Exodus7:8-24

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, “Perform a wonder”, then you shall say to Aaron, “Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.”

’So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.¹ Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.² Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs.³ Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them,⁴ as the Lord had said.⁵

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. Say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.’ But until now you have not listened. Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am theLord.’ See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.”⁶ ’The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt,⁷ even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.”’⁸
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded.⁹ In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts;¹⁰ so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.¹¹ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.¹²
Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

1 Not only are Moses and Aaron always obedient, but what God states will happen for them always comes to pass.

2 “Did the same by their secret arts” - does this imply trickery, true magic, or demonic activity?

3 Symbolizing God's superiority to their arts, and perhaps to their gods

4 The miracle has little effect on Pharaoh or his people

5 This and the next reference to Pharaoh's hardened heart is interesting. Is it actually Pharaoh who has hardened his own heart? Was God's previous statement merely predictive rather than descriptive?

6 The Nile, already so prominent in the story, will not be directly judged.

7 The symbolic judgment of the Nile spreads to the whole land of Egypt

8 A strikingly powerful miracle, one that would be witnessed by millions across the country and dramatically affect their lives

9 Once again perfectly obedient

10 What does it mean by “the same” here? They didn't make the already-bloody water across the land even more bloody, did they? Does this phrase imply a small-scale repetition or is it just a storytelling tool?

11 Again the hardening appears to be Pharaoh's doing without need for God's intervention.

12 The failure of Pharaoh to acknowledge and obey God has a negative effect on his people.

Take-home: God shows his superiority to Pharaoh and his magicians, then the judgment of the signs expands beyond Pharaoh's power to the Nile and the whole country of Egypt. Egypt's people suffer as a result. But despite the dramatic sign, Pharaoh's heart remains hardened. Moses and Aaron continue in perfect obedience.

Exodus 6:28-7:7

On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, he said to him, ‘I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am speaking to you.’

But Moses said in the Lord’s presence, ‘Since I am a poor speaker, why would Pharaoh listen to me?’¹
The Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.² You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,³ and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgement.⁴ The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.’⁵ Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.⁶ Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.⁷

1 Moses's consistent self-doubt have become either aggravating or comical by this point.

2 That very interesting phrase is repeated again.

3 Also repeated is the reference to Pharaoh's heart being hardened. Why not just let him let them go? Would there not be far less suffering that way? Does God harden Pharaoh's heart because he understands something about the situation that we do not, or do I just misunderstand what “hardened his heart” actually is meant to mean?

4 Why judge them for something that God caused to happen? How does that show God's glory?

5 Is just stating a truth here, or explaining the motivation behind his actions?

6 Though Moses often doubts and complains, at the end of each interaction he has always been obedient.

7 Such an advanced age to start their ministry before God. Late starts are okay!

Take-home: God repeats and emphasizes the peculiar action of “hardening Pharaoh's heart”, and will judge the Egyptian people for it. Yet again Moses is doubtful of himself, but yet again he obeys in the end.

Exodus 6:14-27

The following are the heads of their ancestral houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. The following are the names of the sons of Levi according to their genealogies: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and the length of Levi’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their families. The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, and the length of Kohath’s life was one hundred and thirty-three years. The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their genealogies. 

 Amram married Jochebed his father’s sister and she bore him Aaron and Moses, and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. Aaron¹ married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the ancestral houses of the Levites by their families.

It was this same Aaron and Moses² to whom the Lord said, ‘Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt, company by company.’ It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, the same Moses and Aaron.

1 Interesting that this genealogy seems to focus on Aaron rather than Moses. The position of the Levites in Hebrew society makes their genealogy through the original Levitical priest quite important.

2 Firmly establishes the genealogy

Take-home: The genealogy establishes the place of Aaron, then Moses as well, both affirming Aaron's position himself and establishing the patriarchal base for all the Levitical priests who have followed Aaron since.

Exodus 6:1-13

Then Moses turned again to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you mistreated this people?¹ Why did you ever send me?² Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people."³

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh:⁴ Indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand⁵ he will drive them out⁶ of his land."

God also spoke to Moses and said to him: "I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name 'The Lord' I did not make myself known to them.⁷ I also established my covenant with them,⁸ to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves,⁹ and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the Israelites, 'I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God,¹⁰ who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’"

Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses,¹¹ because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.¹²



Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land."¹³

But Moses spoke to the Lord, "The Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?"¹⁴

Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them orders regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, charging them to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt.¹⁵



1 Moses agrees with the people's complaint

2 Once again, Moses's trust in God is wavering

3 To be honest, these are true statements

4 God does not defend himself or berate Moses, He just states what will happen next.

5 “a mighty hand” repeated twice as God's self-descriptor

6 He won't just let the people go, by the time God is done he will drive them out!

7 Study Bible states that the revelation of the name YHWH here is due to this being a “P” section, while the revelation in 3:13-22 was part of the “J” section.

8 Mention of the “covenant” focuses on their special status again.

9 “Slaves” and “groaning” shows his care for the oppressed again. (later “slavery” and “burdens”)

10 Continues to personalize what he will do for the Israelites, his own people.

11 The previous enthusiasm of the people has wavered. Moses's fears are confirmed.

12 Their situation, their broken spirit, is blamed on their cruel slavery. Not their fault, but the result of oppression.

13 The people's poor reaction is irrelevant – God commands Moses to continue in obedience.

14 Moses self-doubts yet again!

15 Before it was just a three-day journey, but now God is asking Pharaoh to free them from Egypt entirely.

Take-home: God reveals his purposes to Moses. He shows both compassion for the Hebrews' situation of slavery and oppression as well as a special concern for them as his covenant people. Pharaoh has been unresponsive, Moses is self-doubting, and the people have a broken spirit, but God presses on – he knows that his purposes will be fulfilled and asks for obedience despite the odds.

Exodus 5:1-20

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.”

’But Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should heed him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.’¹
Then they said, ‘The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.’²
But the king of Egypt said to them, ‘Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labours!’ Pharaoh continued, ‘Now they are more numerous than the people of the land and yet you want them to stop working!’³

That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors, ‘You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, “Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.” Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will labour at it and pay no attention to deceptive words.’⁴

So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people,⁵ ‘Thus says Pharaoh,⁶ “I will not give you straw. Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it; but your work will not be lessened in the least.”' So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt, to gather stubble for straw. The taskmasters were urgent, saying, ‘Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw.’⁷ And the supervisors of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten,⁸ and were asked, ‘Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks⁹ yesterday and today, as you did before?’

Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, ‘Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, “Make bricks!” Look how your servants are beaten! You are unjust to your own people.’¹⁰
He said, ‘You are lazy, lazy;¹¹ that is why you say, “Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.” Go now, and work; for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.’

The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, ‘You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks.’¹² As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron who were waiting to meet them. They said to them, ‘The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odour with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.’¹³

1 Sounds arrogant, but not an entirely unreasonable question.

2 Interesting that they appeal to Pharoah's concern for them...perhaps they hope that he does not want to lose labor?

3 Pharaoh responds with his own half-hearted plea for compassion

4 Now descends into ruthlessness. The oppressor requires more work, calls workers lazy, lays on heavy labour

5 Whoever the taskmasters and supervisors are, they do Pharaoh's bidding directly

6 “Thus says Pharaoh” reflects “Thus says the Lord” in the first verse, setting them up as warring deities.

7 Taskmasters are given additional culpability

8 Supervisors are victims too – perhaps the taskmasters are the Egyptian foremen, but the supervisors are fellow Hebrews?

9 The bricks are more important than the people

10 Supervisors stand up for the people's rights, call out the Pharaoh's injustice. In many ways this sounds like a plea one would make to your god, not just your ruler. The difference between Pharaoh and The Lord is highlighted.

11 Pharaoh uses “lazy' as an insult against them once again

12 Pretty perceptive, eh?

13 This response is not entirely unwarranted. Their expectations based on Moses's words have not come to pass.

Take-home: Pharaoh and The Lord are pitted against each other for the fate of the people. To this point Pharaoh appears in control, and in some ways the people are treating him more like a god than they treat The Lord himself. In some ways this passage recalls to me contemporary labor debates – employees ask for small privileges, employers call them lazy and try to lay the heaviest burdens possible on them in order to weaken their resistance, employees sometimes blame the agitators who convinced them to ask for more in the first place.

Exodus 4:18-31

Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro¹ and said to him, ‘Please let me go back to my kindred in Egypt and see whether they are still living.’ And Jethro said to Moses, ‘Go in peace.’ The Lord said to Moses in Midian, ‘Go back to Egypt;² for all those who were seeking your life are dead.’ So Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt; and Moses carried the staff of God in his hand.

And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.³ Then you shall say to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: Israel is my firstborn son.⁴ I said to you, ‘Let my son go that he may worship me.’ But you refused to let him go; now I will kill your firstborn son.”’⁵
On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him.⁶ But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it, and said, ‘Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’⁷ So he let him alone.⁸ It was then she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood by circumcision.’
The Lord said to Aaron, ‘Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.’ So he went;⁹ and he met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him, and all the signs with which he had charged him. Then Moses and Aaron went and assembled all the elders of the Israelites.¹⁰ Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses, and performed the signs in the sight of the people.¹¹ The people believed;¹² and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped.

1 Being called Jethro still, rather than Reuel

2Order is strange here – didn't the Lord already tell Moses to go back to Egypt, and didn't Moses just ask permission to go back?

3Reminds Moses to obey, but gives a scary warning. Why does God harden hearts? If Pharaoh chose to let the people go, why not allow him to make that choice? Or is that a misreading of the text?

4Israel has a privileged place over other peoples.

5Frightening violence from God. Why does the punishment fall on the innocent son?

6Wait, what? Why? And “tried”? How does God try to kill him and fail?

7How did she know what to do? And if she had known, why hadn't she done it before? Was God trying to kill Moses or Moses's son, and why does God try to kill him when it's Zipporah who does the action that stops it?

8After everything that God has done to chose Moses, despite Moses's resistance, why wasn't his son or circumcision mentioned earlier, and why is it a life and death matter?

9Aaron obeys.

10Both are obedient.

11No sign that Aaron shared any of Moses's doubts, even though Aaron did not hear the revelation from God himself.

12Moses's fears appear to have been unfounded.

Take-home: A really difficult passage for me.  Why does God harden Pharoah's heart?  Why does God try to kill Moses (or perhaps Moses's son)?  And what does the "bridegroom of blood" language mean?  Despite these difficulties, it is clear that there is a message of obedience to God that continues to run through the narrative.

Exodus 2:23-4:17

After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery,¹ and cried out.² Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. God heard their groaning,³ and God remembered his covenant⁴ with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.⁵⁶

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,⁷ the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.⁹ There the angel of the Lord¹⁰ appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.’
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’
And he said, ‘Here I am.’¹¹
Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’¹² He said further, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’¹³ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,¹⁴ and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land,¹⁵ a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.¹⁶ The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.¹⁷ So come, I will send you¹⁸ to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’
But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I¹⁹ that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’
He said, ‘I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.’²⁰
But Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’²¹
God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’²² He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.”
’God also said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you”:
This is my name for ever,
and this my title for all generations.²³
Go and assemble the elders of Israel, and say to them, “The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have given heed to you²⁴ and to what has been done to you in Egypt. I declare that I will bring you up out of the misery of Egypt,²⁵ to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” They will listen to your voice;²⁶ and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; let us now go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.”²⁷ I know, however, that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.²⁸ So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders that I will perform in it; after that he will let you go. I will bring this people into such favour with the Egyptians that, when you go, you will not go empty-handed; each woman shall ask her neighbour and any woman living in the neighbour’s house for jewelery of silver and of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.'²⁹
Then Moses answered, ‘But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, “The Lord did not appear to you.”³⁰
’The Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’³¹
He said, ‘A staff.’
And he said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ So he threw the staff on the ground, and it became a snake; and Moses drew back from it. Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Reach out your hand, and seize it by the tail’—so he reached out his hand and grasped it,³² and it became a staff in his hand—‘so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.’³³
Again, the Lord said to him, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ He put his hand into his cloak; and when he took it out, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. Then God said, ‘Put your hand back into your cloak’—so he put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored like the rest of his body—‘If they will not believe you or heed the first sign, they may believe the second sign. If they will not believe even these two signs or heed you, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.’
But Moses said to the Lord, ‘O my Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant;³⁴ but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’³⁵
Then the Lord said to him, ‘Who gives speech to mortals? Who makes them mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak.’³⁶
But he said, ‘O my Lord, please send someone else.’³⁷
Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, ‘What of your brother Aaron the Levite?³⁸ I know that he can speak fluently; even now he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you his heart will be glad. You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what you shall do.³⁹ He indeed shall speak for you to the people; he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him.⁴⁰ Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.’

1Slavery is once again mentioned, then repeated.

2Cry is not directed to God, but God hears it.

3God responds to the cry of the oppressed.

4Not just oppressed, but also the covenant people. There are many other oppressed people's who are not mentioned here.

5God has taken notice. Things will clearly change.

6This entire section is quite anthropomorphic

7His name was “Raeul” in 2:18, an indication of multiple authors.

9Mountain of God in what way? (This will later be the mountain of God's appearance in Deuteronomy.)

10An interesting character – already showed in Genesis 16, and will show up again.

11The “Here I am” of prophets before and after.

12Why? Because God is there now or was it already holy ground?

13Does Moses know of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?

14Misery....cry....sufferings.

15God observes, hears, knows, and delivers in order to bring good.

16It is the land of others...so what of them?

17Again the focus on “cry” and oppression.

18God chooses Moses.

19Humility.

20It is not you, it is I! But such an odd “sign” to show it. The sign almost appears like it is the opposite direction of what is expected.

21Is this doubt or just clarification?

22Honestly, that's a pretty sweet name.

23A second way tot try to explain it.

24God has given heed to them. Once again he emphasizes hearing their cry and responding to their oppression.

25God will bring them out of misery.

26God gives Moses confidence.

27Task #1 to ask of Pharaoh – the chance to leave for three days to worship.

28God knows what will happen, but it is as much an understanding of his character as a prediction.

29Justice via plundering.

30More doubting by Moses. Is he doubting himself or is he doubting the people?

31Pretty funny statement.

32Moses continues to be obedient even in his doubting.

33A miracle is used to prove God's presence – and two others will be tried as well.

34Interesting...in-eloquent even now as he is speaking to God?

35Moses continues to doubt himself! Humility or fear?

36If God, who created his speech, doubts him, he has no reason to doubt himself.

37Now he's just being openly cowardly.

38Knowing that one of the authors is known as the “priestly” author, it would be fascinating to me to know how that strain of authorship affects the portrayal of Aaron.

39God's anger is kindled, but he still stays with Moses, even though part of Moses's task has been taken away.

40Fascinating phrase.


Take-home: God emphasizes that he is responding to the cry of the oppressed and enslaved, that he is revealed his true name and nature to the Israelites and Pharaoh both, and that he will use Moses to do it.  Moses is humble and attempts to deflect the responsibility to the point of fear or cowardice, but God stays with him as his chosen instrument.  A miracle reveals God to Moses, and he shows that he will use more miracles to reveal himself to the Israelis and to Pharaoh.

Exodus 2:11-22

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and saw their forced labour.¹ He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsfolk.² He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.³

When he went out the next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting; and he said to the one who was in the wrong, ‘Why do you strike your fellow Hebrew?’⁴
He answered, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?’⁵
Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘Surely the thing is known.’⁶ When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses.⁷
But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well. The priest of Midian⁸ had seven daughters. They came to draw water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. But some shepherds came and drove them away. Moses got up and came to their defense and watered their flock.⁹
When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, ‘How is it that you have come back so soon today?’
They said, ‘An Egyptian helped us against the shepherds;¹⁰ he even drew water for us and watered the flock.’
He said to his daughters, ‘Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread.’¹¹
Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah in marriage.¹² She bore a son, and he named him Gershom; for he said, ‘I have been an alien residing in a foreign land.’¹³

1He sees their forced labor, and immediately knows it is wrong. This must have been going on for at least 30 years now...how much longer?

2“his people”, “kinfolk” - appears to already know that he is a Hebrew

3Violent resistance...out of ethnic solidarity or desire to end oppression?

4Both seem to be in play – he questions the one who was “in the wrong”, but appeals to ethnic solidarity.

5Doesn't go over well – he has no authority.

6Fear of wrong being known – shame-based mentality.

7Violence begets violence. It doesn't take much for Pharaoh to seek to kill the man his wife had raised as a son.

8A priest! Fascinating. I wonder why this is an element of the story.

9Again stands up for the weak – appears to have a strong sense of justice.

10Appears to have been a long-standing battle.

11Such an act should be repaid.

12Wow – what a repayment!

13Strong ties to ethnic roots. But is Egypt really Moses's homeland?

Take-home: Moses, motivated both by ethnic solidarity and a desire for justice, tries to address the situation with violence but ends up causing more problems than he solves and must flee.  This duel motivation is an interesting parallel with God, who assists the Israelites both because he sees their oppression and because they are His covenant people.

Exodus 2:1-10

Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.¹ The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby,² she hid him for three months.³ When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch;⁴ she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river.⁵ His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him.⁶

‘This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,’ she said.

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, ‘Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?’⁷

Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Yes.’⁸

So the girl went and called the child’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, ‘Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.’⁹ So the woman took the child and nursed it.

When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses,¹⁰ ‘because’, she said, ‘I drew him out of the water.’

1 His Levite identity mean little in the context, but for the author and his listeners this signals the beginnings of the priestly tribe.

2 Moses, the future hero, is already a “fine baby”. Reflects the “and saw it was good” language of Genesis 1

3 More nonviolent resistance.

4 Echoes of Noah's ark in Genesis 6:14

5 Hoping for a miracle? Hoping he would be mistaken for an Egyptian?

6 An Egyptian, even the very daughter of Pharaoh, can have pity on a Hebrew baby.

7 Quick thinking! More nonviolent resistance.

8 Even the daughter of Pharaoh is disobeying him now.

9 Gets not only her baby back, but wages too. God works things better than we could imagine.

10 Does Moses know who his true mother is?


Take-home: A new twist is given to the power dynamic behind the ethnic tensions – a Hebrew baby is raised in the Pharaoh's very household. God, though never mentioned, is clearly manipulating events behind the scenes.