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Exodus 2

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The Birth of Moses 1–10

1
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. ​
2
And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. ​
3
And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. ​
4
And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5
And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river's side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.
6
And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children. ​
7
Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?
8
And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9
And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.
10
And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. ​

Moses Defends the Hebrews and Flees 11–15

11
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. ​
12
And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. ​
13
And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?
14
And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. ​
15
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. ​

Moses in Midian 16–22

16
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ​
17
And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19
And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. ​
20
And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.
21
And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22
And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. ​

God Hears Israel’s Groaning 23–25

23
And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. ​
24
And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ​
25
And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Exodus 2

Verse 1

a man of the house of Levi — The parents are unnamed here. They are Amram and Jochebed, ‘his father’s sister’ (6:20), and Jochebed is ‘the daughter of Levi, whom her mother bare to Levi in Egypt’ (Num 26:59). The child is of Levi’s tribe, which the LORD later sets apart for his service.

Verse 2

a goodly child — Tov, good, the word of Genesis 1 where God ‘saw… that it was good’ (1:4, 10, 12). Stephen says Moses ‘was exceeding fair’ (Acts 7:20), literally ‘fair to God’. Hebrews says his parents hid him: ‘By faith… and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment’ (Heb 11:23).

Verse 3

an ark of bulrushes — Tebah, the word for Noah’s ark; in all Scripture it is used only of that vessel and of this basket (2:3, 5). ‘Slime’ (chemar) is bitumen, as in Gen 11:3. ‘Flags’ are suph, reeds, the same word as in ‘Red sea’, yam suph (Ex 13:18). Pharaoh had ordered every son cast ‘into the river’ (1:22).

Verse 6

she had compassion on him — Chamal, to spare, to have pity; in Exodus it is found only here. The babe ‘wept’, and she spared him, saying ‘This is one of the Hebrews’ children’ — the children Pharaoh had ordered cast into the river (1:22).

Verse 10

Moses… Because I drew him out of the water — Mosheh is tied to mashah, to draw out. That verb occurs elsewhere only in David’s thanksgiving: ‘he drew me out of many waters’ (2 Sam 22:17; Ps 18:16). Heb 11:24 says that Moses, grown, ‘refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter’.

Verse 11

looked on their burdens — Sivlah, a burden; Pharaoh set taskmasters ‘to afflict them with their burdens’ (1:11). ‘Went out unto his brethren’ is the first step of a choice Hebrews records: ‘Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God’ (Heb 11:25). The verb ‘smiting’ is nakah, the verb of v.12.

Verse 12

he slew the Egyptian — Nakah, to strike, the verb used of the Egyptian’s blow in v.11 and of Moses’ answering blow. Stephen reads the act as a purpose: ‘he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not’ (Acts 7:25).

Verse 14

Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? — Sar and shaphat, ruler and judge. Stephen quotes the question and answers it: ‘the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush’ (Acts 7:35). ‘Surely this thing is known’ leads to flight in v.15.

Verse 15

dwelt in the land of Midian — Midian was a son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:2). ‘Sat down by a well’ recalls the wells where Isaac’s servant (Gen 24:11) and Jacob (29:10) met the women who became wives. Stephen counts forty years before the bush (Acts 7:29–30); Hebrews adds that he ‘endured, as seeing him who is invisible’ (11:27).

Verse 16

the priest of Midian — Kohen, priest. He is called Reuel in v.18 and Jethro in 3:1. In 18:10–12 Jethro blesses the LORD for the deliverance, says ‘Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods’ and takes ‘a burnt offering and sacrifices for God’. His seven daughters draw water for his flock.

Verse 19

An Egyptian delivered us — Natsal, to deliver, with ‘out of the hand’, the phrasing God uses of Israel: ‘I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians’ (3:8). The daughters give the name of the people he is about to be sent against.

Verse 22

Gershom — The name joins ger, a stranger, and sham, there. ‘I have been a stranger in a strange land’ uses ger again; the word is Abraham’s in Gen 23:4, ‘I am a stranger and a sojourner with you’. Moses repeats the explanation in 18:3 (‘alien’), and Hebrews says the fathers ‘were strangers and pilgrims on the earth’ (11:13).

Verse 23

their cry came up unto God — The king dies, and the LORD later says to Moses, ‘all the men are dead which sought thy life’ (4:19); but the bondage continues. ‘Sighed’ is anach, to groan. Their cry ‘came up unto God’, as the cry of Sodom had come before him (Gen 18:20–21). The text says the cry came up, not that they named him.

Verse 24

God remembered his covenant — Zakar, to remember, which in Scripture means to act: ‘God remembered Noah’ (Gen 8:1) and the waters fell. The covenant is that of Gen 15:13–14, where the stay in a strange land and the coming out ‘with great substance’ were foretold to Abraham, and renewed to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 28:13).

Verse 25

God had respect unto them — The verb is yada, to know; the KJV supplies ‘respect’. It is the verb of 3:7, ‘I know their sorrows’. ‘Looked upon’ (ra’ah, to see) matches ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people’ (3:7), and the people later believe that ‘he had looked upon their affliction’ (4:31).