Exodus 2

A man from the family of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.

1And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

NoteLevi was one of Jacob's twelve sons, and "the house of Levi" means the tribe descended from him, one of the family groups of Israelites living in Egypt. Marriage within one's own tribe was normal at this period.

2The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.

2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

NoteThe hiding follows the order given in the previous chapter: the king of Egypt had commanded that every newborn Hebrew boy be thrown into the Nile. "Fine" translates a Hebrew word meaning simply "good", readers have taken it as handsome, healthy, or thriving.

3When she could not hide him any longer, she got a basket made of reeds for him and coated it with tar and pitch. She put the child inside it and set it among the tall reeds at the edge of the river.

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.

NoteThe basket is papyrus, the reed that grew in the Nile marshes and was used in Egypt for boats as well as for writing material. "Tar and pitch" are bitumen and resin, the standard waterproofing of the ancient world. "The river" throughout this chapter is the Nile; the Hebrew uses a word borrowed from Egyptian that means the Nile specifically. In the King James Version the basket is called an "ark," the same English word used for Noah's boat, because the Hebrew uses the same rare term for both, a floating box built to save a life from water.

4His sister stood some distance away, to find out what would happen to him.

4And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

5Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe at the river, and her servant women walked along the riverbank. When she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her servant to get it.

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.

Note"Pharaoh" is not a personal name but the Egyptian royal title, literally "great house," used the way one might say "the crown." The text never names which king it means.

6When she opened it, she saw the child, and there was the baby, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, "This is one of the Hebrew children."

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.

Note"Hebrew" is the term the Egyptians use for these people, and the term Israelites use of themselves when speaking to foreigners. Pharaoh's daughter identifies the baby as Hebrew presumably because he is circumcised, and knows at once that he is a child her father has ordered killed.

7Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nursing woman from the Hebrew women, so she can nurse the child for you?"

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?

NoteA "nursing woman" is a wet nurse, a woman still producing milk who feeds another's infant. Hiring one under a written contract, with wages and a fixed term of two or three years, was an ordinary arrangement in Egypt and Mesopotamia, which is why the offer sounds businesslike rather than strange.

8Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother.

8And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

9Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will pay you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.

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.

10The child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, and she said, "Because I drew him out of the water."

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.

NoteThe name Moses is explained here from the Hebrew verb *mashah*, "to draw out." The name is also close to the Egyptian element *mes*, "born of" or "son of," which appears in royal names like Thutmose and Rameses. The explanation given is a play on the sound of the name, which is how names are commonly explained in these narratives, not a claim about which language it came from.

11In those days, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and looked at their heavy work. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

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.

12He looked this way and that way, and when he saw that no one was there, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

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.

13When he went out the second day, he saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the one who was in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your companion?"

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?

Note"The second day" means the next day.

14The man said, "Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me the way you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid, and he said, "Surely this thing is known."

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.

Note"Judge" here means someone with authority to settle disputes and impose a decision, an office rather than a courtroom role. The man's question is a challenge: no one has appointed Moses to anything.

15When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses ran away from Pharaoh and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

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.

NoteMidian was a region and a people east and south-east of Egypt, in the desert of the Sinai peninsula and north-west Arabia; Midianites were herders and traders. Wells in that country were communal property and the natural meeting place for anyone arriving from outside, which is why Moses simply sits down at one.

16The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water and filled the troughs to give water to their father's flock.

16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Note"Priest" here is a non-Israelite priest, serving whatever gods his people served; the word carries no connection to Israel's later priesthood. The troughs are stone or wooden basins beside the well, filled by hand from the well so that animals can drink.

17The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them, and he gave their flock water.

17And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.

18When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that you have come back so soon today?"

18And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to day?

NoteReuel is called Jethro elsewhere in Exodus, and "Hobab" in other passages. The text gives no explanation; ancient and modern readers have variously supposed a second name, a title, or different strands of tradition preserved side by side.

19They said, "An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds, and he even drew plenty of water for us and gave the flock a drink."

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.

NoteThe daughters take Moses for an Egyptian, presumably from his clothing, hair and speech, he has been raised in the Egyptian court and does not look Hebrew to strangers.

20He said to his daughters, "So where is he? Why did you leave the man behind? Call him, so he can have something to eat."

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.

21Moses was willing to live with the man, and the man gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.

21And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.

Note"Gave Moses his daughter" means gave her in marriage. Marriages were arranged between the husband and the bride's father, and the father's giving of the daughter is what formalised it.

22She gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, for he said, "I have been a foreigner in a foreign land."

22And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

NoteThe name Gershom is explained by its sound: the Hebrew *ger* means a resident foreigner, and *sham* means "there." A *ger* was not merely a visitor but a settled outsider without land or clan rights in the place where he lived, a real legal status, and a precarious one.

23After a long time the king of Egypt died. The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery, and they cried out, and their cry because of the slavery went up to God.

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.

NoteA king's death mattered legally as well as politically: a charge outstanding against Moses in Egypt lapsed with the ruler who pursued it. "Cried out" translates a word often used of a formal appeal for justice against oppression, not merely of weeping.

24God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

24And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

NoteA covenant was a binding, sworn agreement, with obligations and often a sign to mark it; the one meant here is the promise made to Abraham and repeated to Isaac and Jacob of descendants and a land. When Hebrew says God "remembered," it does not mean he had forgotten; the verb means turning attention to something and acting on it.

25God looked on the people of Israel, and God took notice of them.

25And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

NoteThe Hebrew of the last clause is unusually abrupt, literally "and God knew," with no object stated. Translators supply "took notice of them" or "was concerned for them"; the King James "had respect unto them" means paid regard to them, not admired them. The sentence is left hanging, and the next chapter begins the answer.