Exodus 2:23

23 After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God.

Exodus 2:23 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 2:23

And it came to pass in process of time that the king of Egypt
died
According to Eusebius, Orus reigned in Egypt when Moses fled from thence, and that two more reigned after him, Acenchres and Achoris, who both died before the deliverance of the children of Israel; but according to Bishop Usher F2, this was the same king of Egypt under whom Moses was born, and from whose face he fled, who died in the sixty seventh year of his reign, Moses being now sixty years of age, and having been in the land of Midian twenty years; and it was about twenty years after this that he was called from hence, to be the deliverer of his people; for things are often put close together in Scripture, which were done at a considerable distance. And the intention of this notice of the death of the king of Egypt is chiefly to show that it made no alteration in the afflictions of the children of Israel for the better, but rather the worse:

and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage;
the severity of it, and its long duration, and seeing no way for their escape out of it:

and they cried, and their cry came up unto God;
they not only sighed and groaned inwardly, but so great was their oppression, that they could not forbear crying out aloud; and such was the greatness and vehemency of their cry, that it reached up to heaven, and came into the ears of the Almighty, as vehement cries are said to do, whether sinful or religious; see ( Genesis 18:20 Genesis 18:21 ) ( Psalms 18:6 )

by reason of the bondage;
which may either be connected with their "cry", that that was because of their bondage; or with the "coming" of it unto God, he was pleased to admit and regard their cry, because their bondage was so very oppressive and intolerable.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 Annal Vet. Test. p. 19. A. M. 2494.

Exodus 2:23 In-Context

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage.
22 She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, "I have been an alien residing in a foreign land."
23 After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God.
24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
25 God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.