Exodus 2:12

12 He looked this way and then that; when he realized there was no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

Exodus 2:12 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 2:12

And he looked this way, and that way
All around, to observe if there were any within sight who could see what he did; which did not arise from any consciousness of any evil he was about to commit, but for his own preservation, lest if seen he should be accused to Pharaoh, and suffer for it:

and when he saw that there was no man;
near at hand, that could see what he did, and be a witness against him:

he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand;
in a sandy desert place hard by, where having slain him with his sword, he dug a hole, and put him into it; (See Gill on Acts 7:24). Of the slaughter of the Egyptian, and the following controversy about it, Demetrius ^F7, an Heathen writer, treats of in perfect agreement with the sacred Scriptures.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 19. p. 439.

Exodus 2:12 In-Context

10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh's daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, "I pulled him out of the water."

11 Time passed. Moses grew up. One day he went and saw his brothers, saw all that hard labor. Then he saw an Egyptian hit a Hebrew - one of his relatives!

12 He looked this way and then that; when he realized there was no one in sight, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

13 The next day he went out there again. Two Hebrew men were fighting. He spoke to the man who started it: "Why are you hitting your neighbor?"

14 The man shot back: "Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? Are you going to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses panicked: "Word's gotten out - people know about this."