New English Translation
Exodus 2:21
21Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
Exodus 2:21 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.
- New International Version (NIV)Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.
Context of Exodus 2:21
19They said, “An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds, and he actually drew water for us and watered the flock!” 20He said to his daughters, “So where is he? Why in the world did you leave the man? Call him, so that he may eat a meal with us.” Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. 22When she bore a son, Moses named him Gershom, for he said, “I have become a resident foreigner in a foreign land.” 23During that long period of time the king of Egypt died, and the Israelites groaned because of the slave labor. They cried out, and their desperate cry because of their slave labor went up to God.
Read all of Exodus 2Exodus 2:21 word by word
וַיּ֥וֹאֶל מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָשֶׁ֣בֶת אֶת־הָאִ֑ישׁ וַיִּתֵּ֛ן אֶת־צִפֹּרָ֥ה בִתּ֖וֹ לְמֹשֶֽׁה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 2:21
- Exodus 2:10When the child grew older she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “Because I drew him from the water.”
- Genesis 31:38“I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
- Philippians 4:11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content in any circumstance.
- 1 Timothy 6:6Now godliness combined with contentment brings great profit.
- Hebrews 11:25choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.
- Hebrews 13:5Your conduct must be free from the love of money and you must be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.”
- James 1:10But the rich person’s pride should be in his humiliation, because he will pass away like a wildflower in the meadow.
- Exodus 4:20Then Moses took his wife and sons and put them on a donkey and headed back to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.
- Exodus 18:2Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back,
- Numbers 12:1Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman).
Commentaries on Exodus 2:21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 21Zipporah his daughter - Abul Farajius calls her "Saphura the black, daughter of Rewel the Midianite, the son of Dedan, the son of Abraham by his wife Keturah." The Targum calls her the granddaughter of Reuel. It appears that Moses obtained Zipporah something in the same way that Jacob obtained Rachel; namely, for the performance of certain Services, probably keeping of sheep: see Exodus 3:1.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 21Moses tells us nothing of what he may have learned from his father-in-law, but he must have found in him a man conversant with the traditions of the family of Abraham; nor is there any improbability in the supposition that, as hereditary priest, Reuel may have possessed written documents concerning their common ancestors.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. 16-25This passage shows the concern Moses felt for the oppressed. It describes his move to a new land (2:18–22). He married, had a child, and lived there for 40 years (Acts 7:30). From a human perspective, rescuing the Israelites through Moses seemed impossible. But what God's perspective is what matters. The end of this section tells us that God had not forgotten his people (Exodus 2:23–25). He was only waiting for the right time to act (2:25).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 2:21
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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