What does Exodus 2:3 mean?
When Moses was three months old (Exodus 2:2), he had grown to the point where hiding him completely from the Egyptians was impossible (Exodus 1:22). Rather than risk her entire family being caught and punished for hiding her newborn son, she will, in a poetic sense, obey Pharaoh's command to "cast into the Nile" her Hebrew boy. At the same time, this ruse will give hope for her son's survival. She makes a basket from bulrushes or papyrus reeds and coats it with pitch so it will float. This construction includes some similarities to Noah's ark, which included pitch that would allow it to float on the water.The last part of the verse reveals the mother placing Moses in the basket and placing the basket "among the reeds by the river bank." Unlike many movie portrayals of this event, the basket was strategically placed in the reeds where Egyptian women would pass. The baby was not allowed to drift downstream, at least not according to Scripture. There is no indication Moses floated any length down the Nile River, nor that he was abandoned to an uncertain fate. His mother clearly hoped a woman would come by and care for him—the fact that Moses' sister is waiting and prepared with the right words is no coincidence (Exodus 2:7–8).
Exodus 2:1–10 describes the birth and early life of Moses. His mother defies the order to kill Hebrew boys and hides her son. Once he becomes too old to conceal, she places him in a basket on the Nile. Apparently, this was a deliberate attempt to have Moses adopted, as Moses' older sister is stationed nearby, watching. Pharaoh's daughter finds the baby and hires Moses' own mother to be his wet nurse. Once weaned, Moses is sent back to the Egyptian princess, gaining the benefits of a royal education and upbringing.
Amid an order from Pharaoh to murder newborn Hebrew boys, Moses' mother places him in a basket along the side of the river, staging her daughter there to observe. The Egyptian king's daughter sees the baby and has pity. Thanks to the presence of Moses' sister, the princess pays Moses' own mother to wean him. After this, he is raised in the home of Egypt's royal family. As an adult, Moses unsuccessfully attempts to hide his murder of an abusive Egyptian and flees to Midian as an exile. As Moses builds a family abroad, Israel cries out to God for rescue from the brutality of Egyptian slavery.