1. Exodus 2:10 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the name “Moses” mean?

Exodus 2:10 (ESV)

10 When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

In the Egyptian language, it means to be born and forms an element in royal names (like Thutmose and Ramses). In Hebrew it sounds like: to draw out, to pull out. It is remarkable that we only know Moses’ royal name, not the name his parents gave him. The daughter of Pharaoh adopted him as her son and gave him a new name. This name is the only name we know for Moses; he is the leader who pulled the Israelites out from the death in the water and the slavery.