Bithiah

Bithiah, also spelled Batya, is a figure associated with the biblical narrative of Moses. In the canonical Book of Exodus, the princess who finds the infant Moses in the Nile is unnamed; traditional Jewish and some Christian sources later identify her as Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah (Batya).

According to the narrative, she draws Moses out of the water and raises him in the Egyptian court. When she asks for a Hebrew nurse to care for the child, Moses's sister Miriam suggests their mother, Jochebed, who is hired to nurse him; Moses is eventually adopted as her son. This act is often interpreted as a rare instance of a non-Israelite royal woman protecting the infant Moses and thereby preserving his Hebrew identity until he later flees to Midian.

Name and tradition: The name Batya/Bithiah is not in the biblical text, but appears in later rabbinic and medieval Jewish sources as the name of Pharaoh’s daughter. The etymology is discussed as possibly meaning "daughter of Yah" or "daughter of the Lord," reflecting themes of piety and protection. In Islamic tradition, the Qur’an does not name Pharaoh’s wife; Asiya is commonly identified as the pious wife of Pharaoh, though not always equated with Batya. In modern literature and art, Bithiah is sometimes treated as a named figure representing Pharaoh’s daughter who saved Moses; the canonical form remains unnamed in the Bible.