Exodus 6:14-25 provides a genealogy of Moses and his brother Aaron. This passage informs us that Jacob’s son Levi, who was 137 years old when he died, fathered Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Kohath, who was 133 years old when he died, fathered Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Exodus 6:20 states that “Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.” The name Amram means “exalted people.”
Numbers 26:58-59 duplicates some of the information we see in Exodus 6, even as it tells us a bit more about Moses’ family: “Kohath was the ancestor of Amram. The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, a descendant of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram: Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.” Interestingly, the name Jochebed means “Yahweh’s glory.” This, along with the fact that the name belonged to Moses’ mother, indicates that God’s name was known to His people even before the Lord revealed it to Moses in Exodus 3.
Apparently Miriam was the oldest of the three children; she was old enough to monitor what happened to her infant brother Moses when he was put in a basket that was placed on the Nile River. Amram and Jochebed were seeking desperately to protect their son from being slaughtered; for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had ordered that all infant Hebrew males be thrown into the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter discovered the basket and the baby inside it, and Miriam (although she isn’t mentioned by name in Exodus 2) volunteered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the child. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed she could, and Miriam went straight to Jochebed! Thus, Moses was nursed by his own mother, even as he began his life residing in an Egyptian palace (see Ex. 1:22–2:10). Aaron was Moses’ senior by three years (see 7:7).
We should not miss the fact that Moses and Aaron were great-grandsons of Levi, and great-great-grandsons of Jacob. The tribe of Levi became Israel’s tribe of priests, and Aaron had the privilege of inaugurating the priesthood for the new nation. Aaron also was a spokesman for Moses when Moses confronted Pharaoh to demand that he release God’s people. Aaron was not perfect; he failed when he allowed the Israelites to lapse into revelry and wickedness during Moses’ time away on the mountain communing with God (see 32:1-20). Aaron was 123 years old when he died (see Num. 20:22-29; 33:39).
Miriam is first mentioned by name in Scripture in Exodus 15:20. After the new nation walked through the Red Sea on dry ground and then saw Pharaoh’s army drown as it attempted to do the same thing, Miriam, who is identified as a prophetess, led the women of Israel in a dance as she sang a song of victory and praise to God (see vv. 20-21).
At one point in the journey across the wilderness, Aaron and Miriam were critical of Moses “because of the Cushite woman he married” (Num. 12:1). God struck Miriam with leprosy, but Aaron pled for her and Moses prayed—and she was restored (see vv. 1-16). Numbers 20:1 states that at Kadesh, Miriam died, and there she was buried. Centuries later, the prophet Micah wrote divinely inspired words affirming Moses, Aaron, and Miriam as leaders whom God used to deliver His people from Egyptian slavery (see Mic. 6:4).
Copyright © 2017 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations in this article have been taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.