Moses flees to Midian
Exodus 2:11–22; Acts 7:23–29; Hebrews 11:24–27
At 40, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew; when it became known, he fled to Midian, married Zipporah, and tended sheep for forty years.
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to share ill treatment with God’s people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time
Hebrews 11:24–25 (World English Bible)
Moses chose to side with his own people rather than enjoy the privileges of Pharaoh's court. But he tried to rescue them in his own way and strength, and his own people rejected him: “Who made you a prince and a judge over us?”
In Midian he defended the daughters of Reuel (also called Jethro) at a well, married Zipporah, and had a son he named Gershom, meaning “a foreigner there.”
Places
Dating notes
Moses was 40 (Acts 7:23) and spent 40 years in Midian (Acts 7:30).