English Standard Version
Exodus 2:17
17The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.
Exodus 2:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the shepherds came and drove them away: but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
- New International Version (NIV)Some shepherds came along and drove them away, but Moses got up and came to their rescue and watered their flock.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.
- New Living Translation (NLT)But some other shepherds came and chased them away. So Moses jumped up and rescued the girls from the shepherds. Then he drew water for their flocks.
Context of Exodus 2:17
15When 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. 16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come home so soon today?" 19They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock."
Read all of Exodus 2Exodus 2:17 word by word
וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ הָרֹעִ֖ים וַיְגָרְשׁ֑וּם וַיָּ֤קָם מֹשֶׁה֙ וַיּ֣וֹשִׁעָ֔ן וַיַּ֖שְׁקְ אֶת־צֹאנָֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And the shepherdsרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
- cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- and drove them awayגָּרַשׁgârash · to drive out: drive outH1644
- but Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- stood upקוּםqûm · to arise: riseH6965
- and helpedיָשַׁעyâsha‛ · to saveH3467
- them, and wateredשָׁקָהshâqâh · to water: wateringH8248
- their flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
Cross-references for Exodus 2:17
- Genesis 21:25When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized,
- Genesis 26:15(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.)
- Exodus 2:12He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
- Genesis 29:10Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.
Commentaries on Exodus 2:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17The shepherds - drove them - The verb יגרשים yegareshum, being in the masculine gender, seems to imply that the shepherds drove away the flocks of Reuel's daughters, and not the daughters themselves. The fact seems to be, that, as the daughters of Reuel filled the troughs and brought their flocks to drink, the shepherds drove those away, and, profiting by the young women's labor, watered their own cattle. Moses resisted this insolence, and assisted them…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 Moses found shelter in Midian. He was ready to help Reuel's daughters to water their flocks, although bred in learning and at court. Moses loved to be doing justice, and to act in defence of such as he saw injured, which every man ought to do, as far as it is in his power. He loved to be doing good; wherever the providence of God casts us, we should desire and try to be useful; and when we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17rose up to help: Moses, now in a foreign land, still could not ignore oppression. He was, by nature, a rescuer.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 16-2216-22. the priest of Midian--or, "prince of Midian." As the officers were usually conjoined, he was the ruler also of the people called Cushites or Ethiopians, and like many other chiefs of pastoral people in that early age, he still retained the faith and worship of the true God. seven daughters--were shepherdesses to whom Moses was favorably introduced by an act of courtesy and courage in protecting them from the rude shepherds of some neighboring tribe…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 2:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries