Exodus 2:3

_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 CHILD THEREIN; AND SHE LAID IT IN THE FLAGS BY THE RIVER'S BRINK._ She took for him an ark of bulrushes, х_ TEEBAT_ (H8392); Septuagint, thibeen] - a chest, coffer, or small vessel; "bulrushes," the papyrus Nilotica-a thick, strong, and tough reed, which anciently grew in great abundance on the banks of the Nile-but now that the river has been opened to commerce, has totally disappeared, except in a few sequestered localities. The ancient Egyptians applied it, as the Scriptures show, at an early date, to a great variety of uses: making arms, shoes, baskets, vessels of different kinds, especially boats and light skiffs. AND DAUBED IT WITH SLIME AND WITH PITCH. "Slime," the Nile mud which, when hardened, is very tenacious; and "pith," mineral tar coating of...

1-4 Observe the order of Providence: 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 parents of Moses saw he was a goodly child. A lively faith can take encouragement from the least hint of the Divine favour. It is said, Hebrews 11:23, that the parents of Moses hid him by faith; they had the promise that Israel should be preserved, which they relied upon. Faith in God's promise quickens to the use of lawful means for obtaining mercy. Duty is ours, events are God's. Faith in God will set us above the fear of man. At three months' end, when they could not hide the infant any longer, they put him in an ark of bulrushes by the river's brink, and set his sister to watch. And if the weak affection of a mother were thus carefu...

Verse Exodus 2:3. _AN ARK OF BULRUSHES_] תבת גמא _tebath gome_, a small boat or basket made of the Egyptian reed called _papyrus_, so famous in all antiquity. This plant grows on the banks of the Nile, and in marshy grounds; the stalk rises to the height of _six_ or _seven cubits_ above the water, is triangular, and terminates in a crown of small filaments resembling hair, which the ancients used to compare to a thyrsus. This reed was of the greatest use to the inhabitants of Egypt, the pith contained in the stalk serving them for food, and the woody part to build vessels with; which vessels frequently appear on engraved stones and other monuments of Egyptian antiquity. For this purpose they made it up like rushes into bundles, and by tying them together gave their vessels the necessary figure and solidity. "The vessels of bulrushes or papyrus," says Dr. Shaw, "were no...

The ark was made of the papyrus which was commonly used by the Egyptians for light and swift boats. The species is no longer found in the Nile below Nubia. It is a strong rush, like the bamboo, about the thickness of a finger, three cornered, and attains the height of 10 to 15 feet. It is represented with great accuracy on the most ancient monuments of Egypt. SLIME AND PITCH - The “slime” is probably the mud, of which bricks were usually made in Egypt, and which in this case was used to bind the stalks of the papyrus into a compact mass, and perhaps also to make the surface smooth for the infant. The pitch or bitumen, commonly used in Egypt, made the small vessel water-tight. IN THE FLAGS - This is another species of the papyrus, called tuff, or sufi (an exact equivalent of the Hebrew סוּף _sûph_), which was less in size and height

EXPOSITION. Exodus 2:1. THE BIRTH, ESCAPE, AND EDUCATION OF MOSES. Some years before the Pharaoh issued his edict for the general destruction of the Hebrew male children, Amram of the tribe of Levi, had married Jochebed, his kinswoman (Exodus 6:20). They had already had two children — Miriam, a daughter, born probably soon after the marriage, and Aaron, a son, born some twelve years later. Soon after the issue of the edict, Jochebed gave birth to her third child, a son, who therefore came under its terms. Knowing as she did what fate was in store for him, if his existence became known to the Egyptians, she "hid him three months." Then, despairing of being able to keep him concealed much longer, she devised the plan related in...

AND WHEN SHE COULD NO LONGER HIDE HIM,.... Because of her neighbours, who might hear the crying of the child, or because of the diligent search made by Pharaoh's officers, which some think was made every three months: the Jews a have a notion that his mother was delivered of him at six months' end, and therefore when the other three months were up women usually go with child, she could hide him no longer, a birth of a child being then expected, and would be inquired about: SHE TOOK FOR HIM AN ARK OF BULRUSHES; the word, according to Kimchi b, signifies a kind of wood exceeding light, so Gersom and Ben Melech; an Arabic writer c calls it an ark of wood; it is generally taken to be the "papyrus" or reed of Egypt, which grew upon the banks of the Nile, and of which, many writers say, small vessels or little ships were made, Isaiah 18:2 and daubed it with slime a

2. MOSES THE CHOSEN DELIVERER CHAPTER 2 Moses: His Birth, Education, Choice, and Exile _ 1. His birth and concealment (Exodus 2:1)_ 2. His rescue and education (Exodus 2:5) 3. His choice and failure (Exodus 2:11) 4. His exile (Exodus 2:15) 5. His marriage (Exodus 2:21) 6. The answered cry (Exodus 2:23) The history of the chosen deliverer, recorded by himself under the guidance of the Spirit, follows the dark picture of Israel

EXODUS 2:1 TO EXODUS 4:31. PREPARATION AND CALL OF MOSES. Exodus 2:1 E. His Birth and Upbringing. If the text can be trusted, we are informed that a man of the house of Levi took (to wife) the (only) daughter of Levi (_cf. Exodus 6:20_, Numbers 26:59 P), who would thus be, according to the genealogy of P, his aunt, or the sister of his father Kohath. Possibly, however, the text has been abridged, and ran, as LXX with some variations suggests, took one of the daughters of Levi to wife and made her his own (lit. had her). It is implied in...

SHE TOOK FOR HIM AN ARK OF BULRUSHES. At the end of three months the vigor of the search on the part of her enemies convinced her that further concealment was impracticable, and that she must part with her treasure. She, therefore, probably by divine guidance, either known or unknown, commits him to the Nile. The ark, or basket, in which the babe was exposed, was constructed of reeds called bulrushes, that grew about ten feet high, and are better known in history as _papyrus._ It was used for the structure of boats and the manufacture of paper. In Isaiah 18:2 the prophet says: "That sendeth his ambassadors by the sea-shore in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters." The accompanying cut will give. better idea of the plant than. description....

ARK. Compare Genesis 6:14. BULRUSHES. papyrus, made by the same Divine in. structions as Noah's (Romans 10:17). FLAGS. reeds. Compare Isaiah 18:2....