Exodus Chapter 2 verse 7 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerses 7-9. - 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 word - "Go." "Yes," she means, "do so; that will be best." And then the result follows - "The 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 informers - "I will give thee thy wages." Jochebed was more than content, and "took the child and nursed it."

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(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 protege, at any rate, if not something more.