Finding baby Moses

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complete verse (Exodus 2:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Exodus 2:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “And as the girl of that ruler/king opened the basket, she saw a boy child crying. She had mercy and said, ‘Could this child belong to the Israelites’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “When she opened it to look she saw a crying baby. Love came to her for him. Then she said, ‘This is one of the Hebrew babies."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then she opened the basket and she saw the child (was) crying, so she really had-mercy/had-compassion upon the child. She said, ‘This (is) one of the Hebrew children.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Bariai: “The daughter of the great chief opened that lid of the basket and then saw that male child crying. But she felt sorry for him and so said, ‘Pity! This is one of the Ibru people’s male children.’” (Source: Bariai Back Translation)
  • Opo: “When she uncovered it [head], she saw child, weeping there. And situation of child pained for her. She said «This child be one of children Hebrew.»” (Source: Opo Back Translation)
  • English: “When the servant brought the basket to her, she opened it, and was surprised to see a baby that was/me, crying. She felt sorry for him/me, and said, ‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ babies.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Exod 2:6

She saw the child is literally “and she saw him, the child.” This unusual style adds to the suspense of the narrative. The apparent surprise and pity of the princess is suggested by the word lo. Although lo is archaic in English, many languages will be able to use an interjection or an ideophone here quite naturally. By placing a period after “baby boy,” Good News Translation preserves some of this suspense. Most probably the babe was crying from hunger. But we do not know this for sure. So translators should not indicate why the child was crying, unless this information is required in a particular receptor language.

She took pity on him means “she felt sorry” for the baby. By connecting this with the preceding clause, Good News Translation also suggests that the baby’s crying only added to her pity. Hence New English Bible has “and she was filled with pity for it.” Pity in many languages will be rendered in a figurative or idiomatic way; for example, “She had a warm heart [or liver, or stomach] toward him,” or “She felt weakness because of him.”

This is one of the Hebrews’ children is literally “from the children of the Hebrews this [one].” The text suggests that the princess had no doubt; she was certain that here was a Hebrew “baby boy” (Good News Translation). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh brings out this certainty with “This must be a Hebrew child” (similarly Contemporary English Version and Revised English Bible). The Hebrew for child and children indicates that the baby was a boy. And if he had already been circumcised, an ancient Hebrew custom, the princess would have known that he had been born into a Hebrew family.

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 .