John Gill Commentary Exodus 2

This man Exodus 2:2

And the woman conceived, and bore a son
Which was not her first child, nor indeed her first son, for she had both Aaron and Miriam before this: this son, which was Moses, was born, as the Jews say ^F20 , in the thirty seventh year after the death of Levi, A. M. 2365, (or, as others, 2368,) on a Wednesday, the seventh of the month Adar, in the third hour of the day: some say it was on the twenty fourth of Nisan; but, according to Bishop Usher ^F21 , he was born forty one years after the death of Levi, A. M. 2433, and in the year before Christ 1571,

and when she saw him that he was a goodly child ;
exceeding fair and beautiful, as Stephen expresses it, (Acts 7:20) , the Jews say ^F23 his form was like an angel of God, and Trogus ^F24 , an Heathen writer, says his beautiful form recommended him: this engaged the affections of his parents to him, and who, from hence, might promise themselves that he would be a very eminent and useful person, could his life be preserved:

she hid him three months ;
in her bedchamber, some Jewish writers say {y}; others ^F26 , in a house under ground, that is, in the cellar; however, it was in his father's house, (Acts 7:20) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Shatshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 2. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 7. 1.
• F21: Annal. Vet. Test. p. 18.
• F23: Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. fol. 57. 2.
• F24: Justin e Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
• F26: Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c.48. fol. 57.2)

And the woman conceived, and bore a son
Which was not her first child, nor indeed her first son, for she had both Aaron and Miriam before this: this son, which was Moses, was born, as the Jews say ^F20 , in the thirty seventh year after the death of Levi, A. M. 2365, (or, as others, 2368,) on a Wednesday, the seventh of the month Adar, in the third hour of the day: some say it was on the twenty fourth of Nisan; but, according to Bishop Usher ^F21 , he was born forty one years after the death of Levi, A. M. 2433, and in the year before Christ 1571,

and when she saw that he was a goodly child ;
exceeding fair and beautiful, as Stephen expresses it, (Acts 7:20) , the Jews say ^F23 his form was like an angel of God, and Trogus ^F24 , an Heathen writer, says his beautiful form recommended him: this engaged the affections of his parents to him, and who, from hence, might promise themselves that he would be a very eminent and useful person, could his life be preserved:

she hid him three months ;
in her bedchamber, some Jewish writers say {y}; others ^F26 , in a house under ground, that is, in the cellar; however, it was in his father's house, (Acts 7:20) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Shatshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 2. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 7. 1.
• F21: Annal. Vet. Test. p. 18.
• F23: Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. fol. 57. 2.
• F24: Justin e Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
• F26: Pirke Eliezer, ut supra. (c.48. fol. 57.2)

And when she could no longer hide him
Because of her neighbours, who might hear the crying of the child, or because of the diligent search made by Pharaoh's officers, which some think was made every three months: the Jews ^F1 have a notion that his mother was delivered of him at six months' end, and therefore when the other three months were up women usually go with child, she could hide him no longer, a birth of a child being then expected, and would be inquired about:

she took for him an ark of bulrushes ;
the word, according to Kimchi , signifies a kind of wood exceeding light, so Gersom and Ben Melech; an Arabic writer ^F3 calls it an ark of wood; it is generally taken to be the "papyrus" or reed of Egypt, which grew upon the banks of the Nile, and of which, many writers say, small vessels or little ships were made, (See Gill on Isaiah 18:2)

and daubed it with slime and with pitch ;
with pitch without and slime within, as Jarchi observes; which being of a glutinous nature, made the rushes or reeds stick close together, and so kept out the water:

and put the child therein ;
committing it to the care and providence of God, hoping and believing that by some means or another it would be preserved; for this, no doubt, was done in faith, as was the hiding him three months, to which the apostle ascribes that, (Hebrews 11:23)

and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink ;
among the sedge, weeds, and rushes, that grew upon the banks of the river Nile; there she laid it, that it might not be carried away with the stream of the river, and that it might be seen and taken up by somebody that would have compassion on it, and take care of it:

the Arabic writers ^F4 say, that Jochebed made an ark of the papyrus, though in the law it is said to be of cork, and pitched within and without, and put the child into it, and laid it on the bank of the Nile, where the water was not so deep, by the city Tzan (or Zoan, that is, Tanis), which was the metropolis of the Tanitic nome; but very wrongly adds, that it might be killed by the dashing of the waves, and she might not see its death.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc.
• F3: Elmacius apud Hottinger. p. 402.
• F4: Patricides, p. 25. Elmacinus, p. 46. apud Hottinger. Smegma, c. 8. p. 400.

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) .

FOOTNOTES:

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

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the
river

Her name, in Josephus^F7, is called Thermuthis, and by Artapanus^F8, a Heathen writer, Merrhis, perhaps from Miriam, and frequently by the Jewish writers^F9, Bithia, which is the name of a daughter of another Pharaoh, (1 Chronicles 4:18), from which they seem to have taken it.

She came down from the palace of her father, the gardens of which might lead to the Nile; for Zoan or Tanis, near to which, the Arabiac writers say, as before observed, the ark was laid, was situated on the banks of the river Nile, and was the royal seat of the kings of Egypt.

Though perhaps the royal seat at this time was either Heliopolis, as Apion testifies^F11, that it was a tradition of the Egyptians that Moses was a Heliopolitan, or else Memphis, which was not far from it; for Artapanus, another Heathen writer, says^F12, that when he fled, after he has killed the Egyptian, from Memphis, he passed over the Nile to go into Arabia.

However, no doubt a bath was there provided for the use of the royal family; for it can hardly be thought that she should go down and wash herself in the open river: here she came to wash either on a religious account, or for pleasure.

and her maidens walked along by the river's side ;
while she washed herself; though it is highly probable she was not left alone: these seem to be the maids of honour, there might be others that might attend her of a meaner rank, and more fit to do for her what was necessary; yet these saw not the ark, it lying lower among the flags, and being nearer the bath where Pharaoh's daughter was, she spied it from thence as follows:

and when she saw the ark among the flags ,
she sent her maid to fetch it; the maid that waited on her while the rest were taking their walks; her she sent from the bath among the flags to take up the ark: the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and R. Eliezer^F15, render it, ``she stretched out her arm and hand, and took it;'' the same word, being differently pointed, so signifying; but this is disapproved of, by the Jewish commentators.

FOOTNOTES:

• F7: Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 5.
• F8: Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 432.
• F9: T. Bab. Megillah, fol. 13. 1. Derech Eretz, fol. 19. 1. Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 2.
• F11: Apud Joseph. Contr. Apion, l. 2. sect. 2.
• F12: Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 433.
• F15: Ibid. Vid. T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 12. 1.