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Parsha[GN]
13: Sh'mot (continued)
“Names,” Exod. 1:1-6:1
3. Moshe in Egypt (2:1-25)
a. Birth and Adoption of Moshe (2:1-10)
1 A man from the clan of Levi married a woman who was also a descendant of Levi. 2 She conceived and gave birth to a son.[2] When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months. 3 When she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and with pitch. Then she put the child in the basket and set it among the reeds by the river’s bank. 4 His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.
[Moshe found and adopted, June 1542 BCE]
5 Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the [Nile] river. Her maidens were walking along the riverbank. She [Pharaoh’s dauthter] saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her maidservant to fetch it. 6 When she opened it and saw the child, behold, the baby was crying. She had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”[6]
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Should I go and call one of the Hebrew wetnurses to nurse the child for you?”
8 Pharaoh’s daughter told her, “Go ahead,” and the girl went and called the boy’s mother. 9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay you your wages.”[9]
The woman took the child, and nursed it. 10 When child grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moshe“Moshe” sounds like the Hebrew for “draw out”., and explained, “Because I drew him out of the water.”[10]
b. The Rejection and Flight of Moshe (2:11-25) [ca 1503 BCE (R) • 1502 (K)]
(iii) 11 One day, after Moshe had grown up,[11] he went out to his own people and saw their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. 12 After looking all around and seeing no one,[12] he killed the Egyptian, and hid his body in the sand.
13 He went out again the next day, and saw two Hebrew men fighting with each other. He the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you beating your fellow [Hebrew]?”
14 The man answered, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you planning on killing me like you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moshe was afraid, and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”
15 Now when Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moshe. But Moshe fled from Pharaoh, and settled in the land of Midyan, where he sat down next to a well.
[Midyan [MAP] • 1502 BCE]
16 Now the priest of Midyan[16] had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 When some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moshe stood up and saved them,[17] and watered their flock. 18 When they returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you have returned so early today?”
19 They said, “An Egyptian rescued from the shepherds, He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
20 “Where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”
21 Moshe agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Tzipporah to Moshe [in marriage]. 22 She gave birth to a son, and Moshe named him Gershom because, he said, “I have become a sojourner [גֵּ֣ר, gêr] in a foreign land.”
23 After a long time the king of Egypt died, and the Isra'elites groaned and cried out under their forced labor, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to Elohim. 24 Elohim heard their groaning and He remembered[24] His covenant with Avraham, with Yitz'chak, and with Ya'akov. 25 Elohim saw the Isra'elites, and Elohim took notice.[25]
2. Opinions differ widely regarding the date of Moshe’s birth. “According to classical Biblical reckoning, as calculated by the Lubavitcher Hasidim, Moshe the son of Yocheved was born into slavery on this date [7 Adar or 26 February] in 1393 BCE and died on this date 120 years later.” (https://jewishcurrents.org/february-26-the-birth-and-death-of-Moshe) “Moshe was born in Egypt on the 7th of Adar in the year 2368 from creation (1393 BCE) at a time when the Isra'elites were slaves to Pharaoh …” (https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/73398/jewish/Moshe.htm) “The Old Testament prophet Moshe (ca. 1392-ca. 1272 B.C.) was the emancipator of Isra'el.” (https://biography.yourdictionary.com/Moshe) “ Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moshe corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE; Jerome suggested 1592 BCE, and James Ussher suggested 1571 BCE as his birth year.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe), all accessed 12/22/21. [BACK]
6. How did she know the baby was “one of the Hebrews’ children”? Was it because the pigmentation of his skin was different than hers? Was he circumcised? His parents were both Levites, so it is possible they obeyed the command that HaShem had given Abraham (Gen. 7:11, 14). But later we learn that Moshe had not circumcised is own son (Exod 4:25-26). Have you ever wondered why he had not. Having been raised in Pharoah’s household as a grandson and possible heir to the throne, Moshe was very probably far more Exyptian than Hebrew in his thinking and lifestyle. Both are possible, but Scripture is silent, so we are left to wonder. [BACK]
9. So Moshe’s own mother was paid a salary all the time she was nursing her own son. Hebrew children were usually weaned at around four years old. [BACK]
10. Hebrew מֹשֶׁ֔ה (mo-sheh') means “he who is drawn out” or “he who draws out.” [BACK]
11. It is important to remember that, as Pharaoh’s grandson, Moshe would have been given the very best possible advanced education, would have served in Pharaoh’s court in some significant capacity, and may well have been groomed to take the throne upon Pharaoh’s death. [BACK]
12. Was he looking around to see if any was watching him, or was he looking around to see if someone else was going to do something about the mistreatment. Both are possible, but later in his life when God calls him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he asks (in essence), “Can’t you get someone else to do the job?” (Exod 3:11, 4:1, 10, 13) [BACK]
16. The Midianites were the descendants of Avraham’s son Midyan whose mother was Keturah (Gen 25:1-2). They very probably served the God of Avraham at this time (as demonstrated by Moshe’s later relationship with his father-in-law), though later they may have turned to a multitude of false gods, including Baal-peor and the “Queen of Heaven,” Ashteroth (a.k.a., Semiramis, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Ishtar, Venus, and Diana, among other names and designations of the fertility goddess.) [BACK]
17.“… and saved them …” Hebrew וַיּ֣וֹשִׁעָ֔ן (way·yō·wō·ši·‘ān); the word here for “saved” is the same as the name of Yeshua. [BACK]
24. Clearly God had not forgotten His promise and then suddenly remembered it. He had remembered the promise all along, but is now going to take action to fulfill His promise. [BACK]
25. The Hebrew word translated here as “took notice” is יָדַע (yaw-dah), to know. It is a word that denotes a special kind of intimacy. The same word is used in Genesis 4:1 where “Adam had relations with (יָדַע) his wife Eve, …” [BACK]
Other commentaries on Exodus 2
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
