Exodus 2:18

_NOW THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN HAD SEVEN DAUGHTERS: AND THEY CAME AND DREW WATER, AND FILLED THE TROUGHS TO WATER THEIR FATHER'S FLOCK._ Now the priest of Midian - as the offices 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 favourably introduced by an act of courtesy and courage in protecting them from the rude shepherds of some neighbouring tribe at the well. Verse 18. REUEL THEIR FATHER - or Raguel (Numbers 10:29) [Septuagint, Ragoueel, in both places]. This is supposed to be his proper name, while Jethro (Exodus 3:1) was a title of official dignity

18._And when they came to Reuel _(31) I do not think any blame attaches to the daughters of _Bethuel _for not offering hospitality to Moses, because young women should be modest, and it would have been an act of too great forwardness to invite an unknown foreigner, without acquainting their father. But God inspires the heart of their father with gratitude, so that he desires him to be sent for. Moses, therefore, is brought from the well, and finds a home in which he may live comfortably, and is treated with kindness on account of his matrimonial alliance. And certainly there was need of some alleviation for his manifold cares and sorrows; since it was a hard trial, which would not only pain him greatly, but would have altogether overwhelmed him in despair unless the holy man had been supported in some way in enduring his forty years’ exile. We may easily conjecture from our own feelings...

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 the good we can. Moses commended himself to the prince of Midian; who married one of his daughters to Moses, by whom he had a son, called Gershom, "a stranger there," that he might keep in remembrance the land in which he had been a stranger....

Verse Exodus 2:18. _REUEL, THEIR FATHER_] In Numbers 10:29 this person is called _Raguel_, but the Hebrew is the same in both places. The reason of this difference is that the ע _ain_ in רעואל is sometimes used merely as _vowel_, sometimes as _g, ng_, and _gn_, and this is occasioned by the difficulty of the sound, which scarcely any European organs can enunciate. As pronounced by the Arabs it strongly resembles the first effort made by the throat in _gargling_, or as Meninski says, _Est vox vituli matrem vocantis_, "It is like the sound made by a calf in seeking its dam." _Raguel_ is the worst method of pronouncing it; Re-u-el, the first syllable strongly accented, is nearer to the true sound. A proper uniformity in pronouncing the same word wherever it may occ...

REUEL - Or, as in Numbers 10:29, “Raguel.” The name means “friend of God.” It appears to have been not uncommon among Hebrews and Edomites; e. g. Genesis 36:4, Genesis 36:10. If Reuel be identified with Jethro, a point open to grave objection (see Exodus 3:1), then Reuel was his proper name, and Jether or Jethro, which means “excellency,” was his official designation....

EXPOSITION. Exodus 2:16-2 LIFE OF MOSES IN MIDIAN Fugitives from Egypt generally took the northern route from Pelusium or Migdol to Gaza, and so to Syria, or the regions beyond. But in this quarter they were liable to be arrested and sent back to the Egyptian monarch. Rameses II: put a special clause to this effect into his treaty with the contemporary Hittite king. It was, perhaps, the fear of extradition which made Moses turn his steps southeastward, and proceed along the route, or at any rate in the direction, which he afterwards took with his nation. Though Egypt had possessions in the Sinaitic peninsula, it was not difficult to avoid them; and before Sinai was reached the fugitive would be in complete safety, for the Egyptians seem never to have penetrated to the southern or eastern parts of the great triangle. "The well," by

AND WHEN THEY CAME TO REUEL THEIR FATHER,.... Or Ragouel, as the Septuagint; and so Artapanus s calls him. The Targum of Jonathan has it, their father's father; and so Aben Ezra says he was; and is the sense of others, induced thereto by Numbers 10:29, but it does not follow from thence: he said, HOW IS IT THAT YOU ARE COME SO SOON TODAY? it being not only sooner than they were wont to come, but perhaps their business was done in so short a time; that it was marvellous to him that it could be done in it, so quick a dispatch had Moses made, and they through his assistance; and especially it might be more strange, if it was usual, as it seems it was, to be molested by the shepherds. s Ut supra. (Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 434.)...

REUEL Called Raguel. (Numbers 10:29)....

2. MOSES THE CHOSEN DELIVERER CHAPTER 2 Moses: His Birth, Education, Choice, and Exile _ 1. His birth and concealment (Exodus 2:1)_ 2. His rescue and education (Exodus 2:5) 3. His choice and failure (Exodus 2:11) 4. His exile (Exodus 2:15) 5. His marriage (Exodus 2:21) 6. The answered cry (Exodus 2:23) The history of the chosen deliverer, recorded by himself under the guidance of the Spirit, follows the dark picture of Israel

EXODUS 2:11 J. MOSES'S FLIGHT TO MIDIAN. Here is interposed an incident from J, who uses the same word grow (contrast Exodus 2:10) of Moses reaching man's estate, interpreted in Acts 7:23 as 40 years of age (_cf._ 42 years in Jubilees). The Egyptian slain by Moses may have been some bully of a gangmaster (_cf. Exodus 3:7_). The well-intentioned but unjustifiable assumption of the authority to punish committed Moses to the career of a patriot (_cf._ Hebrews 11:24). But the incident was distorted by rumour, and not only aroused the king's anger, but set h