Preparing Context
Gathering the passage
Loading the book, timeline, map, and study notes.
Book
World Stage
Structure
Historical Setting
Preparing Context
Gathering the passage
Loading the book, timeline, map, and study notes.
Book
World Stage
Structure
Historical Setting
Exodus / Question
Question source
Exodus
Moses’ mother hid him, then placed him in a basket among the reeds by the river. Pharaoh’s daughter saw the child, took pity on him, and arranged for a Hebrew woman to nurse him. The child was then brought to Pharaoh’s daughter and became her son (Exodus 2:2-10).
Exodus 2:1–7 tells how a Levite couple has a son during a dangerous time, hides him, and then places him in a waterproofed basket among the river reeds when concealment fails. The boy’s sister watches from a distance to see what happens. Pharaoh’s daughter comes to the river, notices the basket, has it retrieved, and discovers a crying baby. This scene follows the escalating threat in Exodus 1:22, where Pharaoh orders Hebrew baby boys thrown into the river, and it begins the narrative focus on one particular child who will matter to the rest of the book.
Exodus 2:1–7 presents a danger-and-rescue scene set under Pharaoh’s order against Hebrew baby boys (context from Exodus 1:22). A Levite couple has a son, the mother hides him as long as she can, then places him in a waterproofed papyrus basket in the reeds by the river. The sister watches from a distance.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Exodus 2:2-10, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
2The woman conceived, and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.
3When she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river`s bank.
4His sister stood far off, to see what would be done to him.
5Pharaoh`s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her handmaid to get it.
6She opened it, and saw the child, and, behold, the baby cried. She had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews` children."
7Then his sister said to Pharaoh`s daughter, "Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"
8Pharaoh`s daughter said to her, "Go." The maiden went and called the child`s mother.
9Pharaoh`s daughter said to her, "Take this child away, and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." The woman took the child, and nursed it.
10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh`s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."