Exodus 2:13 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, "Why do you strike your companion?"

NIV: The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"

NASB: Now he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, 'Why are you striking your companion?'

CSB: The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you attacking your neighbor?"

NLT: The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. 'Why are you beating up your friend?' Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

KJV: And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow?

NKJV: And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?”

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).

Exodus 2:11–22 describes how Moses went from his position as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess to being an exiled shepherd living in Midian. As an adult, Moses defends a fellow Jew by killing an Egyptian aggressor. Moses' attempt to hide the act fails and he is forced to flee Egypt. In Midian, Moses heroically defends a group of shepherd girls and is welcomed into their family. This establishes the backdrop of Moses' life for one of God's most dramatic encounters with man: the burning bush.

Amid an order from Pharaoh to murder newborn Hebrew boys, Moses' mother places him in a basket along the side of the river, staging her daughter there to observe. The Egyptian king's daughter sees the baby and has pity. Thanks to the presence of Moses' sister, the princess pays Moses' own mother to wean him. After this, he is raised in the home of Egypt's royal family. As an adult, Moses unsuccessfully attempts to hide his murder of an abusive Egyptian and flees to Midian as an exile. As Moses builds a family abroad, Israel cries out to God for rescue from the brutality of Egyptian slavery.

Exodus chapter 2 introduces the character of Moses, after describing the plight of Israel under Egyptian slavery. This passage provides a few interesting ironies. Primarily, the Egyptian king attempts to oppress Israel through infanticide; this very command leads to his own daughter adopting a Hebrew boy—Moses. Because of the intervention of the boy's sister, his own mother is paid to nurse and wean him. Then the Egyptian woman provides the Hebrew boy with support and education, essentially raising the future liberator of the very people her father seeks to control. After chapter 2 establishes Moses' exile from Egypt, chapter 3 will begin narrating his call to lead the nation of Israel out of captivity under the Pharaoh.

The book of Exodus establishes God's covenant relationship with the full-fledged nation of Israel. The descendants of Abraham prosper after settling in Egypt, only to be enslaved by a fearful, hateful Egyptian Pharaoh. God appoints Moses to lead the people out of this bondage. Moses serves as God's spokesman, as the Lord brings plagues and judgments on Egypt, leading to the release of Israel.