CHAPTER II.

AND there went aa man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

a ch. 6. 20. Numb. 26. 59. 1 Chron. 23. 14.

2 And the woman conceived and

bare a son: and bwhen she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

b Acts 7. 20. Hebr. 11. 23.

19. Marriage connexions between kin dred thus nearly related was afterwards forbidden under the law, Lev. 18. 12, but more indulgence was granted in this and other respects in the early and unsettled state of the commonwealth.

1. And there went a man, &c., Heb. 737 va-yelek. According to Calvin, there had gone; implying that the marriage had taken place some time previous to the royal order for the drowning of the male-children. Certain it is that Aaron was three years old at the birth 2. And the woman conceived. The of Moses, and we have no intimation anxiety and apprehension naturally inthat his infancy was in any way ex- cident to the delicate situation in which posed to peril. As such an order would Jochebed found herself, must have been naturally be executed with most severity aggravated by terrors more dreadful than immediately upon its being issued, and the prospective pangs of child-birth, or as Aaron's infancy was unmolested, it the loss of life itself. As a wife and a seems a fair presumption that the edict mother in Israel, she was looking and came forth not far from the birth-time longing for the birth of another manof Moses; so that the pluperfect rend- child; but that fond expectation was as ering of the verb may perhaps be con- often dashed by the bitter reflection, sidered the most correct. The verb that an order had gone forth which 'to go,' by a peculiarity of idiom in the would in all probability consign her original, is frequently employed in a son, if she should bear one, to the jaws sense including not the idea of locomo- of the devouring crocodile of the Nile. tion, but simply that of commencing, or | Yet it would seem not improbable from entering upon, an action or enterprise; the apostle's words, Heb. 11. 23, that thus, Gen. 35. 22, ' And it came to pass, some extraordinary presentiments in when Israel dwelt in that land, that the minds of his parents accompanied Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his the birth of this illustrious child, and father's concubine. Deut. 31. 1, And strengthened the faith under which he Moses went and spake these words unto was hidden for three months from the all Israel.' Hos. 3. 1, Then said the rage of the Egyptian dragon, which Lord unto me, Go, yet love a woman stood eager for his prey as soon as it beloved of her friend.' The word in should see the light, Rev. 12. 4.such connexions may not improperly be ¶ When she saw him, that he was a considered as an expletive. Something goodly child. Heb. tob, good. The similar occurs in the New Testament, original term, as remarked on Gen. 39. Eph. 2. 17, ‹ And came and preached 6, is used to denote bodily endowments, peace to you.' So also 1 Pet 3. 19, as well as the qualities of the heart, 'By which also he went and preached and its import may be learned from the unto the spirits in prison.'-The name of corresponding Gr. phrase employed by the man here mentioned was Amram, the Stephen, Acts, 7. 20, aσTELS TW lw, son of Kohath, the son of Levi, Ex. 6. | fair to God, i. e. divinely or exceedingly 16-20, and the name of the woman fair. In Heb. 11. 23, the epithet is the whom he took to wife was Jochebed, same (aorεtov) but rendered 'proper.' the sister of Kohath, and consequently The implication obviously is, that an the aunt of Amram, Ex. 6. 20. Num. 26. | extraordinary beauty distinguished the

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

The original term is derived from a verb signifying to swallow, to sup up, to drink, and is so named from its re

smiling babe that now reposed in his mother's arms. To the fond eye of maternal affection every child is lovely, and we can only account for the strong lan-markably absorbing the water where it guage used here and elsewhere in regard grows, as appears from Job. 8. 11, 'Can to Moses, by supposing that his infant the rush ( gomë) grow up without features possessed a grace and comeli- mire ?" It is a plant growing on the ness that were perhaps without a paral- banks of the Nile, and in marshy lel. We must recognize in this a special grounds. The stalk is of a vivid green, providence, for there is no doubt that of a triangular form, and tapering tothe uncommon beauty of the child was wards the top. At present it is rarely a strong motive with the parents for so found more than ten feet long, about twó anxiously aiming to secure it from feet or little more of the lower part of harm. This is clearly intimated in the the stalk being covered with hollow words of the apostle, Heb. 11. 23, 'By sharp-pointed leaves which overlap each faith Moses, when he was born, was other like scales, and fortify the most hid three months of his parents, because exposed part of the stem. It terminates they saw that he was a proper child,' in a tuft or crown of small grassy fila&c. It may be supposed moreover that ments, each about a foot long. Near this circumstance was ordered by provi- the middle each of these filaments parts dence in order to afford to Pharoah's into four, and in the point of partition daughter a stronger motive for preservare four branches of flowers, the termin ing the child. But the dearer the com-ation of which is not unlike an ear of fort the greater the care, and under their present circumstances we can easily imagine that every lovely linea ment in the countenance of her child would weave a new fold of anguished anxiety in her own face as she gazed upon it, and thought of the jeopardy to which he was exposed. For the space of three months she was permitted, through her precautions, from day to day to fondle and nourish the helpless babe, though her heart trembled at the sound of every tread while so employed, just as the miser dreads the noise of ap proaching footsteps while surveying and counting over his hoarded wealth. But at the end of that period, the rigor of the search on the part of her enemies convinced her that farther concealment would be impracticable, and that she must part with her treasure.

3. She took for him an ark of bulrushes, &c. Heb. n tabath gomë, ark of bulrush. The Egyptian papyrus.

wheat in form, but is in fact a soft silky husk. This singular vegetable was used for a variety of purposes, the principal of which was the structure of boats and the manufacture of paper. In regard to the first, we are told by Pliny that a piece of the acacia-tree was put in the bottom to serve as a keel, to which the plants were joined lengthwise, being first sewed together, then gathered up. at stem and stern, and made fast by means of a ligature. These vessels are still to be seen on the engraven stones and other monuments of Egyptian an tiquity. According to Dr. Shaw, the vessels of bulrushes or papyrus mentioned in sacred and profane history were no other than large fabrics of the same kind with that of Moses, which from the introduction of plank and stronger materials, are now laid aside The prophet's words, Is. 18. 2, That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters,'

child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

are supposed to allude to the same kind of sailing craft. Pliny takes notice of the 'naves papyraceas armentaque Nili;' ships made of the papyrus, and the equipments of the Nile; and Lucan, the poet has, Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro,' the Memphian (or Egyptian) boat is made of the thirsty papyrus, where the epithet bibula,' drinking, soaking, thirsty is particularly remarkable, as corresponding with great exactness to the nature of the plant, and to its Hebrew name. The Egyptian bulrush or papyrus required much water for its growth; when therefore the river on whose banks it grew was reduced, it perished sooner than other plants. This explains Job, 8. 11, where the circumstance is referred to as an image of transient prosperity.¶ Daubed it with slime and with pitch. Heb. 2 ba-hemor, with bitumen, or mineral pitch. See Note on Gen. 11. 3. The bitumen' cemented the rushes or reeds together, the pitch served to keep out the water. 'There seems to be considerable analogy between the ark or boat in which Moses was deposited, and the curious vessels which are at the present day employed in crossing the Tigris. They are perfectly circular in shape, and are made with the leaves of the date-palm, forming a kind of basket-work, which is rendered impervious to the water by being thickly coated with bitumen.' Pict. Bib.-T Laid it in the flags. Heb. 10 bassuph, in the sea-weed, or sedge. The suph was probably a general term for sea or riverweed. The Red Sea is always called, in the Scriptures ho yam suph, or the weedy-sea, as some suppose, from the great variety of marine vegetables which grow in it, and which at low water are left in great quantities upon, the shores. But see Note on Ex. 13. 18. 3

VOL. I

4 c And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

c ch. 15. 20. Numb. 26..59.

4. And his sister stood afar off, &c. His sister Miriam undoubtedly, as we have no account of his having any ' other. She was unquestionably older than Aaron, or she would have been unfit for such an office on this occasion. The incident makes it plain that the little ark, though made water-tight, was not deposited on the bosom of the river, where it would be borne away by the current, but on the margin of the stream, where perhaps the finder would infer that it had lodged, after having floated down from above. Throughout the whole of this transaction, which was no doubt supernaturally suggested, no mention is made of the father. That every thing was done with his privity and consent we cannot doubt, for the apostle couples both the parents in his encomium on their faith; but the case was probably one in which the faith of the mother was more decided and active than that of the father, and has therefore more prominence given it in the sacred narrative. The proceeding de tailed is a beautiful illustration of the connexion which should always exist between the diligent use of means and a pious trust in Providence. Instead of sitting down in sullen despair, or passive reliance on divine interposition, every thing is done which can be done by human agency to secure the wishedfor result. The careful mother pitches every seam and chink of the frail vehicle as anxiously as if its precious deposit were to owe its preservation solely to her care and diligence. Nor even yet does she think she has done enough. Miriam her daughter must go, and at a distance watch the event, and strange would it be if she did not herself in the mean time take a station where she could watch the watcher. And here we behold all the parties standing precisely

5 ¶ And the d daughter of Pharaoh | flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side: and when she saw the ark among the

d Acts 7. 21.

upon the line where the province of human sagacity, foresight, and industry ends, and providential succor begins. The mother has done her part. The rushes, the slime, and the pitch were her prudent and necessary preparations; and the great God has been at the same time preparing his materials, and arranging his instruments. He causes every thing to concur, not by miraculous influence, but by the simple and natural operation of second causes, .to bring about the issue designed in his counsels from everlasting. The state of the weather, the flux of the current, the promenade of Pharaoh's daughter, the state of her feelings, the steps of her attendants, are all so overruled at that particular juncture, as to lead to the discovery, the rescue, and the disposal of the child! But let us not anticipate the thread of the story."

5. The daughter of Pharoah came down to wash herself at the river. Heb.

3 al ha-yeor, at or by the river. Gr. εTI TOν потαμоv, to be translated in the same manner, implying that the washing, which was probably a religious ablution, and not a proper bathing, was performed just at the river's brink. The washing of Naaman the Syrian, on the other hand, is said to have been in the Jordan (1711 ba-yarden) and not at it, because he entered further into the stream. We advert to the phraseology here principally for the purpose of showing the relation of the Gr. rendering to a parallel passage in Rev. 9. 14, 'Loose the four angels which are bound at (εri at, not in) the great river Euphrates;' i. e. the four angels which nad hitherto been providentially restrained or confined in the vicinity of

6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children.

the great river Euphrates. Angels'
here is a symbolical term for the nai“
tions or people over which they are re-
presented in prophecy as presiding.
See Dan. 10. 3. The import of the com-
mand is, that those obstructions which
had hitherto opposed the issuing forth
and the desolating spread of four great
political powers in the region bordering
upon the Euphrates, should now be re-
moved and free scope given them.
These powers were the origin of the
Ottoman empire, which, as it was an-
nounced by the sixth trumpet, was to
be destroyed by the sixth vial. Rev.
16. 12. She sent her maid to take
it. Heb. phi vattikkaheha, and took
it; i. e. she took it by the hand of her
maid; by which term is meant the
maid who more immediately waited
upon her, as the word (x) is dif-
ferent from that (1) translated
'maidens.'

-T

6. She saw the child: and behold, the babe wept. Rather according to the Heb. 'And she saw him, the child; and behold a male-infant weeping!' The Eng. word 'babe,' as it does not discriminate the sex, is not an exact or adequate rendering of the original 735 naar, which strictly denotes a male child, and is here used expressly for that purpose.¶_She had compassion on him. Or, Heb. nn tahmol, mercifully spared him. If there be an object in nature more calculated than any other to interest and affect the susceptible heart of woman, it was that which now presented itself to the eye of this Egyptian princess-a beautiful infant, deserted by its parents, exposed to the most imminent peril, and expressing by the moving testimony of tears its sense