Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 7:21
And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
21. nourished him for her own son ] Jewish tradition says that the king had no son, and so Moses was designed by the king’s daughter to succeed to the kingdom. Josephus ( Antiq. ii. 9. 7), where she speaks of him as “a child of a divine form and generous mind.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Was cast out – When he was exposed on the banks of the Nile, Exo 2:3.
And nourished him – Adopted him, and treated him as her own son, Exo 2:10. It is implied in this that he was educated by her. An adopted son in the family of Pharaoh would be favored with all the advantages which the land could furnish for an education.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Was cast out; exposed and left, Exo 2:2, &c.; now was the time for God to take him up, as in Psa 27:10.
Pharaohs daughter, an enemy to Gods Israel; yet God did make use of her to bring tip and educate Moses, who was their deliverer, adopting him for her son, Exo 2:10, and giving him education accordingly.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And when he was cast out,…. Into the river, or by the river, as some copies read; the Syriac version adds, by his own people; by his father and mother and sister; who might be all concerned in it, and were privy to it; and which was done after this manner; his mother perceiving she could keep him no longer, made an ark of bulrushes, daubed with slime and pitch, into which she put him; and then laid it in the flags, by the river’s side, and set his sister Miriam at a proper distance, to observe what would be done to him, Ex 2:3.
Pharaoh’s daughter took him up; her name, according to Josephus w, was “Thermuthis”; she is commonly, by the Jews x, called “Bithiah”; and by Artapanus in Eusebius y, she is called “Merrhis”. This princess coming down to the river to wash, as she and her maidens were walking by the river side, spied the ark in which the child was laid, among the flags, and ordered one of her maids to go and fetch it; and which being done by her orders, is attributed to her; and opening the ark, she was struck at once with the loveliness of the babe, and being filled with compassion to it, which wept, she took him,
and nourished him for her own son: not that she took him to the king’s palace, and brought him up there, but the case was this; Miriam the sister of Moses, observing what was done, and perceiving the inclination of Pharaoh’s daughter to take care of the child, offered to call an Hebrew nurse, to nurse the child for her; to which she agreed, and accordingly went and fetched her own and the child’s mother, who took it upon wages, and nursed it for her; and when it was grown, brought it to her, who adopted it for her son, Ex 2:5. According to Josephus z, and some other Jewish writers a, so it was, that when the child was taken out of the ark, the breast was offered it by several Egyptian women, one after another, and it refused to suck of either of them; and Miriam being present, as if she was only a bystander and common spectator, moved that an Hebrew woman might be sent for; which the princess approving of, she went and called her mother, whose breast the child very readily sucked; and at the request of the princess she took and nourished it for her: according to Philo the Jew b, this princess was the king’s only daughter, who had been a long time married, but had had no children, of which she was very desirous; and especially of a son, that might succeed in the kingdom, that so the crown might not pass into another family; and then relating how she came with her maidens to the river, and found the child; and how that the sister of it, by her orders, fetched an Hebrew nurse to her, which was the mother of the child, who agreed to nurse it for her; he suggests that from that time she gave out she was with child and feigned a big belly, that so the child might be thought to be ‘ “genuine, and not counterfeit”: but according to Josephus c, she adopted him for her son, having no legitimate offspring, and brought him to her father, and told him how she had taken him out of the river, and had nourished him; (Josephus uses the same word as here;) and that she counted of him to make him her son, and the successor of his kingdom; upon which Pharaoh took the child into his arms, and embraced him, and put his crown upon him; which Moses rolling off, cast to the ground, and trampled upon it with his feet: other Jewish writers say d, that he took the crown from off the king’s head, and put it on his own; upon which, the magicians that were present, and particularly Balaam, addressed the king, and put him in mind of a dream and prophecy concerning the kingdom being taken from him, and moved that the child might be put to death; upon which his daughter snatched it up, and saved it, the king not being forward to have it destroyed: and they also tell this story as a means of saving it, that Jethro who was sitting by, or Gabriel in the form of one of the king’s princes, suggested that the action of the child was not to be regarded, since it had no knowledge of what it did; and as a proof of it, proposed that there might be brought in a dish, a coal of fire, and a piece of gold, or a precious stone; and that if he put out his hand and laid hold on the piece of gold, or precious stone, then it would appear that he had knowledge, and deserved death; but if he took the coal, it would be a plain case that he was ignorant, and should be free: the thing took with the king and his nobles, and trial was made, and as the child put out his hand to lay hold on the piece of gold or precious stone, the angel Gabriel pushed it away, and he took the coal, and put it to his lips, and to the end of his tongue; which was the cause of his being slow of speech, and of a slow tongue: by comparing Philo’s account with this text, one would be tempted to think that Pharaoh’s daughter did really give out, that Moses was her own son; and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews seems to confirm this, Heb 11:24 who says, “that Moses denied to be called, or that he was the son of Pharaoh’s daughter”; as the words may be rendered.
w Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 5, 7. & l0, 12. x Targum in 1 Chron. iv. 18. Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 3. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 146. 3. & Pirke Eliezer, c. 48. T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 13. 1. & Derech Eretz Zuta, c. 1. fol. 19. 1. & Chronicon Mosis, fol. 4. l. y De prepar. Evangel l. 9. c. 27. z Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 5. a Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 3. Heb. Chronicon Mosis, fol. 4. 1. Jarchi in Exod. ii. 7. b De Vita Mosis, l. 1. p. 604, 605. c Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 7. d Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 3. Chronicoa Mosis, fol. 4. 2. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When he was cast out ( ). Genitive absolute with first aorist passive participle of .
Took up (). Second aorist middle indicative (with first aorist vowel instead of as often in the Koine) of , common in the N.T. in the sense of take up and make away with, to kill as in verse 28, but here only in the N.T. in the original sense of taking up from the ground and with the middle voice (for oneself). Quoted here from Ex 2:5. The word was used of old for picking up exposed children as here. Vincent quotes Aristophanes (Clouds, 531): “I exposed (the child), and some other women, having taken it, adopted () it.” Vulgate has sustulit. “Adopted” is the idea here. “After the birth of a child the father took it up to his bosom, if he meant to rear it; otherwise it was doomed to perish” (Hackett).
Nourished him for her own son ( ). Literally, “she nursed him up for herself ( besides middle voice) as a son.” This use of =as occurs in the old Greek, but is very common in the LXX as a translation of the Hebrew le. The tradition is that she designed Moses for the throne as the Pharaoh had no son (Josephus, Ant. ii. 9, 7).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Took up [] . Used among Greek writers of taking up exposed children; also of owning new – born children. So Aristophanes : “I exposed (the child) and some other woman, having taken it, adopted [] it” (” Clouds, ” 531). There is no reason why the meaning should be limited to took him up from the water (as Gloag).
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And when he was cast out,” (ektethentos de autou) “Then when his person was exposed,” cast out of his home, where he, and when he could not be kept safely any longer by his mother and father, Exo 2:3-4.
2) “Pharaoh’s daughter took him up,” (aneilato auton de thugater pharao) “The daughter of Pharaoh took him up,” took him under her control, Exo 2:5-8.
3) “And nourished him for her own son,” (kai anethrepsato auton heaute eis huion) “And reared him as (if he were) her own son,” Exo 2:8-10.
The wisdom and goodness of God in the rearing and formal training of Moses, for a later deliverer and lawgiver for Israel, is beyond human comprehension, though we know it is true, Rom 8:28; Rom 11:33.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
21. Part A share by their own right or character.
Lot By the allotment or assignment of God.
This matter Of dispensing the Holy Ghost.
Not right Literally, not straight. Rectitude is a straight line, with which the thoughts of a pure heart coincide.
In the sight of God Who sees with perfect accuracy both the straight line and the crookedness of the heart not coinciding with it.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and works.’
But the future deliverer was not brought up by his own people under the instruction of his own rulers, he was brought up under ‘foreign’ instruction. He was brought up by Pharaoh’s daughter who cared for him as her own son. And there he learned foreign wisdom, and was mighty in word and works (compare Luk 24:19). We have continually the stress that God’s deliverers were not brought up in the equivalent of mainstream Judaism. In the same way, he wants them to realise, the Prophet Who had come, who was like Moses (Act 7:37), was the man of Galilee, not the man of Jerusalem.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 7:21. AndPharaoh’s daughter took him up, All these extraordinary circumstances relating to the birth, preservation, education, genius and character of Moses, serve to aggravate the crime of Israel in rejecting him when he offered himself to them as a deliverer under so many advantages, and when the providence of God had so wonderfully interested itself in his favour.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Act 7:21-22 . . , . ] Repetition of the pronoun as in Mat 26:71 ; Mar 9:28 ; Mat 8:1 . See on Mat 8:1 , Fritzsche, ad Marc. p. 377.
] took him up ( sustulit , Vulg.). So also often among Greek writers, of exposed children; see Wetstein.
] in contrast to his own mother.
] Exo 2:10 , for a son , so that he became a son to herself. So also in classical Greek with verbs of development. Bernhardy, p. 218 f.
.] Instrumental dative . The notice itself is not from the O. T., but from tradition, which certainly was, from the circumstances in which Moses (Philo, Vit. Mos. ) was placed, true. The wisdom of the Egyptians extended mainly to natural science (with magic), astronomy, medicine, and mathematics; and the possessors of this wisdom were chiefly the priestly caste (Isa 19:12 ), which also represented political wisdom. Comp. Justin. xxxvi. 2.
. . .] see on Luk 24:19 . . refers not only to his miraculous activity, but generally to the whole of his abundant labours. With . (comp. Joseph. Antt. iii. 1. 4 : ) Exo 4:10 appears at variance; but Moses in that passage does not describe himself as a stammerer , but only as one whose address was unskilful, and whose utterance was clumsy. But even an address not naturally fluent may, with the accession of a higher endowment (comp. Luk 21:15 ), be converted into eloquence, and become highly effective through the Divine Spirit, by which it is sustained, as was afterwards the historically well-known case with the addresses of Moses. Comp. Joseph. Antt. ii. 12. 2. Thus, even before his public emergence (for to this time the text refers), a higher power of speech may have formed itself in him. Hence . . is neither to be referred, with Krause, to the writings of Moses, nor to be regarded, with Heinrichs, as a once-current general eulogium; nor is it to be said, with de Wette, that admiration for the celebrated lawgiver had caused it to be forgotten that he made use of his brother Aaron as his spokesman.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
Ver. 21. See Trapp on “ Exo 2:5 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Act 7:21 . .: the regular word for exposure of children in classical Greek; see also Wis 18:5 , peculiar to Luke in N.T., and only here in this sense; cf. Exo 2:3 , and [203] critical note above. same word in Exo 2:5 . The verb, though very frequent in Luke in the sense of to kill , is only used here in the sense of A. and R.V., Vulgate, sustulit but cf. Aristoph., Nub. , 531; Epict., Diss. , i. 23, 7. : as in contrast to the child’s own mother. According to tradition, Pharaoh’s daughter designed him for the throne, as the king had no son, Jos., Ant. , ii., 9, 7. , Exo 2:10 ; cf. Act 13:22 ; Act 13:47 ; Simcox, Language of N. T. , p. 80.
[203] R(omana), in Blass, a first rough copy of St. Luke.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
cast out. Greek. ektithemi, verb of ekthetos, in Act 7:19. Only here, Act 11:4; Act 18:26; Act 28:23.
took . . . up. Greek. anaireo. Generally translated “kill”, i.e. take away (by death). See Act 7:28; Act 2:23; Act 5:33, Act 5:36, &c.
her own son = a son for herself.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Act 7:21. ) The accusative absolute, as in ch. Act 26:3, .- , for her son) that he should be to her in the light of a son.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
when: Exo 2:2-10, Deu 32:26
for: Heb 11:24
Reciprocal: Exo 2:5 – daughter Exo 2:6 – she had compassion Exo 2:10 – and he 1Ki 11:19 – found
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1
Act 7:21. Read this history in Exo 2:3-10.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 7:21. Pharaohs daughter. Josephus tells that the name of this princess was Thermutis.
Took him up surely signifies, lifted him up out of the water. This is better than to understand the words, as does de Wette, and also Hackett, in the sense of adopted. The next sentence goes on with the infants subsequent adoption by the princess.
Far her own son. There is a Jewish tradition that, after his adoption by the daughter of the sovereign, Moses was chosen as Pharaohs successor.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
See notes on verse 17
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
21. He having been deposited, the daughter of Pharaoh took him and adopted him unto herself for a son. Contemporary Egyptian history says that this daughter of Pharaoh, the heir to the throne in the blood-royal, her father now very old, was then a widow without an heir, her husband having fallen on the battlefield of Thebes, while leading the Egyptian armies against the Ethiopians, during that long and exterminating war of several generations, in which the Egyptians and Ethiopians, the two greatest nations on the earth, desperately contested the metropolitanship of the globe, Egypt finally triumphing. Such was the anxiety of the young queen to transmit the kingdom in her own family, that seeing the foundling, charmed by his beauty and smitten with most profound sympathy by his crying, she at once conceives the idea of his adoption to herself for a son, and thus feigned maternity, circulating the report and sending away her two maid-servants, who alone knew to the contrary, to regions unknown, never again to be seen; receiving the baby in her arms, calling a nurse through the loving little sister, Miriam, who proved to be none other than the loving mother of the dear little foundling, now, with her husband and four-years- old Aaron and first-born Miriam, moving at once into a tenement house on the royal premises; Amram receiving the appointment of horticultural superintendent.