Exodus 2:15
New International Version
When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

New Living Translation
And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian. When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well.

English Standard Version
When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

New King James Version
When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

New American Standard Bible
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

NASB 1995
When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

NASB 1977
When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Pharaoh heard of this matter, so he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

Amplified Bible
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. Then Moses fled from Pharaoh’s presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Christian Standard Bible
When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

American Standard Version
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Pharaoh heard this account and he wanted to kill Moshe, and Moshe fled from before Pharaoh, and he went on to the land of Midian and sat down on a well.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Pharao heard this matter, and sought to slay Moses; and Moses departed from the presence of Pharao, and dwelt in the land of Madiam; and having come into the land of Madiam, he sat on the well.

Contemporary English Version
When the king heard what Moses had done, he wanted to kill him. But Moses escaped and went to the land of Midian. One day, when Moses was sitting by a well,

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Pharao heard of this word and sought to kill Moses: but he fled from his sight, and abode in the land of Madian, and he sat down by a well.

English Revised Version
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When Pharaoh heard what Moses had done, he tried to have him killed. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian. One day, while Moses was sitting by a well,

International Standard Version
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh, settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

Literal Standard Version
And Pharaoh hears of this thing, and seeks to slay Moses, and Moses flees from the face of Pharaoh, and dwells in the land of Midian, and dwells by the well.

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
When Pharaoh heard of the affair, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to the land of Midian. There he sat down by a well.

NET Bible
When Pharaoh heard about this event, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, and he settled by a certain well.

New Revised Standard Version
When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh. He settled in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

New Heart English Bible
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

World English Bible
Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.

Young's Literal Translation
And Pharaoh heareth of this thing, and seeketh to slay Moses, and Moses fleeth from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelleth in the land of Midian, and dwelleth by the well.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Moses Flees to Midian
15When 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. 16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.…

Cross References
Acts 7:29
At this remark, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he lived as a foreigner and had two sons.

Hebrews 11:27
By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

Genesis 24:11
As evening approached, he made the camels kneel down near the well outside the town at the time when the women went out to draw water.

Genesis 29:2
He looked and saw a well in the field, and near it lay three flocks of sheep, because the sheep were watered from this well. And a large stone covered the mouth of the well.

Exodus 4:19
Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead."


Treasury of Scripture

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelled in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well.

fled.

Exodus 4:19
And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.

Genesis 28:6,7
When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; …

1 Kings 19:1-3,13,14
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword…

Midian.

Genesis 25:2,4
And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah…

sat down.

Genesis 24:11
And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

Genesis 29:2
And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well's mouth.

John 4:6
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

Jump to Previous
Death Dwelleth Dwelt Face Fled Fleeth Flight Heard Heareth Kill Live Matter Midian Mid'ian Moses News Pharaoh Presence Sat Seat Seeketh Settled Slay Sought Tried Water-Spring
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Death Dwelleth Dwelt Face Fled Fleeth Flight Heard Heareth Kill Live Matter Midian Mid'ian Moses News Pharaoh Presence Sat Seat Seeketh Settled Slay Sought Tried Water-Spring
Exodus 2
1. Moses is born, and placed in a basket in the reeds of Nile.
5. He is found, and brought up by Pharaoh's daughter;
7. who employs his mother to nurse him.
11. He kills an Egyptian.
13. He reproves a Hebrew.
15. He flees into Midian, and marries Zipporah.
22. Gershom is born.
23. God respects the Israelites' cry.














(15) When Pharaoh heard . . . he sought to slay Moses.--Naturally. The administration of justice was one of the chief duties of the royal office; and the crime committed by Moses was one to be punished by death. There was nothing to reduce it from murder to manslaughter. And the motives which extenuate it in the eyes of moderns--patriotic zeal and hatred of oppression--would not have commanded the sympathies of a Pharaoh.

Moses fled.--Or, had fled. Moses would fly as soon as he found his act was known. He fled "at the saying" of the Israelite (Acts 7:29). When Pharaoh sought for him, he was gone.

Dwelt in the land of Midian--i.e., "Was led to make Midian his home," under circumstances about to be related. The Midian of this book seems to be the south-eastern portion of the Sinaitic peninsula, not the opposite Arabian coast, where were the main settlements of the nation.

Sat down by a well.--Rather, the well. There must have been one principal well in these parts, copious, and so generally resorted to. Moses fixed his temporary-abode in its neighbourhood.

Verse 15. - Pharaoh heard. If we have been right in supposing the Pharaoh of the original oppression to have been Seti I., the present Pharaoh, from whom Moses flies when he is "full forty years old" (Acts 7:23), and who does not die till Moses is near eighty, must be his son, the Great Rameses, Rameses II. This prince was associated by his father at the age of ten or twelve (Brugsch, 'History of Egypt,' vol. 2. pp. 24-5), and reigned sixty-seven years, as appears from his monuments. He is the only king of the New Empire whose real reign exceeded forty years, and thus the only monarch who fulfils the conditions required by the narrative of Exodus supplemented by St. Stephen's speech in the Acts. He sought to slay Moses. We need not understand from this expression that the Pharaoh's will was thwarted or opposed by anything but the sudden disappearance of Moses. As St. Stephen says (Acts 7:29), "Then fled Moses at this saying," i.e. at the mere words of the aggressor, "Writ thou slay me as thou didst the Egyptian?" Moses fled, knowing what he had to expect, quitted Egypt, went to Midian; and the Egyptian monarch "sought to slay him" too late. The land of Midian is a somewhat vague expression, for the Midianites were nomads, and at different times occupied distinct and even remote localities. Their principal settlements appear to have been on the eastern side of the Elanitic Gulf (Gulf of Akabah); but at times they extended northwards to the confines of Moab (Genesis 36:35; Numbers 22:4, 7, etc.), and westward into the Sinaitic peninsula, which appears to have been "the land of Midian whereto Moses fled (see below, Exodus 3:1). The Midianites are not expressly mentioned in the Egyptian inscriptions. They were probably included among the Mentu, with whom the Egyptians contended in the Sinaitic region, and from whom they took the copper district north-west of Sinai. And he sat down by a well. Rather "and he dwelt by the well." He took up his abode in the neighbourhood of the principal well belonging to the tract here called Midian. The tract was probably one of no great size, an offshoot of the greater Midian on the other side of the gulf. We cannot identify the well; but it was certainly not that near the town of Modiana, Ñ spoken of by Edrisi and Abulfeda, which was in Arabia Proper, on the east of the gulf.

CHAPTER 2:16-22

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
When Pharaoh
פַּרְעֹה֙ (par·‘ōh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6547: Pharaoh -- a title of Egypt kings

heard
וַיִּשְׁמַ֤ע (way·yiš·ma‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

about this matter,
הַזֶּ֔ה (haz·zeh)
Article | Pronoun - masculine singular
Strong's 2088: This, that

he sought
וַיְבַקֵּ֖שׁ (way·ḇaq·qêš)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1245: To search out, to strive after

to kill
לַהֲרֹ֣ג (la·hă·rōḡ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 2026: To smite with deadly intent

Moses.
מֹשֶׁ֑ה (mō·šeh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4872: Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver

But Moses
מֹשֶׁה֙ (mō·šeh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4872: Moses -- a great Israelite leader, prophet and lawgiver

fled
וַיִּבְרַ֤ח (way·yiḇ·raḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1272: To bolt, to flee suddenly

from
מִפְּנֵ֣י (mip·pə·nê)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

Pharaoh
פַרְעֹ֔ה (p̄ar·‘ōh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6547: Pharaoh -- a title of Egypt kings

and settled
וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב (way·yê·šeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

in the land
בְּאֶֽרֶץ־ (bə·’e·reṣ-)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of Midian,
מִדְיָ֖ן (miḏ·yān)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4080: Midian -- a son of Abraham and Keturah, also his descendants and the region where they settled

where he sat down
וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב (way·yê·šeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

beside
עַֽל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

a well.
הַבְּאֵֽר׃ (hab·bə·’êr)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 875: A pit, a well


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OT Law: Exodus 2:15 Now when Pharaoh heard this thing he (Exo. Ex)
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