Exodus 2:11
in Exodus 2One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
KJV
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren.
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This verse in Exodus 2
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Went out unto his brethren - At the end of 40 years. The Egyptian princess had not concealed from him the fact of his belonging to the oppressed race, nor is it likely that she had debarred him from contact with his foster-mother and her family, whether or not she became aware of the true relationship. An Egyptian - This man was probably one of the overseers of the workmen, natives under the chief superintendent Exo 1:11. They were armed with long heavy scourges, made of a tough pliant wood imported from Syria.
This site's exposition
in those days, when Moses was grown
on Exodus 2:11-12
Moses goes out to his brethren and looks on their burdens, and his first recorded act as a grown man is to defend someone who cannot defend himself. Acts 7:23 puts his age at forty and Acts 7:25 says he supposed his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand. He looks this way and that way before he strikes, and readers have long divided over the act, with Stephen at Acts 7:24 reporting it as the avenging of a man oppressed and Matthew Henry faulting the manner of it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening5 voices
When Moses was grown he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens - He looked on their burdens as one that not only pitied them, but was resolved to venture with them, and for them.
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown,....
His taking care to execute this justice privately, when no man saw, was a piece of needful prudence and caution, it being but an assay; and perhaps his faith was as yet weak, and what he did was with some hesitation. Those who come to be of great faith, yet began with a little, and at first spoke tremblingly.
(4.) God had a respect unto them, a favourable respect to them as his own. The frequent repetition of the name of God here intimates that now we are to expect something great, Opus Deo dignum--A work worthy of God. His eyes, which run to and fro through the earth, are now fixed upon Israel, to show himself strong, to show himself a God in their behalf.
The temptation was indeed very strong. He had a fair opportunity (as we say) to make his fortune, and to have been serviceable to Israel too, with his interest at court. He was obliged, in gratitude as well as interest, to Pharaoh's daughter, and yet he obtained a glorious victory by faith over his temptation.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
in those days, when Moses was grown--not in age and stature only, but in power as well as in renown for accomplishments and military prowess (Ac 7:22).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
When Moses was grown - Being full forty years of age, as St. Stephen says, Act 7:23, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, i.e., he was excited to it by a Divine inspiration; and seeing one of them suffer wrong, by an Egyptian smiting him, probably one of the task-masters, he avenged him and smote - slew, the Egyptian, supposing that God who had given him commission, had given also his brethren to understand that they were to be delivered by his hand; see Act 7:23-25. Probably the Egyptian killed the Hebrew, and therefore on the Noahic precept Moses was justified in killing him; and he was authorized so to do by the commission which he had received from God, as all succeeding events amply prove. Previously to the mission of Moses to deliver the Israelites, Josephus says, “The Ethiopians having made an irruption into Egypt, and subdued a great part of it, a Divine oracle advised them to employ Moses the Hebrew. On this the king of Egypt made him general of the Egyptian forces; with these he attacked the Ethiopians, defeated and drove them back into their own land, and forced them to take refuge in the city of Saba, where he besieged them. Tharbis, daughter of the Ethiopian king, seeing him, fell desperately in love with him, and promised to give up the city to him on condition that he would take her to wife, to which Moses agreed, and the city was put into the hands of the Egyptians.” - Jos. Ant. lib. ii., chap. 9. St. Stephen probably alluded to something of this kind when he said Moses was mighty in deeds as well as words.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
This is to be understood that he grew to manhood. It has already been said, And the child grew, 80 Verse. which means that it was no longer necessary to wean him, and then the mother.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֣י׀ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַּיָּמִ֣ים | baiyamim | in the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָהֵ֗ם | hahem | <the> those | H1992 → | 553 times |
| וַיִּגְדַּ֤ל | vaiyigdal | and he grew up | H1431 → | |
| מֹשֶׁה֙ | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַיֵּצֵ֣א | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶחָ֔יו | ʾechav | brothers his | H251 → | 630 times |
| וַיַּ֖רְא | vaiyar' | and he looked | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם | besivlotam | on forced labor their | H5450 → | 6 times |
| וַיַּרְא֙ | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מִצְרִ֔י | mitzri | Egyptian | H4713 → | 70 times |
| מַכֶּ֥ה | makeh | striking | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אִישׁ־ | ʾish- | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| עִבְרִ֖י | ʾivri | Hebrew | H5680 → | 34 times |
| מֵאֶחָֽיו׃ | meechav | one of brothers his | H251 → | 630 times |
וַיְהִ֣י׀and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בַּיָּמִ֣יםin the days
baiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הָהֵ֗ם<the> those
hahemH1992 →553 times
וַיִּגְדַּ֤לand he grew up
vaiyigdalH1431 →
מֹשֶׁה֙Moses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַיֵּצֵ֣אand he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֶחָ֔יוbrothers his
ʾechavH251 →630 times
וַיַּ֖רְאand he looked
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑םon forced labor their
besivlotamH5450 →6 times
וַיַּרְא֙and he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
אִ֣ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
מִצְרִ֔יEgyptian
mitzriH4713 →70 times
מַכֶּ֥הstriking
makehH5221 →499 times
אִישׁ־a man
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
עִבְרִ֖יHebrew
ʾivriH5680 →34 times
מֵאֶחָֽיו׃one of brothers his
meechavH251 →630 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 4:18“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight…
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty…
- Matthew 11:5
The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- Psalms 146:7–8
He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free,
- Isaiah 61:1
Through
Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
- John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
- John 6:37
Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.
- Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Isaiah 55:1–3
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
- Matthew 11:29
Where this verse is studied
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.