Skeptic's Annotated Bible
2:1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
I presume this is Levi, a son of Jacob. I can't tell if this is the immediate daughter of Levi or a descendent of Levi. So much time has gone by that people in Egypt don't remember who Joseph is; on the other hand, people live hundreds of years, and we haven't been told about the deaths of any of these sons of Jacob yet. So at this point I just don't know. In any case, we have the line of descent from Jacob.
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.
Because she's afraid that Pharaoh will have him killed. Thank goodness he was goodly; if he had been badly, she might have left him to die.
Of course, the woman is not important enough to be given a name.
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.
As is typical, this story is cobbled together from many myths that were common. Compare:
Karna (India), written in the first century BCE:
When Kunti was a young woman, a wise though irascible old man, the sage Durvasa, visited her father's palace, where Kunti served him with utmost care for an entire year. Pleased by her service and hospitality, the sage foresaw that Kunti would have difficulty having a child after her marriage to Pandu, and granted her a boon to overcome this difficulty. By this boon she could call upon any god of her choice, and receive a child through him. Out of curiosity, Kunti still being unmarried, she decided to test the power of the mantra and called upon the god Surya. Compelled by the power of this mantra, Surya appeared before her and handed her a son, who was as radiant and powerful as Surya himself. The baby was wearing armour ('Kavacha') and a pair of earrings ('Kundala'). Though Kunti had not physically given birth to the baby, she was unwilling to be accused of being an unmarried mother and so with the help of her maid Dhatri, she placed the baby Karna in a basket and set him afloat on a tributary of the holy river Ganges, the Ashwanadi, in the hope that he would be taken in by another family.
The child Karna was found by Adhiratha, a charioteer of King Dhritarashtra of Hastinapur. Adhiratha and his wife Radha raised the boy as their own son and named him Vasusena.
Telephus (Greek), from the Cypria, 7th century BCE:
Aleus, king in Tegea and father of Auge, had been told by an oracle that he would be overthrown by his grandson. So, according to varying myths, he forced Auge to become a virginal priestess of Athena Alea, in which condition she was violated by Heracles. Although the infant Telephus was hidden in the temple, his cries revealed his presence and Aleus [...] put Auge and the baby in a crate that was set adrift on the sea, and washed up on the coast of Mysia in Asia Minor. [...]
In either case Telephus was adopted, either by King Corycus or by King Creon.
Perseus (Greek), from Horodotus' Histories, 557-479 BCE:
Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, who by her very name, was the archetype of all the Danaans. She was the only child of Acrisius, King of Argos. Disappointed by his lack of luck in having a son, Acrisius consulted the oracle at Delphi, who warned him that he would one day be killed by his daughter's son. Danaë was childless and to keep her so, he imprisoned her in a bronze chamber open to the sky in the courtyard of his palace. Zeus came to her in the form of a shower of gold, and impregnated her. Soon after, their child was born; Perseus.
Fearful for his future but unwilling to provoke the wrath of the gods by killing Zeus's offspring and his own daughter, Acrisius cast the two into the sea in a wooden chest. [...] Mother and child washed ashore on the island of Seriphos, where they were taken in by the fisherman Dictys ("fishing net"), who raised the boy to manhood. The brother of Dictys was Polydectes ("he who receives/welcomes many"), the king of the island.
Romulus and Remus (Greek), 4th-3rd century BCE:
The king sees his niece's pregnancy and confines her. She gives birth to twin boys of remarkable beauty; her uncle orders her death and theirs. [...] He has Rhea and her twins thrown into the River Tiber.
In every version, a servant is charged with the deed of killing the twins, but cannot bring himself to harm them. He places them in a basket and leaves it on the banks of the Tiber.
The river rises in flood and carries the twins downstream, unharmed.
...and so on. I was going to mention when we believe the Torah was written, but it turns out this is a topic of vigorous discussion. The earliest possible date is currently held to be around 7th century BCE, but possibly as late as the 5th century BCE. The point is, these abandonment stories are very common for primary characters in mythology stories of the time.
2:4 And his sister
Whose sister? Moses' sister?
stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
2:5 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.
2:6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept.
I'd cry too if I was hungry and abandoned in a river.
And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
The first person to act in a comprehensible way is the Pharaoh's daughter.
2:7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
2:8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
2:9 And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it.
Okay, let me see if I get this right. Moses' mother, fearing for the life of her goodly son, puts him in a basket and sets him adrift on the river. The basket and baby are found by Pharaoh's daughter, who takes pity on the child. The child's sister offers to find a nursemaid for the baby, and brings Moses' mother to nurse the baby. So in effect, Moses' mother keeps and raises the baby, but she is no longer recognized as the mother. (How, exactly, is this safer than if she had just kept the baby in the first place?)
Meanwhile, Pharaoh wants every male Hebrew child murdered, but won't take issue with his own daughter raising a male Hebrew child?
Every now and then I have to review these convoluted stories just to keep my head straight. It's not like they make any kind of sense.
2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
Probably from the Hebrew "mosheh" or "masha," meaning "to draw out from."
2:11 And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
2:12 And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.
I like how he makes sure nobody is looking before he kills the Egyptian.
So much for "an eye for an eye." This is "a life for an eye." Okay, so Moses has a bit of a temper problem, and is prone to violence and murder. Surprise, surprise; another contemptible character of prominence in the Bible. Interesting how they leave that part out when telling the stories of Moses to children.
2:13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
2:14 And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
Not as sneaky as he thought he was. I note that he wasn't concerned that he killed a man; he was more concerned about getting caught. Yup, a fine, upstanding citizen, this Moses.
2:15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.
2:16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
2:17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
I guess this means he'll be marrying one of them.
2:18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
2:19 And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
So he looks Egyptian now, because he was raised by Pharaoh's daughter? When Pharaoh's daughter looked at him as an infant, she instantly knew he was Hebrew.
2:20 And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
2:21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
Yup. As soon as he helped provide water for her sheep, you knew a marriage was to come. I wonder how Zipporah felt about Moses? (Nobody seems to care.) Was she the oldest daughter (like Leah)? Did Reuel check to make sure Moses was circumcised (like Shechem wasn't)? I mean, these details caused great suffering in Genesis, it seems a little careless to disregard them now!
2:22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
"Ger shom" means "a sojourner there."
Here's the best I can come up with for a family tree from what's described here:
2:23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
2:25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
God had forgotten his agreement with Abraham, and was unaware of the suffering of the Israelites? Tell me how omniscience works again?
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