Exodus 3:1

Now Moses ¹  was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert ²  and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ³ 

Ex 2:16,21; Ex 3:5; Ex 17:6; Ex 18:1-6; Ex 18:5; Ex 19:3,11; Ex 24:15-17; Nu 10:29; De 1:6; De 4:10; Jud 4:11; 1Ki 19:8; Ps 78:70-72; Ps 106:19; Am 1:1; Am 7:14,15; Mal 4:4; Mt 4:18,19; Lu 2:8

¹ sn The vav (ו) disjunctive with the name “Moses” introduces a new and important starting point. The Lord’s dealing with Moses will fill the next two chapters.

² tn Or “west of the desert,” taking אַחַר (’akhar, “behind”) as the opposite of עַל־פְּנֵי (’al-pÿne, “on the face of, east of”; cf. Gen 16:12; 25:18).

³ sn “Horeb” is another name for Mount Sinai. There is a good deal of foreshadowing in this verse, for later Moses would shepherd the people of Israel and lead them to Mount Sinai to receive the Law. See D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42.