SEV Biblia, Chapter 7:21
Mas siendo puesto al peligro, la hija de Faran le tom, y le cri por hijo.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 21. And when he was cast out , etc.] Into the river, or by the river, as some copies read; the Syriac version adds, by his own people; by his father and mother and sister; who might be all concerned in it, and were privy to it; and which was done after this manner; his mother perceiving she could keep him no longer, made an ark of bulrushes, daubed with slime and pitch, into which she put him; and then laid it in the flags, by the rivers side, and set his sister Miriam at a proper distance, to observe what would be done to him, ( Exodus 2:3,4). Pharaohs daughter took him up ; her name, according to Josephus f308 , was Thermuthis; she is commonly, by the Jews f309 , called Bithiah; and by Artapanus in Eusebius f310 , she is called Merrhis. This princess coming down to the river to wash, as she and her maidens were walking by the river side, spied the ark in which the child was laid, among the flags, and ordered one of her maids to go and fetch it; and which being done by her orders, is attributed to her; and opening the ark, she was struck at once with the loveliness of the babe, and being filled with compassion to it, which wept, she took him, and nourished him for her own son : not that she took him to the kings palace, and brought him up there, but the case was this; Miriam the sister of Moses, observing what was done, and perceiving the inclination of Pharaohs daughter to take care of the child, offered to call an Hebrew nurse, to nurse the child for her; to which she agreed, and accordingly went and fetched her own and the childs mother, who took it upon wages, and nursed it for her; and when it was grown, brought it to her, who adopted it for her son, ( Exodus 2:5-10). According to Josephus f311 , and some other Jewish writers f312 , so it was, that when the child was taken out of the ark, the breast was offered it by several Egyptian women, one after another, and it refused to suck of either of them; and Miriam being present, as if she was only a bystander and common spectator, moved that an Hebrew woman might be sent for; which the princess approving of, she went and called her mother, whose breast the child very readily sucked; and at the request of the princess she took and nourished it for her: according to Philo the Jew f313 , this princess was the kings only daughter, who had been a long time married, but had had no children, of which she was very desirous; and especially of a son, that might succeed in the kingdom, that so the crown might not pass into another family; and then relating how she came with her maidens to the river, and found the child; and how that the sister of it, by her orders, fetched an Hebrew nurse to her, which was the mother of the child, who agreed to nurse it for her; he suggests that from that time she gave out she was with child and feigned a big belly, that so the child might be thought to be gnhsiov all mh upobolimaiov genuine, and not counterfeit: but according to Josephus f314 , she adopted him for her son, having no legitimate offspring, and brought him to her father, and told him how she had taken him out of the river, and had nourished him; (Josephus uses the same word as here;) and that she counted of him to make him her son, and the successor of his kingdom; upon which Pharaoh took the child into his arms, and embraced him, and put his crown upon him; which Moses rolling off, cast to the ground, and trampled upon it with his feet: other Jewish writers say f315 , that he took the crown from off the kings head, and put it on his own; upon which, the magicians that were present, and particularly Balaam, addressed the king, and put him in mind of a dream and prophecy concerning the kingdom being taken from him, and moved that the child might be put to death; upon which his daughter snatched it up, and saved it, the king not being forward to have it destroyed: and they also tell this story as a means of saving it, that Jethro who was sitting by, or Gabriel in the form of one of the kings princes, suggested that the action of the child was not to be regarded, since it had no knowledge of what it did; and as a proof of it, proposed that there might be brought in a dish, a coal of fire, and a piece of gold, or a precious stone; and that if he put out his hand and laid hold on the piece of gold, or precious stone, then it would appear that he had knowledge, and deserved death; but if he took the coal, it would be a plain case that he was ignorant, and should be free: the thing took with the king and his nobles, and trial was made, and as the child put out his hand to lay hold on the piece of gold or precious stone, the angel Gabriel pushed it away, and he took the coal, and put it to his lips, and to the end of his tongue; which was the cause of his being slow of speech, and of a slow tongue: by comparing Philos account with this text, one would be tempted to think that Pharaohs daughter did really give out, that Moses was her own son; and the author of the epistle to the Hebrews seems to confirm this, ( Hebrews 11:24) who says, that Moses denied to be called, or that he was the son of Pharaohs daughter; as the words may be rendered.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 17-29 - Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the fulfilling of God' promises. Suffering times often are growing times with the church. God is preparing for his people's deliverance, when their day is darkest and their distress deepest. Moses was exceeding fair, "fair towar God;" it is the beauty of holiness which is in God's sight of grea price. He was wonderfully preserved in his infancy; for God will tak special care of those of whom he designs to make special use. And di he thus protect the child Moses? Much more will he secure the interest of his holy child Jesus, from the enemies who are gathered togethe against him. They persecuted Stephen for disputing in defence of Chris and his gospel: in opposition to these they set up Moses and his law They may understand, if they do not wilfully shut their eyes agains the light, that God will, by this Jesus, deliver them out of a wors slavery than that of Egypt. Although men prolong their own miseries yet the Lord will take care of his servants, and effect his own design of mercy.
Greek Textus Receptus
εκτεθεντα 1620 5685 V-APP-ASM δε 1161 CONJ αυτον 846 P-ASM ανειλετο 337 5639 V-2AMI-3S αυτον 846 P-ASM η 3588 T-NSF θυγατηρ 2364 N-NSF φαραω 5328 N-PRI και 2532 CONJ ανεθρεψατο 397 5668 V-AMI-3S αυτον 846 P-ASM εαυτη 1438 F-3DSF εις 1519 PREP υιον 5207 N-ASM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
21. Took up (aneileto). Used among Greek writers of taking up exposed children; also of owning new-born children. So Aristophanes: "I exposed (the child) and some other woman, having taken it, adopted (aneileto) it" ("Clouds," 531). There is no reason why the meaning should be limited to took him up from the water (as Gloag).
Robertson's NT Word Studies
7:21 {When he was cast out} (ekteqentos autou). Genitive absolute with first aorist passive participle of ektiqemi. {Took up} (aneilato). Second aorist middle indicative (with first aorist vowel a instead of e as often in the _Koin_) of anairew, common in the N.T. in the sense of take up and make away with, to kill as in verse #28, but here only in the N.T. in the original sense of taking up from the ground and with the middle voice (for oneself). Quoted here from #Ex 2:5. The word was used of old for picking up exposed children as here. Vincent quotes Aristophanes (_Clouds_, 531): "I exposed (the child), and some other women, having taken it, adopted (aneileto) it." Vulgate has _sustulit_. "Adopted" is the idea here. "After the birth of a child the father took it up to his bosom, if he meant to rear it; otherwise it was doomed to perish" (Hackett). {Nourished him for her own son} (aneqreyato auton heautei eis huion). Literally, "she nursed him up for herself (heautei besides middle voice) as a son." this use of eis=as occurs in the old Greek, but is very common in the LXX as a translation of the Hebrew _le_. The tradition is that she designed Moses for the throne as the Pharaoh had no son (Josephus, _Ant_. ii. 9, 7).
