Moses Falls Among Friends in Midian (Exodus 2:15-20).
Moses' position was precarious. But God had not forsaken him. And he would soon raise him to a position where he could prepare for his (as yet unknown to Moses) future.
a Moses sits down by a well (Exodus 2:15 c).
b The seven daughters of the priest of Midian come and draw water at the well, drawing water and filling the troughs to water their father's flock (Exodus 2:1 a).
c Shepherds come and drive them away (Exodus 2:17 a).
c Moses stands up and helps them against the shepherds and waters their flock (Exodus 2:17 b).
b The daughters return home and when questioned explain about the Egyptian who helped them against the shepherds and drew water and watered the flock (Exodus 2:18-19).
a Their father tells them to call Moses that he might receive hospitality (Exodus 2:20).
We note in the parallels how in ‘a' Moses comes to the well for refreshment and in the parallel receives abundant hospitality. In ‘b' the daughters come to water their flock and in the parallel explain how their flock was watered. In ‘c' shepherds came to drive them away and in the parallel Moses drives the shepherds away.
“And he sat down by a well.”
For a while Moses made his home there in the Sinai peninsula as a solitary, living as he could, although we do not know whether it was for but a few days, or whether it was for longer. But then something happened which was to change his fortunes yet again. He sat down by a spring, no doubt because he was thirsty, and possibly because he hoped to meet people who might be willing to help him and provide him with work and food. The needs of the desert produce their own friendships, and a well was the place to meet people (compare John 4).
‘And the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away. But Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock.'
When the seven daughters of the priest of Midian arrived at the well they went through the same routine as they did every day. They tried to water their sheep before others arrived. But once they had filled the stone troughs male shepherds arrived and forced them to give way. And the young women had to stand by. They could do nothing about it. They had to watch in frustration while the water they had drawn was being utilised by others. It was not the first time. They thought that it was to be just another day of submissive waiting. But then to their surprise the young Egyptian who was standing by, well armed and clearly capable of looking after himself, stood up and defended them and enabled them to water their flocks straightaway, assisting them in their task.
Moses was a young man at the height of his manhood, and would feel no fear in dealing with bullies, any more than he had when dealing with the taskmaster. He had not yet learned what it was to be afraid of men. And the shepherds would see by his clothes that he was an influential Egyptian, possibly even a prince. They would recognise that to offend him might bring the wrath of Egypt on their heads. And besides he might have soldiers nearby. They would be very hesitant in their dealings with him.
“The priest of Midian.” We do not know what this entailed. As priest he may have been like Samuel, the priest of a central sanctuary, or he may just have been priest of his own family group or clan. In view of the mention of the title the former is more probable. The aim is to show that they were related to an important man.
“Seven daughters.” In the fact that there were seven the writer no doubt had in mind God's perfect provision for Moses through their good offices, and that they provided a suitable God-given source for a future wife of Moses.
‘And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that you have come back so soon today?” And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hands of the shepherds, and moreover he actually drew water for us and watered the flock.” And he said to his daughters, “And where is he? Why is it that you left the man? Call him so that he may eat food with us.”
The daughters returned to their camp where their ‘father' Reuel (also named Jethro - Exodus 3:1; Exodus 4:18) was waiting, and they were so early that it caused their father to comment. But when he heard the reason for their early return he was concerned that they had not extended to the Egyptian the courtesy that was due to him. So he told them to fetch Moses so that they could extend hospitality to him in recognition of his help and friendship.
Again we find a man with a dual name. This appears to have been fairly commonplace at the time, occurring when men had had a special experience of God or had been given leadership. ‘Reuel' means ‘a friend of God.' And that was what he proved to be that day. This may have been the name given to him when he became ‘the priest of Midian', used here rather than his personal name Jethro because Moses was being officially welcomed. (But some see the name Jethro as meaning ‘pre-eminence'. Thus the converse may apply) He had a son called Hobab (Numbers 10:29) who is elsewhere called an ‘in-law' of Moses and a Kenite (Judges 4:11 see also Judges 1:16). Reuel and Jethro are significantly never specifically called Kenites, so Hobab's connection with the Kenites may have been through marriage or assimilation.
(On the other hand it may be that Reuel was only their ‘father' in the sense that he was the head of the family tribe (compare Genesis 29:5 where Nahor is head of the family tribe, not Laban's father), with Jethro his son, ‘the priest of Midian', as their actual father, who was later renamed Hobab, possibly when he finally joined up with the children of Israel (Numbers 10:29-32). If so this would help to explain why Reuel's name is not given in Exodus 2:16).