Albert Barnes Commentary Hebrews 11:23

"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king`s commandment." — Hebrews 11:23 (ASV)

By faith Moses, when he was born. That is, by the faith of his parents. The faith of Moses himself is commended in the following verses. The apostle's statement here is that his parents were led to preserve his life by their confidence in God. They believed that he was destined for some great purpose and that he would be spared, despite all the probabilities against it and all the difficulties involved.

Was hid three months of his parents. This means by his parents. In Exodus 2:2, it is said that this was done by his mother. The truth, doubtless, was that the mother was the agent in doing it—since the concealment could probably be better achieved by one person than when two were employed—but it is morally certain that the father also concurred in it. The concealment was at first, probably, in their own house. The command seems to have been (Exodus 1:22) that the child should be cast into the river as soon as born. This child was concealed in the hope that some way might be discovered by which his life might be spared.

Because they saw he was a proper child. A fair or beautiful child—asteion. The word properly means pertaining to a city (from astu, meaning a city); then urbane, polished, elegant; then fair, beautiful. In Acts 7:20, it is said that he was fair to God (Marginal note); that is, exceedingly fair or very handsome. His extraordinary beauty seems to have been the reason which particularly influenced his parents to attempt to preserve him. It is not impossible that they supposed that his uncommon beauty indicated he was destined for some important service in life, and that, for that reason, they were more anxious to save him.

And they were not afraid of the king's commandment, which required that all male children should be given up to be thrown into the Nile. That is, they were not so alarmed by, or so afraid of, the king as to be induced to comply with the command. The strength of the faith of Moses' parents appears:

1. Because the command of Pharaoh to destroy all male children was explicit, but they had so much confidence in God as to disregard it.

2. Because there was a strong improbability that their child could be saved. They themselves found it impossible to conceal him longer than three months; and when he was discovered, there was every probability that the law would be enforced and the child would be put to death. Perhaps there was also reason to fear that the parents would be punished for disregarding the king's authority.

3. Because they probably believed that their child was destined for some important work. They thus committed him to God instead of complying with the command of an earthly monarch; and, against strong probabilities, they believed it was possible that in some way he might be preserved alive. The remarkable result showed that their faith was not unfounded.