Exodus 2:12

12 He looked all around, and when he didn't see anyone, he beat the Egyptian to death and hid the body 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 When the child was old enough, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. Pharaoh's daughter named him Moses [Pulled Out] and said, "I pulled him out of the water."

11 In the course of time Moses grew up. Then he went to [see] his own people and watched them suffering under forced labor. He saw a Hebrew, one of his own people, being beaten by an Egyptian.

12 He looked all around, and when he didn't see anyone, he beat the Egyptian to death and hid the body in the sand.

13 When Moses went there the next day, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. He asked the one who started the fight, "Why are you beating another Hebrew?"

14 The man asked, "Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought that everyone knew what he had done.