the height of ten feet; and from this the lighter Nile boats were made, whilst the peeling of the plant was used for sails, mattresses, mats, sandals, and other articles, but chiefly for the preparation of paper (vid., Celsii Hierobot. ii. pp. 137ff.; Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, pp. 85, 86, transl.). ותּחמרה, for תּחמרהּ with mappik omitted: and cemented (pitched) it with חמר bitumen, the asphalt of the Dead Sea, to fasten the papyrus stalks, and with pitch, to make it water-tight, and put it in the reeds by the bank of the Nile, at a spot, as the sequel shows, where she knew that the king's daughter was accustomed to bathe. For “the sagacity of the mother led her, no doubt, so to arrange the whole, that the issue might be just what is related in Exo 2:5-9” (Baumgarten). The daughter stationed herself a little distance off, to see what happened to the child (Exo 2:4). This sister of Moses was most probably the Miriam who is frequently mentioned afterwards (Num 26:59). תּתצּב for תּתיצּב. The infinitive form דּעה as in Gen 46:3.
Verse 5
Pharaoh's daughter is called Thermouthis or Merris in Jewish tradition, and by the Rabbins בתיה. על־היאר is to be connected with תּרד, and the construction with על to be explained as referring to the descent into (upon) the river from the rising bank. The fact that a king's daughter should bathe in the open river is certainly opposed to the customs of the modern, Mohammedan East, where this is only done by women of the lower orders, and that in remote places (Lane, Manners and Customs); but it is in harmony with the customs of ancient Egypt,[1] and in perfect agreement with the notions of the early Egyptians respecting the sanctity of the Nile, to which divine honours even were paid (vid., Hengstenberg's Egypt, etc. pp. 109, 110), and with the belief, which was common to both ancient and modern Egyptians, in the power of its waters to impart fruitfulness and prolong life (vid., Strabo, xv. p. 695, etc., and Seetzen, Travels iii. p. 204).
verses 6-8
The exposure of the child at once led the king's daughter to conclude that it was one of the Hebrews' children. The fact that she took compassion on the weeping child, and notwithstanding the king's command (Exo 1:22) took it up and had it brought up (of course, without the knowledge of the king), may be accounted for from the love to children which is innate
- ↑ Wilkinson gives a picture of bathing scene, in which an Egyptian woman of rank is introduced, attended by four female servants.
