Exodus 2:6 Commentary: Rashi, Ramban, Rashbam & Sforno

ותפתח ותראהו lit., AND SHE OPENED IT AND SHE SAW HIM — whom did she see? את הילד THE CHILD. This is the literal sense of the suffix in ותראהו. A Midrashic explanation is (taking את in the sense of “with”— she saw Him with the child): she saw the Shechina with him (cf. Sotah 12b).

AND BEHOLD IT WAS A WEEPING LAD. “His voice sounded like that of a grown lad.”⁶⁹This interpretation is based on the change of reference to Moses within the same verse: And she opened it, and saw it, even ‘hayeled’ (the child), and behold it was a weeping ‘na’ar’ (a young lad). Hence, in accordance with Rabbi Yehudah’s opinion in Sotah 12 b, Rashi construed that he was a child with the voice of a young lad. Thus the language of Rabbeinu Shlomo. Now the Rabbis have already rejected this opinion, saying,⁷⁰This is the opinion of Rabbi Nechemya (ibid.). “If so, you have made Moses our teacher appear as having a blemish [and being unfit for Levitical service in the Tabernacle].”⁷¹Part of the Levitical services in the Tabernacle — and later in the Sanctuary in Jerusalem — consisted of the chanting of the services. A Levite who had no sweetness of voice was disqualified for this service. (See Maimonides’ The Commandments, Vol. I, pp. 32-3, Soncino.) Now if as an infant, Moses, who was a Levite, already had a voice like that of a young lad, as he grew older his voice must have thickened. After the building of the Tabernacle when he was past eighty, his voice naturally could no longer be a singer’s voice, as it would have been greatly out of proportion to his age. Besides, what reason is there for Scripture to mention his unnatural voice?
And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that his limbs were developed as that of a young lad. Perhaps Scripture mentioned this in order to denote the child’s beauty. It was due to his exquisite beautiful appearance that she [the princess] had compassion for him since she recognized that he had been recently born and yet his limbs were well-developed like those of a lad.
A more correct interpretation is that his was a strong and unrelenting cry like that of a lad, and therefore she had compassion for him. A homiletic exposition has it:⁷²Shemoth Rabbah 1:28. “A weeping lad. He was a child whose behavior was that of a lad [who is not prone to crying]. At that moment, the angel Gabriel came and struck him so that he would cry and she would be compassionate towards him.”
In my opinion there is no need for all this. From the day of his birth, a child is called na’ar (lad) [in Scripture], as it is said, What shall we do ‘lana’ar’ (to the lad) that shall be born?⁷³Judges 13:8. Similarly, And David besought G-d for ‘hana’ar’ (the lad).⁷⁴II Samuel 12:16. The subject there is a child, not a grown lad. Conversely, Scripture calls a grown lad yeled (child), as it is said in the case of Ishmael.⁷⁵And she cast ‘hayeled’ (the child) (Genesis 21:16). At that time, Ishmael was seventeen years old. (See Ramban, Vol. I, p. 270, and Note 329, ibid.). Yet he is called yeled. Similarly, ‘v’hana’ar na’ar’ (and the lad was young),⁷⁶I Samuel 1:24. That Samuel was but a child at that time is explained by Ramban in the text, and yet Scripture refers to him as a na’ar. meaning that he [Samuel] was a young child of twenty-four months. As soon as she [his mother, Hannah] had weaned him, she brought him up to Shiloh, as it is written, And she gave her son suck until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her.⁷⁷Ibid., Verses 23-24.

ותפתח ותראהו את הילד, anyone explaining that the meaning of the line is that “she saw the infant,” is in error. Who does not know that when someone would open the basket that he or she would see the infant? Surely, the Torah did not have to tell us something so elementary! Therefore, the meaning of the line is this: when she opened the basket and saw the infant and wanted to know if it was male or female, she found that the baby was a נער, that it was male and not female. When she also observed that his member had been circumcised, she realised that this baby had not been abandoned but had been hidden in the reeds. If she would have found that the baby was a girl, she would have assumed that it had been abandoned (as an illegitimate birth) There is nothing unusual about an infant being called נער, as we find Manoach asking the angel who had predicted the birth of Simshon מה נעשה לנער אשר יולד,”what shall we do for the boy once he will be born?” (Judges 13,8).