Commentary for Exodus 2:2

כי טוב הוא THAT HE WAS GOODLY — When he was born the whole house became filled with light (Sotah 12a).

AND WHEN SHE SAW HIM THAT HE WAS GOODLY SHE HID HIM. It is a known fact that all mothers love their children, goodly or ungoodly, and all of them would hide them [from harm] with all their might. There is thus no need for Scripture to explain that he was goodly. But the meaning of this goodliness is that she saw in him some unique quality which, in her opinion, foreshadowed that a miracle would happen to him and he would be saved. Therefore she applied herself and thought of ways to save him. When she saw that she could hide him no longer, she thought of saving him by another device. She made him an ark of bulrushes [and put him among the reeds at the side of the river], and his sister placed herself at a distance⁶⁴Verse 4. — so that the Egyptians would not recognize her — to know what would be done to him.⁶⁴Verse 4. All this is support for the words of our Rabbis who expounded,⁵¹Sotah 12a. “That he was goodly, namely, that the whole house became filled with light,” and for what the Rabbis have said,⁶¹Miriam prophesied, “My mother is destined to bear a son who will deliver Israel” (Sotah 13 a). i.e., that Miriam prophesied, “Mother is destined to bear a son who will deliver Israel.”

ותהר האשה, during the period that Pharaoh’s decree that every male baby had to be thrown into the Nile to be drowned.

And she saw that he was good. That the house was filled with light, as it says "And God saw the light, that it was good" (Bereishit 1:4). And for this reason she hid him, because she was scared that the Mitzrim would see this light, and through the light see the boy also. For this reason she hid him more than all the other boys [were hidden]. And further, [she worried] that they would sense through the excess of light that this [boy] was the redeemer who would bring "from darkness to light, and from subjugation to redemption" (Siddur Ashkenaz, petitionary prayer before returning the Torah to the Ark on a weekday). And perhaps she thought that the light was created with him in order for her to learn from it to conceal him, just like the Original Light which was stored away for the righteous in the future to come (see Rashi on Bereishit 1:14).

כי טוב הוא, The word טוב may be understood as meaning the same as “handsome, beautiful,” the same meaning as in Genesis 6,2 כי טובות הנה, “that they were beautiful.” The word describes something unusually handsome, beautiful. Yocheved thought that this was an omen, a sign from the Creator, telling her that a beautiful exterior encloses an equally beautiful personality.

So she hid him. What precisely was the "goodness" that Yocheved observed when Moses was born? Our sages (Sotah 12) say that Moses was born without a foreskin and that the house was filled with light when he was born. Surely this is homiletics. Besides, what does Yocheved's hiding Moses have to do with her observing that he was "good?" Assuming Moses had not been "good," would she not have had motherly feelings of pity for his future?
We can determine the meaning of the verse from the comment of our sages in Sotah 12 that the Egyptians calculated the length of her pregnancy from the day Yocheved remarried Amram. She gave birth to Moses six months and a day after he was conceived. Normally, babies born after only six months of pregnancy do not have much of a chance to survive, whereas babies born after seven months have an excellent chance to develop normally. The average mother is unable to determine to the day how long her pregnancy has been in progress. When she gives birth to a baby after six months pregnancy the baby is considered as aborted. The Torah told us that when Yocheved looked at the fetus she realised that contrary to her expectations he was healthy and well. This was the "good" that she saw. This is also why she took extraordinary care to nurse this child through the difficult period until it would be out of danger. She endangered herself by hiding Moses seeing that the Egyptians used to carry out house to house searches for Jewish babies. Our sages base their exegesis on the Torah choosing the word טוב rather than any other word describing Moses' state of health. They concluded that he must have been born without a foreskin. According to our tradition Adam was created without a foreskin. As a result of his sin his glans became covered with additional tissue, something that required removal if man wanted to regain a status the Torah describes as "perfect" when G'd instructed Abraham to circumcise himself.

ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא, “she realized that he was ‘good.’” Rashi says that although this baby was born several months prematurely, after a pregnancy of 6 months and a day, all his limbs were perfectly formed already at birth. Hence she saw that he was “good.” Some commentators hold that the word טוב here means something similar to Jeremiah 44,17 ונשבע לחם ונהיה טובים, “when we will at our fill of bread we will be טובים, “good.” [in good shape. Ed.]

When he was born the entire house was filled with light. Here it says כי טוב (he was good), and earlier (Bereishis 1:4) it says וירא אלהים את האור כי טוב (And Elokim saw the light, that it was good). Just as כי טוב earlier refers to light, so too here it refers to light.

V. 2. טוב, man nimmt dies gewöhnlich für "schön". Allein nichts unnatürlicher als dies. Es gibt keine Mutter, die ihr Kind nicht schön fände; und wenn es minder schön gewesen wäre, da hätte eine Mutter nicht das Mögliche getan, um es dem sicheren Tode zu entreißen?! Vielmehr heißt טוב: gut. Sie sah, dass es gut war, ein Kind, das nicht schrie, wenn es kein Bedürfnis hatte, das man nur zu befriedigen bräuchte, um es still zu halten, das konnte sie verbergen. Sie hatte nur als sorgsame Mutter dafür zu sorgen, dass es satt und verpflegt war, dann schrie es nicht. —

ותרא אותו כי טוב, although he had been born prematurely after a pregnancy of only six months, the infant looked as if fully developed. Even his fingernails had developed completely. Having taken note of this, his mother decided to risk hiding him, i.e. to endanger her own life in addition to that of her infant. A different interpretation of our verse, The words: כי טוב , refer to Moses’ appearance being that of a beautiful baby. Compare the use of this word in the same sense in Jeremiah 44,17: ונשבע לחם ונהיה טובים, “for then we had plenty to eat and we looked well.”

ותרא אותו כי טוב, “and when she saw (realised) that he was good (healthy) etc.” seeing that Moses was born to his mother after a pregnancy that had lasted only six months, she noted when examining the baby in detail, that all of Moses’ fingernails and toe nails were fully developed just like those of a baby after a nine month pregnancy, she realised that he was healthy and would survive the critical months ahead of him. She had no problem hiding him for three months as she had not been due to give birth during that period. When she was asked about the baby she had born by her neighbours, she would say that she had already complied with the kings’ decree and had thrown him into the Nile. A different interpretation views the word טוב as a hint that Moses had been born without a foreskin. The custom of reciting the line: הודו לה' כי טוב, “praise the Lord for He is good,” is recited during the circumcision ceremony, as a reminder that Moses did not need to be circumcised.

ותלד בן. ותרא אותו כי טוב הוא ותצפנהו, anyone who translates this as “she (only) hid him because he was good, is lying.” Mothers display mercy for all their children. If this is so, we need to explain the reason why the Torah added the words כי טוב הוא. At the end of the story of creation in Genesis 1,31 the Torah wrote וירא אלוקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד. G’d, at the end of six days of creation surveyed all He had done to find out if any of it needed improving. He was pleased to find that all had turned out as He had wished it to be.”

And the number of "three months" is an allusion to the light of the Torah, which was stored away until the third month, which is Sivan. This is as we learn from the verse "They lay up sound wisdom for the upright" (Mishlei 2:7) - therefore, she could not hide him further. And see further in the verse of "your sandals from on your feet" (Shemot 3:5), that Moshe was totally lacking in materialism, and he would illuminate from both his parts [i.e. body and soul], and his human body was full of light. And this miracle proves his quality for the future. And it seems that regarding the reality of this light that was born with him, it's written "and she opened it, and saw it; the child" (Shemot 2:6). What is "and she saw it; the child"? Our rabbis of blessed memory said, "she saw God's Presence with him". And God's Presence, who mentioned its name? Rather "and saw it" refers to her finding of the light which is mentioned obliquely in the saying "for he is good" (Shemot 2:2). And this light she saw with the child, because [the particle] את et is used in the place of עם im. And because of this he seemed like an older youth, because they were connected together, the boy and the light. Because of this, it's said "and she saw it", wishing to say: the light to the boy, the light with the boy.

We can determine the meaning of the verse from the comment of our sages in Sotah 12 that the Egyptians calculated the length of her pregnancy from the day Yocheved remarried Amram. She gave birth to Moses six months and a day after he was conceived. Normally, babies born after only six months of pregnancy do not have much of a chance to survive, whereas babies born after seven months have an excellent chance to develop normally. The average mother is unable to determine to the day how long her pregnancy has been in progress. When she gives birth to a baby after six months pregnancy the baby is considered as aborted. The Torah told us that when Yocheved looked at the fetus she realised that contrary to her expectations he was healthy and well. This was the "good" that she saw. This is also why she took extraordinary care to nurse this child through the difficult period until it would be out of danger. She endangered herself by hiding Moses seeing that the Egyptians used to carry out house to house searches for Jewish babies. Our sages base their exegesis on the Torah choosing the word טוב rather than any other word describing Moses' state of health. They concluded that he must have been born without a foreskin. According to our tradition Adam was created without a foreskin. As a result of his sin his glans became covered with additional tissue, something that required removal if man wanted to regain a status the Torah describes as "perfect" when G'd instructed Abraham to circumcise himself (compare Sanhedrin 38).

ירחים ist nicht der gewöhnliche Ausdruck für Monat. חדש bezeichnet den Monat nach der in die äußeren Sinne fallenden, somit für jeden erkennbaren Erscheinung des verschwunden gewesenen und wieder gekommenen Lichtes, und ist daher die allgemeine Bezeichnung des Monats als Periode der Zeitrechnung. ירח aber bezeichnet den Mondlauf auch nach seinem physischen, kosmischen, tellurischen Einflusse, insbesondere auf Zeitigung und Entwicklung der Frucht, ממגד גרש ירחים (Bamidbar 33,14) תספור ירחים תמלאנה (Job 39, 2) und ist daher hier der ganz entsprechende Ausdruck. Sie konnte den Knaben nur in den ersten drei Monaten seiner Entwicklung verbergen.

ותצפנהו שלשה ירחים, “she hid him for a period of three months.” Precisely during which three months did she hide him? Moses was born on the seventh day in the month of Adar, so that his mother hid him for twentythree days during that month; she hid him during both the month of Nissan and lyar, so that the last day of the three months was the sixth day of Sivan, the date on which in due course, the Torah would be revealed to lsrael. The reason why the Torah makes an issue of the mother of Moses hiding him for three months is that the Egyptians had decreed that the last of those days would be the day on which the Jewish saviour would be born. By rights, they should have cancelled the decree to drown Jewish boy babies, but seeing that they did not do so, shows that hatred of the Jews, more than fear of a Jewish saviour was their principal concern.

Here too, seeing that Moses had been born 3 months premature, just as we encounter such a phenomenon in Samuel 1,20, when the prophet Samuel was born prematurely, the prophet writing לתקופת הימים, there was good reason to examine such a premature baby as to its viability. The word תקופה, a season, is a period of 91 days. Seeing that Samuel was born after 2 such תקופות he was born after 182 days of pregnancy. [perhaps the fact that the Torah did not mention that the time for Moses to be born had arrived, as happens very often, is another support for the assumption that he was 3 months premature. Ed.] At any rate, she had nothing to fear during the three months she hid Moses at home as the Egyptians had not expected Yocheved to give birth until the end of that period of time. When Yocheved had noted that in spite of being born so much prematurely, Moses was fully formed in every way, she decided it was worthwhile to hide him and to hope that somehow he would be spared from the decree. When an inspector would show up, she would tell the inspector that he had been premature and incapable of living so that she had had to bury him or that the Egyptians had drowned him anyway.

ותצפנהו שלשה ירחים, “she kept him hidden for three months.” Moses was born on the seventh of Adar; the Egyptians had waited for Yocheved to give birth at the end of nine months as was customary. These nine months would have expired on the sixth of Sivan. The Torah does not use the word חדשים to describe “months” but ירחים, as normally you would have two months with 30 days each and one month of 29 days in between. In this instance the three months were reversed i.e. two months of 29 days and one month of 30 days giving us a total of 58 days for the period the Torah describes. The end of this period occurred on the sixth day of Sivan (the day the Torah would be given 81 years later). Moses was exposed to the waters of the Nile on that very date. The Torah hints that on the date that Moses was exposed to the cruel fate of death in the river he was compensated many years later for ascending to heaven via Mount Sinai in order to receive the Tablets. This may be what David had in mind when he said (Psalms, 138,3) “on the day I called, You answered me, You inspired me with courage.”