Exodus 2:1-10

The Birth and Early Life of Moses

1 And a man from the {family} of Levi went, and he took {a descendent of Levi}.

2 And the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son, and she saw him, that he was a fine baby, and she hid him three months.

3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him, and she coated it with tar and with pitch, and she placed the boy in it, and she placed [it] among the reeds on the bank of the Nile.

4 And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him.

5 And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the Nile, [while] her maidservants were walking alongside the Nile, and she saw the basket in the midst of the reeds, and she sent her slave woman [for it] and took it

6 and opened [it] and saw him--the boy--and it was a lad weeping, and she had compassion for him and said, "This [must be] from the boys of the Hebrews."

7 And his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, "Shall I go and call for you a woman from the Hebrews [who is] nursing [so that] she will nurse the boy for you?"

8 And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, "Go." And the girl went, and she called the mother of the boy.

9 And the daughter of Pharaoh said, "Take this boy and nurse him for me, and I myself will give you wages, and the woman took the boy, and she nursed him.

10 And the boy grew, and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became her son, and she called his name Moses, and she said, "Because I drew him out from the water."

Exodus 2:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 2

This chapter relates the birth of Moses, and his preservation in an ark of bulrushes, Ex 2:1-3. His being found by Pharaoh's daughter, took up, and put out to nurse by her, and adopted for her son, Ex 2:4-10, some exploits of his when grown up, taking the part of an Hebrew against an Egyptian whom he slew, and endeavouring to reconcile two Hebrews at variance, when one of them reproached him with slaying the Egyptian, Ex 2:11-14, which thing being known to Pharaoh, he sought to slay Moses, and this obliged him to flee to Midian, Ex 2:15 where he met with the daughters of Reuel, and defended them against the shepherds, and watered their flocks for them, Ex 2:16,17, which Reuel being informed of, sent for him, and he lived with him, and married his daughter Zipporah, by whom he had a son, Ex 2:18-22 and the chapter is concluded with the death of the king of Egypt, and the sore bondage of the Israelites, and their cries and groans, which God had a respect unto, Ex 2:23-25.

was Amram, the son of Kohath, and grandson of Levi, as appears from Ex 6:18,20

\\and took to wife a daughter of Levi\\; one of the same house, family, or tribe; which was proper, that the tribes might be kept distinct: this was Jochebed, said to be his father's sister, \\see Gill on "Ex 6:20"\\: her name in Josephus {s} is Joachebel, which seems to be no other than a corruption of Jochebed, but in the Targum in 1Ch 4:18 she is called Jehuditha.

{s} Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 4. 09514-950103-1343-Ex2.2

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "house"
• [b]. Literally "daughter of Levi"
• [c]. Each instance of the implied "she" in verses 5 and 6 is the daughter of Pharaoh