I never heard the Spurgeon account, but it makes sense! I believe that saying no to God is the greatest sin. Thanks for shedding light on this text.

I should have read the MH quote more carefully earlier! I just scanned it, and I missed the part where he talks about them being sent home. I have found that some of the older commentaries I use do occasionally reference Rabbinical writings, though I don’t recall offhand if I’ve ever seen MH explicitly do so. (That’s been my only exposure to them so far.)

Indeed – “the hidden things”! Thanks again for stopping by, and blessings to you, too!

Ah, I see. Somewhere between here 4.26 and 18.2 she did get back to Midian. But the Scripture seems silent on when and how, and under what circumstances. Intriguing. I’ve not read up on Rabbinical tradition/teaching, and here MHC hints that she may have been sent home early ‘that they might not create him any further uneasiness’ – but sending her back to Midian may equally have been to protect her and the children from the pressures that lay ahead of Moses, so an act of mercy and love. We are left to imagine, and wonder. Just like Jesus’ parables, God’s word can sometimes speak loudest to our hearts through ‘the hidden things’ He gives us to mull over. Matt 13:35. Bless you, Lee. Thanks for sharing.

You’re welcome, Ruth – thanks for your comment! It’s a great application of this passage, and very timely for me to read, let’s just say… (God’s timing is incredible, isn’t it?)

In terms of the timing of Moses sending Zipporah home – I don’t think there’s anything in the narrative that directly connects this passage with Exodus 18:2, though I suppose there may be some Rabbinical traditional which states that Moses sent her home because of this incident – is that what you’re referring to?

I’m not convinced Moses sent Zipphorah home to Midian at this point.. it seems they were getting onto the same page through obedience to the sign of the covenant, and thus their differences reduced?…

Lovemore,

Praise God!

If you’re following this post still, how did your Sunday School lesson go?

Blessings,
Lee

Second, thank you for your comment – it is certainly thought provoking! I had to do some digging to find any corroboration (*) for it – what are your sources? I only found one translation (out of 30+) which indicated that this euphemism was in operation here – The Message, which is pretty far out there in terms of dynamic equivalency… Is there another translation that supports this view?

(*) So far, I’ve only found sources which simply state something like “regel is a euphemism for the male sexual organ”, with no citations. I have found no commentary which alludes to this (I’ve looked in a dozen or so). Furthermore, the 2-3 sites I found which quote rabbinical sources did not say anything about this euphemism.

Yes, it was my favorite as well growing up. I hadn’t seen it in many years before I happened to catch it sometime this past week on TV. I think I almost have Luke 2:8-14 memorized just because of that show!

Blessings and Merry Christmas to you, too.