Catholic Commentary on Exodus 2

"God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob." (Exodus 2:24)

The Birth of Moses

A man from the tribe of Levi marries a Levite woman, who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy. She sees that he is fine, hides him for three months, then puts him in a papyrus basket coated with tar and pitch and places it among the reeds by the Nile. His sister watches from a distance. Pharaoh's daughter comes down to bathe and finds the basket. She sees the baby crying and feels sorry for him: this is one of the Hebrew babies. The boy's sister offers to find a Hebrew woman to nurse him, and brings his own mother. Pharaoh's daughter adopts him and names him Moses, drawn out of the water. The one condemned to the Nile is drawn out of it by Pharaoh's own daughter, and raised in the palace that condemned him.

Moses grows up and sees the hard labour of his people. He kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew. The next day he tries to intervene in a dispute between two Hebrews: who made you ruler and judge over us? He fears his killing has been discovered, and Pharaoh seeks to kill him. He flees to Midian. He marries Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite priest, and has a son whom he names Gershom: I have become a stranger in a strange land. The king of Egypt dies. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. He saw the Israelites and was concerned about them. The Exodus has not yet begun, but God has remembered. That is enough to set everything in motion.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, God heard their groaning. The cry of those who are suffering enters the ears of God. He does not need to be informed; he is already concerned. But the verse tells us something important: the groaning matters. The prayer of those in oppression is not wasted. It reaches God. It triggers the divine remembrance of the covenant. Pray your groan. It is received.

Prayer

Lord God, you heard the groaning of your people in Egypt and remembered your covenant. Hear the groanings of your people today, wherever they suffer under any Pharaoh. Remember your covenant. Be concerned about them as you were concerned about Israel, and raise up your deliverer. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

2
The Birth and Adoption of Moses
(Acts 7:20–22; Hebrews 11:23)
1 Now a man of the house of Levi married a daughter of Levi, 2 and she conceived and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him for three months.
 
3 But when she could no longer hide him, she got him a papyrus basket * 2:3 The Hebrew can also mean ark; also in verse 5; see Genesis 6:14. and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in the basket and set it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 And his sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.
 
5 Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it. 6 When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the little boy was crying. So she had compassion on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew children.”
 
7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call one of the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”
 
8 “Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.
 
9 Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him.
 
10 When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses † 2:10 Moses sounds like a Hebrew term that means to lift out. and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”
The Rejection and Flight of Moses
(Acts 7:23–29)
 
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people ‡ 2:11 Or his brothers and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
 
13 The next day Moses went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your companion?”
 
14 But the man replied, “Who made you ruler and judge over us?§ 2:14 Cited in Acts 7:27 and Acts 7:35 Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?* 2:14 LXX Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? Cited in Acts 7:28”
 
Then Moses was afraid and thought, “This thing I have done has surely become known.”
 
15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.
 
16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. 17 And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.
 
18 When the daughters returned to their father Reuel,† 2:18 Reuel was also called Jethro; see Exodus 3:1. he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?”
 
19 “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds,” they replied. “He even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
 
20 “So where is he?” their father asked. “Why did you leave the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat.”
 
21 Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22 And she gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,‡ 2:22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for foreigner. saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.”
God Hears the Cry of the Israelites
 
23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
 
24 So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God saw the Israelites and took notice.

*2:3 2:3 The Hebrew can also mean ark; also in verse 5; see Genesis 6:14.

†2:10 2:10 Moses sounds like a Hebrew term that means to lift out.

‡2:11 2:11 Or his brothers

§2:14 2:14 Cited in Acts 7:27 and Acts 7:35

*2:14 2:14 LXX Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday? Cited in Acts 7:28

†2:18 2:18 Reuel was also called Jethro; see Exodus 3:1.

‡2:22 2:22 Gershom sounds like the Hebrew for foreigner.

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