Exo 2:5 | KD | STEP | Pharaoh’s daughter is called Thermouthis or Merris in Jewish tradition, and by the Rabbins בתיה. על־היאר is to be connected with תּרד, and the construction with על to be explained as referring to the descent into (upon) the river from the rising bank. The fact that a king’s daughter should bathe in the open river is certainly opposed to the customs of the modern, Mohammedan East, where this is only done by women of the lower orders, and that in remote places (Lane, Manners and Customs ); but it is in harmony with the customs of ancient Egypt, and in perfect agreement with the notions of the early Egyptians respecting the sanctity of the Nile, to which divine honours even were paid (vid., Hengstenberg’s Egypt, etc . pp. 109, 110), and with the belief, which was common to both ancient and modern Egyptians, in the power of its waters to impart fruitfulness and prolong life (vid., Strabo , xv. p. 695, etc., and Seetzen, Travels iii. p. 204).

‏ Exodus 2:5

Pharaoh’s daughter is called Thermouthis or Merris in Jewish tradition, and by the Rabbins בתיה. על־היאר is to be connected with תּרד, and the construction with על to be explained as referring to the descent into (upon) the river from the rising bank. The fact that a king’s daughter should bathe in the open river is certainly opposed to the customs of the modern, Mohammedan East, where this is only done by women of the lower orders, and that in remote places (Lane, Manners and Customs); but it is in harmony with the customs of ancient Egypt, ^{▼▼Wilkinson gives a picture of bathing scene, in which an Egyptian woman of rank is introduced, attended by four female servants.} and in perfect agreement with the notions of the early Egyptians respecting the sanctity of the Nile, to which divine honours even were paid (vid., Hengstenberg’s Egypt, etc. pp. 109, 110), and with the belief, which was common to both ancient and modern Egyptians, in the power of its waters to impart fruitfulness and prolong life (vid., Strabo, xv. p. 695, etc., and Seetzen, Travels iii. p. 204).