When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, "I drew him out of the water." When the child grew olderThis phrase marks a significant transition in the life of Moses. The Hebrew word for "grew older" is "gadal," which implies not just physical growth but also development in stature and importance. In the context of Moses' life, this growth signifies God's providential care and preparation for his future role as a leader. Historically, this period would have been a time of nurturing and teaching by his biological mother, Jochebed, instilling in him the faith and heritage of the Hebrews. she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter
The act of bringing Moses to Pharaoh's daughter is a pivotal moment orchestrated by divine providence. The Hebrew verb "bo" (to bring) suggests a deliberate and purposeful action. Jochebed's faith and trust in God's plan are evident here, as she relinquishes her son to the Egyptian royal household. Archaeologically, this reflects the historical practice of adoption within royal families, which was not uncommon in ancient Egypt, allowing Moses to be raised with privileges and education befitting a prince. and he became her son
This phrase indicates a legal and social transformation. The Hebrew word "hayah" (became) signifies a change in status. Moses, a Hebrew by birth, is now integrated into the Egyptian royal family. This dual identity is crucial for his future role as a mediator between God and His people. Scripturally, this adoption prefigures the concept of believers being adopted into God's family, as seen in the New Testament. She named him Moses
The naming of Moses is significant both linguistically and theologically. The name "Moses" is derived from the Hebrew "Mosheh," which is related to the verb "mashah," meaning "to draw out." This name is prophetic, foreshadowing Moses' future role in drawing the Israelites out of Egypt. In the Egyptian language, "Moses" is also associated with "son" or "born of," which aligns with his royal upbringing. saying, 'I drew him out of the water.'
This phrase provides the etymological explanation for Moses' name. The act of drawing him out of the water is symbolic of salvation and deliverance, themes that are central to Moses' life and mission. Water, in biblical symbolism, often represents chaos and danger, and Moses' rescue from the Nile prefigures the deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea. Historically, the Nile was both a source of life and a place of peril, making Moses' rescue a powerful testament to God's sovereignty and protection. Persons / Places / Events 1. MosesThe central figure in this verse, Moses is a Hebrew child who is adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. His name, derived from the Hebrew "Mosheh," is linked to the verb "mashah," meaning "to draw out," reflecting his rescue from the Nile. 2. Pharaoh’s DaughterAn unnamed Egyptian princess who adopts Moses. Her actions are pivotal in God's plan for the deliverance of Israel, showing compassion and defying her father's decree. 3. The Nile RiverThe place where Moses was found and drawn out by Pharaoh's daughter. It symbolizes both danger and deliverance in Moses' early life. 4. Moses' MotherThough not named in this verse, she plays a crucial role in Moses' early life by nursing him and eventually bringing him to Pharaoh's daughter. 5. EgyptThe setting of this event, representing both the place of Moses' upbringing and the land of Israel's bondage. Teaching Points Divine ProvidenceGod's hand is evident in Moses' life from the beginning. Despite the perilous circumstances, God orchestrates events for His purposes. We can trust in God's sovereignty in our own lives. Identity and PurposeMoses' dual identity as a Hebrew and an Egyptian prince foreshadows his role as a mediator between God and His people. Our identity in Christ calls us to a unique purpose. Courage and CompassionPharaoh's daughter's actions demonstrate courage and compassion. We are called to act justly and show mercy, even when it goes against societal norms. God's TimingMoses' upbringing in Pharaoh's court was part of God's preparation for his future leadership. We should be patient and trust God's timing in our preparation for His plans. Bible Study Questions 1. How does Moses' adoption by Pharaoh's daughter demonstrate God's providence, and how can we see God's hand in our own life circumstances? 2. In what ways does Moses' identity as both a Hebrew and an Egyptian prince prepare him for his future role? How does our identity in Christ prepare us for our calling? 3. What can we learn from Pharaoh's daughter's courage and compassion, and how can we apply these qualities in our interactions with others today? 4. How does the account of Moses' early life encourage us to trust in God's timing and preparation for our future roles? 5. Reflect on a time when you felt "drawn out" of a difficult situation. How did that experience shape your faith and understanding of God's purpose for your life? Connections to Other Scriptures Acts 7:21Stephen recounts Moses' adoption by Pharaoh's daughter, highlighting God's providence in Moses' life from the beginning. Hebrews 11:24-25These verses reflect on Moses' faith and his choice to identify with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin in Pharaoh's court. Exodus 1:22The decree by Pharaoh to cast Hebrew male infants into the Nile sets the stage for Moses' rescue and adoption. People Gershom, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Levi, Moses, Pharaoh, Reuel, ZipporahPlaces Egypt, Midian, Nile RiverTopics Bringeth, Calleth, Child, Daughter, Drawn, Drew, Grew, Groweth, Grown, Lad, Named, Older, Pharaoh, Pharaoh's, SayingDictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 2:10 5044 names, giving of
5738 sons
6609 adoption, nature of Exodus 2:1-10 5652 babies
7775 prophets, lives Exodus 2:10-15 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 ScriptureHome 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 Links Exodus 2:10 NIVExodus 2:10 NLTExodus 2:10 ESVExodus 2:10 NASBExodus 2:10 KJV
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