Exodus 2:11-25

11 {And then}^[a] in those days when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers, and he saw their {forced labor},^[b] and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, [one of] his brothers.^[c]

12 And he turned here and there, and he saw no one,^[d] and he struck the Egyptian, and he hid him in the sand.

13 And he went out on the second day, and there were two Hebrew men fighting, and he said to the guilty [one], "Why do you strike your neighbor?"

14 And he said, "Who {appointed you as a commander}^[e] and a judge over us? [Are] you intending to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Surely the matter has become known."

15 And Pharaoh heard this matter, and he sought to kill Moses, and Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he lived in the land of Midian, and he lived at {a certain well}.

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

17 And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.

18 And they came to Reuel, their father, and he said, "{Why have you come so quickly} today?"

19 And they said, "An Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he even drew [water] for us and watered the flock."

20 And he said to his daughters, "Where [is] he? {Why then} have you left the man? {Call him so that he can eat some food}."

21 And Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.

22 And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom because he said, "I am an alien in a foreign land."

23 {And then} during those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the {Israelites} groaned because of the work, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the work went up to God.

24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob,

25 and God saw the {Israelites}, and God took notice.

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

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "and he/it was"
• [b]. Literally "burdens" or "burdensome labor"
• [c]. Or "a Hebrew man from his brothers"
• [d]. Literally "and he saw that there was not a man"
• [e]. Literally "put you for a man, a commander" or "placed you for a man, a commander"
• [f]. Literally "the well"
• [g]. The Hebrew noun translated "flock" is used here and in verses 17 and 19 collectively for sheep or goats or a mix of the two
• [h]. Literally "why did you hasten coming"
• [i]. Literally "why this"
• [j]. Literally "call to [or "summon/invite"] him and he will eat bread"
• [k]. The word translated "alien" sounds like the first syllable in the name Gershom. The second syllable sounds like the word for "there"
• [l]. Literally "and he/it was"
• [m]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [n]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [o]. Or "and God knew"