Exodus 2:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He said to his daughters, "Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread."

NIV: "And where is he?" Reuel asked his daughters. "Why did you leave him? Invite him to have something to eat."

NASB: So he said to his daughters, 'Where is he then? Why is it that you have left the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.'

CSB: "So where is he?" he asked his daughters. "Why then did you leave the man behind? Invite him to eat dinner."

NLT: Then where is he?' their father asked. 'Why did you leave him there? Invite him to come and eat with us.'

KJV: And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread.

NKJV: So he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”

Reuel asks his daughters two questions regarding Moses (Exodus 2:16–17). First, Reuel sought to honor or reward Moses for his action, and so he wants to meet him face to face. Second, he asks, why Moses has not been brought back to be properly thanked (Exodus 2:18–19). In Reuel's mind, this man should have been brought home for a meeting and to receive hospitality from his family. Reuel then commands his daughters to call Moses and offer him a meal. This kind response again foreshadows God's provision to the Jewish people in the wilderness. God would work through Moses to provide bread in the form of manna for forty years in the desert for His people.

In addition, the desire to show hospitality to Moses would result in much more than a meal. Moses would become part of Reuel's family, both through marriage and mission (Exodus 2:21). Moses would become a shepherd in the family, leading a flock on their behalf. This period of training would both foreshadow his future activity as shepherd of the Jewish people and prepare him for the positive and negative aspects of leading a "flock" of people through the desert for forty years (Exodus 12:41; Numbers 14:33).

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.