Exodus 2:19 records the daughters of a Midianite priest explaining to their father why they came home early from the well: an Egyptian stranger had rescued them from hostile shepherds and then drew water for their flock. The verse shows Moses, still a newcomer in a foreign land, quietly doing a kind and courageous act that God would later use in a much larger story. The speakers are the seven daughters of Reuel, also called Jethro, speaking to their father.
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 begin by naming Moses as “an Egyptian,” which tells us how they saw him: a foreigner, someone not from their people, yet someone who stepped in when they needed help. They describe how he “delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds,” a phrase that pictures them being pushed around and driven off at the watering place until a stranger stood between them and harm. Their gratitude is plain and unfussy.
The word “moreover” signals that Moses did more than the first act of rescue. He also drew water for them and watered the flock himself. The verse does not promise that every kind stranger will be rewarded or that every hostile crowd will be stopped. It simply records a real moment of help and lets the reader see what it looked like.
The Context of Exodus 2:19
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses, and it was written for the people of Israel as they came out of slavery and began to understand who they were before God. The book opens by telling how the descendants of Jacob grew numerous in Egypt, how a new Pharaoh feared them, and how Moses was spared as a baby and raised in Pharaoh’s household. Chapter 2 then follows Moses after he fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian and settled in Midian.
Just before verse 19, Moses defends the daughters at the well, and just after it, Reuel invites him to stay, gives him Zipporah as a wife, and their son Gershom is born with a name meaning “a foreigner there.” Read in that setting, verse 19 is the hinge that moves Moses from exile into a new family. His quiet service to strangers becomes the doorway to belonging, which is why the verse matters more than its brief wording suggests.
Key Phrases in Exodus 2:19
Ruth 2:10
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight, that you should take knowledge of me, since I am a foreigner?”
(WEB)
Ruth, a foreigner from Moab, is shown kindness by Boaz and responds with humble gratitude. Like the Midianite daughters, Ruth is a stranger who receives care, and the story shows how God weaves unexpected outsiders into His larger plan of redemption.
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 encourages believers to welcome strangers, reminding us that hospitality to the unfamiliar can open us to unexpected blessing. It echoes the way Moses’s service to strangers became the beginning of his own new family.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 2:19
Lord, thank You for the people who step in for others when no one asked them to. Help me notice those who are being pushed aside, and give me the courage to act with quiet kindness, even when I feel like an outsider myself. Show me where You want me to draw water for someone today, and let my small acts of service reflect Your care for people. Amen.
