TANAKH · EXODUS · 4 OF 5
Moshe between worlds
Follow three encounters in Exodus 2:11–22 and distinguish the narrator’s account from the people’s descriptions of Moshe.
In this lesson
Follow a life across three encounters
The child rescued from the river has grown. Pharaoh’s daughter has taken him as her son, yet the narrator calls the burdened Hebrews his brothers. Moshe is Moses; Shemot, Exodus, is the second book of Torah. We now follow him from Egypt to Midian, the land where he takes refuge.
Read this episode as part of our people’s story, not simply as a sketch of a future leader. Israel remains under oppression while Moshe’s own life changes. Ask two questions in each scene: Who faces harm, and what does Moshe do? Then ask a third: Who is speaking when someone identifies him?
The narrator tells the story; a speaker is a person whose words the story reports. Keeping their voices distinct will help us understand the scene without assuming that every character knows everything the reader knows.
He goes out to his brothers
וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל־אֶחָיו וַיַּרְא בְּסִבְלֹתָם וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי מַכֶּה אִישׁ־עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו׃
וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ וַיַּךְ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ בַּחוֹל׃
וַיֵּצֵא בַּיּוֹם הַשֵּׁנִי וְהִנֵּה שְׁנֵי־אֲנָשִׁים עִבְרִים נִצִּים וַיֹּאמֶר לָרָשָׁע לָמָּה תַכֶּה רֵעֶךָ׃
וַיֹּאמֶר מִי שָׂמְךָ לְאִישׁ שַׂר וְשֹׁפֵט עָלֵינוּ הַלְהָרְגֵנִי אַתָּה אֹמֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר הָרַגְתָּ אֶת־הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּירָא מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמַר אָכֵן נוֹדַע הַדָּבָר׃
וַיִּשְׁמַע פַּרְעֹה אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַיְבַקֵּשׁ לַהֲרֹג אֶת־מֹשֶׁה וַיִּבְרַח מֹשֶׁה מִפְּנֵי פַרְעֹה וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּאֶרֶץ־מִדְיָן וַיֵּשֶׁב עַל־הַבְּאֵר׃In those days, when Moshe had grown, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, one of his brothers. He turned this way and that, saw that no one was there, struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He went out the next day, and there were two Hebrew men fighting. He said to the one in the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?” He replied, “Who appointed you a ruler and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moshe became afraid and said, “The matter is surely known.” Pharaoh heard about this matter and sought to kill Moshe. Moshe fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian; he sat down by the well.
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva; punctuation is editorial
“His brothers” appears twice in the first verse. The narrator identifies Moshe with the Hebrews even after his upbringing as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son. The next day he also challenges violence between two Hebrews. His concern is not expressed only when an Egyptian harms a Hebrew.
1. Which words establish Moshe’s relationship to the people carrying the burdens?
The narrator says “his brothers” and again describes the Hebrew being struck as “one of his brothers” in verse 11. This relationship is stated by the narrator, not guessed from the reply of another character.
2. Trace the sequence that sends Moshe to Midian.
Moshe kills the Egyptian and hides him. The reply during the next day’s quarrel reveals that the killing is known. Moshe fears; Pharaoh hears and seeks to kill him; Moshe flees. Keep this chain distinct from the later call to return to Egypt.
Read a question without turning it into a verdict
Worked reading. A reader summarizes verse 14: “Torah says Moshe can never lead Israel.” Check who speaks. The words are a man’s challenge to Moshe, phrased as a question about who appointed him. The narrator records that challenge and Moshe’s fear. The passage has not yet narrated the divine commission that follows in chapter 3.
The killing belongs to this account, as do the burial in sand, the challenge and the flight. Describe those details directly. To determine a law governing a different case, we would need the relevant legal sources and circumstances. Here our task is to follow what this narrative tells us and how its scenes connect.
3. Rewrite the inaccurate summary in one sentence.
One of the quarreling Hebrews challenges Moshe’s authority and refers to the Egyptian’s killing; Moshe then realizes that the matter is known. This reports the speaker, his words and the narrative response without turning his question into Torah’s permanent judgment.
Read the encounter at the well
וּלְכֹהֵן מִדְיָן שֶׁבַע בָּנוֹת וַתָּבֹאנָה וַתִּדְלֶנָה וַתְּמַלֶּאנָה אֶת־הָרְהָטִים לְהַשְׁקוֹת צֹאן אֲבִיהֶן׃
וַיָּבֹאוּ הָרֹעִים וַיְגָרְשׁוּם וַיָּקָם מֹשֶׁה וַיּוֹשִׁעָן וַיַּשְׁקְ אֶת־צֹאנָם׃
וַתָּבֹאנָה אֶל־רְעוּאֵל אֲבִיהֶן וַיֹּאמֶר מַדּוּעַ מִהַרְתֶּן בֹּא הַיּוֹם׃
וַתֹּאמַרְןָ אִישׁ מִצְרִי הִצִּילָנוּ מִיַּד הָרֹעִים וְגַם־דָּלֹה דָלָה לָנוּ וַיַּשְׁקְ אֶת־הַצֹּאן׃The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Shepherds came and drove them away. Moshe stood up, rescued them and watered their flock. They came to Reuel their father, and he said, “Why have you come so quickly today?” They said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva; punctuation is editorial
Try the comparison before opening either answer: identify one repeated pattern across the three encounters and one important difference. Use Moshe’s actual action in each scene, not a general adjective such as “brave.” Then separate what the daughters call him from what the narrator has told us about him.
4. What repeats, and what changes?
In each encounter Moshe responds to people harming or confronting others. He strikes the Egyptian, challenges the Hebrew who is striking his fellow, and rescues the women and waters their flock. The people, actions and outcomes differ. These scenes portray a recurring concern through distinct responses, not an identical action repeated three times.
5. Does “an Egyptian man” erase the narrator’s “his brothers”?
The daughters call him “an Egyptian man” in their report to their father. Verse 11 identifies the Hebrews as his brothers. The two phrases come from different voices. Verse 19 does not state why the daughters use that description, so clothing, accent or appearance would require additional evidence.
A home and a name
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־בְּנֹתָיו וְאַיּוֹ לָמָּה זֶּה עֲזַבְתֶּן אֶת־הָאִישׁ קִרְאֶן לוֹ וְיֹאכַל לָחֶם׃
וַיּוֹאֶל מֹשֶׁה לָשֶׁבֶת אֶת־הָאִישׁ וַיִּתֵּן אֶת־צִפֹּרָה בִתּוֹ לְמֹשֶׁה׃
וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ גֵּרְשֹׁם כִּי אָמַר גֵּר הָיִיתִי בְּאֶרֶץ נָכְרִיָּה׃He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, and let him eat bread.” Moshe agreed to live with the man, who gave his daughter Tzipporah to Moshe. She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
English rendering by Messianic Yeshiva; punctuation is editorial
Hospitality leads to a household: Moshe stays, marries Tzipporah and becomes a father. Yet the explanation of Gershom’s name keeps his displacement in view. Ger here is a stranger or sojourner. Read the word in this sentence about living in a foreign land.
6. What two truths about Moshe’s life does the ending hold together?
He has a household in Midian, and he describes himself as a stranger in a foreign land. His son’s name does not cancel the welcome he receives; it preserves another dimension of his situation.
Compose a portrait from the passage
Without copying the explanations above, write four sentences: one about Moshe’s relationship to the Hebrews, one tracing the danger that leads him to leave, one comparing his response at the well with an earlier encounter, and one about Gershom’s name. Attach a verse number to each sentence. Then underline the part that is your comparison rather than a quotation.
7. Compare your portrait with this model.
The narrator calls the burdened Hebrews Moshe’s brothers (2:11). After the Egyptian’s killing becomes known, Pharaoh seeks Moshe’s death and Moshe flees (2:14–15). At the well he again responds to people being mistreated, this time by rescuing the women and watering their flock (2:17); “again responds” is a comparison across scenes. Although he establishes a household, Gershom’s name recalls being a stranger (2:21–22).
Return without the page
At your next session, recall the three encounters in order. Who calls Moshe a brother, an Egyptian and a stranger? Name the voice behind each description before reopening the text.
8. What should your recall preserve?
The narrator identifies the Hebrews as his brothers; the daughters report that an Egyptian rescued them; Moshe describes himself as a stranger when naming his son. The three encounters are the Egyptian striking a Hebrew, the two quarreling Hebrews, and the shepherds driving away the women.
Read in context
- Exodus 2: rescue, flight, household and Israel’s cry.
Next, return from Moshe’s household to the people still laboring in Egypt.