Exodus 2:3-5
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket,[a] daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the Nile, while her attendants walked along the bank of the Nile. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 2:3 Basket: the same Hebrew word is used in Gn 6:14 and throughout the flood narrative for Noah’s ark, but nowhere else in the Bible. Here, however, the “ark” or “chest” was made of papyrus stalks. Presumably the allusion to Genesis is intentional. Just as Noah and his family were preserved safe from the threatening waters of the flood in the ark he built, so now Moses is preserved from the threatening waters of the Nile in the ark prepared by his mother. Among the reeds: the Hebrew noun for “reed” is overwhelmingly used in the phrase “Reed Sea,” traditionally translated “Red Sea.”
Exodus 2:3-5
New International Version
3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus(A) basket[a] for him and coated it with tar and pitch.(B) Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds(C) along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister(D) stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
5 Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank.(E) She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it.
Footnotes
- Exodus 2:3 The Hebrew can also mean ark, as in Gen. 6:14.
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