Bible Strands
Exodus 2:4
And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate moment after Moses’ mother places him in a basket among the Nile reeds, noting that his sister positions herself to observe the outcome.
The words — The Hebrew וַתֵּתַצֵּב (vatteṯṣēḇ) literally means “and she stood,” coupled with מֵרָחוֹק (mērāḥōq), meaning “from a distance.”
The thread — This unnamed sister is later identified as Miriam, who leads women in worship after the Exodus (Exodus 15:20) and is recorded as Aaron’s sister and daughter of Levi (Numbers 26:59).
Why it lands — The text documents a factual act of vigilance without moral commentary, requiring the reader to recognize how human caution functions within the unfolding narrative.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
Cross-references
- Numbers 26:59 and Amram’s wife was named Jochebed. She was also a daughter of Levi, born to Levi in Egypt. To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and their sister Miriam.
- Exodus 15:20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.
- Micah 6:4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery. I sent Moses before you, as well as Aaron and Miriam.
- Numbers 20:1 In the first month, the whole congregation of Israel entered the Wilderness of Zin and stayed in Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
- Numbers 12:1 Then Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married, for he had taken a Cushite wife.