Exodus 2:13

13 The next day, he went out and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. To the one in the wrong he said, "Why are you hitting your companion?"

Exodus 2:13 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 2:13

And when he went out the second day
The day following:

behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together;
which the Jewish writers ^F8 take to be Dathan and Abiram:

and he said to him that did the wrong;
who was the aggressor, and acted the wicked part in abusing his brother:

wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
friend and companion; signifying, that it was very unbecoming, unkind, and unnatural, and that brethren and friends ought to live together in love, and not strive with, and smite one another, and especially at such a time as this, when they were so oppressed by, and suffered so much from their enemies; (See Gill on Acts 7:26).

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Targum Jon. & Jarchi in loc. Shemoth Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 91. 4. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 5. 2. Pirke Eliezer, c. 48.

Exodus 2:13 In-Context

11 One day, when Moshe was a grown man, he went out to visit his kinsmen; and he watched them struggling at forced labor. He saw an Egyptian strike a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen.

12 He looked this way and that; and when he saw that no one was around, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

13 The next day, he went out and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. To the one in the wrong he said, "Why are you hitting your companion?"

14 He retorted, "Who appointed you ruler and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian?" Moshe became frightened. "Clearly," he thought, "the matter has become known."

15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he tried to have Moshe put to death. But Moshe fled from Pharaoh to live in the land of Midyan. One day, as he was sitting by a well,