Exodus 2

10. she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter--Though it must have been nearly as severe a trial for Jochebed to part with him the second time as the first, she was doubtless reconciled to it by her belief in his high destination as the future deliverer of Israel. His age when removed to the palace is not stated; but he was old enough to be well instructed in the principles of the true religion; and those early impressions, deepened by the power of divine grace, were never forgotten or effaced.
he became her son--by adoption, and his high rank afforded him advantages in education, which in the Providence of God were made subservient to far different purposes from what his royal patroness intended.
she called his name Moses--His parents might, as usual, at the time of his circumcision, have given him a name, which is traditionally said to have been Joachim. But the name chosen by the princess, whether of Egyptian or Hebrew origin, is the only one by which he has ever been known to the church; and it is a permanent memorial of the painful incidents of his birth and infancy.

Exodus 2:11-25 . HIS SYMPATHY WITH THE HEBREWS.

11. in those days, when Moses was grown--not in age and stature only, but in power as well as in renown for accomplishments and military prowess ( Acts 7:22 ). There is a gap here in the sacred history which, however, is supplied by the inspired commentary of Paul, who has fully detailed the reasons as well as extent of the change that took place in his worldly condition; and whether, as some say, his royal mother had proposed to make him coregent and successor to the crown, or some other circumstances, led to a declaration of his mind, he determined to renounce the palace and identify himself with the suffering people of God ( Hebrews 11:24-29 ). The descent of some great sovereigns, like Diocletian and Charles V, from a throne into private life, is nothing to the sacrifice which Moses made through the power of faith.
he went out unto his brethren--to make a full and systematic inspection of their condition in the various parts of the country where they were dispersed ( Acts 7:23 ), and he adopted this proceeding in pursuance of the patriotic purpose that the faith, which is of the operation of God, was even then forming in his heart.
he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew--one of the taskmasters scourging a Hebrew slave without any just cause ( Acts 7:24 ), and in so cruel a manner, that he seems to have died under the barbarous treatment--for the conditions of the sacred story imply such a fatal issue. The sight was new and strange to him, and though pre-eminent for meekness ( Numbers 12:3 ), he was fired with indignation.

12. he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand--This act of Moses may seem and indeed by some has been condemned as rash and unjustifiable--in plain terms, a deed of assassination. But we must not judge of his action in such a country and age by the standard of law and the notions of right which prevail in our Christian land; and, besides, not only is it not spoken of as a crime in Scripture or as distressing the perpetrator with remorse, but according to existing customs among nomadic tribes, he was bound to avenge the blood of a brother. The person he slew, however, being a government officer, he had rendered himself amenable to the laws of Egypt, and therefore he endeavored to screen himself from the consequences by concealment of the corpse.

13, 14. two men of the Hebrews strove together--His benevolent mediation in this strife, though made in the kindest and mildest manner, was resented, and the taunt of the aggressor showing that Moses' conduct on the preceding day had become generally known, he determined to consult his safety by immediate flight ( Hebrews 11:27 ). These two incidents prove that neither were the Israelites yet ready to go out of Egypt, nor Moses prepared to be their leader ( James 1:20 ). It was by the staff and not the sword--by the meekness, and not the wrath of Moses that God was to accomplish that great work of deliverance. Both he and the people of Israel were for forty years more to be cast into the furnace of affliction, yet it was therein that He had chosen them ( Isaiah 48:10 ).

15. Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh--His flight took place in the second year of Thothmes I.
dwelt in the land of Midian--situated on the eastern shore of the gulf of the Red Sea and occupied by the posterity of Midian the son of Cush. The territory extended northward to the top of the gulf and westward far across the desert of Sinai. And from their position near the sea, they early combined trading with pastoral pursuits ( Genesis 37:28 ). The headquarters of Jethro are supposed to have been where Dahab-Madian now stands; and from Moses coming direct to that place, he may have travelled with a caravan of merchants. But another place is fixed by tradition in Wady Shuweib, or Jethro's valley, on the east of the mountain of Moses.
sat down by a

16-22. the priest of Midian--or, "prince of Midian." As the officers were usually conjoined, he was the ruler also of the people called Cushites or Ethiopians, and like many other chiefs of pastoral people in that early age, he still retained the faith and worship of the true God.
seven daughters--were shepherdesses to whom Moses was favorably introduced by an act of courtesy and courage in protecting them from the rude shepherds of some neighboring tribe at a well. He afterwards formed a close and permanent alliance with this family by marrying one of the daughters, Zipporah, "a little bird," called a Cushite or Ethiopian ( Numbers 12:1 ), and whom Moses doubtless obtained in the manner of Jacob by service [see Exodus 3:1 ]. He had by her two sons, whose names were, according to common practice, commemorative of incidents in the family history [ Exodus 18:3 Exodus 18:4 ].