What is the meaning of Exodus 2:5? Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile • Scripture places the event “soon” after Moses’ mother set the basket among the reeds (Exodus 2:3-4), underscoring God’s perfect timing. • The daughter of Pharaoh is a real royal figure, part of the powerful dynasty that had enslaved Israel (Exodus 1:8-11). Her presence by the Nile reminds us that even those in authority move under God’s sovereign plan (Proverbs 21:1). • Bathing in the Nile was common for Egyptian nobility—yet here the ordinary act becomes the setting for divine intervention, echoing how God later uses ordinary water in the Red Sea to accomplish deliverance (Exodus 14:21-22). • Cross reference: Acts 7:20-21 notes that Moses “was brought up for three months in his father’s house; and after he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him.” The New Testament affirms this historical event. and her attendants were walking along the riverbank • The attendants (servant girls) testify to Pharaoh’s daughter’s status, but they also serve as unwitting witnesses and participants in God’s rescue plan (Psalm 33:10-11). • Their leisurely walk contrasts with the anxiety of Israelite mothers under Pharaoh’s edict to kill Hebrew boys (Exodus 1:22). God is already turning the oppressor’s household into the place of protection (Genesis 50:20). • The riverbank setting anticipates later scenes where Israel will gather by bodies of water to meet God’s provision—Elim’s wells (Exodus 15:27) and the Jordan crossing (Joshua 3:17). and when she saw the basket among the reeds • The basket is exactly where Moses’ family placed it, showing obedience rewarded (Exodus 2:3). The reeds provided concealment, yet God ensured visibility at the right moment (Psalm 139:12). • “Basket” (ark in some translations) recalls Noah’s ark, another vessel of salvation through water (Genesis 6:14). God repeats patterns of rescue. • Pharaoh’s daughter’s eyesight becomes an instrument of divine mercy—much like Ruth “happened” to glean in Boaz’s field (Ruth 2:3). Nothing is accidental. she sent her maidservant to retrieve it • The princess delegates, but the initiative is hers. Compassion moves her to action, foreshadowing her later decision to adopt the child despite her father’s decree (Exodus 2:10). • By rescuing Moses, she unknowingly prepares the deliverer of Israel, demonstrating Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” • The maidservant’s obedience parallels later figures—Joseph’s attendants who lift him from prison (Genesis 41:14) and the disciples who help distribute loaves and fishes (Mark 6:41-42). God uses willing hands to advance His purposes. summary Exodus 2:5 records a simple riverside scene that—taken literally—reveals God’s intricate governance over timing, location, and human decision. An Egyptian princess, surrounded by attendants, notices a tiny basket nestled in reeds and sends for it. Each detail showcases the Lord steering events so that the very household enforcing death on Hebrew infants becomes the shelter for Israel’s future deliverer. The verse highlights God’s sovereignty, His use of ordinary moments for extraordinary purposes, and His ability to raise instruments of salvation from unexpected places. |
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