Exodus 3:1
in Exodus 3Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.
KJV
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
⋯
This verse in Exodus 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Jethro his father-in-law - Or “brother-in-law.” The word in the Hebrew is a word signifying relative by marriage. When Moses arrived in Midian, Reuel was an elderly man Exo 2:16; 40 years later (Exo 2:23 note), Reuel’s son, Jethro, had probably succeeded him. The backside - i. e. “to the west of the district.” Among the Hebrews the East is before a man, the west behind him, the south and north on the right and left hand. Desert - Or wilderness, not a barren waste, but a district supplying pasturage.
This site's exposition
Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law
Moses is keeping another man's sheep in Midian, and Acts 7:30 counts forty years passing there before this day. The text calls Horeb the mountain of God before anything has happened on it. Israel reaches the same mountain at 19:1, where it is called Sinai, and 17:6 puts the rock that gives water at Horeb as well, so one place carries the bush, the water and the law.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Moses in Egypt was held in great honor: Pharaoh's daughter called him her own son —yet rejecting this, he chose to be just a shepherd, living in hardship.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
That the Holy Spirit prompted such a move may be seen in Moses, whom the fire led "to the inner parts of the desert," where he received enlightenment. The inner parts are the form of wisdom; the enlightenment is mental ecstasy.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Even to Horeb - Horeb and Sinai were two tops of the same mountain. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him - It was an extraordinary manifestation of the divine glory; what was visible was produced by the ministry of an angel, but he heard God in it speaking to him.
Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian,.... Who was either the same with Reuel or Raguel, spoken of in the preceding chapter; or, as others think, a son of his, the father being now dead; seeing it was now forty years since Moses came into Midian, Act 7:
This was a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it, and thus learns meekness and contentment to a high degree, for which he is more celebrated in sacred writ than for all his other learning. In the calling to which we are called we should abide, and not be given to change.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Jethro his father-in-law - Concerning Jethro, see Clarke’s note on Exo 2:18. Learned men are not agreed on the signification of the word חתן chothen, which we translate father-in-law, and which in Gen 19:14, we translate son-in-law. It seems to be a general term for a relative by marriage, and the connection only in which it stands can determine its precise meaning. It is very possible that Reuel was now dead, it being forty years since Moses came to Midian; that Jethro was his son, and had succeeded him in his office of prince and priest of Midian; that Zipporah was the sister of Jethro; and that consequently the word חתן chothen should be translated brother-in-law in this place: as we learn from Gen 34:9, Deu 7:3, Jos 23:12, and other places, that it simply signifies to contract affinity by marriage. If this conjecture be right, we may well suppose that, Reuel being dead, Moses was continued by his brother-in-law Jethro in the same employment he had under his father. Mountain of God - Sometimes named Horeb, at other times Sinai. The mountain itself had two peaks; one was called Horeb, the other Sinai. Horeb was probably the primitive name of the mountain, which was afterwards called the mountain of God, because God appeared upon it to Moses; and Mount Sinai, סיני, from סנה seneh, a bush, because it was in a bush or bramble, in a flame of fire, that this appearance was made.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Moshe tended the sheep of his father-in-law Yisro, priest [ minister ] of Midian.
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. 3 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
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמֹשֶׁ֗ה | umosheh | and Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| הָיָ֥ה | hayah | he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| רֹעֶ֛ה | roeh | pasturing | H7462 → | 177 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צֹ֛אן | tzon | [the] flock of | H6629 → | 274 times |
| יִתְר֥וֹ | yitro | Jethro | H3503 → | 9 times |
| חֹתְנ֖וֹ | choteno | father-in-law his | H2859 → | 33 times |
| כֹּהֵ֣ן | kohen | [the] priest of | H3548 → | 750 times |
| מִדְיָ֑ן | midyan | Midian | H4080 → | 59 times |
| וַיִּנְהַ֤ג | vaiyinhag | and he drove | H5090 → | 31 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַצֹּאן֙ | hatzon | the flock | H6629 → | 274 times |
| אַחַ֣ר | ʾachar | behind | H310 → | 715 times |
| הַמִּדְבָּ֔ר | hamidbar | the wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וַיָּבֹ֛א | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַ֥ר | har | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| חֹרֵֽבָה׃ | chorevah | Horeb towards | H2722 → | 17 times |
וּמֹשֶׁ֗הand Moses
umoshehH4872 →765 times
הָיָ֥הhe was
hayahH1961 →3559 times
רֹעֶ֛הpasturing
roehH7462 →177 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צֹ֛אן[the] flock of
tzonH6629 →274 times
יִתְר֥וֹJethro
yitroH3503 →9 times
חֹתְנ֖וֹfather-in-law his
chotenoH2859 →33 times
כֹּהֵ֣ן[the] priest of
kohenH3548 →750 times
מִדְיָ֑ןMidian
midyanH4080 →59 times
וַיִּנְהַ֤גand he drove
vaiyinhagH5090 →31 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַצֹּאן֙the flock
hatzonH6629 →274 times
אַחַ֣רbehind
ʾacharH310 →715 times
הַמִּדְבָּ֔רthe wilderness
hamidbarH4057 →270 times
וַיָּבֹ֛אand he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַ֥ר[the] mountain of
harH2022 →546 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
חֹרֵֽבָה׃Horeb towards
chorevahH2722 →17 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
Exodus 17:6Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
- Numbers 20:9–11
So Moses took the staff from the LORD’s presence, just as he had been commanded.
- Nehemiah 9:15
In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to…
- Psalms 105:41
He opened a rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert.
- Deuteronomy 8:15
He led you through the vast and terrifying wilderness with its venomous snakes and scorpions, a thirsty and waterless land. He brought you water from the rock of flint.
- 1 Corinthians 10:4
Through
Numbers 10:29Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us,…
it leads to
- Genesis 12:7
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Exodus 2:18
When the daughters returned to their father Reuel, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
- Genesis 12:7
Through
Malachi 4:4“Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:10
The day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, “Gather the people before Me to hear My words, so that they may learn to fear Me all…
- Deuteronomy 4:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies9
On this verse
On this chapter
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); Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2; Ephrem the Syrian, HYMNS ON PARADISE 6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.