Midrash on Bityah Daughter of Pharaoh

Exodus 2:5 Now Pharaoh's daughter went down to bathe at the Nile, and her girls were walking along the Nile. She saw the little-ark among the reeds and sent her maid, and she fetched it. Exodus 2:6 She opened (it) and saw him, the child- here, a boy weeping! She pitied him, and she said: One of the Hebrews' children is this! Exodus 2:7 Now his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter: Shall I go and call a nursing woman from the Hebrews for you, that she may nurse the child for you? Exodus 2:8 Pharaoh's daughter said to her: Go! The maiden went and called the child's mother. Exodus 2:9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her: Have this child go with you and nurse him for me, and I myself will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and she nursed him. Exodus 2:10 The child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She called his name: Moshe/He-who-pulls-out; she said: For out of the water meshitihu/I-pulled-him.

(18) And his Judahite wife bore Jered father of Gedor, Heber father of Soco, and Jekuthiel father of Zanoah. These were the sons of Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married.

In Chronicles it is written, "These were the sons of Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh." Rabbi Yehoshuah taught in the name of Rabbi Levi that The Holy one said to Batyah the daughter of Pharoah: Moses was not your son, yet you called him your son; you, too, though you are not My daughter, yet I will call you My Daughter. This is why it says: "These were the sons of Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh"

“And she called his name ‘Moshe’” – From here you can learn about the merit of those that perform acts of kindness. Even though Moses had many names, the only name that was set throughout the Torah, was the name that Bathyah daughter of Pharaoh called him. Even the Holy One Blessed is He did not call him by another name.

She opened [the ark], and she saw him (va-tir-u-hu), it's not written that she saw, but rather that she saw Him. Rabbi yossi bar Chananyah says that she saw the Shekhinah dwelling with him.

(26) "And the child (Moses) grew" - Twenty four months she nursed him, and you say "and the child grew"?! Rather he grew, not in the way of the [rest] land. “And she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh…” The daughter of Pharaoh would kiss and hug and adore him (Moses) as if he were her own son, and she would not take him out of the king’s palace. And because [Moses] was so beautiful, everyone yearned to see him. One that would see him would not leave his presence. And it was that Pharaoh would kiss him (Moses) and hug him, and he would remove Pharaoh’s crown and place it on his own head, as he would do to him in the future when he was great. And just as the Holy One Blessed is He said to Hiram (Ezekiel 28:18), “…I have brought fire from within you, it will consume you…”, similarly the daughter of Pharaoh raised the one who would punish her father in the future. And even the anointed king, that is destined to punish Edom, sits among them in their [own] province, as it says (Isaiah 27:10) “…there shall the calf (the Messiah) graze and there lie down and destroy its branches.” And some of the observers sitting among them were the magicians of Egypt that said, “We are wary of this, that he is taking your crown and placing it on his head, that he not be the one we say (i.e. prophesy) that will take the kingship from you.” Some said to kill him, and some said to burn him. And Jethro was sitting among them and said to them, “This child has no intent [to take the throne]. Rather, test him by bringing in a bowl [a piece of] gold and a coal. If he outstretches his hand towards the gold, [surely] he has intent [to take the throne], and you should kill him. And if he outstretches his hand towards the coal, he [surely] does not have intent [to take the throne], and he does not deserve the death penalty.” They immediately brought the bowl before him (Moses), and he outstretched his hand to take the gold, and Gabriel came and pushed his (Moses’) hand, and he grabbed the coal. He then brought his hand along with the coal into his mouth and burned his tongue, and from this was made (Exodus 4:10) “slow of speech and slow of tongue.” “And she called his name ‘Moshe’” – From here you can learn about the merit of those that perform acts of kindness. Even though Moses had many names, the only name that was set throughout the Torah, was the name that Bathyah daughter of Pharaoh called him. Even the Holy One Blessed is He did not call him by another name.

(3) Another explanation: "And it was in the middle of the night" - this is [the meaning of] that which is written (Proverbs 31:18), "She has understanding as her merchandise is good, her candle does not, etc." You find that the verse stated (Exodus 12:30), "as there was not a house that did not have a dead person there." How? If you count each and every drop that an Egyptian put out to each and every woman [that had not yet given birth] or the first drop [to women that had already given birth from other men], it will be found that all of the boys were dying, as it is stated (Psalms 88:51), "And he smote every firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of their strength in the tents of Cham." The first drop [that were] female firstborns also died, except for Batya the daughter of Pharaoh who had a good (tov) defender; that was Moshe, as it is stated (Exodus 2:2), "and she saw that he was goodly (tov)." Hence Shlomo said "She has understanding as her merchandise is good." "And she gets up while it is still night" (Proverbs 31:15) - in what night? "And it was in the middle of the night."