What does Exodus 2:12 mean?
The phrase, "He looked this way and that," is the modern equivalent of the literal wording "he turned thus and thus." The idea is that Moses looked around to make sure no one would witness what he was about to do. Since no one was seen to stop him or witness the event, Moses felt he could stop unjust violence against his fellow Hebrew (Exodus 2:11), using violence of his own. Suggestions that this was an accident, as in some fictional portrayals, are not supported by the Bible.Some believe Moses killed the man with his bare hands, though this is uncertain. No weapon is mentioned, but the phrasing suggests he used some kind of instrument. Samson "struck down" 1,000 men with a donkey jawbone (Judges 15:16), David "struck down" animals with a sling (1 Samuel 17:36), and the Israelites "struck down" enemies with swords (1 Samuel 11:11). Moses may have used his hands or any kind of weapon. However, Exodus later shows God had His own plan that involved striking down the Egyptians in judgment (Exodus 12:29). Moses hides the man's body with a hasty burial to avoid being caught.
Exodus 2:11–22 describes how Moses went from his position as the adopted son of an Egyptian princess to being an exiled shepherd living in Midian. As an adult, Moses defends a fellow Jew by killing an Egyptian aggressor. Moses' attempt to hide the act fails and he is forced to flee Egypt. In Midian, Moses heroically defends a group of shepherd girls and is welcomed into their family. This establishes the backdrop of Moses' life for one of God's most dramatic encounters with man: the burning bush.
Amid an order from Pharaoh to murder newborn Hebrew boys, Moses' mother places him in a basket along the side of the river, staging her daughter there to observe. The Egyptian king's daughter sees the baby and has pity. Thanks to the presence of Moses' sister, the princess pays Moses' own mother to wean him. After this, he is raised in the home of Egypt's royal family. As an adult, Moses unsuccessfully attempts to hide his murder of an abusive Egyptian and flees to Midian as an exile. As Moses builds a family abroad, Israel cries out to God for rescue from the brutality of Egyptian slavery.
