Exodus 2:16

World English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷ The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸ When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, "How is it that you have returned so early today?" ¹⁹ They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock." ²⁰ He said to his daughters, "Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." ²¹ Moses was content to dwell with the man. He gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter. ²² She bore a son, and he named him Gershom, for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the priest: or, prince, Exodus 3:1, Genesis 14:18, Genesis 41:45, *marg.

they came: Genesis 24:11, Genesis 24:14-20, Genesis 29:6-10, 1 Samuel 9:11

Reciprocal: Genesis 21:25 - servants Genesis 24:13 - daughters Genesis 24:15 - pitcher Genesis 25:2 - Midian Genesis 29:2 - a well Genesis 29:9 - Rachel Genesis 37:28 - Midianites Exodus 18:1 - Jethro Numbers 12:1 - Ethiopian Numbers 31:2 - the Midianites 2 Samuel 20:26 - chief ruler 1 Chronicles 1:32 - Midian Proverbs 31:13 - worketh

Cross-References

Genesis 2:1
The heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Genesis 2:2
On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

1 Samuel 15:22
Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

1 Timothy 4:4
For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving.

1 Timothy 6:17
Charge those who are rich in this present world, that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters,.... Who being a descendant of Abraham might have retained the knowledge of the true God, and might be a priest of his, as Melchizedek was, or otherwise it may be thought improbable that Moses would have married his daughter, as he afterwards did; and so Aben Ezra says, he was a priest of God; though the word is sometimes used of a prince, ruler, and governor; and is so rendered here by the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; and Artapanus r, an Heathen writer, expressly calls him αρχων, a "prince" of those places, that is, of Arabia; he might be both prince and priest, as Melchizedek before mentioned was, and as has been the usage of many countries:

and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock; which is no contradiction to their being daughters either of a priest or a prince, which were both high titles and characters; since it was usual in those early times, and in those countries, for the sons and daughters of considerable persons to be employed in such services; :-.

r Ut supra, (Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27.) p. 434.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Priest of Midian - Reuel Exodus 2:18. His name, and the detailed notices in Exodus 18:0, prove that he was a priest of the one true God who was known to the patriarchs especially under the name El. The great bulk of his tribe, certainly those who lived farther north and more closely in contact with the Hamites of Canaan, were already plunged in idolatry. The conduct of the shepherds Exodus 2:17 may indicate that his person and office were lightly regarded by the idolatrous tribes in his immediate neighborhood.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 2:16. The priest of Midian — Or prince, or both; for the original כהן cohen has both meanings. See it explained at large, Genesis 15:18. The transaction here very nearly resembles that mentioned Genesis 29:0. concerning Jacob and Rachel; see the notes there.