And God heard their groaning ,.... The petitions they put up to him with groans and cries: and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob ; that he would bring their seed out of a land not theirs, in which they were strangers, and were afflicted, into the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. read more
God remembered his covenant - God's covenant is God's engagement; he had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give their posterity a land flowing with milk and honey, etc. They are now under the most oppressive bondage, and this was the most proper time for God to show them his mercy and power in fulfilling his promise. This is all that is meant by God's remembering his covenant, for it was now that he began to give it its effect. read more
EXPOSITION. DEATH OF THE PHARAOH FROM WHOM MOSES FLED — CONTINUANCE OF THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL - ISRAEL 'S PRAYERS — GOD 'S ACCEPTANCE OF THEM . — After a space of forty years from the time of Moses' flight from Egypt, according to the estimate of St. Stephen ( Acts 7:30 ), which is not, however, to be strictly pressed, the king whose anger he had provoked — Rameses II ., as we believe — died. He had reigned sixty-seven years — about... read more
As in streams the water is attracted to and swirls round various centres, so here the interest of the narrative circles about three facts. We have — I . THE KING 'S DEATH . Who the king was may be uncertain. [Some say Aahmes I . . — see Canon Cook, in 'Speaker's Commentary;' others, Rameses II . — see R . S . Poole, In Contemporary Review,' March, 1879.] What he had done is sufficiently evident. Confronted with an alien people, of whose history he knew little and with whom... read more
God heard their groaning. God is said to "hear" the prayers which he accepts and grants; to "be deaf" to those which he does not grant, but rejects. He now "heard" (i.e. accepted) the supplications of oppressed Israel; and on account of the covenant which he had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — a covenant always remembered by him — he looked upon his people, made them the objects of his special regard, and entered on a course, which was abnormal, irregular, miraculous, in order to carry... read more
Remembered - This means that God was moved by their prayers to give effect to the covenant, of which an essential condition was the faith and contrition involved in the act of supplication. The whole history of Israel is foreshadowed in these words: God heard, remembered, looked upon, and knew them. It evidently indicates the beginning of a crisis marked by a personal intervention of God. read more
Exodus 2:24-25. And God heard their groaning That is, he made it to appear that he took notice of their complaints. The groans of the oppressed cry loud in the ears of the righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs; especially the groans of God’s children, the burdens they groan under, and the blessings they groan after. And God remembered his covenant Which he seemed to have forgotten, but really is ever mindful of. This God had an eye to, and not to any merit of theirs, in what he did... read more
Preparation of Moses (2:1-25)Moses was the person God chose to save his people and lead them out of Egypt. He was born of godly Hebrew parents, who no doubt taught him that the true and living God was the only legitimate object of human worship, and this God had chosen Israel to be his people. At the same time Moses grew up in the Egyptian palace, where he was trained in the best learning and culture available at that time (2:1-10; see Acts 7:22; Hebrews 11:23).By the time he was forty years of... read more
groaning . Hebrew. na'ak, denoting heaviest affliction. Note the Figure of speech Synonymia: heard. . . remembered. . . looked . . . had respect. Anaphora: with . . . with . . . with; see note, Genesis 50:24 , not yet revealed to them as Jehovah. Figure of speech Repetitio. App-6 . God, repeated five times. Also the Figure of speech Anthropopatheia ( App-6 ). read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 2:23-25
Here is, 1. The continuance of the Israelites? bondage in Egypt, Exod. 2:23. Probably the murdering of their infants did not continue; this part of their affliction attended only the period immediately connected with the birth of Moses, and served to signalize it. The Egyptians now were content with their increase, finding that Egypt was enriched by their labour; so that they might have them for slaves, they cared not how many they were. On this therefore they were intent, to keep them all at... read more