Exodus 2:9

Thy wages. Since the babe, a Hebrew child, was placed in a Hebrew home, provision must be made to clarify the supposed relationship of Jochebed to him as his nurse. To signify clearly that he had become the property of Pharaoh’s daughter, to silence inquiries as to his origin and the reasons for his being kept alive, and to seal the lips of informers who might wish to see him killed, as other Hebrew boys were, the princess indicated the wages she would pay for the care given him.

The woman took the child. It is significant that Jochebed is not here called Moses’ “mother” but simply “the woman.” It would seem that neither by word nor by deed did she betray her real feelings nor reveal her actual relationship to the child. What self-control that impassioned hour must have required, no tongue can tell. She took the child as a stranger might have taken it, yet in her heart there was passionate joy and gladness. Had she relaxed her vigilance but for an instant, excitement might have disclosed her purpose. Everything depended on her remaining calm under the most difficult circumstances — but love can endure all things. The great question underlying all service is not so much one of the intellect as of the heart, buoyed up by God’s sustaining power.