Exodus 2:6-16

6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?"

8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother.

9 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.

10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became ¹her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I ²drew him out of the water."^[a]

Moses Flees to Midian

11 One day, ³when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their ⁴burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.^[b]

12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he ⁵struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13 When ⁶he 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, ⁷"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 ⁸Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by ⁹a well.

16 Now the ¹⁰priest of Midian had seven daughters, and ¹¹they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

Read Chapter Compare

Exodus 2:6-16 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

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 11

1. Acts 7:21; [Hebrews 11:24]
2. 2 Samuel 22:17; Psalms 18:16
3. Acts 7:23; Hebrews 11:24-26
4. See Exodus 1:11
5. Acts 7:24
6. Acts 7:23-28
7. [Luke 12:14]
8. Acts 7:29; Hebrews 11:27
9. Genesis 24:11; Genesis 29:2
10. Exodus 3:1
11. Genesis 24:11; Genesis 29:10; 1 Samuel 9:11

Footnotes 2

[a]. Moses sounds like the Hebrew for draw out
[b]. Hebrew brothers

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.