Exodus 3:1

King James Version (KJV)

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.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Jethro his father-in-law - Concerning Jethro, see Clarke's note on 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.

Was this helpful?

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole 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; 40 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.

Was this helpful?

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

The years of the life of Moses are divided into three forties; the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second as a shepherd in Midian, the third as a king in Jeshurun. How changeable is the life of man! The first appearance of God to Moses, found him tending sheep. This seems a poor employment for a man of his parts and education, yet he rests satisfied with it; and thus learns meekness and contentment, for which he is more noted in sacred writ, than for all his learning. Satan loves to find us idle; God is pleased when he finds us employed. Being alone, is a good friend to our communion with God. To his great surprise, Moses saw a bush burning without fire to kindle it. The bush burned, and yet did not burn away; an emblem of the church in bondage in Egypt. And it fitly reminds us of the church in every age, under its severest persecutions kept by the presence of God from being destroyed. Fire is an emblem, in Scripture, of the Divine holiness and justice, also of the afflictions and trials with which God proves and purifies his people, and even of that baptism of the Holy Ghost, by which sinful affections are consumed, and the soul changed into the Divine nature and image. God gave Moses a gracious call, to which he returned a ready answer. Those that would have communion with God, must attend upon him in the ordinances wherein he is pleased to manifest himself and his glory, though it be in a bush. Putting off the shoe was a token of respect and submission. We ought to draw nigh to God with a solemn pause and preparation, carefully avoiding every thing that looks light and rude, and unbecoming his service. God does not say, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but I am. The patriarchs still live, so many years after their bodies have been in the grave. No length of time can separate the souls of the just from their Maker. By this, God instructed Moses as to another world, and strengthened his belief of a future state. Thus it is interpreted by our Lord Jesus, who, from hence, proves that the dead are raised, Lu 20:37. Moses hid his face, as if both ashamed and afraid to look upon God. The more we see of God, and his grace, and covenant love, the more cause we shall see to worship him with reverence and godly fear.

Was this helpful?

SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

1. Jethro. Another name for Reuel (see on ch. 2:18).

On his priesthood, see ch. 2:16; on the location of Midian, see ch. 2:15.

The backside of the desert. Mt. Horeb must be sought in the central part of the Sinai Peninsula (see on p. 509), and according to this verse Jethro’s home was separated from it by a desert. His home must therefore have been to the east or southeast of Horeb, and not to the northeast, as some have thought. Only thus is it possible to explain the following two facts: (1) When Moses returned from Midian to Egypt he went by way of Horeb, where Aaron, coming from Egypt, met him (ch. 4:27). (2) No Midianites were encountered by the Israelites on their journey through the desert, although the homeward road of Hobab, the Midianite, separated from theirs when they departed from Sinai (Num. 10:30). The word translated “backside” sometimes means “west,” as in the RSV of Judges 18:12; Eze. 41:15; Zech. 14:8; Isa. 9:12. This was due to the fact that the Hebrews customarily faced the east when giving directions, and west was therefore “behind” them as east was “before.” This is clear from the LXX of Isa. 9:12. It is further evidence that Horeb lay to the west of Jethro’s home. The word translated “backside” is rendered “west side” in the RSV.

The mountain of God. Exodus was written after the manifestation of God to Israel at Horeb, which gave it the name “Mount of God.” Horeb and Sinai are two names for the same mountain (see Ex. 19:11; Deut. 4:10). Since the 5th century a.d., Horeb has been identified with one of the mountain peaks in the south central part of Sinai called Jebel Musa, “the Mount of Moses.” It is c. 7,500 ft. high and rises some 1,500 ft. above the surrounding valleys. It has been observed, however, that this mountain is invisible from the largest plain of the neighborhood, the er-Raha, which has been considered the “desert of Sinai” (ch. 19:2). This plain offers space for a great number of people, and with some smaller valleys tributary to it has a number of water springs. However, Ras es-Safsaf (c. 6,600 ft.), another peak of the same mountain, overlooks the plain er-Raha. For this reason many scholars who accept the traditional identification of the plain er-Raha with the desert of Sinai, believe that Mt. Sinai is to be identified with Ras es-Safsaf rather than with Jebel Musa.

Others have identified the mountain of the law with the Jebel Serbal, which lies some 15 mi. to the northwest of Jebel Musa, the most impressive mountain of the whole Sinai Peninsula. Jebel Serbal, with a height of only c. 6,750 ft., is far from being one of the highest mountains of the area, but it rises steeply out of the Wadi Feiran, which has an average elevation of only 2,000 ft. It is the great difference in altitude that accounts for the impressiveness of Jebel Serbal. This is one of the reasons why some scholars see in it the Horeb, and in the Wadi Feiran the “desert of Sinai” of Exodus. The second reason is that the tradition connecting Jebel Serbal with Mt. Sinai seems to be earlier than the one identifying Jebel Musa with Mt. Sinai. Since no definite evidence exists to support either identification, it cannot now be determined whether Horeb is Jebel Musa, on whose slopes is the famous monastery of St. Catherine, where Tischendorf found the Codex Sinaiticus, or the neighboring Ras es-Safsaf, or even Jebel Serbal.

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 406-7

The Lord does not choose or accept laborers according to the advantages they have enjoyed, or according to the superior education they have received. The value of the human agent is estimated according to the capacity of the heart to know and understand God.... The highest possible good is obtained through a knowledge of God. “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” John 17:3. This knowledge is the secret spring from which flows all power.... CT 406.1

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 417

As long as time shall last, we shall have need of schools. There will always be need of education; but we must be careful lest education absorb every spiritual interest. There is positive peril in advising students to pursue one line of education after another and in leading them to think that by so doing they will attain perfection. The education thus obtained will prove to be deficient in every way. The Lord says: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:19-21. CT 417.1

Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. In the providence of God he received a broad education, but a large part of that education had to be unlearned and accounted as foolishness. Its impression had to be blotted out by forty years of experience in caring for the sheep and the tender lambs. If many who are connected with the work of the Lord could be isolated as was Moses, and could be compelled by circumstances to follow some humble vocation until their hearts became tender, ... they would not be so prone to magnify their own abilities, or seek to demonstrate that the wisdom of an advanced education could take the place of a sound knowledge of God.... CT 417.2

The disciples of Christ are not called upon to magnify men, but to magnify God, the Source of all wisdom. Let educators give the Holy Spirit room to do Its work upon human hearts. The greatest Teacher is represented in the midst of us by the Holy Spirit. However you may study, though you may reach higher and still higher, and occupy every moment of your probationary time in the pursuit of knowledge, you will not become complete. When time is over, you would have to ask yourselves the question, What good have I done to those who are in midnight darkness? To whom have I communicated the knowledge of God or even the knowledge of those things for which I have spent so much time and money? CT 417.3

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
The Desire of Ages, 291

In training His disciples, Jesus chose to withdraw from the confusion of the city to the quiet of the fields and hills, as more in harmony with the lessons of self-abnegation He desired to teach them. And during His ministry He loved to gather the people about Him under the blue heavens, on some grassy hillside, or on the beach beside the lake. Here, surrounded by the works of His own creation, He could turn the thoughts of His hearers from the artificial to the natural. In the growth and development of nature were revealed the principles of His kingdom. As men should lift up their eyes to the hills of God, and behold the wonderful works of His hands, they could learn precious lessons of divine truth. Christ's teaching would be repeated to them in the things of nature. So it is with all who go into the fields with Christ in their hearts. They will feel themselves surrounded with a holy influence. The things of nature take up the parables of our Lord, and repeat His counsels. By communion with God in nature, the mind is uplifted, and the heart finds rest. DA 291.1

The first step was now to be taken in the organization of the church that after Christ's departure was to be His representative on earth. No costly sanctuary was at their command, but the Saviour led His disciples to the retreat He loved, and in their minds the sacred experiences of that day were forever linked with the beauty of mountain and vale and sea. DA 291.2

Jesus had called His disciples that He might send them forth as His witnesses, to declare to the world what they had seen and heard of Him. Their office was the most important to which human beings had ever been called, and was second only to that of Christ Himself. They were to be workers together with God for the saving of the world. As in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs stand as representatives of Israel, so the twelve apostles were to stand as representatives of the gospel church. DA 291.3

The Saviour knew the character of the men whom He had chosen; all their weaknesses and errors were open before Him; He knew the perils through which they must pass, the responsibility that would rest upon them; and His heart yearned over these chosen ones. Alone upon a mountain near the Sea of Galilee He spent the entire night in prayer for them, while they were sleeping at the foot of the mountain. With the first light of dawn He summoned them to meet Him; for He had something of importance to communicate to them. DA 291.4

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
Education, 62-4

From the humble home in Goshen the son of Jochebed passed to the palace of the Pharaohs, to the Egyptian princess, by her to be welcomed as a loved and cherished son. In the schools of Egypt, Moses received the highest civil and military training. Of great personal attractions, noble in form and stature, of cultivated mind and princely bearing, and renowned as a military leader, he became the nation's pride. The king of Egypt was also a member of the priesthood; and Moses, though refusing to participate in the heathen worship, was initiated into all the mysteries of the Egyptian religion. Egypt at this time being still the most powerful and most highly civilized of nations, Moses, as its prospective sovereign, was heir to the highest honors this world could bestow. But his was a nobler choice. For the honor of God and the deliverance of His downtrodden people, Moses sacrificed the honors of Egypt. Then, in a special sense, God undertook his training. Ed 62.1

Not yet was Moses prepared for his lifework. He had yet to learn the lesson of dependence upon divine power. He had mistaken God's purpose. It was his hope to deliver Israel by force of arms. For this he risked all, and failed. In defeat and disappointment he became a fugitive and exile in a strange land. Ed 62.2

In the wilds of Midian, Moses spent forty years as a keeper of sheep. Apparently cut off forever from his life's mission, he was receiving the discipline essential for its fulfillment. Wisdom to govern an ignorant and undisciplined multitude must be gained through self-mastery. In the care of the sheep and the tender lambs he must obtain the experience that would make him a faithful, long-suffering shepherd to Israel. That he might become a representative of God, he must learn of Him. Ed 62.3

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

More Comments

Cross References

A. M. 2513. B.C. 1491. kept