Miscellanies 1.23.151
Summary: Moses, of Chaldean descent and born in Egypt, was hidden three months from Pharaoh's decree and then placed in a papyrus basket by the river, watched by his sister.
Greek text · Stählin 2:93–94
Μωυσῆς οὖν ἄνωθεν τὸ γένος Χαλδαῖος ὢν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γεννᾶται, τῶν προγόνων αὐτοῦ διὰ πολυχρόνιον λιμὸν ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος εἰς Αἴγυπτον μεταναστάντων. ἑβδόμῃ γενεᾷ γεννηθεὶς καὶ τραφεὶς βασιλικῶς περιστάσει κέχρηται τοιαύτῃ. εἰς πολυανθρωπίαν ἐπιδεδωκότων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ τῶν Ἑβραίων δείσας ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς χώρας τὴν ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους ἐπιβουλὴν τῶν γεννωμένων ἐκ τῶν Ἑβραίων κελεύει τὰ μὲν θήλεα τρέφειν αὐτούς (ἀσθενὲς γὰρ εἰς πόλεμον γυνή), διαφθείρειν δὲ τὰ ἄρρενα εὐαλκῆ νεότητα ὑφορώμενος. εὐπατρίδην δὲ τὸν παῖδα ὄντα τρεῖς ἐφεξῆς κρύπτοντες ἔτρεφον μῆνας οἱ γονεῖς νικώσης τῆς φυσικῆς εὐνοίας τὴν τυραννικὴν ὠμότητα, δείσαντες δὲ ὕστερον μὴ συναπόλωνται τῷ παιδί, ἐκ βίβλου τῆς ἐπιχωρίου σκεῦός τι ποιησάμενοι τὸν παῖδα ἐνθέμενοι ἐκτιθέασι παρὰ τὰς ὄχθας τοῦ ποταμοῦ ἑλώδους ὄντος, ἐπετήρει δὲ τὸ ἀποβησόμενον ἄπωθεν ἑστῶσα τοῦ παιδὸς ἡ ἀδελφή.
English · Claude translation
Moses, then, was a Chaldean by ancestry, born in Egypt, his forefathers having migrated from Babylon to Egypt because of a long famine. Born in the seventh generation and reared royally, he met with the following circumstance. When the Hebrews had increased to a great multitude in Egypt, the king of the country, fearing a plot from their numbers, ordered them to rear the female children of the Hebrews (for a woman is weak for war), but to destroy the males, suspecting a strong youth. But his parents, since the child was of noble birth, hid him and reared him for three months in succession, natural affection conquering tyrannical cruelty; but fearing later that they would perish with the child, they made a vessel of the native papyrus, put the child in it, and exposed him beside the banks of the river, which was marshy; and the child's sister, standing far off, watched what would happen.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The account follows Exod 1:8–2:4, with details also found in Philo's Life of Moses.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.23.151 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/23/151/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.23.151 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/23/151/).
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