Text -- Exodus 2:17 (NET)

2:17 When some shepherds came and drove them away, Moses came up and defended them and then watered their flock.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Exo 2:17

¹ tn The definite article here is the generic use; it simply refers to a group of shepherds.

² tn The actions of the shepherds are subordinated to the main statement about what Moses did.

sn The verb is וַיְגָרְשׁוּם (vaygorshum). Some shepherds came and drove the daughters away. The choice of this verb in the narrative has a tie with the name of Moses’ first son, Gershom. Moses senses very clearly that he is a sojourner in a strange land – he has been driven away.

³ sn The verb used here is וַיּוֹשִׁעָן (vayyoshi’an, “and he saved them”). The word means that he came to their rescue and delivered them. By the choice of words the narrator is portraying Moses as the deliverer – he is just not yet ready to deliver Israel from its oppressors.