Bible Strands
Exodus 2:5
Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Pharaoh’s daughter descends to the Nile with her female attendants to bathe and discovers a basket among the reeds. This event follows Moses’ sister positioning herself at a distance to monitor his fate.
The words — וַתֵּרֶד (va.te.red) translates literally as “and she went down,” and הַיְאֹר (ha.y.'or) denotes “the River,” specifically the Nile. These terms mark the physical descent and precise geographic location of the discovery.
The thread — The narrative proceeds in Exodus 2:6 when she opens the basket, identifies the crying infant as Hebrew, and exercises compassion. Acts 7:21 later recounts her adopting him as her son, while Psalms 9:9 and 12:5 parallel the theme of divine refuge for the oppressed.
Why it lands — The text records a royal woman’s visual detection of a basket, her command to retrieve it, and the immediate context of a vulnerable child. It requires the reader to track the exact sequence of observation and action without adding theological commentary.
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 the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
Cross-references
- Acts 7:21 When he was set outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.
- Psalms 9:9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
- Psalms 12:5 “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Exodus 8:20 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, and when Pharaoh goes out to the water, stand before him and tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.
- Psalms 46:1 For the choirmaster. Of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A song. God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.
- Exodus 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
- Psalms 76:10 Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
- Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
- 1 Kings 17:6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening, and he would drink from the brook.
- Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish.