Exodus 2:19 records the daughters of Reuel explaining to their father why they had come home so early: an Egyptian had rescued them from hostile shepherds, drawn water for them, and watered their flock. The words are spoken by the daughters, who are reporting the events of the day to their father, Reuel, the priest of Midian.
They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and moreover he drew water for us, and watered the flock.”
Exodus 2:19 (WEB)
What Exodus 2:19 Means
The daughters describe Moses as “an Egyptian.” To them he is a foreigner, someone outside their people and their land. Yet they say he “delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds,” meaning he stepped in when they were being pushed aside at the well. Their gratitude is plain, and it comes from a stranger.
The verse then adds that he “drew water for us, and watered the flock.” The word “moreover” signals that the rescue was not a one-time favor. He did more than intervene; he did the work they had been trying to do, and he did it for their animals as well. The verse celebrates practical, unasked-for help.
What the verse does not do is give a lesson about God’s direct intervention or promise any reward. It records a human moment. Its value lies in showing how Moses, who is still in the early stages of a long story, was already a man who acted decently toward people who had no obligation to him.
The Context of Exodus 2:19
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses, and it is written for the people of Israel as they remember their deliverance from Egypt and their formation as a nation under God. The events of 2:16 to 22 come before the great story of liberation begins, showing Moses in exile after fleeing Egypt, living among the Midianites.
Just before this scene Moses has killed an Egyptian and fled (2:11 to 15). Just after it, he marries Zipporah, Reuel’s daughter, and names his son Gershom, saying he has been a foreigner in a foreign land (2:21 to 22). Read in that frame, the daughters’ words reflect a man who is a fugitive and a stranger, yet is welcomed and valued in the place where he has landed.
Key Phrases in Exodus 2:19
Leviticus 19:34
The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
(WEB)
This verse commands Israel to love the foreigner living among them as they love themselves. It widens the lens of Exodus 2:19, showing that welcoming the stranger was a central expectation of God’s people, not merely a courtesy.
Hebrews 13:2
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
(WEB)
Hebrews speaks of welcoming strangers, noting that some have unknowingly hosted angels. It connects the everyday hospitality shown at a Midianite well with a larger pattern of care for those who arrive unfamiliar and far from home.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 2:19
Lord, you see the strangers in our lives and you see the people who help them when no one has asked. Open my eyes to the good in those I find unfamiliar, and soften my heart toward those who come from places I do not know. When I am given a chance to help, let me finish the work with care rather than stopping at the first kind act. Make me someone who welcomes others the way Moses welcomed the daughters of Reuel. Amen.
