What does Exodus 2:13 mean?

Moses has intervened in the beating of a fellow Hebrew, killing the Egyptian oppressor (Exodus 2:11–12). The next day, two Jewish men are fighting for some unknown reason. Moses' question is important for both its contrast and its hypocrisy. Moses "struck down" his enemy (Exodus 2:12), yet questions another who similarly uses violence. In the following verse, the man being confronted will point out this contradiction.

There is at least one major difference between the two conflicts in this passage. Moses fought against an Egyptian who was beating a Jewish man. Particularly in the context of Egyptian oppression (Exodus 1:8–14), this was most likely not mutual combat. In this verse, one Jewish man is beating another Jewish man. Though this is apparently an unfair beating, it is a different scenario than what Moses encountered in the prior verse. However, Moses had indeed sought to correct injustice through violence the day before.

The motive for the Jewish men's conflict is unmentioned. The focus of this narrative is not on the reason for their fight, but rather that Moses had killed an Egyptian and his crime had become known to others (Exodus 2:14–15).