Exodus 2:5
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh
The phrase "daughter of Pharaoh" indicates a person of high status and privilege in ancient Egypt. Pharaohs were considered divine or semi-divine figures, and their families were treated with reverence. The Hebrew word for "daughter" is "bat," which signifies a direct familial relationship. This highlights the providential nature of Moses' discovery, as God orchestrates events to place Moses in a position of influence and safety. Historically, Egyptian princesses were often involved in religious and cultural activities, which may explain her presence at the Nile.

went down to the Nile to bathe
The Nile River was central to Egyptian life, both as a source of sustenance and as a religious symbol. Bathing in the Nile could have been a ritualistic act, as the river was associated with the god Hapi, who was believed to bring fertility and life. The Hebrew verb "yarad," meaning "to go down," suggests a deliberate action, indicating that this was a routine or significant event. This setting underscores the divine orchestration, as the Nile becomes the meeting place for Moses' salvation.

and her attendants were walking along the riverbank
The presence of attendants signifies the princess's high status and the normalcy of her activities. The Hebrew word "na'arot" for "attendants" can also mean young women or maidens, suggesting a retinue of servants. This detail emphasizes the structured and hierarchical nature of Egyptian society. The attendants' presence also serves a narrative function, as they become witnesses to the unfolding divine plan.

When she saw the basket among the reeds
The "basket" is described in Hebrew as "tevah," the same word used for Noah's ark, symbolizing divine protection and deliverance. The "reeds" or "suf" in Hebrew, often associated with the Red Sea (Yam Suf), foreshadow the future deliverance of the Israelites. The act of seeing, "ra'ah" in Hebrew, implies perception and understanding, suggesting that the princess's discovery is not merely coincidental but part of a larger divine narrative.

she sent her maidservant to retrieve it
The action of sending her maidservant, "shalah" in Hebrew, indicates authority and command. This act of retrieval is pivotal, as it brings Moses into the Egyptian royal household. The maidservant's obedience reflects the social order and the princess's influence. This moment marks the beginning of Moses' journey from a Hebrew child to a leader of his people, orchestrated by God's providence through seemingly ordinary events.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Pharaoh's Daughter
An unnamed Egyptian princess who plays a crucial role in the preservation of Moses. Her compassion and decision to adopt Moses set the stage for his future leadership.

2. The Nile River
A significant geographical and cultural landmark in Egypt, serving as the setting for this pivotal event. The Nile was considered sacred and was central to Egyptian life and economy.

3. Moses
Though not directly mentioned in this verse, Moses is the infant in the basket. His life is spared through divine providence and the actions of Pharaoh's daughter.

4. The Basket
A small ark made of papyrus, coated with tar and pitch, symbolizing God's protection and deliverance, reminiscent of Noah's ark.

5. Maidservant
An attendant of Pharaoh's daughter who retrieves the basket, playing a minor yet significant role in the unfolding of God's plan.
Teaching Points
Divine Providence
God's hand is evident in the preservation of Moses. Even in dire circumstances, God orchestrates events for His purposes.

Compassion Across Cultures
Pharaoh's daughter's compassion transcends cultural and national boundaries, reminding us of the universal call to love and protect life.

Courageous Actions
The actions of Pharaoh's daughter and her maidservant demonstrate courage and initiative, encouraging believers to act boldly in faith.

God's Use of Unlikely People
God often uses unexpected individuals to fulfill His plans, as seen in the Egyptian princess's role in Moses' life.

Protection and Deliverance
The basket symbolizes God's protection, akin to the ark in Noah's account, reminding us of God's deliverance in times of peril.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the account of Pharaoh's daughter finding Moses illustrate God's providence in difficult circumstances?

2. In what ways can we show compassion to those who are vulnerable, as Pharaoh's daughter did for Moses?

3. How does the setting of the Nile River contribute to the understanding of this event in the context of Egyptian culture and the Hebrew people's plight?

4. What can we learn from the courage of Pharaoh's daughter and her maidservant in taking action to save Moses?

5. How does the preservation of Moses in the basket parallel other biblical accounts of deliverance, and what does this teach us about God's protection?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 1:22
Provides context for the decree that all Hebrew male infants be thrown into the Nile, highlighting the danger Moses faced.

Acts 7:21
Stephen's speech in the New Testament recounts Moses being adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, emphasizing God's providential care.

Hebrews 11:23-24
Speaks of Moses' parents' faith and Moses' own identity, showing the importance of faith in God's plan.
The Infancy of MosesD. Young Exodus 2:1-9
A Picture of True FaithJ. Urquhart Exodus 2:1-10
By Works was Faith Made PerfectG.A. Goodhart Exodus 2:1-10
The Child of the WaterH.T. Robjohns Exodus 2:1-10
A Child of ProvidenceJ. Orr Exodus 2:1-11
Moses and ChristJ. Orr Exodus 2:1-25
God RulesA. Nevin, D. D.Exodus 2:5-6
God's Providential Care of ChildrenExodus 2:5-6
God's Purpose Accomplished by Unexpected AgenciesExodus 2:5-6
God's Way of WorkingJ. Parker, D. D.Exodus 2:5-6
Providentially PreservedW. Baxendale.Exodus 2:5-6
Royal CompassionExodus 2:5-6
The ChildJ. S. Exell, M. A.Exodus 2:5-6
The Gentiles Useful in the Deliverance of IsraelM. Baumgarten, D. D.Exodus 2:5-6
The Princess and the OrphanF. W. Robertson, M. A.Exodus 2:5-6
The Unconscious Element in LifeJ. Parker, D. D.Exodus 2:5-6
The Value of First ThoughtsJ. Parker, D. D.Exodus 2:5-6
Womanly CompassionMrs. King.Exodus 2:5-6
Womanly Compassion of Pharaoh's DaughterA. Maclaren, D. D.Exodus 2:5-6
People
Gershom, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Levi, Moses, Pharaoh, Reuel, Zipporah
Places
Egypt, Midian, Nile River
Topics
Along, Alongside, Ark, Attendants, Bank, Basket, Bath, Bathe, Beside, Damsels, Daughter, Fetch, Fetched, Flags, Girl, Handmaid, Herself, Maid, Maidens, Maids, Midst, Nile, Pharaoh, Pharaoh's, Reeds, River, River-plants, River's, Riverside, River-side, Sedge, Servant-girl, Slave, Taketh, Walked, Walking, Wash, Weeds, Women
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 2:5

     5129   bathing

Exodus 2:1-6

     4502   reed

Exodus 2:1-8

     5737   sisters

Exodus 2:1-10

     5652   babies
     7775   prophets, lives

Exodus 2:3-5

     5227   basket

Exodus 2:5-6

     5102   Moses, life of

Library
The Ark among the Flags
'And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 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. 4. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5. And the daughter of Pharaoh came
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Home as a Stewardship.
"Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages."--EXODUS II., 9. "For look, how many souls in thy house be, With just as many souls God trusteth thee!" The Christian home is a stewardship. The parents are stewards of God. A steward is a servant of a particular kind, to whom the master commits a certain portion of his interest to be prosecuted in his name and by his authority, and according to his laws and regulations. The steward must act according to the will of his
Samuel Philips—The Christian Home

The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8.
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Secret of Its Greatness
[Illustration: (drop cap G) The Great Pyramid] God always chooses the right kind of people to do His work. Not only so, He always gives to those whom He chooses just the sort of life which will best prepare them for the work He will one day call them to do. That is why God put it into the heart of Pharaoh's daughter to bring up Moses as her own son in the Egyptian palace. The most important part of Moses' training was that his heart should be right with God, and therefore he was allowed to remain
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Motives to Holy Mourning
Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade to such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual limbecs, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity' (Ezekiel 7:16). There are several divine motives to holy mourning: 1 Tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears. It is like a shower
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Faith of Moses.
"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. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to be evil entreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. By faith he forsook
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

Jesus Sets Out from Judæa for Galilee.
Subdivision B. At Jacob's Well, and at Sychar. ^D John IV. 5-42. ^d 5 So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 and Jacob's well was there. [Commentators long made the mistake of supposing that Shechem, now called Nablous, was the town here called Sychar. Sheckem lies a mile and a half west of Jacob's well, while the real Sychar, now called 'Askar, lies scarcely half a mile north of the well. It was a small town, loosely called
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Consolations against Impatience in Sickness.
If in thy sickness by extremity of pain thou be driven to impatience, meditate-- 1. That thy sins have deserved the pains of hell; therefore thou mayest with greater patience endure these fatherly corrections. 2. That these are the scourges of thy heavenly Father, and the rod is in his hand. If thou didst suffer with reverence, being a child, the corrections of thy earthly parents, how much rather shouldst thou now subject thyself, being the child of God, to the chastisement of thy heavenly Father,
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Man's Misery by the Fall
Q-19: WHAT IS THE MISERY OF THAT ESTATE WHEREINTO MAN FELL? A: All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever. 'And were by nature children of wrath.' Eph 2:2. Adam left an unhappy portion to his posterity, Sin and Misery. Having considered the first of these, original sin, we shall now advert to the misery of that state. In the first, we have seen mankind offending;
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Genealogy According to Luke.
^C Luke III. 23-38. ^c 23 And Jesus himself [Luke has been speaking about John the Baptist, he now turns to speak of Jesus himself], when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age [the age when a Levite entered upon God's service--Num. iv. 46, 47], being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son [this may mean that Jesus was grandson of Heli, or that Joseph was counted as a son of Heli because he was his son-in-law] of Heli, 24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Adoption
'As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' John 1:12. Having spoken of the great points of faith and justification, we come next to adoption. The qualification of the persons is, As many as received him.' Receiving is put for believing, as is clear by the last words, to them that believe in his name.' The specification of the privilege is, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' The Greek word for power, exousia, signifies
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant).
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Appendix ii. Philo of Alexandria and Rabbinic Theology.
(Ad. vol. i. p. 42, note 4.) In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. These bear chiefly the character of logical deductions, and as such were largely applied in the Halakhah. These seven canons were next expanded by R. Ishmael (in the first century) into thirteen, by the analysis of one of them (the 5th) into six, and the addition of this sound exegetical rule, that where two
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

John the Baptist's Person and Preaching.
(in the Wilderness of Judæa, and on the Banks of the Jordan, Occupying Several Months, Probably a.d. 25 or 26.) ^A Matt. III. 1-12; ^B Mark I. 1-8; ^C Luke III. 1-18. ^b 1 The beginning of the gospel [John begins his Gospel from eternity, where the Word is found coexistent with God. Matthew begins with Jesus, the humanly generated son of Abraham and David, born in the days of Herod the king. Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah's herald; and Mark begins with the ministry
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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