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Exodus2:1–10

The Birth and Adoption of Moses

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Exodus 2:1–10 — The Birth and Adoption of Moses. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

1

Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yê·leḵ ’îš mib·bêṯ lê·wî way·yiq·qaḥ ’eṯ- lê·wî baṯ-

Word by word8 · parsed
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְway·yê·leḵH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ (H1980, hālaḵ) — "and he went," a Qal consecutive imperfect. Idiomatic and, as Ellicott says, with "no special force"; yet Keil & Delitzsch hear it as scene-setting, the same narrative-opening "went" of Genesis 35:22 and Deuteronomy 31:1.
אִ֖ישׁ’îšNow a manH376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular
אִ֖ישׁ (H376, ʼîš) — "a man," unnamed. Ellicott marks the "extreme simplicity of this announcement" against the elaborate birth-legends Oriental religions built around founders; Maclaren presses that all the persons here are anonymous — Amram, Jochebed, Miriam, the princess — because "a higher Hand was at work." The names come only later, at Exodus 6:20.
מִבֵּ֣יתmib·bêṯof the houseH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct
לֵוִ֑יlê·wîof LeviH3878
√ Lêvîy — Levi, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
לֵוִ֑י (H3878, Lêvîy) — Levi. Twice in one verse the tribe is named (house of Levi; daughter of Levi). The priestly line is stamped on the deliverer's origin before a word of his future is spoken.
וַיִּקַּ֖חway·yiq·qaḥmarriedH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
לֵוִֽי׃lê·wîa LeviteH3878
√ Lêvîy — Levi, a son of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
לֵוִֽי (H3878) — "a Levite," the second occurrence, in apposition to baṯ (daughter). The construct chain "a daughter of Levi" is what the chronology forces commentators to read as descendant rather than literal child.
בַּת־baṯ-womanH1323
√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular construct
2

and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·’iš·šāh wat·ta·har wat·tê·leḏ bên wat·tê·re ’ō·ṯōw kî- hū ṭō·wḇ wat·tiṣ·pə·nê·hū šə·lō·šāh yə·rā·ḥîm

Word by word12 · parsed
הָאִשָּׁ֖הhā·’iš·šāhand sheH802
√ ʼishshâh — a womanArticleNounfeminine singular
וַתַּ֥הַרwat·ta·harconceivedH2029
√ hârâh — to be (or become) pregnant, conceive (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתַּ֥הַר (H2029, hārāh) — "and she conceived." The Cambridge Bible notes that this expression, following "took" in v.1, "suggests that… Moses was his parents' firstborn" — yet vv.4, 7 and Exodus 7:7 prove Miriam and Aaron were older, so the narrator either compresses or, as Cambridge concedes, "expressed himself inexactly."
וַתֵּ֣לֶדwat·tê·leḏand gave birth toH3205
√ yâlad — to bear youngConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
בֵּ֑ןbêna sonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular
וַתֵּ֤רֶאwat·tê·reWhen she sawH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתֵּ֤רֶא (H7200, rāʼāh) — "and she saw." The mother's seeing is the hinge of the verse: she sees, then she hides. The same verb of perceiving-and-acting governs the princess in v.6 (she opens, she sees, she pities).
אֹתוֹ֙’ō·ṯōwH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular
כִּי־kî-thatH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
ה֔וּאhe [was a]H1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
ט֣וֹבṭō·wḇbeautiful [child]H2896
√ ṭôwb — good (as an adjective) in the widest senseAdjectivemasculine singular
ט֣וֹב (H2896, ṭôḇ) — "good," the pivot word. Keil & Delitzsch, quoting Delitzsch on Hebrews 11:23, call the child's beauty "a peculiar token of divine approval, and a sign that God had some special design concerning him." Yet K&D also resist over-reading: the mother's hope "sprang… primarily from the natural love of parents for their offspring." The seam between instinct and faith is left honest.
וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּwat·tiṣ·pə·nê·hūshe hid himH6845
√ tsâphan — to hide (by covering over)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singularthird person masculine singular
וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּ (H6845, tsāphan) — "and she hid him," Qal consecutive imperfect with suffix. To cover over, to treasure. Hebrews 11:23 names this act "faith"; Matthew Henry ties it to a promise: "they had the promise that Israel should be preserved, which they relied upon."
שְׁלֹשָׁ֥הšə·lō·šāhfor threeH7969
√ shâlôwsh — threeNumbermasculine singular
יְרָחִֽים׃yə·rā·ḥîmmonthsH3391
√ yerach — a lunation, iNounmasculine plural
3

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.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yā·ḵə·lāh wə·lō- ‘ō·wḏ haṣ·ṣə·p̄î·nōw wat·tiq·qaḥ- lōw gō·me tê·ḇaṯ wat·taḥ·mə·rāh ḇa·ḥê·mār ū·ḇaz·zā·p̄eṯ wat·tā·śem hay·ye·leḏ bāh ’eṯ- wat·tā·śem bas·sūp̄ ‘al- śə·p̄aṯ hay·’ōr

Word by word20 · parsed
יָכְלָ֣הyā·ḵə·lāhBut when she couldH3201
√ yâkôl — to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might)VerbQalPerfectthird person feminine singular
וְלֹא־wə·lō-noH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle
עוֹד֮‘ō·wḏlongerH5750
√ ʻôwd — properly, iteration or continuanceAdverb
הַצְּפִינוֹ֒haṣ·ṣə·p̄î·nōwhide himH6845
√ tsâphan — to hide (by covering over)VerbHifilInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular
וַתִּֽקַּֽח־wat·tiq·qaḥ-she gotH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
לוֹ֙lōwhim
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
גֹּ֔מֶאgō·mea papyrusH1573
√ gômeʼ — properly, an absorbent, iNounmasculine singular
גֹּ֔מֶא (H1573, gōmeʼ) — "papyrus," the absorbent reed. Cambridge describes the stems "bound together and caulked" to form "light boats" (Isaiah 18:2). The deliverer floats in a craft made of the same plant whose pith carried Egypt's writing.
תֵּ֣בַתtê·ḇaṯbasketH8392
√ têbâh — a boxNounfeminine singular construct
תֵּ֣בַת (H8392, têbâh) — "chest/ark," an Egyptian loan-word (têbet). The pivot of the unit's deepest cross-reference: occurring only of Noah's ark and Moses' basket, it binds two waters-of-judgment-and-rescue scenes. The Verifier records H8392 shared with Genesis 6:14 (freq 25, all Noah or Moses).
וַתַּחְמְרָ֥הwat·taḥ·mə·rāhand coated itH2560
√ châmar — properly, to boil upConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singularthird person feminine singular
בַחֵמָ֖רḇa·ḥê·mārwith tarH2564
√ chêmâr — bitumen (as rising to the surface)Preposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular
בַחֵמָ֖ר (H2564, chêmâr) — "bitumen," asphalt rising to the surface. Keil & Delitzsch: "cemented (pitched) it with חמר bitumen… to fasten the papyrus stalks, and with pitch, to make it water-tight."
וּבַזָּ֑פֶתū·ḇaz·zā·p̄eṯand pitchH2203
√ zepheth — asphalt (from its tendency to soften in the sun)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular
וַתָּ֤שֶׂםwat·tā·śemThen she placedH7760
√ sûwm — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
הַיֶּ֔לֶדhay·ye·leḏthe childH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
בָּהּ֙bāhin
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-[the basket]H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
וַתָּ֥שֶׂםwat·tā·śemand setH7760
√ sûwm — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
בַּסּ֖וּףbas·sūp̄it among the reedsH5488
√ çûwph — a reed, especially the papyrusPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular
עַל־‘al-alongH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
שְׂפַ֥תśə·p̄aṯthe bankH8193
√ sâphâh — the lip (as a natural boundary)Nounfeminine singular construct
שְׂפַ֥ת (H8193, śāphâh) — "lip," used here for the river's edge. The Pulpit Commentary calls it "the lip of the river - an Egyptian idiom." The translation "bank" loses a turn of phrase the narrator borrowed from the land of bondage.
הַיְאֹֽר׃hay·’ōrof the NileH2975
√ yᵉʼôr — a channel, eArticleNounproperfeminine singular
4

And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ă·ḥō·ṯōw wat·tê·ṯaṣ·ṣaḇ mê·rā·ḥōq lə·ḏê·‘āh mah- yê·‘ā·śeh lōw

Word by word7 · parsed
אֲחֹת֖וֹ’ă·ḥō·ṯōwAnd his sisterH269
√ ʼâchôwth — a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אֲחֹת֖וֹ (H269, ʼâchôwth) — "his sister," presumed Miriam (Numbers 26:59). Ellicott reasons she "must have been a girl of some fourteen or fifteen years of age, and possessed of much quickness and intelligence" to play the part this chapter assigns her.
וַתֵּתַצַּ֥בwat·tê·ṯaṣ·ṣaḇstoodH3320
√ yâtsab — to place (any thing so as to stay)Conjunctive wawVerbHitpaelConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתֵּתַצַּ֥ב (H3320, yātsab) — Hithpael, "she stationed herself." Matthew Poole reads the distance as cover: "His sister stood afar off, that she might not be thought to have laid the child there, or to be related to it."
מֵרָחֹ֑קmê·rā·ḥōqat a distanceH7350
√ râchôwq — remote, literally or figuratively, of place or timePreposition-mAdjectivemasculine singular
לְדֵעָ֕הlə·ḏê·‘āhto seeH3045
√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person feminine singular
לְדֵעָ֕ה (H3045, yādaʻ) — "to know." An unusual infinitive form; Keil & Delitzsch note "the infinitive form דּעה as in Genesis 46:3." The sister's vigil is a watch for knowledge — to find out God's outcome before reporting it.
מַה־mah-whatH4100
√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Interrogative
יֵּעָשֶׂ֖הyê·‘ā·śehwould happenH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular
לֽוֹ׃lōwto him
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
5

Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

baṯ- par·‘ōh wat·tê·reḏ lir·ḥōṣ ‘al- hay·’ōr wə·na·‘ă·rō·ṯe·hā hō·lə·ḵōṯ ‘al- yaḏ hay·’ōr wat·tê·re ’eṯ- hat·tê·ḇāh bə·ṯō·wḵ has·sūp̄ wat·tiš·laḥ ’eṯ- ’ă·mā·ṯāh wat·tiq·qå̄·ḥɛ·hå̄

Word by word20 · parsed
בַּת־baṯ-Soon the daughterH1323
√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular construct
בַּת־ (H1323, bath) — "daughter [of Pharaoh]." Tradition multiplies her name — Thermouthis, Merris, Bithiah — which, as the Pulpit Commentary notes, by "the diversity showing that there was no genuine tradition on the subject." Scripture leaves her, like the parents, unnamed.
פַּרְעֹה֙par·‘ōhof PharaohH6547
√ Parʻôh — Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kingsNounpropermasculine singular
וַתֵּ֤רֶדwat·tê·reḏwent downH3381
√ yârad — to descend (literally, to go downwardsConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
לִרְחֹ֣ץlir·ḥōṣto batheH7364
√ râchats — to lave (the whole or a part of a thing)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
לִרְחֹ֣ץ (H7364, rāchats) — "to bathe." Keil & Delitzsch grant a king's daughter bathing in the open river "is certainly opposed to the customs of the modern… East," yet "in harmony with the customs of ancient Egypt" and its reverence for the Nile's life-giving water.
עַל־‘al-inH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
הַיְאֹ֔רhay·’ōrthe NileH2975
√ yᵉʼôr — a channel, eArticleNounproperfeminine singular
וְנַעֲרֹתֶ֥יהָwə·na·‘ă·rō·ṯe·hāand her attendantsH5291
√ naʻărâh — a girl (from infancy to adolescence)Conjunctive wawNounfeminine plural constructthird person feminine singular
הֹלְכֹ֖תhō·lə·ḵōṯwere walkingH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalParticiplefeminine plural
עַל־‘al-alongH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
יַ֣דyaḏthe riverbankH3027
√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcNounfeminine singular construct
הַיְאֹ֑רhay·’ōr. . .H2975
√ yᵉʼôr — a channel, eArticleNounproperfeminine singular
וַתֵּ֤רֶאwat·tê·reAnd when she sawH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
הַתֵּבָה֙hat·tê·ḇāhthe basketH8392
√ têbâh — a boxArticleNounfeminine singular
הַתֵּבָה֙ (H8392, têbâh) — "the ark," second occurrence in the unit. The daughter of the man who decreed the river a grave reaches into that river and draws out an ark — an irony Augustine, quoted by K&D, makes the heart of the verse.
בְּת֣וֹךְbə·ṯō·wḵamongH8432
√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
הַסּ֔וּףhas·sūp̄the reedsH5488
√ çûwph — a reed, especially the papyrusArticleNounmasculine singular
וַתִּשְׁלַ֥חwat·tiš·laḥshe sentH7971
√ shâlach — to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
אֲמָתָ֖הּ’ă·mā·ṯāhher maidservantH519
√ ʼâmâh — a maidservant or female slaveNounfeminine singular constructthird person feminine singular
אֲמָתָ֖הּ (H519, ʼâmâh) — "her maidservant," a single slave sent from among the walking attendants. The lexical distinction from naʻărâh (v.6) is real and the commentators press it.
וַתִּקָּחֶֽהָwat·tiq·qå̄·ḥɛ·hå̄to retrieve itH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singularthird person feminine singular
6

When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wat·tip̄·taḥ wat·tir·’ê·hū ’eṯ- hay·ye·leḏ wə·hin·nêh- na·‘ar bō·ḵeh wat·taḥ·mōl ‘ā·lāw wat·tō·mer zeh hā·‘iḇ·rîm mî·yal·ḏê

Word by word13 · parsed
וַתִּפְתַּח֙wat·tip̄·taḥWhen she opened itH6605
√ pâthach — to open wide (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתִּרְאֵ֣הוּwat·tir·’ê·hūshe sawH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singularthird person masculine singular
וַתִּרְאֵ֣הוּ (H7200, rāʼâh) — "and she saw him." The same verb of seeing that moved the mother in v.2 now moves the princess; seeing leads to sparing, as it led to hiding.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
הַיֶּ֔לֶדhay·ye·leḏthe childH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
וְהִנֵּה־wə·hin·nêh-and beholdH2009
√ hinnêh — lo!Conjunctive wawInterjection
נַ֖עַרna·‘arthe little boyH5288
√ naʻar — (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescenceNounmasculine singular
בֹּכֶ֑הbō·ḵehwas cryingH1058
√ bâkâh — to weepVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
בֹּכֶ֑ה (H1058, bāḵâh) — "weeping," a participle: continuous, ongoing crying. Benson: "Never did poor child cry so seasonably as this did." The cry is the providential instrument — Maclaren hangs the entire deliverance on "the cry of the child at the right moment."
וַתַּחְמֹ֣לwat·taḥ·mōlSo she had compassionH2550
√ châmal — to commiserateConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתַּחְמֹ֣ל (H2550, chāmal) — "and she spared / had compassion." Barnes sets it against the Egyptian "Funeral Ritual" — "I have not made any man weep, I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings" — so that her mercy fulfills even Egypt's own ideal of righteousness while breaking Egypt's law.
עָלָ֔יו‘ā·lāwon himH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPrepositionthird person masculine singular
וַתֹּ֕אמֶרwat·tō·merand saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
זֶֽה׃zehThis is one ofH2088
√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatPronounmasculine singular
הָֽעִבְרִ֖יםhā·‘iḇ·rîmthe HebrewH5680
√ ʻIbrîy — an Eberite (iArticleNounpropermasculine plural
הָֽעִבְרִ֖ים (H5680, ʻIbrîy) — "the Hebrews." How she knows is debated: Poole and Gill cite circumcision and the child's fairness "far differing from the Egyptian hue"; the Pulpit Commentary credits the circumstances — only a Hebrew mother, under the edict, would expose so fine a child.
מִיַּלְדֵ֥יmî·yal·ḏêchildrenH3206
√ yeled — something born, iPreposition-mNounmasculine plural construct
7

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’ă·ḥō·ṯōw wat·tō·mer ’el- par·‘ōh baṯ- ha·’ê·lêḵ wə·qā·rā·ṯî lāḵ min hā·‘iḇ·rî·yōṯ ’iš·šāh mê·ne·qeṯ wə·ṯê·niq hay·yā·leḏ lāḵ ’eṯ-

Word by word16 · parsed
אֲחֹתוֹ֮’ă·ḥō·ṯōwThen his sisterH269
√ ʼâchôwth — a sister (used very widely (like brother), literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
וַתֹּ֣אמֶרwat·tō·mersaidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
פַּרְעֹה֒par·‘ōhPharaoh’sH6547
√ Parʻôh — Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kingsNounpropermasculine singular
בַּת־baṯ-daughterH1323
√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular construct
הַאֵלֵ֗ךְha·’ê·lêḵShall I goH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalImperfectfirst person common singular
הַאֵלֵ֗ךְ (H1980, hālaḵ) — "shall I go?", first-person imperfect framed as a question. The verb of motion that runs the whole chapter; the sister volunteers her own going to undo the going of the river.
וְקָרָ֤אתִיwə·qā·rā·ṯîand callH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectfirst person common singular
לָךְ֙lāḵ
Prepositionsecond person feminine singular
מִ֖ןminone ofH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition
הָעִבְרִיֹּ֑תhā·‘iḇ·rî·yōṯthe HebrewH5680
√ ʻIbrîy — an Eberite (iArticleNounproperfeminine plural
הָעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת (H5680, ʻIbrîy) — "the Hebrew [women]." Cambridge explains why only a Hebrew would do: the Egyptians "were exclusive, and unfriendly towards foreigners… So a native Egyptian woman would not have undertaken the task." The sister's proposal exploits Egypt's own prejudice to return the child to its mother.
אִשָּׁ֣ה’iš·šāhwomenH802
√ ʼishshâh — a womanNounfeminine singular
מֵינֶ֔קֶתmê·ne·qeṯH3243
√ yânaq — to suckVerbHifilParticiplefeminine singular
מֵינֶ֔קֶת (H3243, yānaq) — "a nursing woman," Hiphil participle. The whole rescue narrows to this word: the princess needs a wet-nurse, and the watching sister has one ready. JFB calls the sister's "timely suggestion of a nurse" part of a plot "more skilfully laid… than any tale of romance."
וְתֵינִ֥קwə·ṯê·niqto nurseH3243
√ yânaq — to suckConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive imperfectthird person feminine singular
הַיָּֽלֶד׃hay·yā·leḏthe childH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
לָ֖ךְlāḵfor you
Prepositionsecond person feminine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
8

“Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lê·ḵî par·‘ōh baṯ- wat·tō·mer- lāh hā·‘al·māh wat·tê·leḵ wat·tiq·rā ’eṯ- hay·yā·leḏ ’êm

Word by word11 · parsed
לֵ֑כִיlê·ḵîGo aheadH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbQalImperativefeminine singular
לֵ֑כִי (H1980, hālaḵ) — "Go!", feminine singular imperative. The princess's whole reply is one word, answering the sister's "Shall I go?" (v.7) with "Go." The Pulpit Commentary: "that will be best."
פַּרְעֹ֖הpar·‘ōhPharaoh’sH6547
√ Parʻôh — Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kingsNounpropermasculine singular
בַּת־baṯ-daughterH1323
√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular construct
וַתֹּֽאמֶר־wat·tō·mer-toldH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
לָ֥הּlāhher
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
הָֽעַלְמָ֔הhā·‘al·māhAnd the girlH5959
√ ʻalmâh — a lass (as veiled or private)ArticleNounfeminine singular
הָֽעַלְמָ֔ה (H5959, ʻalmâh) — "the young woman." The narrator switches from ʼăchôṯ ("sister") to ʻalmâh; the same noun stands at the center of Isaiah 7:14's ʻalmâh-prophecy. Here, plainly, a marriageable girl old enough to broker the rescue.
וַתֵּ֙לֶךְ֙wat·tê·leḵwentH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתִּקְרָ֖אwat·tiq·rāand calledH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
הַיָּֽלֶד׃hay·yā·leḏthe boy’sH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
אֵ֥ם’êmmotherH517
√ ʼêm — a mother (as the bond of the family)Nounfeminine singular construct
אֵ֥ם (H517, ʼêm) — "mother." Geneva's gloss on this verse states the unit's theology in a line: "Man's counsel cannot hinder that which God has determined shall come to pass." Pharaoh's edict has handed his own grandson's mother her wages.
9

Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

par·‘ōh baṯ- wat·tō·mer lāh hê·lî·ḵî ’eṯ- haz·zeh hay·ye·leḏ wə·hê·ni·qi·hū lî wa·’ă·nî ’et·tên ’eṯ- śə·ḵā·rêḵ hā·’iš·šāh wat·tiq·qaḥ hay·ye·leḏ wat·tə·nî·qê·hū

Word by word18 · parsed
פַּרְעֹ֗הpar·‘ōhPharaoh’sH6547
√ Parʻôh — Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kingsNounpropermasculine singular
בַּת־baṯ-daughterH1323
√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Nounfeminine singular construct
וַתֹּ֧אמֶרwat·tō·mersaidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
לָ֣הּlāhto her
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
הֵילִ֜יכִיhê·lî·ḵîTakeH1980
√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)VerbHifilImperativefeminine singular
הֵילִ֜יכִי (H1980, hālaḵ) — Hiphil imperative, "carry away." Keil & Delitzsch compare Zechariah 5:10 and Ecclesiastes 10:20 for this causative sense. The princess hands the child away with the same root that has carried every motion in the chapter.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
הַזֶּה֙haz·zehthisH2088
√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular
הַיֶּ֤לֶדhay·ye·leḏchildH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
וְהֵינִקִ֣הוּwə·hê·ni·qi·hūand nurse himH3243
√ yânaq — to suckConjunctive wawVerbHifilImperativefeminine singularthird person masculine singular
לִ֔יfor me
Prepositionfirst person common singular
וַאֲנִ֖יwa·’ă·nîand IH589
√ ʼănîy — IConjunctive wawPronounfirst person common singular
וַאֲנִ֖י (H589, ʼănîy) — "and I," emphatic independent pronoun. The princess's "I myself will give your wages" is the legal cover that makes the arrangement untouchable — the Pulpit Commentary: "to mark that he is mine, and not yours - to silence inquiry - to stop the mouths of informers."
אֶתֵּ֣ן’et·tênwill payH5414
√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcVerbQalImperfectfirst person common singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
שְׂכָרֵ֑ךְśə·ḵā·rêḵyour wagesH7939
√ sâkâr — payment of contractNounmasculine singular constructsecond person feminine singular
שְׂכָרֵ֑ךְ (H7939, sāḵâr) — "your wages," contract-pay. Jewish tradition (Gill) even fixes the rate at "two pieces of silver a day." The mother is salaried by the persecuting house to keep alive the child it tried to kill.
הָאִשָּׁ֛הhā·’iš·šāhSo the womanH802
√ ʼishshâh — a womanArticleNounfeminine singular
וַתִּקַּ֧חwat·tiq·qaḥtookH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
הַיֶּ֖לֶדhay·ye·leḏthe boyH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
וַתְּנִיקֵֽהוּ׃wat·tə·nî·qê·hūand nursed himH5134
√ nûwq — to suckleConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singularthird person masculine singular
וַתְּנִיקֵֽהוּ (H5134, nûwq, "and she suckled him") — a different root from the yānaq of the princess's command; the narrator closes the exchange with the mother's own act of nursing, the bodily reunion the whole scheme was for.
10

When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hay·ye·leḏ wa·yiḡ·dal wat·tə·ḇi·’ê·hū par·‘ōh lə·ḇaṯ- way·hî- lāh lə·ḇên wat·tiq·rā šə·mōw mō·šeh wat·tō·mer kî mə·šî·ṯi·hū min- ham·ma·yim

Word by word16 · parsed
הַיֶּ֗לֶדhay·ye·leḏWhen the childH3206
√ yeled — something born, iArticleNounmasculine singular
וַיִגְדַּ֣לwa·yiḡ·dalhad grown olderH1431
√ gâdal — to be (causatively make) large (in various senses, as in body, mind, estate or honor, also in pride)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיִגְדַּ֣ל (H1431, gādal) — "and he grew great," the same verb of Genesis 21:8 (Isaac weaned). It will recur of Moses again in Exodus 2:11 ("when Moses was grown"); the child who became great in Pharaoh's house will choose his brethren over it.
וַתְּבִאֵ֙הוּ֙wat·tə·ḇi·’ê·hūshe brought himH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singularthird person masculine singular
פַּרְעֹ֔הpar·‘ōhto Pharaoh’sH6547
√ Parʻôh — Paroh, a general title of Egyptian kingsNounpropermasculine singular
לְבַת־lə·ḇaṯ-daughterH1323
√ bath — a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms of relationship, literally and figuratively)Preposition-lNounfeminine singular construct
וַֽיְהִי־way·hî-and he becameH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
לָ֖הּlāhher
Prepositionthird person feminine singular
לְבֵ֑ןlə·ḇênsonH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-lNounmasculine singular
וַתִּקְרָ֤אwat·tiq·rāShe named himH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
שְׁמוֹ֙šə·mōw. . .H8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
מֹשֶׁ֔הmō·šehMosesH4872
√ Môsheh — Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiverNounpropermasculine singular
מֹשֶׁ֔ה (H4872, Mōšeh) — "Moses." The name is an Egyptian word (mesu, "son/born," as in Thut-mose, Ah-mose) given by a Gentile princess and explained by a Hebrew pun. Benson calls it "a happy omen to the Gentile world," pointing to Isaiah 19:25. The deliverer of Israel bears the conqueror's tongue on his name.
וַתֹּ֕אמֶרwat·tō·merand explainedH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
כִּ֥י. . .H3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
מְשִׁיתִֽהוּ׃mə·šî·ṯi·hūI drew him outH4871
√ mâshâh — to pull out (literally or figuratively)VerbQalPerfectfirst person common singularthird person masculine singular
מְשִׁיתִֽהוּ (H4871, māšâh) — "I drew him out," the verb behind the name. Rare (3 verses); its only other uses, Psalm 18:16 = 2 Samuel 22:17, describe Yahweh drawing the psalmist "out of many waters." The Verifier records H4871 shared across all three — a genuine verbal link.
מִן־min-ofH4480
√ min — properly, a part ofPreposition
הַמַּ֖יִםham·ma·yimthe waterH4325
√ mayim — waterArticleNounmasculine plural
הַמַּ֖יִם (H4325, mayim) — "the water." The Nile that was to be Moses' grave becomes the place of his name. Maclaren: "out of the river drawn," and so "that scene by the margin of the Nile… is but one transient instance of the working of the power which secures deliverance from encompassing perils."

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The unnamed — a chapter of shadows so one Hand may be seen — 2:1-4

The narrative opens with a verb and withholds every name. "And there went a man… and he took a daughter of Levi" — the people we later learn are Amram, Jochebed, Miriam and an Egyptian princess are here "a man," "a daughter," "his sister," "the daughter of Pharaoh." Charles Ellicott marks "the extreme simplicity of this announcement," set against "the elaborate legends wherewith Oriental religions commonly surrounded the birth of those who were considered their founders, as Thoth, Zoroaster, Orpheus" — and notes "even the name of the man is here omitted as unimportant." Alexander Maclaren reads the silence as design: "all the persons in this narrative are anonymous… they are, as it were, kept in shadow, because the historian saw, and wished us to see, that a higher Hand was at work… the sole actor." Matthew Henry hears the same theology in the timing: "just at the time when Pharaoh's cruelty rose to its height by ordering the Hebrew children to be drowned, the deliverer was born. When men are contriving the ruin of the church, God is preparing for its salvation." The grammar cooperates: the sister stations herself (wattêṯaṣṣaḇ, a deliberate Hithpael) "to know what would be done to him" — a Niphal passive whose doer the Hebrew refuses to name. ⚙ The omission is itself a theology: where the founder-legends crowd the cradle with named heroes, Exodus empties it, so that the only agent left to credit is God.

ii. "Good" — beauty read as benediction, hiding read as faith — 2:2

The mother "saw him, that he was good" (ṭôḇ, H2896) — the plain adjective of Genesis 1, not the "beautiful" of the English. The Septuagint rendered it asteios, and the New Testament built on that rendering: Keil & Delitzsch note "ṭôḇ as in Genesis 6:2; lxx ἀστεῖος," pointing forward to Acts 7:20's "ἀστεῖος τῷ θεῷ" — fair to God. Yet the same commentators keep the seam honest: the mother's hope "sprang… primarily from the natural love of parents for their offspring," not from a private revelation. The Cambridge Bible agrees that Hebrews 11:23 is the one that reads the beauty as "a sign that God had some great future in store for him," hidden "by 'faith.'" Maclaren presses the lift: "The writer of the Hebrews lifts the deed out of the category of instinctive maternal affection up to the higher level of faith." ⚙ Two readings of one verse stand side by side and neither is forced: a mother's instinct, and a parent's faith. The text lets the beauty be ambiguous; only Hebrews resolves it.

iii. The ark, the bitumen, the River — words that remember other stories — 2:3

The vessel is a têbâh (H8392) — Noah's word, "ark," not "basket." Keil & Delitzsch say its "use… is probably intended to call to mind the ark in which Noah was saved." The Verifier confirms the lexical fact: têbâh occurs in only twenty-five verses of the Hebrew Bible, and they are all either Noah's vessel or this one — two arks, two rescues through the waters of judgment. It is sealed with chêmâr (H2564, "bitumen," rare — three verses), the very mortar of Babel (Genesis 11:3) and the slime of Siddim (Genesis 14:10); the substance of the rebel city now seals the cradle of the deliverer. It is daubed, too, with zepheth (H2203, "pitch") — a word found in the whole Hebrew Bible in only one other place, Isaiah 34:9, where the streams of Edom are "turned into pitch" in the day of the LORD's vengeance: the same stuff that here makes water hold up a child of life is there the medium of unquenchable judgment. And it is laid on "the lip" (śāphaṯ) of the yeʼôr — "the River" — the same Nile into which Pharaoh decreed every Hebrew son be cast (Exodus 1:22). Albert Barnes and the Cambridge Bible fill out the papyrus (gōmeʼ) craft, a real Nile boat-reed (Isaiah 18:2). ⚙ The verse is built of borrowed words: an ark from Noah, mortar from Babel, a river from the edict. The narrator tells the rescue in the vocabulary of judgment.

iv. The daughter of Pharaoh — pity that breaks the king's own law — 2:5-8

Down to the River comes "the daughter of Pharaoh," and the irony is exact: the child of the murderer reaches into the river of the decree and draws out the têbâh. She opens it — "and, behold, a weeping boy" (Cambridge, word-for-word) — and "she had compassion" (wattaḥmōl, H2550, to spare). Albert Barnes shows the weight of that verb against Egypt's own "Funeral Ritual" ("I have not made any man weep, I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings"): her mercy fulfills Egypt's ideal while breaking Egypt's law. Keil & Delitzsch seal it with Augustine: a fitting divine retribution, "that the murderer of children should be punished through his own daughter's affection." Then the watching sister speaks — and JFB calls the whole scheme a plot "more skilfully laid… than any tale of romance": the ark, the timing, "the stationing of the sister as a watch," "her timely suggestion of a nurse." The princess answers in the Pulpit Commentary's "one short pregnant word — 'Go.'" ⚙ Pharaoh's house becomes the instrument against Pharaoh's word; the edict that filled the river with Hebrew sons hands one of them back to his mother, wages and all.

v. Wages for a mother, and a name that became a prophecy — 2:9-10

"And I — I myself — will give your wages" (waʼănî, emphatic; Cambridge: "The pron. is emphatic"; śāḵâr, H7939, contract-pay). The mother is salaried by the persecuting house to nurse her own son. Then the child "grew great" (wayyiḡdal, H1431) and "became to her a son," and the princess names him Mōšeh. Barnes and the Cambridge Bible establish the Egyptian root (mesu, "son, born"), but the Hebrew narrator re-hears it through māšâh, "to draw out" — a rare verb (three verses). Keil & Delitzsch, citing Kurtz, call this "not… a philological… explanation, but a theological interpretation": "the person drawn out did become, in fact, the drawer out." Maclaren notes that māšâh's only other occurrence — Psalm 18:16 / 2 Samuel 22:17 — is used "with plain reference to our narrative": "He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters." The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme. ⚙ The name an Egyptian gave for water became, in Hebrew ears, the deliverer's vocation — and David would later borrow the same verb to say what God had done for him.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

This paragraph is the tool's own reading under Sola Scriptura — fallible, ⚙-marked, offered to be tested, not believed. Read the whole passage as Exodus 1 in reverse. Chapter 1 was a king's word against the waters: every son cast into the River (1:22). Chapter 2 answers with a quieter word — a mother who "saw that he was good," who hid, then released; a vessel called by Noah's name; a river that does not drown but delivers. The narrative withholds names on purpose, as Maclaren saw, so that the human ingenuity JFB rightly admires never becomes the hero of its own rescue. Notice what the Hebrew keeps that the English smooths: the child is ṭôḇ, "good," the creation-word — God's verdict over the world spoken now over an infant under sentence of death. He is hidden in a têbâh sealed with the mortar of Babel and floated on the river of the decree, so that the very materials of judgment are turned to salvation. And he is drawn out (māšâh) by a Gentile woman whose pity breaks her father's law — a deliverer delivered before he delivers, given a conqueror's name that his own people's tongue turns into a prophecy. The chapter is not, finally, about a clever mother or a kind princess, true as both are; it is about the One who is never named in it and is the only one who never leaves: the River He decreed should be a grave, He makes a cradle.

⚙ A fallible line, not a verse of Scripture: the same River the king filled with drowned sons floated one of them back to his mother — and the water meant for a grave gave the deliverer his name.

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Two arks through the waters → Genesis 6:14 structural / thematic — confirmed

The strongest cross-reference of the unit. The basket is a têbâh (H8392) — the very word for Noah's ark, and for nothing else in the whole Hebrew Bible. Keil & Delitzsch say the term "is probably intended to call to mind the ark in which Noah was saved." The Verifier records the shared lexeme H8392, and the lexeme is functionally unique: têbâh occurs in only twenty-five verses, all of them Noah's vessel (Genesis 6-9) or Moses' basket (Exodus 2). Two vessels of pitch-sealed reed or wood; two rescues of life carried through the waters of judgment. Because the link rests on a genuinely rare, near-exclusive shared word and makes no claim of quotation, it is recorded as a structural/verbal pattern, confirmed.

Genesis 6:14

basis: shared lexeme H8392 têbâh (in 25 vv) — Verifier-confirmed; the word occurs in the Hebrew Bible only of Noah's ark and Moses' basket, a near-exclusive verbal echo with no quotation claim

"I drew him out of the water" → Psalm 18:16 / 2 Samuel 22:17 verbal / quotation — confirmed

The verb behind Moses' name, māšâh (H4871, "to draw out"), is rare — it occurs in only three verses of the entire Hebrew Bible. Two of them are this verse and its duplicate naming. The third is David's: "He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out (māšâh) of many waters" (Psalm 18:16 = 2 Samuel 22:17), where it is paired with the same word mayim, "water" (H4325). Maclaren observes the verb is used there "with plain reference to our narrative." The Verifier confirms both H4871 māšâh and H4325 mayim shared across all three verses, and the rarity of māšâh (freq 3) earns the "verbal" tier. ⚙ The honest qualification: this is a rare verbal echo, not a formal quotation — David does not cite Exodus by name. But the word that gave the deliverer his name reappears, in the whole Hebrew Bible, only on the lips of David describing his own rescue by the LORD: "He drew me out (māšâh) of many waters." The deliverer's name becomes the verb for what God does for His own — a line from Moses' cradle to the God who draws His servants from deep waters.

Psalm 18:16 · 2 Samuel 22:17

basis: Verifier: shared lexemes H4871 māšâh (in 3 vv, rare) + H4325 mayim — the rare verb behind Moses' name reappears only of David's rescue by God; a verbal echo, not a formal citation

The mortar of Babel seals the deliverer's ark → Genesis 11:3; Genesis 14:10 verbal / quotation — confirmed

Jochebed daubs the ark with chêmâr (H2564, "bitumen") — a rare word found in only three verses. The other two are the building of Babel, "they had brick for stone, and chêmâr for mortar" (Genesis 11:3), and the slime-pits of the vale of Siddim where the kings fell (Genesis 14:10). The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme H2564 in each pair. The same substance with which men built a tower to make a name for themselves, and which swallowed Sodom's kings, here waterproofs the cradle of a child who will be given his name by another. The shared word is genuinely rare (freq 3, near-exclusive), which earns the "verbal" tier; but ⚙ this is a verbal echo, not a quotation or citation — Exodus is not quoting Genesis — and the resonance the link suggests (judgment's own material turned to rescue) is a reading offered, not a claim asserted. The lexeme is the recorded fact; the theology is fallible.

Genesis 11:3 · Genesis 14:10

basis: Verifier: shared lexeme H2564 chêmâr (in 3 vv) — a near-exclusive rare word linking Babel's mortar, Siddim's pits, and Moses' ark; a verbal echo (not a citation), the resonance offered not asserted

Pitch on the ark of rescue, pitch in the day of vengeance → Isaiah 34:9 verbal / quotation — confirmed

The rarest verbal link the unit offers, and one no commentator on the chapter names. Jochebed seals the ark not only with bitumen but with zepheth (H2203, "pitch") — a word that occurs in the entire Hebrew Bible in only two verses. The other is Isaiah 34:9: in the day of the LORD's vengeance upon Edom, "the streams thereof shall be turned into zepheth (pitch), and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch." The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme H2203 (freq 2) — the lowest-frequency shared word in this unit's whole candidate set. ⚙ The same substance that, smeared on a reed coffer, made the water of judgment hold up a child of life becomes, in Isaiah, the very medium of unquenchable judgment poured out on a nation. The lexeme is the recorded fact; the antithesis — pitch as the seal of one rescue and the fuel of one ruin — is a reading offered to be tested, not a claim of quotation.

Isaiah 34:9

basis: Verifier: shared lexeme H2203 zepheth (in 2 vv) — the rarest shared word in the unit; pitch seals Moses' ark and turns Edom's streams to fire. A verbal echo only; no quotation, the antithesis offered not asserted

The marriageable girl who brokers the rescue → Isaiah 7:14 (lexical curiosity, under-claimed) structural / thematic — confirmed

When the narrator drops "sister" (ʼăchôṯ) and calls Miriam hāʻalmāh (H5959, "the young woman," v.8), he uses the very noun that stands at the center of Isaiah 7:14 — the ʻalmâh who conceives and bears Immanuel. The word is uncommon (freq 7), and the Verifier returns a same-language match (H5959; the second shared lexeme, H7121 qârâʼ "to call," is far too common at freq 687 to weigh). ⚙ We record this honestly as a lexical curiosity, deliberately under-claimed: ʻalmâh here simply means a girl of marriageable age old enough to broker the rescue (Cambridge: "a grown up girl… at least 15 or 16 years older than Moses"), and there is no thematic, structural, or typological argument running from Miriam at the Nile to the virgin of Isaiah. The shared word is a fact; any connection beyond the word is not asserted. Tier kept at structural/thematic only so the badge does not overclaim a Messianic link the text does not make.

Isaiah 7:14

basis: shared lexeme H5959 ʻalmâh (in 7 vv), Verifier-confirmed (H7121 qârâʼ disregarded as freq-687 stop-grade); a bare lexical overlap only — no thematic or typological claim made, deliberately under-claimed

Vessels of papyrus on the Nile → Isaiah 18:2 structural / thematic — confirmed

The ark is made of gōmeʼ (H1573, "papyrus") — a word in only four verses (Exodus 2:3; Job 8:11; Isaiah 18:2; 35:7). Isaiah 18:2 sends ambassadors "in vessels of gōmeʼ upon the waters," the very paper-reed boats Barnes and the Cambridge Bible identify as the Nile craft Jochebed imitated in miniature. The Verifier confirms the shared lexeme H1573. ⚙ The honest tier is structural/thematic, not verbal-quotation: gōmeʼ is a shared common object-word — both texts simply name the same plant and the same Nile boat — so the link anchors the concrete realism of the scene (the same material, the same river), not a quotation or a typology. We have downgraded the badge from the Verifier's blanket "verbal" label accordingly, under-claiming on purpose.

Isaiah 18:2

basis: shared lexeme H1573 gômeʼ (in 4 vv), Verifier-confirmed — but a common object-word for the same papyrus Nile-craft, so a realism/material echo, not a quotation; tier downgraded from verbal accordingly

Hidden by faith → Hebrews 11:23 (provenance flagged) flagged — verify source

The most-cited New Testament link in every commentary on this unit: "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child" (Hebrews 11:23). Maclaren, Keil & Delitzsch, the Cambridge Bible, JFB, Matthew Henry and Benson all read Exodus 2:2 through it. But the link cannot be tiered "verbal": it crosses Testaments (Greek ↔ Hebrew), so no shared Strong's lexeme exists, and the Verifier returns "no shared original-language lexeme found." Hebrews works from the Septuagint's asteios (rendering ṭôḇ), and it credits both parents where Exodus 2:2 (MT) names only the mother — a divergence the commentators openly note (the Epistle to the Hebrews "unites them in that which is here attributed to the mother only" — Maclaren). Because the textual basis is a Greek translation and the agency differs from the Hebrew, the connection is real and ancient but its precise provenance is debated; flagged accordingly.

Hebrews 11:23

basis: cross-Testament (Greek↔Hebrew): no shared Strong's lexeme (Verifier confirms none); Hebrews works from LXX asteios for ṭôḇ and unites both parents where the MT names only the mother — a real but provenance-debated link

Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The deliverer drawn from the water before he delivers widely-held

The pattern the church has long read here: a deliverer is sentenced to death at birth by a murderous king, hidden, and drawn out of the waters of judgment to save his people — Maclaren sets "the manger at Bethlehem" beside "that papyrus chest" and "Bethlehem and Calvary" beside the Nile and Moab, naming the shared lesson that "God's way of blessing the world is to fill men with His message." The infant under Pharaoh's edict prefigures the infant under Herod's (Matthew 2:16-18); the one drawn from the Nile, the One called out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15, citing Hosea 11:1). This is a figural/typological reading, widely held in the tradition, not a verbal citation — the Exodus text makes no christological claim of its own; the resonance is argued, not asserted.

Matthew 2:13-15 · Hebrews 11:23-26

Moses the type of the greater Prophet to come widely-held

Moses, the deliverer whose very name (Mōšeh / māšâh, "drawn out") Keil & Delitzsch read as "an unintentional prophecy, for the person drawn out did become, in fact, the drawer out," stands at the head of the line of mediators that the New Testament completes in Christ — the Prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; Acts 3:22), through whom "law" came as "grace and truth" came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17). Maclaren already gestures there: "Whether it be 'law,' or 'grace and truth,' a man is needed through whom it may fructify to all." That Moses is a type of Christ the deliverer is an ancient and widely-held reading; the specific naming-prophecy is the tool's own ⚙ extension and is offered to be tested.

Deuteronomy 18:15 · Acts 7:20-22 · John 1:17

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Several seams in this unit are left open on purpose. First, "a daughter of Levi" (v.1): the chronology forces most commentators (JFB, Benson, Gill, Pulpit) to read "descendant," but the Cambridge Bible takes the Hebrew at face value — "the daughter of Levi… the patriarch" — and concedes only that the narrator may have "expressed himself inexactly"; we have not smoothed the disagreement. Second, the firstborn problem (v.2): the verb-sequence "took… conceived… bore" reads like a firstborn, yet vv.4, 7 and Exodus 7:7 require older siblings; Cambridge floats a former marriage but admits the narrator may simply be inexact. Third, the name Mōšeh (v.10): the commentators are unanimous that the Hebrew explanation "I drew him out" is an assonance, not a scientific etymology — the form would mean "drawing out" (active), while "drawn out" (passive) would be māšûy; the Egyptian mesu ("son, born") is the actual derivation, and we have kept both. Fourth, the Hebrews 11:23 link is real and ancient but rests on the Septuagint and differs from the Masoretic agency (mother only vs. both parents); it is flagged, not asserted as a verbal quotation. Finally, the Jewish-tradition names for the princess (Thermouthis, Merris, Bithiah) and the legends in Josephus, Philo and the rabbis are reported by Gill, Maclaren and Cambridge but, as the Pulpit Commentary says, "the diversity showing that there was no genuine tradition on the subject" — they are noted as tradition, not adopted as fact.

= human, public-domain source, quoted and named. = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)