Why Did the Pharaoh Feed the Babies to Moses Alligators

1. The Birth and Telephone call of Moses (Exodus 1-4)

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Audio (25:28)

James J. Tissot, "Pharaoh Notes the Importance of the Jewish People" (1896-1900), watercolor, Jewish Museum, New York.  The pyramids in the background aren't accurate, yet, since the largest were at Giza, far south of Pi-Rameses. Larger image.

The Volume of Exodus begins with a recital of the names of the patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, who had gone to Egypt centuries before when Joseph had been at the height of power as second to Pharaoh over all Egypt. But now things had inverse.

A. Introduction (Exodus 1:1-22)

The Pharaoh Who Knew Non Joseph (Exodus 1:6-x)

The family that had emigrated with 70 members (1:5) had now become a multitude.

"The Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, then that the land was filled with them." (Exodus 1:7)

I come across two ongoing themes in this chapter:

1. Increase and
2. Oppression

The text uses the phrase "multiplied greatly" (NIV), "were prolific" (NRSV), "increased abundantly" (KJV). The Hebrew word is interesting -- shāraṣ, "teem, swarm,"¹ the same word used to describe the swarm of frogs that overtook Egypt in the second plague (Exodus 8:3). The Israelites were everywhere in Goshen!

This increase acquired fright among the Egyptian leaders. Since the Israelites hadn't been alloyed and didn't consider themselves as Egyptians, Pharaoh feared that such a large group could pose an internal security threat in fourth dimension of state of war. Poesy 12 uses the word "dread."^two If Arab republic of egypt were attacked past an enemy at their forepart, the Israelites might use the opportunity to (1) fight against the Egyptian ground forces from backside and then (ii) escape from the country.

The Pharaoh, who reigned centuries after Joseph's fourth dimension, concluded that a new policy towards the Israelites was required. He would "bargain shrewdly" (NIV, NRSV) or "bargain wisely" (KJV) with them strictly in the Egyptians'self-interest.³

Instead of allowing them relative freedom as subsistence farmers, their freedoms would exist curtailed. Pharaoh began a policy of systematic oppression and forced labor.

Oppressing the Israelites (Exodus 1:eleven-14)

The oppression or affliction⁴ escalated as the threat the Israelites posed became more apparent, equally poesy xiv tells us.

1. Structure projects with forced labor under slave masters.⁵ Their labor congenital the empire's storage or supply depot cities⁶ at Pithom and Rameses.
2. Brick⁷ making, described in Exodus 5:seven. These bricks, which built the buildings, were made of the dirt along the Nile mixed with straw and stubble to add force, so joined to other bricks with mortar.⁸
3. Field labor.

None of this was voluntary or paid labor. It was the ancient institution of tribute or corvee that involved service for a superior power -- a feudal lord, a king, or a foreign ruler.⁹ It left precious fiddling time to till their own fields and eke out a living for their families. Life was exceedingly biting (1:14).

This was not a mild oppression. This was a total-out subjugation of a people into slavery. In verse 14b, it says, "In all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly."¹⁰ Harshness, severity was the rule of the day.

Killing the Male person Babies (Exodus 1:15-23)

Harsh oppression may accept kept the Israelites under improve control to forbid a rebellion, just their numbers kept increasing. To stop this, Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill the male person babies. When this didn't work, he decreed that all boy babies exist exposed equally infants and left to dice.

B. Infancy (Exodus two:ane-x)

The Birth of Moses (Exodus 2:1-4)

In poetry 1 we learn that Moses is a descendant of Levi, one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Exodus six:20 gives Moses' and Aaron'due south parents as Amram and Jochebed, who is his father's younger sister. The weight of Pharaoh'southward edict is heavy upon this couple. Jochebed sees Moses equally all mothers see their sons -- "a fine kid"!¹²

She tin can't expose him, only neither tin she keep him. So she weaves a handbasket¹³ for him from the reeds,¹⁴ then waterproofs it with tar¹⁵ and pitch then that information technology won't leak. She obeys the letter of the law, just sends her girl Miriam to watch over the floating basket, deliberately placed among the reeds^sixteen along the Nile where one of Pharaoh'south daughters was known to breast-stroke.¹⁷

Moses Is Adopted by Pharaoh's Daughter (Exodus 2:v-10)

So God arranged for Moses to exist raised in his primeval years in his mother's and begetter's home. This way he got a clear idea who he was -- that he was a Hebrew, a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

If the Pharaoh at the time is Rameses Two (and we tin can't be sure) so this girl is one of sixty daughters. She may have lived in 1 of his numerous hunting lodges scattered over the delta area.¹⁸ Harrison sees her as the boyish offspring of one of the pharaohs by a concubine or some lesser paramour, and not i of the chief princesses of full royal blood.¹⁹ If so, Moses didn't necessarily grow up in the royal palace every bit a royal prince, only he certainly benefited from his status as an adopted royal. In Acts nosotros read:

"When he was placed exterior, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated²⁰ in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action." (Acts 7:21-22)

C. Moses the Activist (Exodus 2:11-22)

Moses Commits Murder (Exodus 2:11-15a)

Moses is now nearly forty (Acts seven:23) and seems to have adopted the airs of a member of the ruling grade. The side by side incident tells united states a lot near his character.

"One mean solar day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand." (Exodus 2:11-12)

Moses, of grade, wasn't seen by most as a Hebrew, but a prince of Pharaoh'south family. He has a predictable reaction when he sees his countrymen being driveling. "Beating" (NIV, NRSV), "smiting" (KJV) in verse xi is the same Hebrew word as "killed" (NIV, NRSV), "slew" (KJV) in verse 12 -- nākâ, "smite, strike, striking, beat, slay, kill. "It tin vary from a single stroke, to a chirapsia, to mean even "strike dead."²¹

Moses'  response is interesting. He doesn't seek legal justice in Pharaoh's courtroom. Rather, "glancing this way and that," provides his own crude merely illegal justice. This suggests several things virtually Moses:

1. He identifies himself as a Hebrew.
2. He has a stiff sense of basic justice.
3. He is willing to take charge of a situation, a human being of activity. On this occasion he is decisive, perhaps to the betoken of beingness rash. But he is non a timid human being.
4. He is physically strong.
5. He seems to take no sense yet of interim for God.

But he is not seen as a leader or fifty-fifty having authority by his own people. Here'south the take-charge leader asserting himself again, simply his authorization isn't recognized. I would judge that he was well-known amidst the Hebrews every bit "one of our people made skilful," but his intervention in this quarrel doesn't seem to be appreciated. He may exist a prince in Egypt, only that doesn't win him real respect among his own people. They question Moses' right to be either a ruler²² or judge²³ over them.

Leadership Is Influence

Intermission here for a moment. Moses is a member of the ruling class, just not a ruler. Why? He has neither office nor influence amidst those he seeks to lead. We oftentimes error property a leadership position or office as "leadership." You lot tin can impose your will if you hold an part, maybe, but is that leading?

John C. Maxwell, in his classic 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, asserts that leadership is influence, pure and unproblematic.²⁴ Many a pastor has come to a church expecting to be the congregation'due south leader, only to discover that the real leaders, the people who call the shots, are a couple of the old-time members who everyone in the congregation turns to -- even if they no longer have any official leadership part.

Moses is influential later considering he has encountered God and is able to speak with an authority and miracles that are recognized by his peers.

Is leadership a part of a person's personal charisma or can it be learned? There are people who are "natural leaders,"  of course, who carry themselves as leaders and whose leadership is accepted by those around them, even if they're new to a situation. Only notice that Moses was non one of these. He emerged as a leader as he was transformed by God. You can acquire to be a leader -- and if yous're already a "natural leader,"  you can become a better leader.

At this betoken, however, Moses is clearly not a "natural leader." He has no response to his countrymen'southward challenge, "Who are you?" Moreover, he is all of a sudden frightened -- frightened enough to run²⁵ for his life. Dear friends, there is a fourth dimension for everything under heaven. Jesus and his apostles knew when it was time for a strategic retreat also.²⁶

Yous may have fled from situations in your life. Just don't think that this is the end of you lot every bit a leader. God has a way of retooling and equipping his leaders for time to come tasks. God hasn't given up on you!

This and subsequent discussion questions allow you to interact with the concepts presented in the lesson. At that place are frequently no "correct answers," since some questions are thought or application questions. But sometimes the "reply" will be found in my notes that precede the question. The questions are non "graded," but may shared in an online forum with others who are taking this study. If y'all haven't registered for the Forum yet, do so at present using these instructions. Read the Instructions for the Forum. Then post your reply to the Forum page in the URL following the question.

Q1. (Exodus 2:11-15a) What do nosotros learn near Moses'  motivations, character, and leadership power from the incident of him killing the cruel Egyptian taskmaster? What positive things do y'all run across in his character? What negative things do you discern?
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1034

Moses Flees to Midian and Delivers Jethro's Daughters (Exodus 2:xv-17)

Where is Midian? Probably east of the Gulf of Aqaba or in the eastern Sinai peninsula.²⁷

Moses stops by a well -- doubtless virtually a settlement, and a great place for this wanderer to encounter people. As he is there, shepherds -- immature, beautiful shepherd girls -- are watering their father's flock. The shepherds would lower down into the well a pot or jar, let it fill, then pull it up and cascade the water into troughs where the sheep could drink. At present Moses watches while some male shepherds push their style in and threaten²⁸ the girls who got there outset.

"Some shepherds came along and collection them away, only Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock." (Exodus 2:17)

Moses has just gotten in trouble trying to see justice done in Egypt. At present he takes information technology upon himself to fight off these bullies. This may mean that Moses is physically potent, but more than likely it means that he is just assertive. It's likely that these male shepherds are young -- older children or teenagers -- and not very confident in the face up of a grown man, an Egyptian, threatening them with his staff.

Moses not only "came to their rescue," ²⁹ but finished watering the girls' flock himself -- a menial job you would not look a grown homo to perform in this culture!

Middle Eastern Hospitality (Exodus 2:18-22)

Now we meet a homo who will be linked to Moses' future success -- Jethro, here called Reuel. The girls' father asks them why they didn't invite the homo into their habitation. In our culture, it would be very incorrect for girls to invite a strange homo home. But in the Middle East, strangers are treated well -- specially strangers who assist in time of danger. To fail to offer hospitality is a grievous social alienation. The father rebukes his daughters.

Then they run dorsum to the well to fetch the stranger and bring him abode. The male parent and then extends the invitation and finally offers his daughter to Moses in marriage.³⁰

The begetter is identified as a "priest of Midian" (Exodus ii:sixteen), a designation marking him as a person of status with a strongly religious role in the hierarchy of Midianite order.³¹ Moses'  male parent-in-law is identified by several names in the Bible,³² merely for the near part in Exodus, he is known past the name Jethro.

D. The Call of Moses (Exodus 2:23-iv:17)

God Hears His People's Cry (Exodus 2:23-25)

Moses' life can be roughly divided into three periods, each nearly 40 years.³³ Here'southward one way to depict his life:

1.      Prince of Egypt	Proud in man'due south knowledge and status	40 yrs
2.      Shepherd in Midian	Humbled and molded by God	xl yrs
three.      Leader	Obedient servant	40 yrs

By the time the third phase of Moses' life begins, he is about eighty years of historic period. He has been a humble shepherd for half his life, far away from the hustle and bustle of Egyptian club and culture. For the most part, his life has been quiet, lonely, out in the desert pastures, except when he is home in his family's tent.

So far, the narrator has offered an introduction to Moses' character. But at present the real story of the Exodus begins.

"²³ During that long period, the king of Arab republic of egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for assistance because of their slavery went up to God. ²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned virtually them." (Exodus 2:23-25)

Notice three things from these verses:

1. God's pity.³⁴ The Exodus isn't nigh Moses at all. Information technology is about God'southward compassion and program. God is the chief player in the story. Moses is merely his retainer -- a bully servant, but still only a servant.
2. God'due south faithfulness. God has made promises to Abraham and his descendants called covenants. He is faithful to keep his promises!
3. Sustained prayer. The deliverance took place through anguished prayer³⁵ to God. God hears our prayers and answers them. All pregnant revivals have taken place every bit a result of consistent, urgent prayer before God for help. Don't requite up, even if it seems similar God isn't answering immediately!

The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-5)

Now God begins his plan in answer to the prayers of the Israelites. He appears to Moses. Wide-ranging shepherds had probably seen shrub fires lit past lightning strikes. But this bush-league wasn't consumed.³⁶ Moses came closer to see if he could discover an explanation for this miracle.

Eugene Pluchart (French painter, 1809-1880), "God Appears to Moses in Burning Bush" (1848), St. Isaac of Dalmatia Cathedral, St. Petersburg. Larger prototype.

The narrator tells us that this was "the angel of the LORD," who appears elsewhere in the Pentateuch. Oftentimes the "angel of the LORD" is referred to earlier in the passage, while later in same the passage the person speaking is identified as the LORD (Yahweh) himself.³⁷ The affections "appears"³⁸ here in the flame itself, non every bit a person. Elsewhere, God appears as a "consuming fire," ³⁹ and his "celebrity" as a brightness that cannot be looked at with the naked eye. The tongues of burn down (flames) that appeared over the believers on the 24-hour interval of Pentecost typify the presence of God in his Holy Spirit.

God attracts Moses' attention with the flames. At present he calls to him, with his voice coming from the burning bush. God calls⁴⁰ Moses past proper noun, and Moses answers. Then God informs him of the holiness⁴¹ of the place and instructs him to act appropriately by taking off his sandals.⁴²

God's Promise (Exodus 3:six-nine)

"⁷ The LORD said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come downward to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a proficient and spacious state, a land flowing with milk and beloved....'" (Exodus 3:7-viii)

God'due south message to Moses out of the burning bush is four-fold:

1. Seeing. I have seen my people'south misery and oppression.
2. Hearing. I have heard their cries and prayers.
3. Rescuing. I will rescue them.⁴³
4. Giving. I will bring them into a land that I will requite them.

This is a wonderful promise, the fulfillment of the covenant that God had spoken to Abraham and the patriarchs hundreds of years previously.⁴⁴

Moses' Call (Exodus 3:10-12)

"So now, get. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Arab republic of egypt." (Exodus 3:10)

After stating the promise, God explains that he is appointing⁴⁵ Moses to achieve this promise. When God appoints you and gives you a mission, yous don't question -- y'all go!

But Moses questions God: "Who am I, that I should go...?"This statement and others in Moses' running dispute with God in Exodus 3-four indicate a profound humility. Afterwards, the Scripture explains,

"Now Moses was a very humble⁴⁶ homo, more humble than anyone else on the face of the world." (Numbers 12:iii)

Moses had experienced a kind of brokenness. As a prince of Egypt he operated with a sense of entitlement and airs because of both his place in the ruling course of society and his superior didactics. Simply xl years before he had fled from Egypt as a common criminal. At present he was a lowly shepherd at age eighty, watching flocks that were non even his ain. "Who am I?" asks Moses.

Simply his question also betrays a lack of faith. He assumes that he must carry out this task by himself. Nil could exist further from the truth. God says to him, "I will exist with you" (Exodus three:12a). This profound promise from God has encouraged God's people throughout the ages.⁴⁷ If we can believe that God is with us, on the basis of that faith, we can do anything God asks of u.s.a.. Nothing will exist impossible to us!

God Reveals Himself as Yahweh (Exodus 3:13-15)

"¹³ Moses said to God, 'Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, "The God of your fathers has sent me to you," and they ask me, "What is his name?" Then what shall I tell them?' ^xiv God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has sent me to y'all."'" (Exodus 3:13-14)

Moses asks for God's name and is given a new revelation of God as the Bully I Am, "I AM WHO I AM." This thought of One who is ever present and eternally existent seems to be the etymological footing of God'southward revealed proper noun Yahweh, from the Hebrew verb pregnant "to be." Nosotros run into echoes of it in the New Testament, as well.

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:viii)

"'I am the Alpha and the Omega,'' says the Lord God, 'who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.'" (Revelation 1:eight)

I discuss the proper noun Yahweh in detail in another report in this serial.⁴⁸

Directions and Signs (Exodus 3:xvi-22; 4:one-9)

Now God gives Moses specific instructions: "Go, get together the elders of Israel and say to them...." (Exodus 3:16). He gives Moses the bulletin to give to them and to Pharaoh, likewise as promises of deliverance and a new country. But Moses notwithstanding protests:

"What if they practice not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did non appear to you'?" (Exodus 4:ane)

The Lord shows him how his staff can turn into a snake. When put into his cloak, his paw becomes leprous, and is and then restored. Turning water into blood is a third sign.

Transport Someone Else (Exodus 4:10-17)

Now Moses complains about lack of eloquence.⁴⁹ God'southward reply: I will assist you. Consider God's amazing promise:

"I volition be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say." (Exodus 4:12)

God promises to take care of Moses' inadequacies in public speaking. Even more important, he promises to double-decker⁵⁰ him on what to say -- help with both commitment and content! And still, Moses tries to wriggle out of the call.

Ever since God had called him, Moses had come up with a series of excuses and "what ifs," plus another fear revealed in verse xix:

1. Who am I? (three:11-12)
2. What if they ask your Name? (iii:13-15)
3. What if they don't believe me? (4:one-9)
4. But I'1000 not eloquent (four:10-12)
5. People will kill me (4:nineteen)

Each of these God has answered. But now, later on God has peeled back each of his excuses, Moses comes to the underlying reason: he just doesn't desire to practise it! God responds with acrimony!⁵¹

"¹³ Merely Moses said, 'O Lord, delight send someone else to do it.'¹⁴ Then the LORD's anger burned confronting Moses...." (Exodus four:13-14a)

In spite of his anger, God provides a 2d way to convince Moses to take the assignment -- his brother Aaron. As I ponder Moses' chutzpah in resisting God, I am amazed at God's grace in spite of his anger. God is not rigid. He is willing to work with the states and notice ways to make full in for our weaknesses, so that he tin can apply our strengths.

E. Moses Obeys God (Exodus 4:18-31)

Convinced and rebuked, Moses makes plans to returns to Egypt. On the long trip back, the Lord explains what will happen. Pharaoh will not requite in right away, God says, but don't exist agape, this is role of a plan. God tells him ahead of time and so Moses won't be as discouraged when the deliverance drags on and on.

The Circumcision of Moses' Son Gershom (Exodus 4:24-26)

An incident occurs on Moses trip back to Egypt that is difficult to understand.

"²⁴ At a lodging identify on the mode, the LORD met [Moses] and was about to impale him. ²⁵ But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son's foreskin and touched [Moses'] feet with it. 'Surely y'all are a bridegroom of blood to me,' she said. ²⁶ So the LORD let him alone. (At that fourth dimension she said 'bridegroom of blood,' referring to circumcision.)" (Exodus four:24-26)

There are dozens of theories about the meaning of the passage. What makes the most sense to me is that Moses had neglected circumcision (of Gershom and peradventure of himself), in accordance with the ancient rite revealed to Abraham as a sign of the Covenant (Genesis 17:9-14), and this neglect arouses God'south anger.  At any charge per unit, God stops him while they are at an overnight desert camp. Zipporah intervenes, takes a flint knife, circumcises Gershom, and and so apparently touches Moses' genitals with it. "Feet" (regel) hither is likely a euphemism for male ballocks, equally in Isaiah vii:twenty (with reference to pubic pilus) and in Judges iii:24 and 1 Samuel 24:3 (with reference to relieving oneself).⁵²Afterwards this rite has been performed, God backs off from his threat to Moses.

Of course, this doesn't answer all our questions. Why does Zipporah impact Moses' genitals with Gershom's foreskin? Information technology's possible that Moses himself hasn't been circumcised every bit a baby, or fully circumcised as an adult. Egyptian circumcision, performed on adults, was just a partial circumcision. Perhaps Gershom's circumcision is being vicariously transferred to Moses by touching his penis.⁵³And what do Zipporah's words mean: "Bridegroom of claret"? Scholars have speculated that in Midian culture, circumcision was performed at puberty equally a premarital rite, and that Zipporah's words echo this.⁵⁴Simply it is just speculation. We don't really know.

The point seems to be that merely those who have been circumcised will escape God's judgment -- especially God's judgment upon the Egyptians in Egypt (Exodus 12:44-49; Joshua 5:5). When Zipporah'due south rite has been completed, God allows Moses and his family to continue to Arab republic of egypt.

Fortunately this obscure event isn't important to the main story of Moses' character and ministry.

Moses Returns to Egypt (Exodus 4:18-31)

As Moses is returning to Egypt, God calls Aaron too. They run across at Mt. Horeb, "the mountain of God," where Moses lets Aaron know what his part will exist equally divine spokesman. When they arrive in Egypt, they go together to the leaders of God's people, the elders. Aaron knows these men, simply it is likely that Moses does not. Moses is terrified, but does what he is told.

James J. Tissot, "Moses and Aaron Speak to the People" (1896-1900), watercolor, Jewish Museum, New York.  Larger epitome.

Detect that before the elders, Moses doesn't point to himself, simply to the Lord. His message is that God has heard the Israelites' prayers and has compassion on them. The result is faith and thankfulness on the function of the elders, evidenced by worship. The elders' worship is described by two words, qādad, "bow down," ⁵² and the Eshtafel stem of ḥāwâ, "prostrate oneself, worship,"⁵³ demonstrating their deep submission to Yahweh who had loved them and heard their prayers.

God has done what Moses had doubted could happen -- that people would really believe him and take him seriously. I can almost hear God'due south thoughts echoed by his Son centuries subsequently:

"You of little religion, why are you so agape?" (Matthew 8:26)
"You of trivial faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31)

Moses has taken the kickoff steps and learned some of import lessons. But what God volition ask him to do in days to come builds on this before reluctant obedience. Moses doesn't begin as a man of bully faith, but gradually God builds faith inside him, and as he operates in that faith, he becomes a leader whom God can use.

Prayer

Male parent, we have felt uncertainty and fear, just like Moses. Forgive us for our unbelief. Forgive u.s. for beingness and then slow to obey. Build your religion in us, so that y'all tin apply united states to practise mighty things that are part of your programme for us. With conviction in your true-blue work in us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

References

Abbreviations

i. Shāraṣ, BDB 1056.

2. "Dread" (NIV, NRSV), "exist grieved" (KJV) is qûṣ, "feel a loathing, abhorrence, sickening dread" (BDB 880), "feel a disgust for," here "experience a horror of." (Holladay, pp. 316-317).

iii. Hākam, "be wise, human activity wise(ly)." "The essential idea of ḥākam represents a way of thinking and mental attitude concerning life's experiences; including matters of general involvement and basic morality. These concerns relate to prudence in secular affairs, skills in the arts, moral sensitivity, and experience in the ways of the Lord" (Louis Goldberg, TWOT #647).

four. "Oppressed" (NIV, NRSV), "affected" (KJV) in i:11 is ʿānâ, with the primary meaning of "to force," or "to try to force submission," and "to punish or inflict hurting upon." Here, "afflict, oppress, apprehensive" (Leonard J. Coppes, TWOT #1652).

five. "Slave masters" (NIV), "taskmasters" (KJV) is mas, torso of forced laborers, task-workers, labor-ring or gang," here, of main of mas, "gang-overseers" (BDB 586, 2a).

6. "Store cities" (NIV), "treasure cities" (KJV), "supply cities" (NRSV) translates "city" (ʿîr) plus miskenôt, "storage house, mag," designating a place of service, specially storage cities (1 Kings ix:19; two Chronicles 16:four; 17:12) (R.D. Patterson, miskenôt, TWOT #1494a).

7. "Brick" is lebēnâ, "brick, tile," from the whiteness of clay or the calorie-free color of sun-baked bricks. (BDB 526).

eight. "Mortar" is ḥōmer, "Cement, mortar, dirt." This substantive was besides a term for the reddish clay of that surface area, particularly Palestine (Gerhard Van Granigen, TWOT #683d).

9. K. Lloyd Carr, mas, TWOT #1218.

10. "Ruthlessly" (NIV, cf. NRSV), "with rigor" (KJV) in verses thirteen and fourteen is perek, "harshness, severity" (BDB 827).

12. "Fine" (NIV, NRSV), "goodly" (KJV) is ṭôb, which refers to "good" or "goodness" in its broadest senses." It tin hateful, "good, pleasant, beautiful, delightful, glad, joyful, precious, correct, righteous," or it could mean "happy" (Andrew Bowling, TWOT #793a).

thirteen. "Basket" (NIV, NRSV), "ark" (KJV) is tēbâ, "ark," properly, "breast, box." It is the same word used for Noah's ark.

14. "Papyrus" (NIV, NRSV), "bulrushes" (KJV) is gōmeʾ, "rush, reed, papyrus" (BDB 167).

xv. "Tar" (NIV), "bitumen" (NRSV), "slime" (KJV) is ḥēmār, "bitumen, asphalt" (BDB 330).

16. "Reeds" (NIV, NRSV), "flags" (KJV) is sûp, "reeds, rushes" (BDB 693).

17. Scholars take drawn attention to the fact that a similar story was told centuries later on about the Assyrian ruler Sargon. Whether it draws upon the Moses story, we don't know. The Legend of Sargon, a much-subsequently neo-Assyrian text from the seventh century BC. Sargon was an Akkadian emperor (reigned c. 2270 to 2215 BC) who conquered the Sumerian city-states.

18. Cole, Exodus, p. 58; Harrison (Intro, p. 575) cites R.A. Caminos, Literary Fragments in the Hieratic Script (1956), pp. 19ff.

19. Harrison, Intro, p. 575.

twenty. Harrison observes, "Children of the harîm [harem], specially male person princes, were frequently educated under the supervision of the harîm overseer, and at a rather later date the princes were educated by the priestly caste in reading and writing, the transcription of classical texts, ceremonious administration, and in certain concrete accomplishments" (Harrison, Intro, p. 575, citing F.L. Griffiths and P.E. Newberry, El Bersheh (1894), Ii, p. 40).

21. Marvin R. Wilson, nākâ, TWOT #1364.

22. "Ruler" is śar, from the verb śārar, "rule, reign, human action equally a prince, govern." The substantive tin refer to leaders and chieftains, military commanders, as well every bit diverse ranks of authorities officials, nobles, and courtiers (Gary G. Cohen, śārar, TWOT #2295a).

23. "Judge" is the verb shāpaṭ, "to judge, govern." It's the most mutual word for governing in the Old Testament, and the term for the series "judges" who ruled as leaders in Israel between Joshua and Saul (Robert D. Culver, shāpaṭ, TWOT #2443).

24. John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Thomas Nelson, 1998, revised 2007).

25. "Fled" is bāraḥ, "to go or pass through, and to flee or hurry." It occurs mostly in narratives, referring to flight from an enemy (Earl South. Kalland, TWOT #248).

26. Luke 4:30; John 8:59; 10:39; Acts eight:1; 12:17; 14:6; etc.

27. George East. Mendenhall, "Midian," ABD 4:815-818; T.V. Brisco, "Midian," TDNT iii:349-351.

28. "Bulldoze away" is gārash, which can mean variously, "cast upwards, drive out/abroad, divorce, expel, put away, thrust out, trouble" (TWOT #388).

29. "Came to the rescue" (NIV), "came to the defense force" (NRSV), "helped" (KJV) is the verb yāshaʿ, in the Hiphil stem, "save, deliver, give victory, help." The noun form of this word is yeshûʿâ, "salvation," from which the names Joshua and Jesus are derived. Moses is the girls' savior. This prefigures Yahweh'southward conservancy that Moses brings to the whole people of Israel at the Ruby-red Sea (Exodus xiv:13).

30. It'southward likely that Moses came with no bride cost, similar Jacob when he wanted to marry Rachel, Laban'southward daughter (Genesis 29:14-thirty). So Moses, like his ancestor Jacob, is after employed by Jethro equally a far-ranging shepherd, taking this father-in-police's flock far afield to find pasture (Exodus 3:1).

31. Hughes, "Jethro," DOTP, p. 467.

32. Reuel (reʿûʾēl, "friend of God"; Exodus ii:18); Jethro (yitrô, "his excellence"; Exodus three:1; 4:18; 18:i-12); Hobab (ḥōbāb, "cherished," Judges 4:11). In Numbers 10:29, Hobab is said to be the son of Raguel the Midianite. W.F. Albright saw Reuel as a clan name and Jethro every bit his proper name, with Numbers 10:29-32 explained past a misvocalization of the Hebrew text, which should take been ḥōtēn, "son-in-law" referring to Moses (Due west.F. Albright, "Jethro, Hobab, and Ruel," CBQ 25 (1963) 1-11, cited by P.E. Hughes, "Jethro," DOTP, pp. 467-469).

33. Exodus 7:7; Acts seven:23-24, 29-30, 36; Numbers 32:xiii; Deuteronomy 34:7. Forty years may be a literal number (Deuteronomy 2:14), only often information technology is used as a circular number used for a relatively long period of time, specifically, the traditional number of years in a generation (Judges 3:11; v:31; eight:28; 1 Samuel 4:xviii; etc.). In the Exodus, 40 years is the period of fourth dimension that it took for one generation to dice out and to be replaced by a new one. A sense of abyss or maturity is fastened to the number. A man was considered to reach full adulthood at 40 (Joshua 14:7; 2 Samuel ii:ten). See Bruce C. Birch, "Number," TDNT three:558.

34. "Was concerned" (NIV), "took notice" (NRSV), "had respect unto" (KJV), is the very mutual verb yādaʿ, "to know." Here information technology is used in the sense of "most intimate associate with" (Paul R. Gilchrist, TWOT #848).

35. "Groaned" (NIV, NRSV), "sighed" (KJV) is ʾānaḥ, "sigh, groan, gasp" from mental or concrete distress" (Charles L. Feinberg, TWOT #127). "Cried" is zāʿaq, "to cry for assistance in time of distress... In the Qal stem [equally here], the discussion is used most exclusively in reference to a cry from a disturbed middle, in need of some kind of aid. The cry is non in summons of another, but an expression of the need felt. Most oft, the cry is directed to God" (Judges 6:6-vii; Leon J. Wood, TWOT #570).

36. "Burn down up" (NIV, NRSV), "consume" (KJV) is ʾākal, "to consume, consume, devour, burn down up" (Jack B. Scott, TWOT #85).

37. Genesis sixteen:7-thirteen (revealed to Hagar); 22:15-16 (to Abraham on Mt. Moriah); Numbers 22:22-35 (to Balaam); Judges 6:11-22 (to Gideon); Judges thirteen:iii-21 (to Sampson's parents); as well every bit to Elijah, Elisha, etc.

38. "Appeared" is the common verb rāʾâ, "come across, look at." Hither in the Niphal stalk, it carries the passive thought, "to be seen or to reveal oneself" (Robert D. Culver, TWOT #2095).

39. Exodus 24:17;  Deuteronomy four:24, 36; Hebrews 12:18, 29.

forty. "Chosen" is qārāʾ, "phone call, telephone call out." "The root qrʾ denotes primarily the enunciation of a specific vocable or message. In the case of the latter usage it is customarily addressed to a specific recipient and is intended to arm-twist a specific response (hence, it may be translated 'proclaim, invite')" (Leonard J. Coppes, TWOT #2063).

41. "Holy" is qōdesh, "apartness, holiness, sacredness, hallowed, holy." "The noun qōdesh connotes the concept of "holiness," i.e. the essential nature of that which belongs to the sphere of the sacred and which is thus distinct from the common or profane" (Thomas E. McComiskey, TWOT #1990a).

42. Naʿal is the generic Hebrew discussion for footwear, either a shoe or a sandal. David One thousand. Howard, Jr., "Shoe, Sandal," ISBE 4:491-492. Holy places in the Former Testament are seen in the tabernacle precincts where priests are obliged to take off their regular article of clothing and article of clothing priestly garments that have been consecrated to God (Exodus 28-29). Apparently, the priests went almost their duties barefoot. When Joshua meets "the commander of the LORD'due south army" exterior of Jericho, he, too, is told, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are continuing is holy" (Joshua 5:15). Jacob was awed past his vision of angels ascending to and from sky, senses the holiness of the place, and said, "How crawly is this place! This is none other than the house of God ... the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:16-17).

43. "Rescue" (NIV), "deliver" (NRSV, KJV) is nāṣal, "deliver, rescue, salve." An Arabic cognate verb indicates that the bones meaning is i of "drawing out or pulling out" (Milton C. Fisher, TWOT #1404).

44. Genesis thirteen:14-18; 15:14; l:24; etc.

45. "Sending/transport" in verse 10 is shālaḥ, which is often used where God is sending people on an official mission equally his envoys or representatives (for example, Isaiah half-dozen:8; Jeremiah one:seven; etc.). (Hermann J. Austel, TWOT #2394). The respective Greek word in the New Attestation is apostellō, from which we go our word "campaigner," which means, "one who is sent."

46. "Apprehensive" (NIV, NRSV), "meek" (KJV) is ʿânâv, from ʿānâ, "agonize, oppress, humble," with the primary meaning "to force" or "to try to forcefulness submission." The adjective "stresses the moral and spiritual condition of the godly as the goal of affliction implying that this land is joined with a suffering life rather than with one of worldly happiness and abundance" (Leonard J. Coppes, TWOT #1652a).

47. Exodus 4:12, 15; Genesis 31:three; Deuteronomy 31:23; Joshua 1:5; Isaiah 41:10; 43:2; Matthew 28:xx; Romans 8:31; Hebrews 13:v.

49. Dābār, "spoken communication, give-and-take." The phrase is literally, "I have never been a man of words" (NASB, margin).

fifty. Yârâʾ, "teach" (Hiphil). A related word tôrâ or Torah is "educational activity."

51. "Burned" (NIV), "was kindled" (NRSV, KJV) is ḥārâ. "This word is related to a rare Aramaic root pregnant 'to crusade burn down to burn,' and to an Arabic root meaning 'burning awareness,' in the throat, etc." In Hebrew, ḥārâ is always used in conjunction with acrimony and with related words is found 139 times in the Old Testament (Leon J. Wood, TWOT #736).

52. William White, regel, TWOT #2113a. Run into Durham, Exodus, p. 58.

53. Durham, Exodus, p. 58, citing J.Grand. Sasson, "Circumcision in the Ancient Near East," Journal of Biblical Literature [1966] 473-474. So too Paul R. Williamson, "Circumcision," DOTP, p. 124.

54. Durham, Exodus, p. 58. Durham speculates that Zipporah circumcises not Moses, "who would have been temporarily incapacitated by the surgery" (Genesis 34:18-31), but Gershom, and and so vicariously transfers the consequence of the rite to Moses.

55. "This root refers to the bowing of one's head accompanying and emphasizing obeisance" (Leonard J. Coppes, qādad, TWOT #1985).

56. This word is cognate with the Ugaritic ḥwy "to bow down" and originally meant to prostrate oneself on the footing (Nehemiah 8:6; Edwin Yamauchi, ḥāwâ, TWOT #619).

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