Pharaoh’s daughter
The Egyptian princess who found a Hebrew baby in the river and raised him as her son.
Old Testament · c. 1500–1300 BC · Exodus, Acts, Hebrews · Also known as Daughter of Pharaoh
About Pharaoh’s daughter
Pharaoh had ordered, "Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river." Then his own daughter "came down to wash herself at the river," saw a little ark among the reeds, and opened it: "behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children." She paid a Hebrew woman, who was really the baby’s mother, to nurse him. When he was older "he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water."
Exodus doesn’t give her name. Some readers connect her with "Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh" in 1 Chronicles 4:18, but the text doesn’t say they’re the same person. She knew the baby was Hebrew and saved him anyway, against her father’s decree. This portrayal speaks only from what Scripture records.
The story
Her father’s decree
Egypt’s king feared the growing Hebrew people, "And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive." A Hebrew mother hid her baby for three months, then laid him in an ark of bulrushes "in the flags by the river’s brink."
Exodus 1:22–2:3
The babe wept
"And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river... and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children."
Exodus 2:5-6
Nurse it for me
The baby’s sister, watching nearby, offered to find "a nurse of the Hebrew women." "And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."
Exodus 2:7-9
He became her son
"And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water." Stephen later said she "took him up, and nourished him for her own son," and "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians."
Exodus 2:10
Key moments
- Went down to the river: "Came down to wash herself at the river." (Exodus 2:5)
- Had compassion: "This is one of the Hebrews’ children." (Exodus 2:6)
- Hired a nurse: "I will give thee thy wages." (Exodus 2:9)
- Named him Moses: "Because I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:10)
Questions about Pharaoh’s daughter
In meetBible these answers are given in Pharaoh’s daughter’s voice. They are written by hand and checked against Scripture.
Why did you save Moses?
Scripture gives one reason: when I opened the ark, "behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him." I knew what he was: "This is one of the Hebrews’ children." My father had commanded, "Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river," yet I drew this one out of it.
Did you know the nurse was his real mother?
Exodus doesn’t say. It records that his sister offered to fetch "a nurse of the Hebrew women," that "the maid went and called the child’s mother," and that I said, "Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."
Why did you call him Moses?
"And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water." The name remembers the moment I lifted him from the river.
What happened to you later?
My later life isn’t recorded. Stephen said I "took him up, and nourished him for her own son." Hebrews says that "by faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter," choosing to stand with his own people. Some readers connect me with Bithiah in 1 Chronicles 4:18, but Scripture doesn’t say we’re the same.
Connected people
- Moses: Adopted son
- Jochebed: Hired to nurse him
- Miriam: Offered to find a nurse
- Pharaoh: Pharaoh of the Exodus
Read it yourself
Start with Exodus 2:1-10.