Exodus 2:7

Exo 2:7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?

Ver. 7. A nurse of the Hebrew women.] God’s providence excludeth not man’s prudence. Here is a concurrence of both, for the preservation of the child.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:7-9 It is evidence of God’s grace and sovereignty that Pharaoh’s daughter ironically paid Moses’ mother to nurse her own baby rather than having him killed according to Pharaoh’s command. The narrator seems to imply that the princess realized who the baby’s mother was (since she didn’t ask any embarrassing questions). If so, the two women chose to understand each other while maintaining a legal fiction. Moses was saved because God was at work, not because anyone was fooled.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 7. Shall I go and call a nurse] Had not the different circumstances marked here been placed under the superintendence of an especial providence, there is no human probability that they could have had such a happy issue. The parents had done every thing to save their child that piety, affection, and prudence could dictate, and having done so, they left the event to God. By faith, says the apostle, Heb 11:23, Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Because of the king's commandment they were obliged to make use of the most prudent caution to save the child's life; and their faith in God enabled them to risk their own safety, for they were not afraid of the king's commandment- they feared God, and they had no other fear.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) Then said his sister.—Miriam had bided her time. She had still kept in the background, but had approached within hearing distance; and when the princess observed that the babe must be “one of the Hebrews’ children,” was prompt with the rejoinder, “Shall I not fetch thee then a Hebrew mother to nurse him?” If the child was to be nursed at all—if he was to be brought up—a Hebrew nurse would be the fittest.

That she may nurse the child for thee.—“For thee.” Miriam divines the thought of the princess, or half divines, half anticipates it, and helps to make it take a fixed shape. She assumes that the child is to be brought up, and for the princess, as her protegé, at any rate, if not something more.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. of the Hebrew women] The Egyptians, even till the time when they came in contact with the Greeks (Hdt. ii. 178), were exclusive, and unfriendly towards foreigners (cf. ibid. 41; Gen_43:32). So a native Egyptian woman would not have undertaken the task.

a nurse] lit. a woman giving suck: so Gen_24:59; Gen_35:8. So the verb ‘nurse’ is lit. give suck to (vv. 7, 9).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter,.... Miriam the sister of Moses, who observing the ark taken up, and the maidens that were walking upon the bank of the river, and other women perhaps, gathering about it to see it; she made one among them, and after hearing their discourse about it, proposed what follows to Pharaoh's daughter: Jarchi says, that Pharaoh's daughter tried several Egyptian women to suckle it, but it would not suck of them: Josephus (r) says the same, and it also is in the Talmud (s); and that, if true, gave Miriam a fair opportunity to offer to do the following message for her:

shall I go and call for thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? for she perceived that she was desirous of having the child brought up as her own.

(r) Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 5. (s) T. Bab. Sotah, ut supra. (fol. 12.1)

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Then said his sister. Miriam had watched to some purpose. She had seen everything she had drawn near as she beheld the "maid" go down to the water"s edge, and take the ark out. She had heard the words of the princess; and thereupon she promptly spoke"Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women? No doubt, all had been prepared beforehand by the mother, who had selected the place and time of the exposure from a knowledge of the habits and character of the princess, had set her daughter to watch, and so far as was possible instructed her what she was to say. But Miriant at least carried out the instructions given her with excellent judgment and tact. She did not speak too soon, nor too late. She did not say a word too much, nor too little. "Surely," exclaimed the princess, "this is one of the Hebrews, children." "Shall I fetch thee then a Hebrew mother to nurse him? is the rejoinder. Egyptians, it is implied, cannot properly nurse Hebrews cannot know how they ought to be treated; an Egyptian nurse would mismanage the boy shall I fetch one of his own nation? And the princess, feeling all the force of the reasoning, answers in one short pregnant wordGo." "Yes," she means, "do so; that will be best." And then the result followsThe maid (Miriam) went and called the child"s mother." So the scheming of the loving mother, and the skilful performance of the part assigned her by the clever sister, were crowned with success Moses" life was saved, and yet he was not separated from his natural guardian, nor given over to the tender mercies of strangers: the child went back to his own home, to his own apartment, to his own cradle; continued to be nourished by his own mother"s milk; and received those first impressions, which are so indelibly impressed upon the mind, in a Hebrew family. Pharaoh"s daughter said, "Take this child away, and nurse it for me." "Take him with you take him to your own home for a while and there nurse him for me, as long as he needs nursing." And to mark that he is mine, and not yours to silence inquiry to stop the mouths of informersI will give thee thy wages." Jochebed was more than content, and took the child and nursed it."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

nurse

feed with milk from the breast

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

מן העבריות OF THE HEBREWS — She expressly said, “shall I call a nurse of the Hebrews?” because she (Pharaoh’s daughter) had handed him to many Egyptian women to suckle him and he had refused to take suck — this was because he was destined to hold converse with the Shechina (Exodus Rabbah 1:21 and Sotah 12b).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.