Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:11-15
Unpurified zeal. We must certainly attribute the killing of the Egyptian, not to Divine inspiration, but to the natural impetuosity of Moses' character. At this stage Moses had zeal, but it was without knowledge. His he…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:11-12
The choice of Moses. Underlying this episode of killing the Egyptian there is that crisis in the history of Moses to which reference is made so strikingly in the eleventh of the Hebrews — "By faith Moses, when he was co…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:11
When Moses was grown. "When he had become a .mall of vigour and intelligence" (Kalisch). He went out. The expression is emphatic, and accords with the view above exhibited — that a complete change in the life of Moses w…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:11-15
Moses "was grown." According to the tradition he had already distinguished himself as a warrior — was "a prince and a judge" amongst the Egyptians, if not over the Hebrews (Exodus 2:14). Learned, too, in all the wisdom…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:11-12
§1. Moses as a would-be deliverer. Moses, as a would-be deliverer, shows us how zeal may outrun discretion. Actuated by deep love for his brethren, he had quitted the court, resigned his high prospects, thrown in his lo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:12
He looked this way and that way. Passion did not so move him as to make him reckless. He looked round to see that he was not observed,, and then, when he saw there was no man, slew the Egyptian. A wrongful act, the outc…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:13-14
2. Moses as a peacemaker. A great sin disqualifies a man for many a long year from setting himself up to be a guide and teacher of others. It may at any time be thrown in his teeth, nothing could be better intended than…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:13
The second day. i.e. "the following day." See Acts 7:26. Him that did the wrong. Literally, "the wicked one." Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? Literally "thy neighbour." In interposing here Moses certainly did nothing…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:13-15
Moses the hater of all oppression. I. WE HAVE HERE FURTHER IMPORTANT REVELATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE CHARACTER OF MOSES AND HIS FITNESS TO BE DELIVERER OF ISRAEL. 1. It is evident that his conscience did not accuse him,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:14
Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? It was not his interference now, but his wrongful act of the day before, that exposed Moses to this rebuke. There was no assumption of lordship or of judicial authority in the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:15-23
The long exile.Moses took with him into Midian all the best elements of his character; he left some of the faulty ones behind. He may be assumed to have left much of his self-confidence, and to have been cured in part o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:15
Pharaoh heard. If we have been right in supposing the Pharaoh of the original oppression to have been Seti I., the present Pharaoh, from whom Moses flies when he is "full forty years old" (Acts 7:23), and who does not d…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:15
Sitting by the well: a suggestive comparison.The very expression, "He sat down by a well," inevitably suggests that conversation beside the well at Sychar, in which Jesus took so important a part. Note the following poi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:16-22
LIFE OF MOSES IN MIDIAN Fugitives from Egypt generally took the northern route from Pelusium or Migdol to Gaza, and so to Syria, or the regions beyond. But in this quarter they were liable to be arrested and sent back t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:16-22
EXPOSITION.
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:17
The shepherds came and drove them away. There is not much "natural politeness" among primitive peoples. The right of the stronger prevails, and women go to the wall. Even the daughters of their priest were not respected…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:18
Reuel their father. Reuel is called "Raguel" in Numbers 10:29, but the Hebrew spelling is the same in both places. The word means "friend of God," and implies monotheisim. Compare Exodus 18:9-12.
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:19
An Egyptian. Reuel's daughters judged by the outward appearance. Moses wore the garb and probably spoke the language of Egypt. He had had no occasion to reveal to them his real nationality. Drew water enough for us. The…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:20
Where is he? Reuel reproaches his daughters with a want of politeness — even of gratitude. Why have they "left the man"? Why have they not invited him in? They must themselves remedy the omission — they must go and "cal…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:21-22
§ 2. Moses as husband and father. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham (Genesis 25:24); and marriage with them was permitted, even under the Law (Numbers 31:18). Moses, in wedding Zipporah, obeyed the primeval com…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:21
Moses was content to dwell with the man. Moses had fled from Egypt without any definite plan, simply to save his life, and had now to determine how he would obtain a subsistence. Received into Reuel's house, or tent, pl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:22
Gershom.1. The good man in this world is often lonely at heart.(1) When violence reigns unchecked. (2) When God's cause is in a depressed condition. (3) When repulsed in efforts to do good. (4) When severed from scenes…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:22
Life and its moods."He called his name Gershom," etc. (Exodus 2:22), compared with — "And the name of the other was Eliezer," etc. (Exodus 18:4). Note the isolation and misery of the earlier time, and the mercy of the l…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 2:23-25
EXPOSITION.