Second book of
The Antiquities of the Jews (transl.
by Louis H. Feldman (Brill Publishing,
2000) pages 194 - 200
. . .he (Moses' Hebrew
father) believed that
God would provide
every assurance that there
should be nothing false in
what had been said (God's
promise through Abraham).
Having said this, they (mother,
sister, father of Moses newborn)
devised wicker-work made of
papyrus, similar in shape to
a basket, having made it of
sufficient size so that the
newborn child might lie in it
in spaciousness; then, having smeared
it with asphalt (to bar the entrance of
water thru leakage), they left the
newborn's welfare in God's hands.
The river received and carried it, and
Mariame (MIRIAM) the sister of the
child, having been bidden by her other, went
along beside him as he was carried to see
where the wicker-work would go.
Then also God showed clearly that human
intelligence is worthless, but that all He
wishes to accomplish attains a good end,
and that those who, for the sake of their
own security, condemn others to ruin
fail utterly, even if they employ much
zeal toward this end. . .(Princess Thermouthis)
bestowed this name on him [mou which means
"water" in Egyptian] and those who have been
saved [ ses ]. By common consent, in
accordance with the production of God,
the newborn was both in greatness of intelligence
and contempt of toils [ GREEK ponon kata
phronesei ] (a typical Stoic phrase)
the best of the Hebrews. For Habramos
(his 7th ancestral grandfather was ABRAHAM)
was a seventh father to him. . .His
intelligence grew and far exceeded his age,
when he attained the age of three, God gave
him wondrous increase of his stature. . .The
vast and undiluted childish charm that
enveloped him captivated those who saw him.
. . .In his nurture, he received much care
and the Hebrews placed their hope completely
in him but the Egyptians regarded his
upbringing with suspicion.
