Chapter Text
The Birth of Moses
And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
3And 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.
4And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
5And 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.
6And 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.
7Then 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?
8And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother.
9And 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.
10And 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 Flees to Midian
11And 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.
12And 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.
13And 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?
14And 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.
15Now 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.
16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.
17And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
18And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?
19And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock.
20And 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.
21And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
22And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.
23And 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.
24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
Summary
A Levite woman gives birth to a son and hides him for three months. When she can no longer conceal him, she places him in an ark of bulrushes on the Nile. Pharaoh's daughter discovers the child, recognizes him as a Hebrew, and has compassion. The baby's sister arranges for their own mother to nurse him. He is named Moses, meaning 'drawn out.' As an adult, Moses kills an Egyptian for striking a Hebrew, flees to Midian, marries Zipporah, and has a son named Gershom.
Meaning
God's providence weaves through every detail of Moses' preservation: a mother's courage, a sister's quick thinking, and the compassion of an Egyptian princess. The very instrument of destruction — the Nile — becomes the means of deliverance.
Moses' flight to Midian reveals that human methods of deliverance fail. His forty years in the wilderness serve as divine preparation, stripping away Egyptian self-sufficiency and cultivating the humility required for God's purposes.
Background
Egyptian royal households commonly adopted children, and Pharaoh's daughter raising a Hebrew child fits known customs. The name Moses (Mosheh) resembles both the Hebrew for 'drawn out' and the Egyptian element 'mose' meaning 'born of,' found in names like Thutmose.
Midian lay east of the Gulf of Aqaba. Moses' sojourn there connected him to descendants of Abraham through Keturah and prepared him for later wilderness leadership.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-4The birth and hiding of Moses
- vv. 5-10Pharaoh's daughter rescues and adopts Moses
- vv. 11-14Moses kills an Egyptian and is exposed
- vv. 15-22Moses flees to Midian and gains a family
- vv. 23-25God hears Israel's groaning and remembers His covenant
Key Verses
“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.”— 2:3
The word 'ark' deliberately echoes Noah's ark — both vessels of deliverance daubed with pitch. This act of desperate faith preserves the future deliverer of Israel.
“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.”— 2:10
The naming of Moses carries prophetic irony: he who was drawn out of water will later draw Israel through the Red Sea. His Egyptian upbringing providentially equips him for his future role.
“And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”— 2:24
This verse is the theological hinge of Exodus — God's covenant faithfulness, not Israel's merit, initiates deliverance. The fourfold repetition of 'God' in verses 24-25 emphasizes divine initiative.
People & Places
People
- Moses — Son of Levite parents, preserved from Pharaoh's decree, raised in the Egyptian court, and future deliverer of Israel.
- Moses' mother (Jochebed) — A daughter of Levi who hid her infant son three months and crafted the ark of bulrushes to save his life.
- Moses' sister (Miriam) — Watched over the ark from afar and shrewdly arranged for Moses' own mother to nurse him.
- Pharaoh's daughter — Egyptian princess who discovered Moses, had compassion on him, and adopted him as her own son.
- Reuel (Jethro) — Priest of Midian and father of seven daughters, who welcomed Moses and gave him Zipporah in marriage.
- Zipporah — Daughter of Reuel who became Moses' wife and bore him a son, Gershom.
- Gershom — Son of Moses and Zipporah, whose name means 'a stranger here,' reflecting Moses' exile.
Places
- Egypt — Land of Israel's bondage, where Moses was born and raised in Pharaoh's court.
- The Nile (the river) — The river where Pharaoh decreed Hebrew boys be cast, yet where Moses was providentially rescued.
- Midian — Region east of the Gulf of Aqaba where Moses fled and lived as a shepherd for forty years.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Moses' preservation through water and his role as deliverer foreshadow Christ, who passed through the waters of baptism before beginning His ministry of deliverance. As Moses was rejected by his own brethren (v. 14) before becoming their deliverer, so Christ was rejected by Israel before accomplishing salvation (Acts 7:25-35). The 'ark' of bulrushes echoes God's pattern of preserving His redemptive purposes through vessels of salvation, pointing ultimately to the ark of Christ's atoning work.
Devotional
God's providence often works through ordinary acts of courage. A mother's desperate faith, a sister's quick thinking, and an Egyptian princess's compassion all converge in God's sovereign plan. No detail is wasted — even Moses' Egyptian education prepares him for the work ahead.
Yet Moses' impulsive killing of the Egyptian reminds us that zeal without God's timing leads to failure and exile. The forty years in Midian were not wasted years but God's classroom, shaping a prince into a shepherd — the very role he would need to lead Israel.
When all seems silent, God is not absent. He hears, He remembers His covenant, and He acts — in His time.
Literary Style
Narrative prose with a tightly structured three-act form: preservation (vv. 1-10), crisis and flight (vv. 11-15), and new beginning (vv. 16-22), concluded by a theological summary (vv. 23-25). The chapter employs dramatic irony — the instrument of death (the river) becomes the means of deliverance — and deliberate verbal echoes of Genesis (the 'ark' and 'pitch' recalling Noah).