And the child grew should be understood as “when the child was old enough” (Good News Translation). The child’s age is not indicated, but the previous verse suggests that he was old enough to be weaned. Some translations such as New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible have “When the child grew up,” but this may suggest that he was now a grown man, which is unlikely. Another translation model is “When the child had grown sufficiently.” Good News Translation begins the verse with “Later” in order to suggest a much shorter period of time. The pronoun she refers to the child’s mother, who brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. That is, she fulfilled the agreement made in 2.9. In languages where pronouns do not carry information relating to gender, whether the pronoun is masculine or feminine, it will be helpful to express she as “the child’s mother.” And he became her son means that the princess “adopted him as her own son” (Good News Translation). “Adopted” may also be expressed as “The king’s daughter made him her son” or “… treated him [or, received him] as if he was her own son.”

She named him Moses, probably an Egyptian name based on the Egyptian mose, meaning “son of.” But as the Good News Translation footnote points out, Moses sounds like the Hebrew for “pull out.” The Hebrew form of the name is Mosheh, a participle meaning “one who pulls out” rather than “one who is pulled out,” which would be mashuy. (See the footnotes in Revised Standard Version.) The significance of Moses’ name, therefore, is difficult to convey in the translation itself. For this reason most translations place a footnote to explain this similarity of sound and meaning (see Good News Translation‘s note).

For she said means that the princess said it. But the text does not indicate to whom she spoke. If it is necessary in translation to identify an addressee, one may follow Good News Translation and say “she said to herself” or “she thought.” The Hebrew often uses the same word for “say” and “think.” (See, for example, 2.14.) But it is also possible to follow Bible en français courant and say “she declared” or “she announced,” assuming that she said this to those who were with her.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• When the child had grown sufficiently, his mother took him to the daughter of the king, who made him her own son. She thought, “I pulled him out of the water, so I will name him Moses.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .