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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Exodus 3:1

Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Horeb;   Jethro;   Moses;   Revelation;   Shepherd;   Scofield Reference Index - Israel;   Kingdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - Horeb, Mount;   Jethro;   Mountains;   Shepherds;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Deserts;   Midianites;   Mountains;   Sheep;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jethro;   Midianites;   Shepherd;   Sinai;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Moses;   Sheep;   Shepherd;   Sinai;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Aaron;   Jeremiah, Theology of;   Moses;   Priest, Priesthood;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Frugality;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Desert;   Horeb;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Desert;   Judges, the Book of;   Midian;   Priest;   Raguel;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Conversion;   God;   God of the Fathers;   Hobab;   Horeb;   Jethro;   Kenites;   Mount Sinai;   Mountain;   Prayer;   Reuel;   Shepherd;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Exodus;   Greek Versions of Ot;   High Place, Sanctuary;   Hobab;   Jethro;   Midian, Mtdianites;   Moses;   Prayer;   Sinai;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Communion (2);   Mount Mountain ;   Shepherd;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Fire;   Horeb ;   Jethro ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Jethro;   Mount horeb;   Rod;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Desert;   Horeb;   Jethro;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Desert;   Mo'ses;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Horeb;   Moses;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Exodus, the;   Tabernacle, the;   Priesthood, the;   On to Canaan;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Back;   Desert;   Exodus, the Book of;   Genesis;   Hobab;   Jethro;   Kenites;   Moses;   Prophecy;   Sinai;   Targum;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Elohist;   Groves and Sacred Trees;   High Place;   Jethro;   Kenites;   Midian and Midianites;   Midrashim, Smaller;   Moses;   Sinai, Mount;  

Devotionals:

- Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life - Devotion for September 4;   Every Day Light - Devotion for February 28;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Now Moshe was keeping the flock of Yitro, his father-in-law, the Kohen of Midyan, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horev.
King James Version
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.
Lexham English Bible
And Moses was a shepherd with the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west of the desert, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
New Century Version
One day Moses was taking care of Jethro's flock. (Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses' father-in-law.) When Moses led the flock to the west side of the desert, he came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
New English Translation
Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
Amplified Bible
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro (Reuel) his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Sinai), the mountain of God.
New American Standard Bible
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.
Geneva Bible (1587)
When Moses kept the sheepe of Iethro his father in lawe, Priest of Midian, & droue the flocke to the backe side of the desert, and came to the Mountaine of God, Horeb,
Legacy Standard Bible
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Contemporary English Version
One day, Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and Moses decided to lead them across the desert to Sinai, the holy mountain.
Complete Jewish Bible
(iv) Now Moshe was tending the sheep of Yitro his father-in-law, the priest of Midyan. Leading the flock to the far side of the desert, he came to the mountain of God, to Horev.
Darby Translation
And Moses tended the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God—to Horeb.
Easy-to-Read Version
Moses' father-in-law was named Jethro. Jethro was a priest of Midian. Moses took care of Jethro's sheep. One day Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He went to a mountain called Horeb, the mountain of God.
English Standard Version
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.
George Lamsa Translation
NOW Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the desert and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
Good News Translation
One day while Moses was taking care of the sheep and goats of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, he led the flock across the desert and came to Sinai, the holy mountain.
Christian Standard Bible®
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Literal Translation
And Moses was feeding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock behind the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Moses kepte the shepe of Iethro his father in lawe prest of Madian, & droue the shepe on the backsyde of the wyldernes, and came to the mountayne of God, Horeb.
American Standard Version
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.
Bible in Basic English
Now Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he took the flock to the back of the waste land and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Moyses kept the sheepe of Iethro his father in lawe, priest of Madian: and he droue the flocke to the backesyde of the desert, aud came to the mountayne of God Horeb.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the farthest end of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.
King James Version (1611)
Nowe Moses kept the flocke of Iethro his father in law, the Priest of Midian: and hee led the flocke to the backeside of the desert, and came to the mountaine of God, euen to Horeb.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Moses was feeding the flock of Jothor his father-in-law, the priest of Madiam; and he brought the sheep nigh to the wilderness, and came to the mount of Choreb.
English Revised Version
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb.
Berean Standard Bible
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe Moises kepte the scheep of Jetro, `his wyues fadir, preest of Madian; and whanne he hadde dryue the floc to the ynnere partis of deseert, he cam to Oreb, the hil of God.
Young's Literal Translation
And Moses hath been feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, priest of Midian, and he leadeth the flock behind the wilderness, and cometh in unto the mount of God, to Horeb;
Update Bible Version
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb.
Webster's Bible Translation
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.
World English Bible
Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb.
New King James Version
Exodus 6:2-7:7; 11:1-4; 12:35,36">[xr] 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.
New Living Translation
One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
New Life Bible
Now Moses was taking care of the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the religious leader of Midian. He led the flock to the west side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
New Revised Standard
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, Moses, was shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law priest of Midian, - so he led forth the flock behind the desert, and came in unto the mountain of God to Horeb.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Madian: and he drove the flock to the inner parts of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
Revised Standard Version
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Contextual Overview

1Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn't burn up. 3 Moses said, "What's going on here? I can't believe this! Amazing! Why doesn't the bush burn up?" 4 God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Yes? I'm right here!" 5 God said, "Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground." 6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2513, bc 1491

kept: Psalms 78:70-72, Amos 1:1, Amos 7:14, Amos 7:15, Matthew 4:18, Matthew 4:19, Luke 2:8

his father: Exodus 2:16, Exodus 2:21, Exodus 18:1-6, Numbers 10:29, Judges 4:11

the mountain: Exodus 3:5, Exodus 18:5, Exodus 19:3, Exodus 19:11, Exodus 24:15-17, 1 Kings 19:8

Horeb: Exodus 17:6, Deuteronomy 1:6, Deuteronomy 4:10, Psalms 106:19, Malachi 4:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 4:2 - And Abel Genesis 31:40 - General Genesis 46:32 - shepherds Exodus 2:18 - General Exodus 4:18 - Jethro Exodus 4:27 - the mount Exodus 19:2 - camped Numbers 10:33 - the mount Deuteronomy 26:7 - we cried Judges 1:16 - Moses' 1 Samuel 16:19 - with the sheep 1 Kings 19:19 - he with 1 Chronicles 17:7 - I took thee Isaiah 37:9 - Ethiopia Acts 7:30 - there Hebrews 1:1 - at 2 Peter 1:18 - the holy

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
Isaiah 27:1
At that time God will unsheathe his sword, his merciless, massive, mighty sword. He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees, the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight. He'll kill that old dragon that lives in the sea.
Matthew 10:16
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning you. You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
2 Corinthians 11:14
Pseudo-Servants of God Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ. It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely. But if you put up with these big-shot "apostles," why can't you put up with simple me? I'm as good as they are. It's true that I don't have their voice, haven't mastered that smooth eloquence that impresses you so much. But when I do open my mouth, I at least know what I'm talking about. We haven't kept anything back. We let you in on everything. I wonder, did I make a bad mistake in proclaiming God's Message to you without asking for something in return, serving you free of charge so that you wouldn't be inconvenienced by me? It turns out that the other churches paid my way so that you could have a free ride. Not once during the time I lived among you did anyone have to lift a finger to help me out. My needs were always supplied by the believers from Macedonia province. I was careful never to be a burden to you, and I never will be, you can count on it. With Christ as my witness, it's a point of honor with me, and I'm not going to keep it quiet just to protect you from what the neighbors will think. It's not that I don't love you; God knows I do. I'm just trying to keep things open and honest between us. And I'm not changing my position on this. I'd die before taking your money. I'm giving nobody grounds for lumping me in with those money-grubbing "preachers," vaunting themselves as something special. They're a sorry bunch—pseudo-apostles, lying preachers, crooked workers—posing as Christ's agents but sham to the core. And no wonder! Satan does it all the time, dressing up as a beautiful angel of light. So it shouldn't surprise us when his servants masquerade as servants of God. But they're not getting by with anything. They'll pay for it in the end. Let me come back to where I started—and don't hold it against me if I continue to sound a little foolish. Or if you'd rather, just accept that I am a fool and let me rant on a little. I didn't learn this kind of talk from Christ. Oh, no, it's a bad habit I picked up from the three-ring preachers that are so popular these days. Since you sit there in the judgment seat observing all these shenanigans, you can afford to humor an occasional fool who happens along. You have such admirable tolerance for impostors who rob your freedom, rip you off, steal you blind, put you down—even slap your face! I shouldn't admit it to you, but our stomachs aren't strong enough to tolerate that kind of stuff. Since you admire the egomaniacs of the pulpit so much (remember, this is your old friend, the fool, talking), let me try my hand at it. Do they brag of being Hebrews, Israelites, the pure race of Abraham? I'm their match. Are they servants of Christ? I can go them one better. (I can't believe I'm saying these things. It's crazy to talk this way! But I started, and I'm going to finish.) I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather. And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut. If I have to "brag" about myself, I'll brag about the humiliations that make me like Jesus. The eternal and blessed God and Father of our Master Jesus knows I'm not lying. Remember the time I was in Damascus and the governor of King Aretas posted guards at the city gates to arrest me? I crawled through a window in the wall, was let down in a basket, and had to run for my life.
1 Peter 3:7
The same goes for you husbands: Be good husbands to your wives. Honor them, delight in them. As women they lack some of your advantages. But in the new life of God's grace, you're equals. Treat your wives, then, as equals so your prayers don't run aground.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian,.... Who was either the same with Reuel or Raguel, spoken of in the preceding chapter; or, as others think, a son of his, the father being now dead; seeing it was now forty years since Moses came into Midian, Acts 7:30. Demetrius c, an Heathen writer, expressly says that Jothor a son of Raguel, and Zipporah or Sepphora, as he calls her, was his daughter, whom Moses married: now this was the business Moses was chiefly concerned in during his stay in Midian; keeping the sheep of his father-in-law, in which great personages have have employed, and who have afterwards been called to the kingly office, as David; and this was an emblem of his feeding and ruling the people of Israel, and in it he was an eminent type of Christ, the great shepherd and bishop of souls: no doubt there were other things besides this in which Moses exercised himself in this course of time, and improved himself in the knowledge of things, natural, civil, and religious, and which the more qualified him for the important work he was designed for: it is thought that in this interval he wrote the book of Genesis, and also the book of Job:

and he led the flock to the backside of the desert; of Sinai or Arabia, on the back part of which, it seems, were goodly pastures; and hither he led his flock to feed, which was about three days' journey from Egypt, Exodus 5:3 or rather into the desert d, for Horeb or Sinai was not behind the desert, but in it:

and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb; so called either because of the appearance of God at this time, after related, or because of his giving the law and making the covenant with the people of Israel there; and it should be observed that that transaction was past when Moses wrote this book. Hither he led the sheep, they delighting in mountains, hence sometimes mountainous places are called

οιοπολα, e, because sheep delight to feed upon them f.

c Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 29. p. 439. d אחר המדבר υπο την ερεμον, Sept. "in desertum", Syr. Samar, so Noldius, p. 11. No. 76. e Homer. Odyss. 11. prope finem. f Εν ουρεσι μαλα νομευων, Theocrit. Idyll. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Jethro 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; Exodus 40:0 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 a barren waste, but a district supplying pasturage. The district near Sherm, on the west of the gulf of Akabah, where Jethro may have resided, is described as barren and parched; on the west and east are rocky tracts, but to the northwest lies the district of Sinai, where the pasturage is good and water abundant. The Bedouins drive their flocks there from the lowlands at the approach of summer. From this it may be inferred that the events here recorded took place at that season.

To Horeb - More exactly, toward Horeb. Moses came to the mountain of God, i. e. Sinai, on his way toward Horeb, a name given to the northern part of the Sinaitic range. Moses calls Sinai “mountain of God” by anticipation, with reference to the manifestation of God. There is no authority for assuming that the spot was previously held sacred (see Exodus 5:5); but it has been lately shown that the whole Peninsula was regarded by the Egyptians as specially consecrated to the gods from a very early time.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III

Moses keeping the flock of Jethro at Mount Horeb, the angel of

the Lord appears to him in a burning bush, 1, 2.

Astonished at the sight, he turns aside to examine it, 3,

when God speaks to him out of the fire, and declares himself to

be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 4-6;

announces his purpose of delivering the Israelites from their

oppression, and of bringing them into the promised land, 7-9;

commissions him to go to Pharaoh, and to be leader of the

children of Israel from Egypt, 10.

Moses excuses himself, 11;

and God, to encourage him, promises him his protection, 12.

Moses doubts whether the Israelites will credit him, 13,

and God reveals to him his NAME, and informs him what he is to

say to the people, 14-17,

and instructs him and the elders of Israel to apply unto Pharaoh

for permission to go three days' journey into the wilderness, to

sacrifice unto the Lord, 18;

foretells the obstinacy of the Egyptian king, and the miracles

which he himself should work in the sight of the Egyptians, 19, 20;

and promises that, on the departure of the Israelites, the

Egyptians should be induced to furnish them with all necessaries

for their journey, 21, 22.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse Exodus 3:1. Jethro his father-in-law — Concerning Jethro, Exodus 2:18; 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 to Midian; that Jethro was his son, and had succeeded him in his office of prince and priest of Midian; that Zipporah was the sister of Jethro; and that consequently the word חתן chothen should be translated brother-in-law in this place: as we learn from Genesis 34:9, Deuteronomy 7:3, Joshua 23:12, and other places, that it simply signifies to contract affinity by marriage. If this conjecture be right, we may well suppose that, Reuel being dead, Moses was continued by his brother-in-law Jethro in the same employment he had under his father.

Mountain of God — Sometimes named Horeb, at other times Sinai. The mountain itself had two peaks; one was called Horeb, the other Sinai. Horeb was probably the primitive name of the mountain, which was afterwards called the mountain of God, because God appeared upon it to Moses; and Mount Sinai, סיני, from סנה seneh, a bush, because it was in a bush or bramble, in a flame of fire, that this appearance was made.


 
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