Exodus 2:16 introduces seven young women who come to a well in the land of Midian to draw water for their father’s sheep. The verse is a simple scene, but it sets up the story of Moses, who is about to meet them and step into a new life after fleeing Egypt. It is spoken by the narrator of Exodus, who tells the reader what Moses encountered in the wilderness and sets the stage for what happens next.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
Exodus 2:16 (WEB)
What Exodus 2:16 Means
The verse begins with “the priest of Midian,” a man named Reuel (also called Jethro elsewhere in the Bible) who had seven daughters. In that ancient setting, a family’s flocks were its livelihood, and daughters often did the daily work of tending them. The detail that these women came and drew water tells you they were responsible, hardworking, and doing ordinary labor that someone had to do.
The phrase “filled the troughs to water their father’s flock” describes a real chore. Water had to be drawn from a well by hand and poured into stone or wooden troughs until the animals had enough to drink. It is practical, physical work, and the verse shows these sisters doing it without fuss. The verse does not promise anything about their future or their safety. It simply records what they were doing when Moses arrived.
The Context of Exodus 2:16
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses himself, and it was written for the people of Israel as they remembered their deliverance from Egypt and prepared to live as God’s covenant people. The book moves from the enslavement of the Hebrews in Egypt to their rescue and journey toward the promised land. Chapter 2 is the turning point where Moses, after killing an Egyptian and fleeing Pharaoh’s anger, arrives in Midian as a fugitive and outsider.
Just before verse 16, Moses has been forced to run for his life. Just after it, the shepherds drive the daughters away, Moses steps in to help them water their flock, and their father welcomes him into his home (verses 17 to 21). Seen in that sequence, the scene at the well is where a man with nothing and no place to belong begins to find a household and a new role. That shift changes how the verse reads: it is the quiet first step in Moses’ long preparation for leadership.
Key Phrases in Exodus 2:16
Genesis 24:11
He made the camels kneel down outside the city by the well of water at the time of evening, the time that women go out to draw water.
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This verse also places a group of people at a well, where a meeting leads to a significant new relationship. Reading it alongside Exodus 2:16 shows how the well functions in Scripture as a setting where ordinary daily life becomes the place where God brings people together.
John 4:6
Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
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Jesus rests at Jacob’s well while his disciples are away, a quiet moment that leads to a life-changing conversation. Connecting it with Exodus 2:16 helps you see that the well appears again and again in the Bible as a place of ordinary tiredness, labor, and surprising grace.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 2:16
Lord, thank you for the ordinary work that fills my days, the tasks that few people notice and fewer still praise. Like the daughters at the well, help me to do what is in front of me faithfully and with a willing heart. When I feel out of place or far from home, remind me that you were already at work in Moses’ loneliness, and that you can meet me in unfamiliar places too. Give me patience for the small chores and courage for the new beginnings you set before me. Amen.
