The Second Book of Moses, called Exodus
Exodus 2
Chapter II · Vol. I, pp. 299–300
1 Moses is born, and laid in an ark cast among the flags. 5 He is found, and brought up by Pharaoh's daughter. 11 He slayeth an Egyptian. 13 He reproveth an Hebrew. 15 He fleeth into Midian. 21 He marrieth Zipporah. 22 Gershom is born. 23 God respecteth the cry of the Israelites.
1 AND there went a a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
B.C. 1591.
a ch. 6.16-20. Nu. 26.59. 1 Ch. 23.13.
2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son:5 and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she b hid him three months.
5 Cir. 1571.
b Ac. 7.20. He. 11.23, 25. Ps. 112.5; 37.3.
3 And when she c could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes,6 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.
c ch. 1.22.
6 The papyrus, so well known as an ancient substitute for paper, to which it gave its name. It was generally used by the Egyptians for constructing the lighter kinds of boats employed on the Nile. P.—The reed, the Cyperus Papyrus of Linnæus, whence the word paper, was an article of the greatest importance to Egypt. The pith served as food, and the remainder was frequently formed into boats, as may be seen in many ancient Egyptian engravings on stone. The reeds were first tied up in small bundles, and then formed into boats, being united together in a manner somewhat similar to the practice in many countries in the formation of bee-hives of straw.—C.
5 And e the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river 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. f And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews' children.
7 Then said his g 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.h
h Jochebed, ch. 6.20, with Ps. 1.3; 27.10. Is. 46.3,4.
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,7 and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her i son. And she called his name Moses:8 and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.
A.M. 2473. B.C. 1531.
7 The child was weaned, and was then according to eastern custom about three years old.—P.
8 The name is Egyptian, and is derived from mo, 'water,' and ushe, 'saved,' or 'drawn out from.' In the original Hebrew the word is Mosheh, and in the Greek Moüses.—P.
11 And it came to pass in those9 days, when Moses was k grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he l 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 m 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?
m Ac. 7.26.
14 And he said, Who made thee a n prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses o feared, and said, Surely this thing is known.
n Heb. a man, a prince, Ge. 19.9. Nu. 16.3,13. Mat. 21.23. Ac. 7.26-28,35.
o Pr. 19.12.
15 Now, when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses p fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of q Midian:1 and he sat down r by a well.
p Ac. 7.29. Pr. 22.3. Mat. 10.23. Ge. 28.6,7.
q Ge. 25.2, i.e. South Midian.
1 Midian was the son of Abraham by Keturah, and the tribe which sprung from him became the dominant people in Arabia. They were nomads, roaming over a wide region, but they had a permanent nucleus, or 'home,' on the eastern border of Edom. Their pasture grounds extended as far as Gilead and Bashan on the north, and along both shores of the Ælanitic Gulf on the south. Hence Horeb was said to be in the land of Midian, ch. 3.1, while it is said that Jethro left the camp of Israel at Horeb 'and went his way to his own land,' that is to the chief seat of his tribe on the east of Edom.—P.
16 Now the s priest of Midian had seven t daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
s Or, prince, Ge. 14.18; 41.45.
t Ge. 29.6,8.
17 And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses u stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.2
u Ge. 29.9,10.
2 Though learned and bred at a court, Moses could turn his hand to such an office as this when there was occasion, and loved to be doing justice, assisting the helpless, and appearing in the defence of such as he saw injured. The conduct of Moses affords a lesson to those who have received a liberal education, not to be above working with their hands, as they know not to what circumstances they may be reduced in the course of providence.
18 And3 when they came to Reuel their x father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?
3 See note ch. 3.1.
x Perhaps grandfather, Ge. 31.43. 2 Ki. 14.3, with ch. 3.1. Nu. 10.29.
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? y call him, that he may eat bread.
y Ge. 24.31-33; 29.13; 18.5; 19.2,3. He. 13.2. 1 Ti. 5.10. Job 31.32.
21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses z Zipporah his daughter.
A.M. 2474. B.C. 1530.
z ch. 4.20, 25; 18.2. Nu. 12.1.
22 And she bare him a son, and he called his name a Gershom:2 for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
a ch. 18.3. 1 Ch. 23.14-17; 29.15. He. 11.13,14. Ps. 39.12; 119.19.
2 An alien or exile.
23 And it came to pass b in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel c sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried; and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Notes
[Ver. 1. The man's name was Amram, of the family of Kohath, Levi's second son. The woman was Jochebed, of the same family. Miriam and Aaron, the brother and sister of Moses, were born before Pharaoh's cruel law was enacted. P.]
Ver. 2. She had born Miriam about ten and Aaron about four years before.
Ver. 6. Pharaoh's daughter knew this from her father's cruel edict, or from the beauty and circumcision of the babe.
Ver. 11. Being forty years old, Ac. 7. 23, and instructed by his parents and his God concerning his real kindred, he resolved to abandon the honours of the court, join himself to the oppressed people of God, and exert himself for their deliverance, He. 11. 24-26.
Ver. 14. Perhaps the contempt which the Hebrews now showed to Moses provoked God to defer their deliverance forty years, Ac. 7. 25.
Ver. 15. Pharaoh was enraged at Moses taking part with the Hebrews, and afraid of his heading them in a rebellion.
Ver. 14. [The act of Moses must be judged in the light of the times in which he lived, and the circumstances of his people. It cannot be fully justified, and it cannot be entirely condemned. Moses was trained in the court of a despot. He still retained the strongest feelings of love for his brethren. He saw one of them on the point of being murdered by the hand of a cruel Egyptian taskmaster. Moved by a generous impulse to save a brother, and roused to madness by a sense of wrong, he took the law into his own hand, as those occupying high places in the East are apt to do. Had Moses been the real, as he was the adopted, son of Pharaoh's daughter, he would have had nothing to fear; but being an Israelite, and acting beyond the bounds of justice on behalf of an Israelite, his own life was imperilled. P.]
Ver. 16. Reuel was a prince or priest of the true God among the Midianites, who dwelt along the coast of the east branch of the Red Sea; as Melchizedek was among the Canaanites, Ge. 14. 18: but whether he was the same with Jethro, and Hobab was his son, or whether Reuel was Jethro's father, and Jethro the same as Hobab, is not very evident, compare ch. 3. 1 with 18. 1, 27; Nu. 10. 29.
Reflections.—While wicked men exert themselves for the ruin of God's church, he is often preparing matters for her deliverance, though frequently his great works and his greatest instruments are apparently almost stifled in their birth. When God calls to it, it is becoming, with cheerfulness and confidence, to venture everything which concerns us on his providence. But strong faith in God ought always to be attended with the use of the most proper means which are in our power. It is easy for God to raise up friends to his distressed children among his principal enemies; or to find out methods for qualifying beforehand such as he intends for great work. And it is honourable for the greatest to observe and sympathize with the meanest in their adversities, and to be made the instrument of their relief: and where faith in and love to God duly prevail in the heart, no carnal consideration will deter such an one from joining himself to God's church and people. The sincerest kindness and friendship is frequently requited with abuse and contempt, and the strongest carnal affection quickly turned into murderous rage. But God regards even the affectionate design, and graciously provides a place of refuge for his persecuted friends and servants, where they may be safe and useful. No change of lot, no change of country, can make us lose the enjoyment of our God; nor deprive us of him as our reconciled God in Christ, to sympathize with us in, and bring us safely through, our most grievous afflictions.