摩西是一个希伯来人（犹太人）的孩子，被法老的女儿收养，作为埃及人抚养长大。然而，他忠于自己的根。从长远来看，他拯救了他的人民，犹太人，使他们脱离埃及的奴役。在《出埃及记》中，他被放在芦苇丛中的篮子里，但他从未被遗弃。

摩西在芦苇丛中的故事

摩西的故事始于出埃及记2:1-10。在《出埃及记》第1章末，埃及法老（也许是拉美西斯二世）颁布法令，所有希伯来男婴出生时都要溺死。但当摩西的母亲约切维德生下孩子时，她决定把儿子藏起来。几个月后，孩子太大了，她无法安全地躲藏起来，因此她决定把他放在尼罗河两岸芦苇丛中的一个战略要地的一个用藤条填缝的篮子里（通常被称为芦苇），希望他能被找到并收养。为了确保婴儿的安全，摩西的妹妹米里亚姆在附近的一个藏身处监视。

婴儿的哭声提醒了带走婴儿的法老的一个女儿。摩西的妹妹米里亚姆躲在那里看着，但当公主显然打算留下孩子时，她出来了。她问公主是否想要一个希伯来助产士。公主同意了，因此米里亚姆安排让真正的母亲得到报酬来照顾她自己的孩子，而孩子现在生活在埃及皇室中。

圣经经文（出埃及记2）

Exodus 2 (World English Bible) 1 A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. 2 The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him. 5 Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it. 6 She opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?" 8 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." The maiden went and called the child's mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." The woman took the child, and nursed it. 10 The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."

“留在河里的婴儿”的故事并不是摩西独有的。它可能起源于留在台伯河的罗穆卢斯和雷姆斯的故事，或者苏美尔国王萨尔贡一世留在幼发拉底河一个填缝的篮子里的故事。