Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

Like the others in this chapter, Moses lived by faith. But the reference to him begins with the faith exercised when he was too young to know what was going on—the faith of his parents. In the account in Exodus the role of Moses’ mother receives all the attention, his father not being mentioned. In the LXX, however, the plural verbs in Ex 2:2–3 show that both parents were involved. In any case, the mother could not have hidden the child without the father’s agreement. So both parents were necessarily involved.

NIV says both parents hid Moses “because they saw he was no ordinary child.” However, the Greek word that is used here means “beautiful” (GK 842) or perhaps “well-pleasing”; the meaning appears to be that the child was so exceptionally beautiful that his parents believed that God had some special plan for him. The king’s edict was for every male Hebrew child to be thrown into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). Presumably anyone who disobeyed would be severely punished. But Moses’ parents were people of faith. They hid their beautiful baby for three months, trusting God rather than fearing Pharaoh.