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Texts -- Exodus 2:1-25 (NET)

Context
The Birth of the Deliverer
2:1 A man from the household of Levi married a woman who was a descendant of Levi . 2:2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son . When she saw that he was a healthy child, she hid him for three months . 2:3 But when she was no longer able to hide him, she took a papyrus basket for him and sealed it with bitumen and pitch . She put the child in it and set it among the reeds along the edge of the Nile . 2:4 His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him. 2:5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself by the Nile , while her attendants were walking alongside the river , and she saw the basket among the reeds . She sent one of her attendants , took it, 2:6 opened it, and saw the child – a boy , crying !– and she felt compassion for him and said , “This is one of the Hebrews ’ children .” 2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter , “Shall I go and get a nursing woman for you from the Hebrews , so that she may nurse the child for you?” 2:8 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes, do so .” So the young girl went and got the child’s mother . 2:9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages .” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 2:10 When the child grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter , and he became her son . She named him Moses , saying , “Because I drew him from the water .”
The Presumption of the Deliverer
2:11 In those days , when Moses had grown up , he went out to his people and observed their hard labor , and he saw an Egyptian man attacking a Hebrew man , one of his own people . 2:12 He looked this way and that and saw that no one was there, and then he attacked the Egyptian and concealed the body in the sand . 2:13 When he went out the next day , there were two Hebrew men fighting . So he said to the one who was in the wrong , “Why are you attacking your fellow Hebrew?” 2:14 The man replied , “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning to kill me like you killed that Egyptian ?” Then Moses was afraid , thinking , “Surely what I did has become known .” 2:15 When Pharaoh heard about this event , he sought to kill Moses . So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian , and he settled by a certain well . 2:16 Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters , and they came and began to draw water and fill the troughs in order to water their father’s flock . 2:17 When some shepherds came and drove them away , Moses came up and defended them and then watered their flock . 2:18 So when they came home to their father Reuel , he asked , “Why have you come home so early today ?” 2:19 They said , “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds , and he actually drew water for us and watered the flock !” 2:20 He said to his daughters , “So where is he? Why in the world did you leave the man ? Call him, so that he may eat a meal with us.” 2:21 Moses agreed to stay with the man , and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 2:22 When she bore a son , Moses named him Gershom , for he said , “I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land .”
The Call of the Deliverer
2:23 During that long period of time the king of Egypt died , and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor . They cried out , and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God . 2:24 God heard their groaning , God remembered his covenant with Abraham , with Isaac , and with Jacob , 2:25 God saw the Israelites , and God understood ….

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Wean

    [ebd] Among the Hebrews children (whom it was customary for the mothers to nurse, Ex. 2:7-9; 1 Sam. 1:23; Cant. 8:1) were not generally weaned till they were three or four years old.

  • WOMAN

    [ebd] was "taken out of man" (Gen. 2:23), and therefore the man has the preeminence. "The head of the woman is the man;" but yet honour is to be shown to the wife, "as unto the weaker vessel" (1 Cor. 11:3, 8, 9; 1 Pet. 3:7). Sever...
    [isbe] WOMAN - woom'-an ('ishshah, "a woman" (feminine of 'ish, "a man"]; gune, "a woman" "wife"): I. IN THE CREATIVE PLAN II. IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES 1. Prominence of Women 2. Social Equality 3. Marriage Laws 4. Inheritance 5. Dome...

  • Rulers

    [nave] RULERS Appointed and removed by God. See: Government, God in. Chastised, Dan. 4. See: Nation. Monarchical, See: Kings. Patriarchal, Gen. 27:29, 37. Instances of Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-10. Abraham, Gen. 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:2...

  • Prophecy

    [ebd] or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a "miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human sagacity to foresee, disce...

  • Parents

    [nave] PARENTS Covenant benefits of, entailed on children, Gen. 6:18; Ex. 20:6; Psa. 103:17. Curses entailed, Ex. 20:5; Lev. 20:5; Isa. 14:20; Jer. 9:14; Lam. 5:7; Ezek. 16:44, 45. Involved in children's wickedness, 1 Sam. 2:27-3...

  • PHARAOHS DAUGHTER

    [smith] Three Egyptian princesses, daughters of Pharaohs, are mentioned in the Bible:-- The preserver of Moses, daughter of the Pharaoh who first oppressed the Israelites. (Exodus 2:6-10) Osborn thinks her name was Thouoris, daughte...

  • Midianite

    [ebd] an Arabian tribe descended from Midian. They inhabited principally the desert north of the peninsula of Arabia. The peninsula of Sinai was the pasture-ground for their flocks. They were virtually the rulers of Arabia, being ...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Gutter

    [ebd] Heb. tsinnor, (2 Sam. 5:8). This Hebrew word occurs only elsewhere in Ps. 42:7 in the plural, where it is rendered "waterspouts." It denotes some passage through which water passed; a water-course. In Gen. 30:38, 41 the Hebr...

  • GENESIS, 1-2

    [isbe] GENESIS, 1-2 - jen'-e-sis: I. GENERAL DATA 1. The Name 2. Survey of Contents 3. Connection with Succeeding Books II. COMPOSITION OF GENESIS IN GENERAL 1. Unity of the Biblical Text (1) The Toledhoth (2) Further Indication of...

  • Face

    [ebd] means simply presence, as when it is recorded that Adam and Eve hid themselves from the "face [R.V., 'presence'] of the Lord God" (Gen. 3:8; comp. Ex. 33:14, 15, where the same Hebrew word is rendered "presence"). The "light...

  • Ethiopian woman

    [ebd] the wife of Moses (Num. 12:1). It is supposed that Zipporah, Moses' first wife (Ex. 2:21), was now dead. His marriage of this "woman" descended from Ham gave offence to Aaron and Miriam.

  • Egyptians

    [nave] EGYPTIANS Descendants of the Mizraim, Gen. 10:6, 13, 14. Wisdom of, 1 Kin. 4:30. The art of embalming the dead practiced by, Gen. 50:2, 3, 26. Hospitality of, to Abraham, Gen. 12:10-20. Slaves bought by, Gen. 37:36. Opp...

  • EXODUS, THE BOOK OF, 2

    [isbe] EXODUS, THE BOOK OF, 2 - II. Structure of the Book According to the Scriptures and According to Modern Analyses. In the following section (a) serves for the understanding of the Biblical text; (b) is devoted to the discussio...

  • Child

    [ebd] This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Gen. 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he was above thirty years (44...

  • Cattle

    [ebd] abounded in the Holy Land. To the rearing and management of them the inhabitants chiefly devoted themselves (Deut. 8:13; 12:21; 1 Sam. 11:5; 12:3; Ps. 144:14; Jer. 3:24). They may be classified as, (1.) Neat cattle. Many hun...

  • Burden

    [ebd] (1.) A load of any kind (Ex. 23:5). (2.) A severe task (Ex. 2:11). (3.) A difficult duty, requiring effort (Ex. 18:22). (4.) A prophecy of a calamitous or disastrous nature (Isa. 13:1; 17:1; Hab. 1:1, etc.).

  • Bitumen

    [ebd] Gen. 11:3, R.V., margin, rendered in the A.V. "slime"), a mineral pitch. With this the ark was pitched (6:14. See also Ex. 2:3.) (See SLIME.)

  • Adoni-zedec

    [ebd] lord of justice or righteousness, was king in Jerusalem at the time when the Israelites invaded Palestine (Josh. 10:1,3). He formed a confederacy with the other Canaanitish kings against the Israelites, but was utterly route...

  • Aaron

    [ebd] the eldest son of Amram and Jochebed, a daughter of Levi (Ex. 6:20). Some explain the name as meaning mountaineer, others mountain of strength, illuminator. He was born in Egypt three years before his brother Moses, and a nu...

Arts

Hymns

(Note: In "active" or "on" condition, the hymns music will be played automatically when mouse hover on a hymns title)
  • Yerusalem, O Kota Daud [KJ.134]
  • [Exo 2:22] I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger
  • [Exo 2:22] A Pilgrim Through This Lonely World
  • [Exo 2:23] Lift Every Voice And Sing

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

The Blessings of a Mother

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 8:1-5 When Moses wrote that God remembered someone (v. 1), he meant God extended mercy to him or her by delivering that person from death (here; 19:29) or from barrenness (30:22).311God's rescue of Noah foreshadows His delive...
  • One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. H...
  • Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
  • God formed Jacob's family, the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, as He had promised Jacob at Bethel. Unfortunately Jacob and his wives lived in envy and friction over how God chose to bless them."Jacob had planned to take Ra...
  • I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-41. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-72. The Israelites' bondage in Egypt 1:8-223. Moses' birth and education 2:1-104. Moses' flight from Eg...
  • This pericope serves a double purpose. It introduces the rigorous conditions under which the Egyptians forced the Israelites to live, and it sets the stage for the birth of Moses.1:8-14 The new king (v. 8) was perhaps Ahmose ...
  • "Whilst Pharaoh was urging forward the extermination of the Israelites, God was preparing their emancipator."34". . . among other things, the Pentateuch is an attempt to contrast the lives of two individuals, Abraham and Mose...
  • Moses was "approaching the age of 40"(Acts 7:23) when he took his stand for his Hebrew brethren (v. 11).The reference to the Hebrew man as "one of his brethren"suggests that Moses' motivation in acting as he did was love that...
  • This section introduces some of the secondary characters in Exodus and sets the stage for Moses' call. Its purpose is primarily transitional.Moses provided water for Jethro's daughters and their sheep in the wilderness (vv. 1...
  • 3:1-12 Horeb is another name for Sinai (v. 1). It probably indicates a range of mountains rather than a particular mountain peak. The writer called it "the mountain of God"because it was the place where God later gave the Mos...
  • 5:1-9 At Moses and Aaron's first audience with Pharaoh they simply presented God's command (v. 1). They did not perform miracles but asked for permission to leave Egypt.The Israelites could have worshipped the gods of Egypt i...
  • The Lord had liberated Israel from bondage in Egypt, but now He adopted the nation into a special relationship with Himself."Now begins the most sublime section in the whole Book. The theme of this section is supremely signif...
  • The Israelites erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, almost exactly one year after the Israelites left Egypt (vv. 2, 17). This was about nine months after Israel had arrived at Mt. Sinai (cf. 19:1).First...
  • Adams, Dwayne H. "The Building Program that Works (Exodus 25:4--36:7 [31:1-11])."Exegesis and Exposition1:1 (Fall 1986):82-92.Aharoni, Yohanan. "Kadesh-Barnea and Mount Sinai."In God's Wilderness: Discoveries in Sinai, pp. 11...
  • In this section God explained that His discipline for disobedience would be to produce repentance and return to Himself by the Israelites.26:34-39 The length of the Babylonian captivity was 70 years because the Israelites fai...
  • The Israelites had been at Mt. Sinai for almost one year (Exod. 19:1; Num. 10:11). All that Moses recorded as occurring between Exodus 19:1 and Numbers 10:11 took place during those twelve months.Even though this region conta...
  • Perhaps it was God's exaltation of Moses by bestowing the gift of prophecy on the elders that provoked the envy of Miriam and Aaron. God reminded the people of Moses' special endowment with the Spirit when He blessed the elde...
  • "Chapters 23 and 24 are two of the brightest chapters in the book of Numbers. Scores of wonderful things are said about Israel, mainly prophetical. The dark sins of the past were forgotten; only happy deliverance from Egypt w...
  • The context of this section is significant as usual. Verses 1-8 deal with people who ministered to Yahweh in various ways for the people, and verses 15-22 concern the delivery of God's revelations to His people. Verses 9-14 c...
  • The Israelites felt the main influence of the Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan River that bordered Ammon (v. 8). However the Ammonites also attacked the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim west of the Jordan (v. 9)...
  • God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deut. 28:17, 23, 38-40, 42).16The famine on Israel at this time indicates God's judgment for unfa...
  • Verse 13 is a key verse in the book because it records the fulfillment of Naomi and Ruth's plans to obtain rest (2:2; 3:1-5).82A son was indispensable to the continuation of the line of Boaz as well as that of Mahlon and Elim...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • The primary purpose of this chapter, I believe, is to demonstrate the superiority of Yahweh over Dagon, the fertility god of the Philistines.655:1-5 Having captured the ark the Philistines brought it from Ebenezer to their ma...
  • Athaliah was the mother of the Judean king Ahaziah whom Jehu assassinated (9:27-29). She was a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel and the sister of the Israelite kings Ahaziah and Joram who had succeeded Ahab. She was the wife of J...
  • Evidently it was Kish, Mordecai's great-grandfather, who went into captivity with Jehoiachin (vv. 5-6).38This means Mordecai and Esther were probably descendants of the leading citizens of Jerusalem who went into exile in 597...
  • Rhetorical questions expressed David's frustration and sought to move God to action (cf. 6:3). God had apparently forgotten His servant or was hiding from him (cf. Exod. 2:24-25). Having no word from the Lord David had to lis...
  • 105:7-11 God remembered His people (v. 7, cf. v. 42) so His people should remember Him (v. 5). God had been faithful to the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3, 7; 15:18-21; 22:15-18; 28:13-15). He made this covenant with Abraham...
  • In contrast to Ahaz, who refused to listen to and obey God, the Lord would raise up a faithful king who would be born and reign in the future (the Millennium). This pericope climaxes the present section (7:1-9:7) dealing with...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • 5:1 Jeremiah called on Yahweh to remember the calamity that had befallen His people and to consider the reproach in which they now lived (cf. 3:34-36). The humbled condition of the Judahites reflected poorly on the Lord becau...
  • 29:1 This is another dated prophecy. It came to Ezekiel in the year before his first oracle against Tyre (26:1), namely, in 587 B.C.29:2 The Lord directed His prophet to turn his attention to the south, to Pharaoh king of Egy...
  • The first part of this oracle focused particularly on the true King who would come and exercise sovereignty over the nations (ch. 9). Now the emphasis changes to the people of the King, the Israelites, who will return to the ...
  • The first sentence in this pericope (section) serves as a title for the section, as the sentence in verse 1 did for 1:1-17. Matthew recorded the supernatural birth of Jesus to demonstrate further His qualification as Israel's...
  • Matthew continued to stress God's predictions about and His protection of His Messiah to help his readers recognize Jesus as the promised King.2:13 For the second time in two chapters we read that an angel from the Lord appea...
  • The first miracle that Jesus performed, in His public ministry and in John's Gospel, was semi-public. Apparently only Jesus' disciples, the servants present, and Jesus' mother understood what had happened.2:1 The third day ev...
  • "Moses and Abraham hold the most prominent places in the roll of faith; and the central event of both their lives, as Hebrews presents them, is a journey."36711:23 Faith confronts hostility in a characteristic way that the wr...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

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