Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Exodus 2:11-15
Moses Has To Flee From Egypt (Exodus 2:11 b).
Moses would have been educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, being groomed for high office. Loyal relatives who had no pretensions to a claim to the throne were always a bonus to ancient kings. But the writer is not interested in that. What mattered was that Moses aligned himself with the people of God.
a When grown up Moses goes among his Hebrew brothers and sees an Egyptian taskmaster beating one of them severely (Exodus 2:11).
b Seeing no one around he kills the Egyptian and hides his body in the sand (Exodus 2:12).
c Next day he sees two Hebrews fighting fiercely and challenges the aggressor as to why he is doing it (Exodus 2:13).
c The aggressor lets him know that he knows about the murder and Moses is afraid because the thing was known (Exodus 2:14).
b When Pharaoh hears of the thing he seeks to have Moses executed (Exodus 2:15 a).
a Moses flees from the face of Pharaoh and dwells in the land of Midian (Exodus 2:15 b).
We note that in ‘a' Moses chooses to be with his Hebrew brothers and in the parallel has therefore to flee from Pharaoh's face for foreign parts (compare Hebrews 11:24). He had had to choose whose side he was on. In ‘b' he kills the Egyptian and in the parallel punishment is demanded for the killing. In ‘c' he challenges the aggressor and in the parallel the aggressor replies.
‘And it happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brothers, and he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man there, he smote the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.'
“When Moses was grown up.” What a large compass is contained in this verse. Moses' education from ‘the teacher of the children of the king', his tuition under some important court official (with the help of the priestly caste) which would probably include reading and writing, transcription of classical texts and civil and military administration, his experience of courtly affairs, his grounding in the faith of his fathers by his mother, until at last he was ‘grown up' and had reached manhood. But that he knew his background comes out in the incident here (his natural mother had probably made sure of that). And he goes out to visit his relatives. He saw them as his ‘brothers'. He deliberately aligned himself with the people of God.
And when he saw the burdens they had to bear, and especially some particularly vicious treatment from an Egyptian overseer, he could stand it no longer and, after making sure that there was no one about, slew the overseer. Then he disposed of the body in a sandy grave. The arrogance of his upbringing comes out here. He was not afraid to act (compare also 2:17-19), and he did not feel bound by the law. The beating must have been particularly severe for Moses to act as he did for he must have seen beatings often before. But it does bring out the oneness that he felt with his fellow-Hebrews. Son of Pharaoh he may be, but he loved his kinsfolk, and he loved the God of the Hebrews.
Was Moses wrong in what he did? If the beating might have led to the death of the Hebrew he was surely in the right. And we can well argue that it led to a necessary training in wilderness conditions which would stand him in good stead in the Exodus. On the other hand it might be seen as precipitating God's plans and, as a result, causing a long delay. It is again illustrative of God's sovereignty. Whether it was His ‘ideal purpose' for Moses at that time is another question. But that did not matter. God simply incorporated it in His sovereign plan.
‘And he went out the second day and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting together, and he said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you smite your fellow?” And he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you think to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” And Moses was afraid and said, “Surely the thing is known.” '
The following day he again went out among his fellow-kinsmen and he saw two Hebrews fighting together, a situation clearly caused by the particular viciousness of one of them. This concerned him for he felt that they should all work together in harmony, and he felt very much one of them. He thought that they should be looking out for each other. But he was learning the lesson that was to come home to him even more sharply later, that men are self-willed and selfish, and are generally out for what they can get. They did not want his interference.
When he tried to intervene he discovered that the most belligerent one was not grateful to him for the help he had given one of their fellows. Rather the culprit, who two days previously would probably have responded with submission to such an important man, had lost all fear of Moses because he felt that he now had a hold over him. He knew what Moses had done.
“Who made you a prince and a judge over us?” The answer, as the writer knew, and wants us to recognise, was ‘God', and a prince and judge over them Moses would later be, but he had much to go through before then. Meanwhile the questioner was rather being derisive. Another answer could have been, ‘Pharaoh'. But not when he had disobeyed Pharaoh and betrayed his trust. Once the truth was known he would no longer have the support and authority of Pharaoh. Let him recognise that he who had given him his authority also had authority over him and would call him to account. Or the man may simply have been saying, “Get lost. Who do you think you are? You have no authority over us. We are not your responsibility. And I have enough on you to get you into very serious trouble.”
“Surely the thing is known.” He realised that the man he had saved had probably told someone, and that others also may have seen what had happened. And he feared that the news would spread like wildfire. Many would be jealous of Moses and would not think well towards him, and they would be quite likely to tell others in authority who hated him. Thus he recognised that the news would pass from man to man until it reached the ears of Pharaoh.
‘Now when Pharaoh heard this thing he sought to slay Moses.'
As he might have expected the news inevitably filtered through to the Egyptians and then to Pharaoh himself. We can imagine what Pharaoh thought when he found that one of his princes had taken sides with the Hebrews against an Egyptian taskmaster. This was flagrant opposition to Pharaoh and could not be left unpunished, for if it was the Hebrews might be encouraged and rebellion might ensue. He might indeed have seen it as the first beginnings of a rebellion. Thus his only option was a quick and sharp response. The order went out for the arrest of Moses, with a view to his execution.
“He sought to slay Moses.” Compare 4:24 where Yahweh will outwardly seek the death of Moses, although the verb for killing is different. Pharaoh's was to be a legal execution for disloyalty and treason, Yahweh's an action because of a covenant breach. But both had in mind that Moses had ‘betrayed his trust'.
‘But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.'
Moses knew what was in store for him and that his only hope lay in escape. But he little realised that he was treading a path then that he would again tread many years later with responsibility for a large number of people. It was preparing him for what was to come. So he fled the country, taking a similar route to that which he would take later with the Israelites, and that taken by a man called Sinuhe whose life story we discover in Egyptian records. Indeed it was a route by which many were known to attempt their escape.
“Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian.” is there here a reflection of Genesis 4:16? ‘And Cain went out from before the face of Yahweh and dwelt in the land of Nod'. Both had committed murder, but has the writer in mind that while in the case of Cain he had become estranged from Yahweh, Moses had only become estranged from Pharaoh? Yet both would be a long time in the wilderness (Nod was the land of ‘wandering'), and both would find mercy of a kind. On the other hand Cain turned to city-building, while Moses found his way to the mountain of God. Therein lies the difference.
“Dwelt in the land of Midian.” The important thing was to go where he could not be found. Canaan was under Egyptian jurisdiction. But the Midianites, connected with Abraham through Keturah's son Midian, whose name they had taken, were a roving people and the wilderness was their home. Nor did they owe allegiance to Egypt. They lived to the south and east of Canaan in the semi-desert. They were not a people who would prove helpful to Pharaoh in his search, or among whom he could pursue enquiries with any hope of finding something out. The tribespeople would be inaccessible and uncommunicative, and besides, once he had disappeared Moses was probably not considered to be important enough to make too great a fuss over. No one would know where he had gone. Pharaoh could afford to wait until he surfaced.
The Midianites already used camels (Genesis 37:25) which they would later use extensively (Judges 6:5). They were split into a number of groups but could come together when the need arose or when it was of some benefit to them.