Moses Kills an Egyptian

Familiarity with the Bible is a wonderful thing. However, if we are not careful, our familiarity with biblical stories can make it easier to miss some of the subtleties of the text. Since the story of Moses’ life is so well known, we need to be on special alert when we read about him so that we will not pass by some of the theological lessons of the text.

As an example, consider the fact that there is some divine humor in the account of Moses’ birth. The history begins with a pharaoh’s attempt to wipe out any potential Hebrew opposition to his authority, and by the end of the account, the chief Hebrew opponent to Egypt in the ancient world is living in the house of the pharaoh and enjoying the pharaoh’s protection (Ex. 1:22–2:10). This should bring a smile to our faces. Of all the ways that God could have protected Moses and equipped him to confront the Egyptian king, the Lord accomplished these ends through the Egyptian king himself. The pharaohs who sought to destroy the Hebrews would end up protecting and preparing the Hebrews to be the vehicle to overthrow Egypt. This is the God of Scripture, the One who laughs at those who oppose Him and His people (Pss. 2:1–4; 37:13) and in turn leads us to laugh as well as we see Him turning His opponents’ schemes inside out in humorous ways.

Part of the humor in Moses’ growing up in the household of the pharaoh involves Moses’ being raised also in his early years by his own mother, because the princess of Egypt paid Jochebed, hated by the Egyptian court, to be Moses’ nursemaid (Ex. 2:7–9). No doubt this helps explain why Moses continued to have affection for the Hebrews even after being adopted by one of their sworn enemies. That affection is on display in today’s passage, as the text refers to Moses’ going out to visit “his people,” referring to his family of origin and not to his adopted, more prominent family, as one might expect (v. 11).

Despite his adoption into the Egyptian royal house, Moses very clearly viewed himself as an Israelite, so much so that he killed an Egyptian when he saw him beating one of the Hebrew slaves (v. 12). Many interpreters have viewed this as a righteous act, but the text leaves the evaluation more ambiguous. We can certainly say his love for the Hebrews was proper, but Moses had not yet been commissioned by God to lead Israel, and so to some degree he was taking matters into his own hands.