Exodus 2:4

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

Exodus 2:4 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 2:4

And his sister stood afar off
This was Miriam, as the Targum of Jonathan expresses it; who is supposed to be about ten or twelve years of age, others say seven: she was placed ^F5, as the word may be rendered, by her parents, or, "she placed herself" ^F6, by their instruction, at some distance from the place where the ark was, that she might not be observed and be thought to belong to it, and yet so near as to observe what became of it, which was the intent of her standing there, as follows:

to wit what would be done to him;
to know, take notice, and observe, what should happen to it, if anyone took it up, and what they did with it, and where they carried it, for, "to wit" is an old English word, which signifies "to know", and is the sense of the Hebrew word to which it answers, see ( 2 Corinthians 8:1 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (butt) "collocata fuerat", Vatablus.
F6 "Stiterat sese", Junius & Tremellius, "stitit sese", Piscator, Drusius.

Exodus 2:4 In-Context

2 The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

3 And when she could hide him no longer she took for him a basket made of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch; and she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds at the river's brink.

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

5 Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked beside the river; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to fetch it.

6 When she opened it she saw the child; and lo, the babe was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."