Exodus 3:1

Exodus 3:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
• New International Version (NIV)Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Context of Exodus 3:1

Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not being consumed. 3So Moses said, “I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burning up!”

Exodus 3:1 word by word

וּמֹשֶׁ֗ה הָיָ֥ה רֹעֶ֛ה אֶת־צֹ֛אן יִתְר֥וֹ חֹתְנ֖וֹ כֹּהֵ֣ן מִדְיָ֑ן וַיִּנְהַ֤ג אֶת־הַצֹּאן֙ אַחַ֣ר הַמִּדְבָּ֔ר וַיָּבֹ֛א אֶל־הַ֥ר הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים חֹרֵֽבָה׃Read the interlinear

• Now Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• was pasturingרָעָהrâ‛âh · to pastureH7462
• the flockצֹאןtsô'n tse'ôn · flockH6629
• Jethroיִתְרוֹyithrô · JethroH3503
• the priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• of Midianמִדְיָןmidyân · MidianH4080
• and he ledנָהַגnâhag · to leadH5090
• westאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• of the wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
• and cameבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• Horebחֹרֵבchôrêb · HorebH2722
• mountainהַרhar · mountain: mountH2022
• of Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430

Cross-references for Exodus 3:1

• Psalms 78:70He also chose His servant David And took him from the sheepfolds;
• Amos 1:1The words of Amos, who was among the sheepherders from Tekoa, which he saw in visions concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
• Amos 7:14Then Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet, nor am I the son of a prophet; for I am a herdsman and a grower of sycamore figs.
• Matthew 4:18Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
• Luke 2:8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night.
• Exodus 2:16Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
• Exodus 18:1Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about everything that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.
• Numbers 10:29Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.”
• Judges 4:11Now Heber the Kenite had separated himself from the Kenites, from the sons of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
• Exodus 3:5Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
• Exodus 18:5Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was camped, at the mountain of God.
• Exodus 19:3And Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:
• Exodus 24:15Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.
• 1 Kings 19:8So he arose and ate and drank, and he journeyed in the strength of that food for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• Exodus 17:6Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
• Deuteronomy 1:6“The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

Commentaries on Exodus 3:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Jethro his father-in-law - Concerning Jethro, see Clarke's note on Exodus 2:18. Learned men are not agreed on the signification of the word חתן chothen, which we translate father-in-law, and which in Genesis 19:14, we translate son-in-law. It seems to be a general term for a relative by marriage, and the connection only in which it stands can determine its precise meaning. It is very possible that Reuel was now dead, it being forty years since Moses came…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Jethro his father-in-law - Or “brother-in-law.” The word in the Hebrew is a word signifying relative by marriage. When Moses arrived in Midian, Reuel was an elderly man Exodus 2:16; 40 years later (Exodus 2:23 note), Reuel‘s son, Jethro, had probably succeeded him. The backside - i. e. “to the west of the district.” Among the Hebrews the East is before a man, the west behind him, the south and north on the right and left hand. Desert - Or wilderness, not…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1God appears to Moses in a burning bush. (1-6) God sends Moses to deliver Israel. (7-10) The name Jehovah. (11-15) The deliverance of the Israelites promised. (16-22) Verses 1-6 The years of the life of Moses are divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second as a shepherd in Midian, the third as a king in Jeshurun. How changeable is the life of man! The first appearance of God to Moses, found him tending…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Sinai is the name commonly used for the mountain where God revealed himself in the covenant (see, for example, 16:1; 19:1–2). Here and in 17:6 and 33:6, the Hebrew text uses the name Horeb. Both names probably refer to the same mountain.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-221. Now Moses kept the flock--This employment he had entered on in furtherance of his matrimonial views (see on Ex 2:21), but it is probable he was continuing his service now on other terms like Jacob during the latter years of his stay with Laban (Ge 30:28). he led the flock to the backside of the desert--that is, on the west of the desert [Gesenius], assuming Jethro's headquarters to have been at Dahab. The route by which Moses led his flock must have…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 3:1

• Horeb
• Jethro
• Moses
• Revelation
• Shepherd

In the dictionaries

• God
• Horeb
• Jethro
• Midian
• Moses
• Midian; Midianites
• Jethro, Reuel
• Midian, Midianite
• Sinai, Horeb
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry

Commentaries on Exodus 3

• 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