Exodus 2:11-25

The Rejection and Flight of Moses

11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people ^[a] and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. ¹

12 After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.

13 The next day Moses went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your companion?”

14 But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? ^[b] Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? ^[c]” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”

15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.

16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

17 And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.

18 When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, ^[d] he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”

19 “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

20 “So where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”

21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.

22 And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, ^[e] saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”

God Hears the Cry of the Israelites

23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.

24 So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

25 God saw the Israelites and took notice.

Exodus 2:11-25 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

Cross References

• 1. (Acts 7:23–29)

Footnotes

• [a]. Or his brothers
• [b]. Cited in Acts 7:27 and Acts 7:35
• [c]. LXX Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? Cited in Acts 7:28
• [d]. Reuel was also called Jethro; see Exodus 3:1.
• [e]. Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for foreigner.