Exodus 18:4

4 and the name of the other [is] Eliezer, for, `the God of my father [is] for my help, and doth deliver me from the sword of Pharaoh.'

Exodus 18:4 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 18:4

And the name of the other was Eliezer
Who seems to be his second son, and was that which was circumcised by Zipporah at the inn, and about which there was such a stir, ( Exodus 4:24-26 ) , and signifies "my God [is] help", or, his helper:

for the God of my father, [said he], was mine help, and delivered me
from the sword of Pharaoh;
who, on hearing that Moses had killed an Egyptian, was wroth with him, and sought to slay him; and perhaps drew his sword for that purpose, but was prevented: however, this, in all human probability, would have been the case, that he would have fallen by his sword either in a private or public manner, had it not been for the interposition of divine Providence, and therefore he gave this name to his child, to be a standing memorial of it.

Exodus 18:4 In-Context

2 and Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh Zipporah, wife of Moses, besides her parents,

3 and her two sons, of whom the name of the one [is] Gershom, for he said, `a sojourner I have been in a strange land:'

4 and the name of the other [is] Eliezer, for, `the God of my father [is] for my help, and doth deliver me from the sword of Pharaoh.'

5 And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, cometh, and his sons, and his wife, unto Moses, unto the wilderness where he is encamping -- the mount of God;

6 and he saith unto Moses, `I, thy father-in-law, Jethro, am coming unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.'