(possibly: Jehovah Is Glory).
Daughter of Levi who married Amram, of the same tribe, and became the mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. (Ex 6:20; Nu 26:59) Jochebed was a woman of faith, and she trusted in her God, her Jehovah. Disregarding Pharaoh’s decree, he refused to kill his son, who was later named Moses, and after three months, when he could no longer hide him in the house, he placed him in a papyrus chest and placed him among the reeds that they grew along the banks of the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter found the child and kept him; however, events took such a turn that Moses’ own mother was asked to raise him. As the child grew, Jochebed and her husband were very diligent in teaching their children the principles of pure worship, as reflected in the lives they led. (Ex 2:1-10.)
According to the masoretic text, Jochebed was the sister of Qohat, father of Amram; that is, that Amram married his aunt, something that was not illegal at the time. (Ex 6:18, 20) However, some scholars believe that Jochebed was Amram’s cousin rather than her aunt, and this is indicated by the Greek Septuagint Version, as well as the Syriac Peshitta and the Jewish tradition. For example, Exodus 6:20 says in part: † œJochebed, her father’s brother’s daughter † (LXX). †œAmran married Yochebed, his relative† (NBE). Various versions say that Amram married “his paternal first cousin” (BR; SA, 1972; Scío; TA). A footnote in the English version by Joseph B. Rotherham comments on the expression † œher father’s sister†: † œProb, only a female member of his father’s family †. Thomas Scott says in his Explanatory Notes (1832): “According to the Septuagint and Jewish traditions, Jochebed was the cousin, not the aunt, of Amram.” “The best scholars are of the opinion that Jochebed was Amram’s first cousin, not his aunt.” (Adam Clarke’s Holy Bible Commentary) When at Numbers 26:59 Jochebed is said to be the “daughter of Levi,” it could mean †œgranddaughter† (†œdaughter or granddaughter† , TA; RH †œdescendant†), as in so many other places in Scripture where †œson† is used to refer to a †œgrandson† . Ferrar Fenton comments in his English translation that the expression † ˜who was born to Levi † ™, which appears in this verse, † œis a Hebrew phrase that does not mean that she was born to Levi personally, but to a descendant of the tribe . Due to the time that has elapsed, it is impossible that she would have been a direct daughter of Levi †. (See also Scio’s note.)
If, on the other hand, the Masoretic text of Exodus 6:20 is correct, Jochebed was Amram’s aunt and not his cousin. Accepting the possibility that Jochebed’s father was Levi, her mother must have been another woman younger than Qohat’s mother. In this case, Jochebed, although she would only be Qohat’s half-sister, would have been Amram’s aunt.
Source: Dictionary of the Bible