Exodus 2:12

12 Moses looked around and didn't see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian. Then he hid his 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 grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter. And he became her son. She named him Moses. She said, "I pulled him out of the water."

11 Moses grew up. One day, he went out to where his own people were. He watched them while they were hard at work. He saw an Egyptian hitting a Hebrew man. The man was one of Moses' own people.

12 Moses looked around and didn't see anyone. So he killed the Egyptian. Then he hid his body in the sand.

13 The next day Moses went out again. He saw two Hebrew men fighting. He asked the one who had started the fight a question. He said, "Why are you hitting another Hebrew man?"

14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking about killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses became afraid. He thought, "People must have heard about what I did."