Exodus 2:11-25

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, ¹when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ²burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^[a]

12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ³struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13 When ⁴he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?"

14 He answered, ⁵"Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and thought, "Surely the thing is known."

15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But ⁶Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ⁷a well.

16 Now the ⁸priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ⁹they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and ¹⁰watered their flock.

18 When they came home to their father ¹¹Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?"

19 They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and ¹²watered the flock."

20 He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may ¹³eat bread."

21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter ¹⁴Zipporah.

22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name ¹⁵Gershom, for he said, "I have been a ¹⁶sojourner^[b] in a foreign land."

God Hears Israel's Groaning

23 ¹⁷During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel ¹⁸groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. ¹⁹Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.

24 And ²⁰God heard their groaning, and God ²¹remembered his covenant with ²²Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

25 God ²³saw the people of Israel--and God ²⁴knew.

Exodus 2:11-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 2

This chapter relates the birth of Moses, and his preservation in an ark of bulrushes, Ex 2:1-3. His being found by Pharaoh's daughter, took up, and put out to nurse by her, and adopted for her son, Ex 2:4-10, some exploits of his when grown up, taking the part of an Hebrew against an Egyptian whom he slew, and endeavouring to reconcile two Hebrews at variance, when one of them reproached him with slaying the Egyptian, Ex 2:11-14, which thing being known to Pharaoh, he sought to slay Moses, and this obliged him to flee to Midian, Ex 2:15 where he met with the daughters of Reuel, and defended them against the shepherds, and watered their flocks for them, Ex 2:16,17, which Reuel being informed of, sent for him, and he lived with him, and married his daughter Zipporah, by whom he had a son, Ex 2:18-22 and the chapter is concluded with the death of the king of Egypt, and the sore bondage of the Israelites, and their cries and groans, which God had a respect unto, Ex 2:23-25.

was Amram, the son of Kohath, and grandson of Levi, as appears from Ex 6:18,20

\\and took to wife a daughter of Levi\\; one of the same house, family, or tribe; which was proper, that the tribes might be kept distinct: this was Jochebed, said to be his father's sister, \\see Gill on "Ex 6:20"\\: her name in Josephus {s} is Joachebel, which seems to be no other than a corruption of Jochebed, but in the Targum in 1Ch 4:18 she is called Jehuditha.

{s} Antiqu. l. 2. c. 9. sect. 4. 09514-950103-1343-Ex2.2

Cross References

• 1. Acts 7:23; Hebrews 11:24-26
• 2. See Exodus 1:11
• 3. Acts 7:24
• 4. Acts 7:23-28
• 5. [Luke 12:14]
• 6. Acts 7:29; Hebrews 11:27
• 7. Genesis 24:11; Genesis 29:2
• 8. Exodus 3:1
• 9. Genesis 24:11; Genesis 29:10; 1 Samuel 9:11
• 10. [Genesis 29:10]
• 11. Numbers 10:29; [Exodus 3:1; Exodus 4:18; Exodus 18:1, 5, 9, 12]
• 12. [See ver. 17 above]
• 13. Genesis 31:54; Genesis 43:25
• 14. Exodus 4:25; Exodus 18:2
• 15. Exodus 18:3
• 16. Acts 7:29; [Hebrews 11:13, 14]
• 17. [Exodus 7:7]; Acts 7:23, 30
• 18. [Deuteronomy 26:7]
• 19. Exodus 3:9; Genesis 18:20, 21; James 5:4
• 20. Exodus 6:5
• 21. Psalms 105:8, 42; Psalms 106:45
• 22. Genesis 15:14; Genesis 46:4
• 23. Exodus 3:7; Exodus 4:31; [Luke 1:25]
• 24. [Exodus 3:16]

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew brothers
• [b]. Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for sojourner