H. P. Mansfield Bible notes — checked and arranged in verse-by-verse Expositor style

Source: HPB 02-Gen42-Lev11.pdf, principally Exodus 2 photographed pages in the HPB source

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Exodus 2 introduces the deliverer whom Pharaoh’s policy cannot destroy. Moses is preserved through the faith and courage of his family, raised within Pharaoh’s own household, identifies with Israel, and then discovers that right zeal exercised by human strength and premature timing is not enough.

The chapter closes by shifting the emphasis from Moses to God: Israel sighs and cries; God hears, remembers the covenant, sees, and knows. The coming Exodus begins with Divine covenant faithfulness.

MOSES PRESERVED — EXODUS 2:1–10

Exodus 2:1–2 — a child of Levi

Amram and Jochebed are later identified in Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59. Moses is at least their third child: Aaron is three years older (Exodus 7:7), and Miriam is already old enough to watch the ark.

The child is “goodly”; Acts 7:20 calls him exceedingly fair before God, and Hebrews 11:23 says his parents hid him by faith and were not afraid of the king’s command. Mansfield’s claim that Jochebed’s name may have been given later by Moses is imaginative but unsupported and is not retained as fact.

Exodus 2:3–4 — the ark among the reeds

The Hebrew tebah, ark/chest, occurs only in the Noah story and here. The echo is deliberate: life is preserved through waters associated with death. The ark is made of papyrus and waterproofed with bitumen and pitch.

The word suph means reeds/rushes. Miriam stands at a distance to learn what will happen.

Exodus 2:5–10 — Pharaoh’s daughter and the name Moses

Pharaoh’s daughter finds the crying child, has compassion, and recognises him as Hebrew. Miriam’s timely suggestion brings Jochebed herself to nurse the child, so Pharaoh’s household finances the preservation of the very Hebrew boy the decree threatened.

When he grows, Moses becomes the princess’s son. The Hebrew narrative connects Mosheh with mashah, “to draw out”: “I drew him out of the water.” Egyptian names also use the element ms/mose, “born of,” so an Egyptian background is possible; the biblical wordplay remains the inspired explanation supplied by the text.

MOSES IDENTIFIES WITH ISRAEL — EXODUS 2:11–15

Exodus 2:11–12 — zeal before the appointed time

Acts 7:23 places Moses at about forty when he visits his brethren. Hebrews 11:24–26 interprets the deeper choice: Moses refuses identification with Pharaoh’s daughter and chooses affliction with the people of God.

Seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses kills the Egyptian and hides him in the sand. Acts 7:25 says Moses supposed his brethren would understand that God was giving deliverance through him, but they did not. His identification with Israel is right; his method and timing are premature.

Exodus 2:13–14 — “Who made thee a prince and a judge?”

The next day Moses intervenes between two Hebrews and is rejected: “Who made thee a prince and a judge over us?” Acts 7:27,35 gives this rejection major prominence. The man whom Israel rejects will later return as the ruler and deliverer sent by God.

Moses also realises that the killing of the Egyptian is known.

Exodus 2:15 — flight to Midian

Pharaoh seeks Moses’ life, and Moses flees to Midian. Acts 7:29–30 marks the resulting forty-year period before the burning-bush call. The man trained in Egypt is now prepared through obscurity, shepherding and dependence.

MOSES IN MIDIAN — EXODUS 2:16–22

Exodus 2:16–20 — Moses at the well

The priest of Midian’s seven daughters are driven away by shepherds; Moses stands up, helps them and waters their flock. Even as a fugitive he cannot ignore oppression. Reuel’s daughters describe him as “an Egyptian,” naturally reflecting his speech, dress or appearance after years in Pharaoh’s household.

Reuel is also connected with the names Jethro and Hobab elsewhere. Exact family-title relationships are debated; “father-in-law/relative by marriage” terminology can be broad.

Exodus 2:21–22 — Zipporah and Gershom

Moses marries Zipporah and names the son Gershom because he has been “a stranger in a strange land.” The name is explained by the narrative through ger, stranger/sojourner, with a sound association to sham, there. Exact etymological parsing is secondary to Moses’ own explanation.

His exile also mirrors Israel’s wider status outside the promised inheritance.

GOD REMEMBERS THE COVENANT — EXODUS 2:23–25

Exodus 2:23–25 — heard, remembered, looked, knew

A king of Egypt dies, but bondage continues. Israel sighs and cries, and their cry rises to God. The fourfold Divine response is decisive: God hears their groaning, remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, looks upon Israel, and “has respect unto them” — literally knows them.

To say God “remembered” does not imply prior forgetfulness. Zakar in covenant contexts means to bring the covenant commitment into active operation. The deliverance that follows rests on God’s faithfulness, not Israel’s achievement.

PRINCIPAL THEMES

• Providence overturns Pharaoh’s decree from within Pharaoh’s own household.

• Faith preserves Moses before he is conscious of his mission.

• Moses’ identification with Israel is right, but human strength and premature timing are insufficient.

• The rejected deliverer will return with Divine authority.

• Midian becomes a school of patience, shepherding and dependence.

• God hears Israel because He remembers His covenant.

EDITORIAL VERIFICATION AND RECOVERED READINGS

RESIDUAL UNCERTAINTIES

Exact identifications of Pharaoh’s daughter and the ruling dynasty are not secure. Mansfield’s suggestion that Jochebed was renamed by Moses is unsupported. The exact relationship between Reuel, Jethro and Hobab involves broad kinship terminology and should remain cautious.