All his people here refers to all the Egyptians, for this was an order to murder all newborn Hebrew boys throughout the country. (See verse 9 for a different context and meaning for “people.”)

The phrase to the Hebrews is not in the Hebrew text, as the footnote in Revised Standard Version indicates. Since the context clearly supplies this information, a footnote is not necessary for a functional equivalent translation.

The Nile was so important to everyone living in Egypt that it is simply referred to in the Hebrew as “the river.” The context should determine whether to translate it as “the river,” or as the Nile. For readers unfamiliar with this river in Egypt, it may be necessary to translate “the river that is called Nile,” or simply “the Nile River.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Now translates the common Hebrew conjunction waw, but here it marks the important transition from chapter 1 to the story of Moses’ birth. It is rendered “During this time” in Good News Translation in order to show this transition more clearly. Before these chapter divisions were added to the text, it was easy for people reading the scripture or listening to it being read in a public gathering to see this transition. But with these chapter divisions many modern listeners as well as readers will need some transitional information. So in some languages it will be helpful to translate something like “While these events were going on, a man…” or “While the Israelites were laboring for the Egyptians, a man….”

The house of Levi refers to “the tribe of Levi” in this context, since Levi was a distant ancestor, one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Both the man and the daughter of Levi are to be understood as his descendants and therefore members of the same tribe. The expression went and took to wife simply means “married.” A “tribe” is a group of people who are descended from the same ancestor. Often, as in the case of the Hebrews, it is further subdivided into smaller groups called “clans.” In many receptor cultures there will be similar divisions. (See the comment at 6.14.) But in the case of a culture that does not make such distinctions, a possible translation of “a man from the tribe of Levi” is “a man who was descended from the ancestor [or, great-grandfather] Levi.”

The Hebrew has “the daughter” rather than a daughter, but this may be understood as a reference to 6.20, where the names of both the man and the woman are given. But since this is the first mention of the woman, most translations use the indefinite article.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• During this time, a man who was descended from the ancestor Levi married [or, took as his wife] a woman who was also a descendant of Levi.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The woman conceived and bore a son clearly identifies two actions, but of course conceived is understood when only bore is mentioned. Thus Good News Translation omits the first action, conceived, and connects the clause with “married” in the preceding verse by simply adding that “she bore him a son.” However, in many languages it will be more natural style to translate in a way similar to Revised Standard Version. Other details in the story indicate that Moses was not the firstborn child (2.4) nor even the first son (7.7).

He was a goodly child should be understood as a natural description of a handsome, healthy baby boy. Hence “she saw what a fine baby he was” (Good News Translation), or “He was a healthy child.” She hid him three months does not indicate how or where she hid him, but only that she kept him secretly for a period of three months. It will be helpful in some languages to say whom she hid Moses from; for example, “She hid him from the Egyptians for three months.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The Hebrew conjunction waw (And) is better translated as “But,” since it introduces a change from the situation of verse 2. When she could hide him no longer means that she was not able to keep it a secret that she was protecting her three-month old baby boy. The reason is not given, but perhaps the child’s behavior and crying was becoming louder.

She took for him a basket means only that the mother “got” a basket (New English Bible and others). It does not suggest that she was the one who made or wove the basket.

The basket made of bulrushes was woven from a plant called papyrus. It was one of several types of reeds or “tall grass” that grew in the shallow water along the brink or “edge” of the Nile River. In cultures where papyrus is unknown, translators may express reeds as “tall grass” (see Good News Translation). The shape and size of the basket are not indicated, but it was a kind that could be made to float in water. (The same Hebrew word is used in Gen 6.14 for Noah’s ark.) Verse 6 indicates that it had a cover and could be closed. Therefore it may have been a common household item used as a place for storing personal and family things, or even food or produce. Translators in many languages will have a variety of words for baskets according to the size and material used, and they should pick a term which describes a basket large enough to hold a baby.

The bitumen and pitch were two thick, sticky substances used for sealing cracks in vessels of wood and reed. The distinction between the two is not clear, but the bitumen was probably a mineral substance, like asphalt, and the pitch probably came from certain plants. If bitumen and pitch are unknown, they may be combined as “tar” (Good News Translation), since the scientific identification is not important here. Their purpose, of course, is important, so Good News Translation adds “to make it watertight.” If tar is unknown, a translator may say, for example “a sticky substance to keep it from sinking,” or even “fixed the basket so that it would not sink.”

The mother placed it among the reeds at the river’s brink. This suggests that the basket was actually floating in water, for the reeds grew in the shallow water “at the edge of the river.” The word for reeds is a general term that includes bulrushes. (See the comment above.)

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

His sister was obviously an older sister, the oldest of three children. (See Exo 15.20; Num 26.59.) She was probably Miriam, for Aaron was only three years older than Moses (7.7). Her age can only be determined on the basis of this verse and verses 7-8, but the difference in ages will determine the choice of kinship terms required in many languages.

She stood at a distance in order to watch; hence she “took her stand” (New English Bible) or “stationed herself” (New American Bible). At a distance was not “afar off,” as some translations have it, but “some distance away.” That means it was close enough to know or “to see what would happen to him,” but it was also far enough so that she would not be seen.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The daughter of Pharaoh was of course “the king’s daughter” (Good News Translation). (“King” occurs at 1.8 and Pharaoh at 1.11b.) She is referred to as “princess” by Good News Translation in the following verse. Her age is not indicated, but the context suggests that she was an adult, though possibly not yet married. The use of the definite article the in English may indicate one of two things: (1) this princess was one who was known both to the writer and the readers, and (2) it may imply that the king had only one daughter. We are not sure of either of these two facts; however, there are languages that employ numeral classifiers and do not have the equivalent of the English “the” or “a.” In such languages one may translate in a general way and simply say “Daughter of king came….” She came down to bathe at the river. This shows her intention, but the text does not say explicitly that she actually did bathe before she saw the basket. Neither does it say that she intended to bathe in the river itself, but many translations interpret the Hebrew preposition to mean stepping into the water. The river implies a known river, namely the Nile. (See the comment at 1.22.)

Her maidens were the female “servants” (Good News Translation) of the princess. The maid or “slave woman” (Good News Translation) she sent to get the basket may have been one of these “servants.” The two terms in Hebrew usually mean the same thing and suggest that they were all young mature women. They walked beside the river to make sure that the princess had privacy while she bathed. She saw the basket among the reeds: Good News Translation has “Suddenly she noticed…,” where “Suddenly” translates the common Hebrew conjunction waw according to the context, but most translations omit it. The clause she … sent her maid to fetch it may also be expressed as “The princess said to her maid, ‘Bring that basket to me.’ ”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

She saw the child is literally “and she saw him, the child.” This unusual style adds to the suspense of the narrative. The apparent surprise and pity of the princess is suggested by the word lo. Although lo is archaic in English, many languages will be able to use an interjection or an ideophone here quite naturally. By placing a period after “baby boy,” Good News Translation preserves some of this suspense. Most probably the babe was crying from hunger. But we do not know this for sure. So translators should not indicate why the child was crying, unless this information is required in a particular receptor language.

She took pity on him means “she felt sorry” for the baby. By connecting this with the preceding clause, Good News Translation also suggests that the baby’s crying only added to her pity. Hence New English Bible has “and she was filled with pity for it.” Pity in many languages will be rendered in a figurative or idiomatic way; for example, “She had a warm heart [or liver, or stomach] toward him,” or “She felt weakness because of him.”

This is one of the Hebrews’ children is literally “from the children of the Hebrews this [one].” The text suggests that the princess had no doubt; she was certain that here was a Hebrew “baby boy” (Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh brings out this certainty with “This must be a Hebrew child” (similarly Contemporary English Version and Revised English Bible). The Hebrew for child and children indicates that the baby was a boy. And if he had already been circumcised, an ancient Hebrew custom, the princess would have known that he had been born into a Hebrew family.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .