Finding baby Moses

He Qi © 2021 All Rights Reserved.

Image taken from He Qi Art . For purchasing prints of this and other artworks by He Qi go to heqiart.com .

For other images of He Qi art works in TIPs, see here.

The following is an artwork by Sister Marie Claire , SMMI (1937–2018) from Bengaluru, India:

For more information about images by Sister Marie Claire and ways to purchase them as lithographs, see here .

For other images of Sister Marie Claire paintings in TIPs, see here.

complete verse (Exodus 2:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 2:2:

  • Kupsabiny: “Not very long, she became pregnant and produced/bore a boy child. When she saw that the child was handsome/beautiful, she hid (him) for three months.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Then the woman became pregnant, she gave birth to a son. When she saw that the child was fine she hid him for three months.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “This woman became-pregnant and gave-birth to a male/(son). When she saw that the body of the child was healthy/[lit. good], she hid him/[lit. this] for a period/[lit. inside] of three months.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “It came about that she became pregnant and so bore a male child. But that woman saw that her child was very good-looking and so she hid him for a duration of three months.” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “And his wife became pregnant, bore male child. When she saw it that son be good, she hid him from people of Egypt with month three.” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “She became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy/me. When she saw that he/I was a good-looking baby, she hid him/me for three months, because she was not willing to do what the king commanded.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 2:2

The woman conceived and bore a son clearly identifies two actions, but of course conceived is understood when only bore is mentioned. Thus Good News Translation omits the first action, conceived, and connects the clause with “married” in the preceding verse by simply adding that “she bore him a son.” However, in many languages it will be more natural style to translate in a way similar to Revised Standard Version. Other details in the story indicate that Moses was not the firstborn child (2.4) nor even the first son (7.7).

He was a goodly child should be understood as a natural description of a handsome, healthy baby boy. Hence “she saw what a fine baby he was” (Good News Translation), or “He was a healthy child.” She hid him three months does not indicate how or where she hid him, but only that she kept him secretly for a period of three months. It will be helpful in some languages to say whom she hid Moses from; for example, “She hid him from the Egyptians for three months.”

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 .