Exodus 2:3
A plain-spoken deep dive on this verse. Read the chapter →
But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
This chapter begins the story of Moses, that man of renown, famed for his intimate acquaintance with Heaven and his eminent usefulness on earth, and the most remarkable type of Christ, as a prophet, saviour, lawgiver, and mediator, in all the Old Testament. The Jews have a book among them of the life of Moses, which tells a great many stories concerning him, which we have reason to think are mere fictions; what he has recorded concerning himself is what we may rely upon, for we know that his record is true; and it is what we may be satisfied with, for it is what Infinite Wisdom thought fit to preserve and transmit to us. In this chapter we have, I. The perils of his birth and infancy (Exo 2:1-4). II. His preservation through those perils, and the preferment of his childhood and youth (Exo 2:5-10). III. The pious choice of his riper years, which was to own the people of God. 1. He offered them his service at present, if they would accept it (Exo 2:11-14). 2. He retired, that he might reserve himself for further service hereafter (Exo 2:15-22). IV. The dawning of the day of Israel's deliverance (Exo 2:23, etc.).
Open source ↗2:3 Papyrus reeds grew plentifully along the many streams into which the Nile River divided in the delta region of northern Egypt. They were light and flexible, well-suited for basket weaving. It is possible that Moses’ mother placed the basket in the water exactly where it was most likely to be found by the Egyptian princess.
Open source ↗Cross-references
Other passages the community most often connects to this one. Tap to read.
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.
He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
which sends couriers by sea, in papyrus vessels on the waters. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people widely feared, to a powerful nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.
When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”
And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.
Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some men fell into the pits, but the survivors fled to the hill country.
The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will trickle and dry up; the reeds and rushes will wither.