Poetry · Chapter
Chapter II explained
Moses recounts his refusal to be adopted into Pharaoh's royal line and swear allegiance to Egypt's gods, choosing instead to share the bondage and suffering of his people.
What happens
Moses recounts his refusal to be adopted into Pharaoh's royal line and swear allegiance to Egypt's gods, choosing instead to share the bondage and suffering of his people. He leaves the palace and returns to the lowly huts of Goshen, where his mother Jochebed affirms her faith in God's plan.
Themes in this chapter
Freedom and Liberation
Moses chooses spiritual and communal liberation over personal privilege, rejecting Egypt's gods and royal adoption to cast his lot with the oppressed.
Faith and Divine Justice
Moses' mother Jochebed demonstrates unwavering faith in God's promise, having hidden Moses as an infant and trusting that God would deliver His people.
Resilience and Sacrifice
Moses sacrifices the splendor of the palace and willingly embraces servitude and toil, enduring as 'seeing him who hides his face behind the brightness of his glory.'
Characters to notice
- Moses
Recalls his temptation in the temple of On and his decision to forswear Egypt's gods and royal lineage, choosing to share the lot of his enslaved people.
- Pharaoh
Present at the ceremony in On; his brow darkens when Moses refuses to swear allegiance.
- Princess Charmian
Pharaoh's daughter; an ashen terror creeps over her face as Moses refuses adoption into the royal line.
- Priests of On
They draw near to lay hands on Moses and administer the oath; they grow pale with fear when he refuses.
- Aaron
Moses sees a restless light in Aaron's eye, as if a hidden fire were smoldering in his brain.
- Amram
Moses' father; upon hearing false news that Moses had forsworn his race, he bowed his head upon his staff and wept.
Key passages
“I refused to be called the son Of Pharaoh's daughter. I saw the priests of On Grow pale with fear, an ashen terror creeping O'er the princess' face, while Pharaoh's brow grew Darker than the purple of his cloak.”
Moses rejects adoption into Pharaoh's family, causing the priests to blanch, the princess to turn pale, and Pharaoh's expression to darken with anger.
Moses' public defiance of Egypt's religious and political authority.
“By faith I hid thee when the bloody hands of Pharaoh Were searching 'mid our quivering heart strings, Dooming our sons to death; by faith I wove The rushes of thine ark and laid thee 'mid The flags and lilies of the Nile, and saw The answer to that faith when Pharaoh's daughter Placed thee in my arms, and bade me nurse the child For her.”
Jochebed recalls how her faith led her to hide Moses from Pharaoh's infanticide decree, build his basket ark, and trust God when the princess found him.
Jochebed's testimony of faith parallels the biblical account in Exodus 2:1-10.