736, when he encountered the species in Hartekamp, of The Netherlands. 

Linnaeus thought that this species was the tree described in the Bible’s 137^th Psalm.  Thus he named it  Salix babylonica, as well as its common name ‘Babylon willow’.   The genus name Salix is from the Latin word ‘salicibus’ which is the dative plural of ‘salix’, means ‘willow’, from the 1592’s Sixto-Clementine Vulgate.     

The actual tree that were growing along the Eupharates River of Babylon of Mesopotamia ( Modern Iraq ) during that time ( c.580 BC ) was actually gharab ( Hebrew ), the Euphrates poplar ( Populus euphratica ).  It has the same willow-like leaves on drooping shoots.  

Thus in a handful of bible translations, such as 1984’s NIV, NLT, and Holman Christian Standard Bible, the tree’s name is corrected to ‘poplars’, which is more botanically accurate.  

2002’s The Message translation, however, refers it to ‘quaking aspen’, the Populus tremuloides.  P.tremuloides is native to North America, which is very unlikely that it’s the tree on the banks of River of Babylon.

The Passion of Christ @ Passion Flower

Passiflora, is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants.

Passiflora is grown for the passionfruits ( P. edulis, P. foetida, P. incarnate, P. laurifolia, P. ligularis, P. maliformis, P. quadrangularis ) and passionflowers ( P. alata, P. aurantia, P. biflora, P. coccinea, P. citrine, P. racemosa, P. rubra  ).

The ‘passion’ in passion flowers or passion fruits refers to the passion of Jesus Christ.

In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plants, especially the flowers, as symbol of the last days of Jesus and his crucifixion:

•  the pointed tips of the leaves represent the Holy Lance.

( Instead, on of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.  John 19:34 )

• the tendrils represent the whips used in the flagellation of Christ.  

( Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.  John 19:1 )

• the 10 petals and sepals represent the 10 faithful apostles ( excluding Peter the denial and Judas Iscariot the betrayer )

• the flower’s radial filaments, can numbered > 100 and vary from flower to flower, represent the crown of thorns

( The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.   John 19:2 ).

• the chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail

• the 3 stigmas represent the 3 nails

• the 5 anthers represent 5 wounds ( four by nails and one by the lance )

( … “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will no beilieve.”  John 20:24 )

• the blue and white colour represent Heaven and Purity

Judas's Ear = Auricularia auricula-judae

Judas’s ear is Auricularia auricula-judae, a species of edible Auriculariaceae fungus found worldwide.

Its specific epithet is derived from the belief that Judas Iscariot hanged himself from an elder tree ( Sambusus sp ), of which the fungus grows upon.

The common name “Judas’s ear”, then shortened to “Judas ear”, and eventually become “Jew’s ear” due to anti-Semitism in Britain, while “jelly ear” and other names are sometimes used.  

The species was first mentioned as Tremella auricular by Carl Linnaeus in his 1753’s Species Plantarum, and later described by Jean Baptiste François Pierre Bulliard as Tremella auricular-judae.  However, the genus Tremella is now reserved for fungal species that live as parasites on other fungi.

In 1791, Bulliard transferred the species to the genus Peziza.

In 1822, Elias Magnus Fries transferred it to the genus Exidia.

In 1860, Miles Joseph Berkeley described it as a member of Hirneola.

In 1888, Joseph Schröter named it Auricularia auricula-judae.

The fruit body of A. auricularia-judea is normally 3 – 8 cm.  it s distinctively shaped, typically being reminiscent of a floppy ear.  Its texture is tough, gelatinous, elastic when fresh, but it dries hard and brittle.  

While it is not a choice edible mushroom in the West, it has long been popular in China.  It is called 黑木耳 in Mandarin.

Biblical Narratives

Matthew 27

¹ Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

   “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

 ⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

 ⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Acts 1

¹⁸ (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

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.”