^2:15When Pharaoh heard⁵⁹ about this event,⁶⁰ he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled⁶¹ from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian,⁶² and he settled⁶³ by a certain well.⁶⁴

^2:16Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and began to draw⁶⁵ water⁶⁶ and fill⁶⁷ the troughs in order to water their father’s flock.

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Footnotes

59 The form with the vav consecutive is here subordinated to the main idea that Pharaoh sought to punish Moses.
60 Heb הַדָּבָר (haddavar, “the word [thing, matter, incident]”) functions here like a pronoun to refer in brief to what Moses had done.
61 The vav (ו) consecutive with the preterite shows result—as a result of Pharaoh’s search for him, he fled.
62 The location of Midyan or Midian is uncertain, but it had to have been beyond the Egyptian borders on the east, either in the Sinai or beyond in the Arabah (south of the Dead Sea) or even on the east side of the Gulf of Aqaba. The Midianites seem to have traveled extensively in the desert regions. R. A. Cole (Exodus [], ) reasons that since they later were enemies of Israel, it is unlikely that these traditions would have been made up about Israel’s great lawgiver; further, he explains that “Ishmaelite” and “Kenite” might have been clan names within the region of Midian. But see, from a different point of view, G. W. Coats, “Moses and Midian,” 92 (1973): 3–10.
63 The verb reads “and he sat” or “and he lived.” To translate it “he sat by a well” would seem anticlimactic and unconnected. It probably has the same sense as in the last clause, namely, that he lived in Midian, and he lived near a well, which detail prepares for what follows.
64 The word has the definite article, “the well.” Gesenius lists this use of the article as that which denotes a thing that is yet unknown to the reader but present in the mind under the circumstances ( §126.q-r). Where there was a well, people would settle, and as R. A. Cole says it, for people who settled there it was “the well” (Exodus [], ).
65 The preterites describing their actions must be taken in an ingressive sense, since they did not actually complete the job. Shepherds drove them away, and Moses watered the flocks.
66 The object “water” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
67 This also has the ingressive sense, “began to fill,” but for stylistic reasons is translated simply “fill” here.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well. Now a priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

NLTNew Living Translation

And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.

When Moses arrived in Midian, he sat down beside a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters who came as usual to draw water and fill the water troughs for their father’s flocks.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Pharaoh heard this matter, and he sought to kill Moses, and Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he lived in the land of Midian, and he lived at a certain well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

KJV 1900King James Version

Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian: and he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

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