Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 2:3
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid [it] in the flags by the river’s brink.
3. an ark ] i.e. a chest. The Heb. is tbh (only used besides of the ‘ark’ of Noah, Genesis 6-9), an Egypt, word, tbet, a ‘chest.’
papyrus (RVm.)] Heb. gm ’ (Job 8:12; Isa 18:2; Isa 35:7 : deriv. uncertain). A tall reed, consisting of a bare stem, 6 ft. or mon in height, with a large tuft of leaves and flowers at the top (see ill. in NHB. 434, EB. iii. 3557), extinct now in Egypt, and found only by the banks of the ‘Blue’ and ‘White’ Nile, but abundant in ancient times along the banks of the lower Nile. The pith of the stem was cut into thin strips, which were then laid together side by side to form a sheet; and two such sheets, with the strips in one at right angles to those in the other, placed one upon another, and glued together, were used by the ancients as writing material; the stems themselves, also, bound together and caulked, were used to form light boats (Isa 18:2, ‘vessels of gm’ ’; probably also Job 9:26: Theophr. H.P. iv. 8, 4; Pliny H.N. vii. 57, &c.) 1 [98] . Here a small chest, or ‘ark,’ is made of it.
[98] Cf. Wilkinson-Birch, Anc. Egyptians (1878), ii. 179 82 (with transl. of Pliny’s description, H.N. xiii. 11, 12), 205 f., 208; Erman, pp. 12, 235, 236, 447, 479 f.
daubed it with bitumen (Gen 11:3; Gen 14:10 ) and pitch (Isa 34:9 )] to make it water-tight. Bitumen, or asphalt, was brought into Egypt from the Dead Sea; it was used particularly for embalming (Diod. Sic. xix. 99).
flags ] or reeds: Heb. suph, usually of the water-growth (see on Exo 13:18), which gave the ‘Red Sea’ its Heb. name, once (Jon 2:6) of sea-weed; here, v. 5, and Isa 19:6, of some water-growth along the banks of the Nile, or, in Isa 19:6 (see RVm.), of the Nile-canals (see on Exo 7:19). What suph was, is not certainly known. It is commonly supposed to have been some kind of reed. At the present time, the banks of the Nile in the S. half of the Delta are completely bare: but reed-growths are abundant in the Delta, in disused canals in which the level of the water does not change for instance, in those running through the site of Goshen and in pools and ponds (see an ill. in R. T. Kelly’s Egypt (1902), opp. to p. 154): Forskl, also, Flora Aeg.-Arab. (1775), p. 24, attests for his time the abundance of the Arundo donax (see ill. in NHB. 436) on the banks of the Nile, apparently in general; and J. Russegger, Reisen (1841), i. 122 (both referred to by Kn.) speaks of the ‘impenetrable reeds’ on its bank, where the canal from Alexandria to Cairo joins the river. Compare the illustrations in Ebers, Egypt, i. 112, ii. 20 (if the artist may be trusted not to have idealized his picture). What we require is some water-growth which will (1) suit Exo 2:3; Exo 2:5, Isa 19:6; (2) explain reasonably the name ‘Sea of suph ’ (see on Exo 13:18); and (3), unless the late passage Jon 2:6 is not to be pressed, sufficiently resemble ‘sea-weed’ to be called by the same name. Careful observation in Egypt itself might result in the required plant being found 2 [99] .
[99] Might it be the sari of Theophr. H.P. iv. 9, Pliny, H.N. xiii. 45? Cf. Dillm. on xiii. 18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The ark was made of the papyrus which was commonly used by the Egyptians for light and swift boats. The species is no longer found in the Nile below Nubia. It is a strong rush, like the bamboo, about the thickness of a finger, three cornered, and attains the height of 10 to 15 feet. It is represented with great accuracy on the most ancient monuments of Egypt.
Slime and pitch – The slime is probably the mud, of which bricks were usually made in Egypt, and which in this case was used to bind the stalks of the papyrus into a compact mass, and perhaps also to make the surface smooth for the infant. The pitch or bitumen, commonly used in Egypt, made the small vessel water-tight.
In the flags – This is another species of the papyrus, called tuff, or sufi (an exact equivalent of the Hebrew suph), which was less in size and height than the rush of which the ark was made.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. An ark of bulrushes] tebath gome, a small boat or basket made of the Egyptian reed called papyrus, so famous in all antiquity. This plant grows on the banks of the Nile, and in marshy grounds; the stalk rises to the height of six or seven cubits above the water, is triangular, and terminates in a crown of small filaments resembling hair, which the ancients used to compare to a thyrsus. This reed was of the greatest use to the inhabitants of Egypt, the pith contained in the stalk serving them for food, and the woody part to build vessels with; which vessels frequently appear on engraved stones and other monuments of Egyptian antiquity. For this purpose they made it up like rushes into bundles, and by tying them together gave their vessels the necessary figure and solidity. “The vessels of bulrushes or papyrus,” says Dr. Shaw, “were no other than large fabrics of the same kind with that of Moses, Ex 2:3, which from the late introduction of planks and stronger materials are now laid aside.” Thus Pliny, lib. vi., cap. 16, takes notice of the naves papyraceas armamentaque Nili, “ships made of papyrus and the equipments of the Nile:” and lib. xiii., cap. 11, he observes, Ex ipsa quidem papyro navigia texunt: “Of the papyrus itself they construct sailing vessels.” Herodotus and Diodorus have recorded the same fact; and among the poets, Lucan, lib. iv., ver. 136: Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro, “The Memphian or Egyptian boat is constructed from the soaking papyrus.” The epithet bibula is particularly remarkable, as corresponding with great exactness to the nature of the plant, and to its Hebrew name gome, which signifies to soak, to drink up. See Parkhurst sub voce.
She laid it in the flags] Not willing to trust it in the stream for fear of a disaster; and probably choosing the place to which the Egyptian princess was accustomed to come for the purpose specified in the note on the following verse.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
She could not longer hide him, with safety to herself, because they now grew more violent in executing that bloody decree, and the child growing up was more likely to be discovered, especially seeing the Egyptians dwelt among them, Exo 3:22. That boats were made of such materials as
bulrushes in those parts, is evident from Isa 18:2, and from the testimonies of Herod, Pliny, and others.
Slime and pitch; slime within, and pitch without.
She hid it in the flags, which grew near the rivers side; partly that the vessel might not be carried away, and overturned by the violence of the winds and water, and partly that the child might be sooner discerned, and more easily taken out thence by any kind hand, which she hoped for.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3. she took for him an ark ofbulrushespapyrus, a thick, strong, and tough reed.
slimethe mud of theNile, which, when hardened, is very tenacious.
pitchmineral tar.Boats of this description are seen daily floating on the surface ofthe river, with no other caulking than Nile mud (compare Isa18:2), and they are perfectly watertight, unless the coating isforced off by stormy weather.
flagsa general termfor sea or river weed. The chest was not, as is often represented,committed to the bosom of the water but laid on the bank, where itwould naturally appear to have been drifted by the current andarrested by the reedy thicket. The spot is traditionally said to bethe Isle of Rodah, near Old Cairo.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 a 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 b, signifies a kind of wood exceeding light, so Gersom and Ben Melech; an Arabic writer c 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 comments on Isa 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, Heb 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 d 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.
a Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc. b Sepher Shorash. rad. . c Elmacius apud Hottinger. p. 402. d Patricides, p. 25. Elmacinus, p. 46. apud Hottinger. Smegma, c. 8. p. 400.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(3) An ark of bulrushes.Literally, a chest of the papyrus plant. The words used are both of Egyptian origin. Teb, teba, or tebat, is a box or chest in Egyptian, and is well Hebraised by tebah, or, as it is here vocalised, tybah. The papyrus plant was in Egyptian kam, as in modern Coptic, whence probably the Hebrew gme. It was a material frequently used by the Egyptians for boats and even larger vessels (Isa. 18:2; Theophrast. Hist. Plant, iv. 8, 4; P1in. H. N. 13:11).
Slime and pitoh.By slime seems to be meant bitumen, or mineral pitch, as in Gen. ad. 3; by pitch (zaphath), the ordinary vegetable pitch of commerce. Mineral pitch, though not a product of Egypt, was imported into the country from Mesopotamia, and was largely used for embalming (Brugsch, History of Egypt, vol. i. p. 361).
In the flags.A rank aquatic vegetation abounds on the Lower Nile, and in all the back-waters and marshy tracts connected with it. Jochebed placed her child in the flags, that the ark might not float away down the river, and so be lost to her sight. The word used for flagsuphseems to be a Hebraised form of tufi, a common Egyptian word, having this sense.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. When she could not longer hide him She had already concealed him three months.
She took for him an ark of bulrushes Papyrus. The papyrus, or paper reed, from which paper was first made and named, has a triangular stalk, as thick as the finger, about a dozen feet high. Light, strong boats were made of it; also mats, mattresses, sails, and many other articles. The famous Egyptian papyri, whose contents are now being deciphered, were made from slices of the pith, dried and then pressed and glued together, forming strips of indefinite length.
Daubed it with slime Either bitumen or Nile mud. Jochebed cemented the rushes together with the Nile mud or bitumen, and then smeared the seams with liquid pitch to make it water-tight. Similar boats are common on the Tigris now.
Flags Rather, the Nile grass. She placed the child where she knew that the princess would see him, trusting for his safety to his captivating beauty and to God.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 2:3. When she could not longer hide him The king’s decree, as we have observed, ch. Exo 1:22 was, no doubt, peremptory and severe. Fearing therefore the extreme danger of a discovery, which would have proved fatal both to the child and themselves, the parents were forced, though with the utmost regret, to expose him like the rest. Resolving, however, to do the utmost in their power for his preservation, and so trust him to the care of Providence, they put him into a small ark, tebat, (see Gen 6:14.) in the form, perhaps, of one of those boats with which the river was always covered, and made, like them, of bulrushes or flags; that is, most probably, flags of the tree papyrus, of which the Egyptians made their paper, and which grew particularly on the banks of the Nile. The word is so rendered in some copies of the LXX; and Clemens Alexandrinus says expressly, that the vessel was made of papyrus, the product of the country. This papyrus was strong enough to keep out the water, and smooth enough to receive the slime (see Gen 11:3.) and the pitch with which it was besmeared, and by its lightness fittest to swim with the child’s weight. Not willing to trust this ark, with its little sacred charge, into the midst of the stream, the tender mother laid it in the flags or reeds, which grew in abundance by the side of the Nile; hoping, possibly, that they would detain it, so that she might come occasionally and suckle the child; or, if otherwise, that it would be borne safely down the stream, and would preserve the infant from drowning. Prophane writers assure us, that the Egyptians made boats of the papyrus. See Isa 18:2. Dr. Shaw confirms this account, and assures us, that the vessels of bulrushes, mentioned both in sacred and prophane history, were no other than larger fabrics made of the papyrus, in the same manner with this ark of Moses; but which are now laid aside, from the late introduction of plank and stronger materials. Travels, p. 437.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Who that beholds the exposure of Moses, but must immediately call to mind the similar situation of the Lord Jesus. See Mat 2:13
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 2:3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid [it] in the flags by the river’s brink.
Ver. 3. And she laid it in the flags. ] This she did by the force of her faith; Heb 11:23 casting the child upon God, and “against hope believing in hope.”
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ark. Compare Gen 6:14.
bulrushes = papyrus, made by the same Divine in. structions as Noah’s (Rom 10:17).
flags = reeds. Compare Isa 18:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
could not: Exo 1:22, Mat 2:13, Mat 2:16, Act 7:19
an ark: Isa 18:2
bulrushes: Gome, is the papyrus, so famous in all antiquity. It grows on the banks of the Nile, and in marshy grounds; the stalk rises to the height of six or seven cubits above the water, is triangular, and terminates in a crown of small filaments, resembling hair. This reed was of the greatest use to the Egyptians; the pith serving them for food, and the woody part to build vessels with; which vessels frequently appear on various monuments of Egyptian antiquity. That boats were made of this reed is also attested by Pliny and others.
with slime: Gen 6:14, Gen 11:3, Gen 14:10
Reciprocal: Job 8:11 – the rush Isa 19:6 – the reeds
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 2:3. When she could no longer hide him For fear of being informed against by some of her Egyptian neighbours, with whom the Israelites lived intermixed, Exo 3:22. Thus Moses, who was afterward to be the deliverer of Israel, was himself upon the point of falling a sacrifice to the fury of the oppressor; God so ordered it, that being told of this he might be the more animated with zeal for the deliverance of his brethren out of the hands of such bloody men. She took for him an ark of bulrushes A small basket made of rushes, and water-proof by being coated within and without by a kind of bitumen and pitch. Or, perhaps, it might be formed of the tree called papyrus, of which the Egyptians made their paper, and which grew especially on the banks of the Nile. This ark or basket Mosess mother laid in the flags by the rivers brink That it might not be carried away by the stream, intending, we may suppose, to come by night to suckle the child. God undoubtedly put it into her heart to do this, to bring about his own purposes: that Moses might, by this means, be brought into the hands of Pharaohs daughter, and that, by his deliverance, a specimen might be given of the deliverance of Gods church.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2:3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and {b} put the child therein; and she laid [it] in the flags by the river’s brink.
(b) Committing him to the providence of God, whom she could not keep from the rage of the tyrant.