Exodus 2:20 records Reuel, a priest of Midian, asking where the stranger who helped his daughters has gone and telling them to bring him back to eat. The verse shows a household opening its door to someone who has been a foreigner and an outsider, and it reveals how Moses found a place of welcome just as he was fleeing Egypt. Reuel, Moses’s future father-in-law, speaks these words to his daughters after they return home early from the well.
He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”
Exodus 2:20 (WEB)
What Exodus 2:20 Means
The verse begins with Reuel’s question, “Where is he?” His curiosity is not suspicion. He has heard from his daughters that an Egyptian rescued them from rough shepherds and watered their flock, and he wants to meet the man who did them a kindness. The question carries warmth, the way a parent asks where a helpful guest went after he slipped away without a goodbye.
The phrase “Why is it that you have left the man?” is a gentle rebuke. Reuel is not angry that his daughters came home. He is puzzled that they did not bring the stranger with them. In that culture, a person who had shown generosity was owed hospitality in return, and leaving him outside was a small failure of courtesy. The final command, “Call him, that he may eat bread,” makes the invitation concrete: a meal, shared at the family table.
What the verse does not promise is a grand event or a miracle. It describes an ordinary act of kindness and an ordinary invitation. Its meaning lies in showing how God’s providence often arrives through common human hospitality, not through a dramatic sign in the sky.
The Context of Exodus 2:20
Exodus is the second book of the Torah, traditionally attributed to Moses, and it tells how Israel moved from slavery in Egypt to covenant life with God. Chapter 2 sets the stage with Moses’s birth, his rescue from the Nile, his flight after killing an Egyptian, and his arrival in Midian. Verses 17 through 19 describe how Moses defended Reuel’s daughters at the well, which is the event Reuel is responding to in verse 20. The verses that follow show Moses accepting the household’s welcome, marrying Zipporah, and naming his son Gershom because he had become a foreigner in a foreign land.
Read against that background, verse 20 is the hinge of Moses’s new life. He arrived as a fugitive with nothing, and this small invitation to a meal becomes the first step toward a home. The verse matters because it shows God preparing a place for Moses through people he did not know, long before the call at the burning bush.
Key Phrases in Exodus 2:20
Romans 12:13
Contributing to the needs of the saints; given to hospitality.
(WEB)
Paul’s call to share with the saints and pursue hospitality mirrors Reuel’s instruction to bring the stranger in for bread. Both passages show that welcoming others is part of living faithfully in community, not an optional extra for those with spare time.
Hebrews 13:2
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
(WEB)
This verse reminds readers that welcoming strangers has sometimes meant entertaining angels unawares. It deepens the story of Exodus 2:20 by suggesting that the person you invite to eat may carry more significance than you first realize.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 2:20
Lord, you saw Moses far from home, hungry for belonging and uncertain of his future. Thank you for the family who opened their door and their table to him. Help me to notice the people who have helped me and to thank them with more than words. Give me eyes to see the strangers around me and a heart willing to say, come and eat with us. Use my home and my kindness to show your welcome to someone who needs it today. Amen.
