And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.

And she opened it, and saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews children.

She opened it and seeing within it an infant crying, having compassion on it she said: This is one of the babes of the Hebrews.

And she opened it, and saw the child, and behold, the boy wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.

and openeth, and seeth him, the lad, and lo, a child weeping! and she hath pity on him, and saith, 'This is one of the Hebrews' children.'

And opening it, she saw the child, and he was crying. And she had pity on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.

she opened it; and realizing that within it was a little one crying, she took pity on him, and she said: "This is one of the infants of the Hebrews."

Quumque aperuisset, vidit ipsum infantulum: et ecce, puer flebat: et miserta illius dixit, Hic ex pueris Hebraeorum est.

She had compassion on him - The Egyptians regarded such tenderness as a condition of acceptance on the day of reckoning. In the presence of the Lord of truth each spirit had to answer, "I have not afflicted any man, I have not made any man weep, I have not withheld milk from the mouths of sucklings" ('Funeral Ritual'). There was special ground for mentioning the feeling, since it led the princess to save and adopt the child in spite of her father's commands.

She had compassion on him - The sight of a beautiful babe in distress could not fail to make the impression here mentioned; see Clarke on Exodus 2:2 (note). It has already been conjectured that the cruel edict of the Egyptian king did not continue long in force; see Exodus 1:22. And it will not appear unreasonable to suppose that the circumstance related here might have brought about its abolition. The daughter of Pharaoh, struck with the distressed state of the Hebrew children from what she had seen in the case of Moses, would probably implore her father to abolish this sanguinary edict.

And when she had opened it,.... The ark, for it was shut or covered over, though doubtless there were some apertures for respiration:
she saw the child in it, and, behold, the babe wept; and which was a circumstance, it is highly probable, greatly affected the king's daughter, and moved her compassion to it; though an Arabic writer says (p), she heard the crying of the child in the ark, and therefore sent for it:
and she had compassion on him, and said, this is one of the Hebrews' children; which she might conclude from its being thus exposed, knowing her father's edict, and partly from the form and beauty of it, Hebrew children not being swarthy and tawny as Egyptian ones: the Jewish writers (q) say, she knew it by its being circumcised, the Egyptians not yet using circumcision.
(p) Patricides apud Hottinger. p 401. (q) T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 12. 2. Aben Ezra in loc.

when she had opened it, she saw the child--The narrative is picturesque. No tale of romance ever described a plot more skilfully laid or more full of interest in the development. The expedient of the ark, the slime and pitch, the choice of the time and place, the appeal to the sensibilities of the female breast, the stationing of the sister as a watch of the proceedings, her timely suggestion of a nurse, and the engagement of the mother herself--all bespeak a more than ordinary measure of ingenuity as well as intense solicitude on the part of the parents. But the origin of the scheme was most probably owing to a divine suggestion, as its success was due to an overruling Providence, who not only preserved the child's life, but provided for his being trained in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Hence it is said to have been done by faith (Hebrews 11:23), either in the general promise of deliverance, or some special revelation made to Amram and Jochebed--and in this view, the pious couple gave a beautiful example of a firm reliance on the word of God, united with an active use of the most suitable means.