Exodus 2 · Verse 3

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.
Exodus 2:3, King James Version

Exodus 2:3 in other translations

BSBBut 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.
WEBWhen she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him, and coated it with tar and with pitch. She put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river’s bank.
ASVAnd when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.
YLTand she hath not been able any more to hide him, and she taketh for him an ark of rushes, and daubeth it with bitumen and with pitch, and putteth the lad in it, and putteth it in the weeds by the edge of the River;
DARBYAnd when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of reeds, and plastered it with resin and with pitch, and put the child in it, and laid it in the sedge on the bank of the river.
BBEAnd when she was no longer able to keep him secret, she made him a basket out of the stems of water-plants, pasting sticky earth over it to keep the water out; and placing the baby in it she put it among the plants by the edge of the Nile.
WebsterAnd when she could no 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.

What does Exodus 2:3 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. she took for him an ark of bulrushes--papyrus, a thick, strong, and tough reed. slime--the mud of the Nile, which, when hardened, is very tenacious. pitch--mineral tar. Boats of this description are seen daily floating on the surface of the river, with no other caulking than Nile mud (compare Is 18:2), and they are perfectly watertight, unless the coating is forced off by stormy weather. flags--a general term for sea or river weed. The chest was not, as is often represented, committed to the bosom of the water but laid on the bank, where it would naturally appear to have been drifted by the current and arrested by the reedy thicket. The spot is traditionally said to be the Isle of Rodah, near Old Cairo.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 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 other than large fabrics of the same kind with that of Moses, Exo 2:3, which from the late introduction of planks and stronger materials are now laid aside." Thus Pliny, lib. vi., cap. 16, takes notice of the naves papyraceas armamentaque Nili, "ships made of papyrus and the equipments of the Nile:" and lib. xiii., cap. 11, he observes, Exodus ipsa quidem papyro navigia texunt: "Of the papyrus itself they construct sailing vessels." Herodotus and Diodorus have recorded the same fact; and among the poets, Lucan, lib. iv., ver. 136: Conseritur bibula Memphitis cymba papyro, "The Memphian or Egyptian boat is constructed from the soaking papyrus." The epithet bibula is particularly remarkable, as corresponding with great exactness to the nature of the plant, and to its Hebrew name גמא gome, which signifies to soak, to drink up. See Parkhurst sub voce. She laid it in the flags - Not willing to trust it in the stream for fear of a disaster; and probably choosing the place to which the Egyptian princess was accustomed to come for the purpose specified in the note on the following verse.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 2:1-4

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, He 11:23, that the parents of…

Read the full comment on Exodus 2:1-4 →

Exodus 2:3 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
יָכְלָ֣הya.khe.Lahshe was ableH3201
עוֹד֮'OdstillH5750
הַצְּפִינוֹ֒ha.tze.fi.Noto hide himH6845
וַתִּֽקַּֽח\־va.ti.kach-and she tookH3947
לוֹ֙lofor <the> him
תֵּ֣בַתTe.vata basket ofH8392
גֹּ֔מֶאGo.me'papyrusH1573
וַתַּחְמְרָ֥הva.tach.me.Rahand sealed it sheH2560
בַחֵמָ֖רva.che.Marwith <the> bitumenH2564
וּבַזָּ֑פֶתu.va.Za.fetand with <the> pitchH2203
וַתָּ֤שֶׂםva.Ta.semand she putH7760
בָּהּ֙bahin <the> it
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַיֶּ֔לֶדhai.Ye.ledthe childH3206
וַתָּ֥שֶׂםva.Ta.semand she put [it]H7760
בַּסּ֖וּףba.Sufamong the rush[es]H5488
עַל\־'al-atH5921
שְׂפַ֥תse.Fat[the] bank ofH8193
הַיְאֹֽר\׃hay.'Orthe RiverH2975

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 2:3

  • Exodus 1:22

    And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

  • Acts 7:19

    The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

  • Genesis 6:14

    Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

  • Isaiah 18:2

    That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

  • Matthew 2:16

    Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.

  • Matthew 2:13

    And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.

  • Genesis 11:3

    And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

  • Isaiah 19:6

    And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

  • Genesis 14:10

    And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
could not.
1:22; Mt 2:13,16; Ac 7:19
an ark.
Isa 18:2
bulrushes.{Gomé,} is the papyrus, so famous in all antiquity. It 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. This reed was of the greatest use to the Egyptians; the pith serving them for food, and the woody part to build vessels with; which vessels frequently appear on various monuments of Egyptian antiquity. That boats were made of this reed is also attested by Pliny and others.
with slime.
Ge 6:14; 11:3; 14:10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 2:2

    And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

  • 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.

  • Exodus 2:4

    And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

Read all of Exodus 2

Exodus 2:3 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Pero no pudiendo ocultarle más tiempo, tomó una arquilla de juncos, y calafateóla con pez y betún, y colocó en ella al niño, y púsolo en un carrizal á la orilla del río:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et comme elle ne pouvait plus le cacher, elle prit pour lui un coffret de joncs, et l’enduisit de bitume et de poix, et mit dedans l’enfant, et le posa parmi les roseaux sur le bord du fleuve.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und als sie ihn nicht länger verbergen konnte, nahm sie für ihn ein Kästlein von Schilfrohr und verpichte es mit Erdharz und mit Pech und legte das Kind darein, und legte es in das Schilf am Ufer des Stromes.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Cumque jam celare non posset, sumpsit fiscellam scirpeam, et linivit eam bitumine ac pice: posuitque intus infantulum, et exposuit eum in carecto ripæ fluminis,