Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 2:6
And when she had opened [it], she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This [is one] of the Hebrews’ children.
6. and behold, &c.] Heb. and, behold, a weeping boy. The sight moved her compassion; and despite the Pharaoh’s orders, she determined to spare the child, and bring it up.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
She had compassion on him – The Egyptians regarded such tenderness as a condition of acceptance on the day of reckoning. In the presence of the Lord of truth each spirit had to answer, I have not afflicted any man, I have not made any man weep, I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings (Funeral Ritual). There was special ground for mentioning the feeling, since it led the princess to save and adopt the child in spite of her fathers commands.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 6. She had compassion on him] The sight of a beautiful babe in distress could not fail to make the impression here mentioned; See Clarke on Ex 2:2. It has already been conjectured that the cruel edict of the Egyptian king did not continue long in force; see Ex 1:22. And it will not appear unreasonable to suppose that the circumstance related here might have brought about its abolition. The daughter of Pharaoh, struck with the distressed state of the Hebrew children from what she had seen in the case of Moses, would probably implore her father to abolish this sanguinary edict.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This she might very probably guess, both from the circumstances in which she found him, and from the singular fairness and beauty of the child, far differing from the Egyptian hue; and she might certainly know it by its circumcision.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6-9. when she had opened it, she sawthe childThe narrative is picturesque. No tale of romance everdescribed a plot more skilfully laid or more full of interest in thedevelopment. The expedient of the ark, the slime and pitch, thechoice of the time and place, the appeal to the sensibilities of thefemale breast, the stationing of the sister as a watch of theproceedings, her timely suggestion of a nurse, and the engagement ofthe mother herselfall bespeak a more than ordinary measure ofingenuity as well as intense solicitude on the part of the parents.But the origin of the scheme was most probably owing to a divinesuggestion, as its success was due to an overruling Providence, whonot only preserved the child’s life, but provided for his beingtrained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Hence it is saidto have been done by faith (Heb11:23), either in the general promise of deliverance, or somespecial revelation made to Amram and Jochebedand in this view, thepious couple gave a beautiful example of a firm reliance on the wordof God, united with an active use of the most suitable means.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when she had opened it,…. The ark, for it was shut or covered over, though doubtless there were some apertures for respiration:
she saw the child [in it], and, behold, the babe wept; and which was a circumstance, it is highly probable, greatly affected the king’s daughter, and moved her compassion to it; though an Arabic writer says p, she heard the crying of the child in the ark, and therefore sent for it:
and she had compassion on him, and said, this is one of the Hebrews’ children; which she might conclude from its being thus exposed, knowing her father’s edict, and partly from the form and beauty of it, Hebrew children not being swarthy and tawny as Egyptian ones: the Jewish writers q say, she knew it by its being circumcised, the Egyptians not yet using circumcision.
p Patricides apud Hottinger. p 401. q T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 12. 2. Aben Ezra in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) When she had opened it.The princess opened the ark herself, perhaps suspecting what was inside, perhaps out of mere curiosity.
The babe (rather, the boy) wept. Through hunger, or cold, or perhaps general discomfort. An ark of bulrushes could not have been a very pleasant cradle.
She had compassion on him.The babes tears moved her to pity; and her pity prompted her to save it. She must have shown some sign of her intentionperhaps by taking the child from the ark and fondling itbefore Miriam could have ventured to make her suggestion. (See the next verse.)
This is one of the Hebrews children.The circumstances spoke for themselves. No mother would have exposed such a goodly child (Exo. 2:2) to so sad a death but one with whom it was a necessity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6-9. There is a pathos in this description which shows that the writer’s heart was in it . That princess was his adopting mother . The self-reliant action of the king’s daughter, notwithstanding her father’s cruel and absolute command, well illustrates the independence in character and action which distinguished the Egyptian women, at least the high-born .
The Egyptians were taught also to regard mercy as one of the conditions of acceptance in the day of judgment. In the Funeral Ritual, or Book of the Dead, recently translated from a papyrus by Birch, the human spirit is represented as answering to the judge, “I have not afflicted any man; I have not made any man weep; I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 2:6. Behold, the babe wept You have here an instance of the true sublime: nothing can be more concise, yet nothing more picturesque and pathetic. No wonder the heart of the princess was moved, and that the beauty of the child struck her with irresistible pity and love. She immediately, and naturally, concluded, that it was the child of some of those unfortunate Hebrews, who groaned under her father’s heavy thraldom: her pity told her, that so lovely a babe deserved a better fate; and that it was her duty, since Providence had thus thrown him in her way, at any rate to save him from the common ruin.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Reader! while you admire and adore the goodness of God, in thus forming our nature with those unconscious pleas for mercy which fail not to operate upon all minds, more or less: do not forget what the Lord saith of his own free and spontaneous mercy, as manifested to our whole nature, when we were cast out to perish, and when no eye pitied us but his, in our lost estate. Eze 16:5-6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 2:6 And when she had opened [it], she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This [is one] of the Hebrews’ children.
Ver. 6. One of the Hebrews’ children.] So called of Heber. See Trapp on “ Gen 13:14 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the babe wept. Hebrew a babe weeping. compassion. In that tear lay the defeat of the enemy, the preservation of the Nation, the faithfulness of Jehovah’s word, the bringing to naught “the wisdom of Egypt”, and the coming of “the seed of the woman”, Gen 3:15. Compare Exo 1:10 and Job 5:12, Job 5:13. (See App-23.)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
she had compassion: 1Ki 8:50, Neh 1:11, Psa 106:46, Pro 21:1, Act 7:21, 1Pe 3:8
Reciprocal: Gen 14:13 – the Jer 34:9 – Hebrew Luk 10:33 – he had
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses enjoyed the highest privileges in his education. In commenting on Moses’ training Stephen said that he became, "a man of power in words and deeds" (Act 7:21-22). Josephus wrote that Moses was a general in the Egyptian army that defeated the Ethiopians and that he married the daughter of the king of Ethiopia. [Note: Josephus, 2:10:1.] We cannot prove the accuracy of this statement, but it suggests that Moses may have risen high in Egyptian society before he fled Egypt.
Moses’ name was probably Egyptian, but it became a popular Hebrew name. It relates obviously to the names of other great Egyptians of that period (e.g., Ahmose, Thutmose, et al.). The "mose" part of the name means "one born of," and "mo" means "water."
"The phrase ’drew him out’ (Exo 2:10) is a Hebrew pun on the name, emphasizing the baby’s rescue from the waters of the Nile." [Note: Youngblood, p. 30.]
This name became even more appropriate as Moses’ great life work of drawing the Israelites out of Egypt took shape. Ancient Near Easterners regarded the waters of the sea as a very hostile enemy because they could not control them. The Egypt of Moses’ day was such a hostile foe for the Israelites. In this sense Moses’ name proved prophetic. Moses’ name may have been longer and may have had some connection with the name of an Egyptian god, as the other "mose" compound names referred to above did. If this was the case, "in refusing to ’be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter’ Moses was actually refusing reference to an Egyptian deity." [Note: Nichol, 1:504.]
The fact that Moses later chose to identify with the Israelites rather than the Egyptians is remarkable in view of his Egyptian privileges and background. His parents must have had a strong influence on him beginning very early in his life (cf. Joseph). We should never underestimate the power of parental influence even early in life. Note too that the faith of a child can grow stronger when tested by an ungodly environment.