The Oath of Moses and the Cry That God Heard

"And Moses was content to dwell with the man" (Exodus 2:21). When Moses said to Jethro, "Give me Zipporah your daughter to wife," Jethro said to him: Accept upon yourself one condition that I tell you, and I will give her to you as a wife. Moses said: What is it? He said to him: The first son you have shall be for idolatry [or: a foreign matter]; from then on, for the sake of Heaven. And Moses accepted it upon himself. Jethro said: Swear to me. And he swore to him, as it is said, "And Moses was content [vayo'el]." The term "ala" denotes nothing other than an oath, as it is said, "And Saul adjured the people," and likewise it says, "Be content [ho'el], take two talents" (II Kings 5:23). Therefore the angel hastened to slay Moses; at once, "Then Zipporah took a flint... and he let him alone" (Exodus 4:25-26). Rabbi Judah says: "Vayo'el" denotes nothing other than dwelling, as it is said, "Be content [ho'el], I pray you, and tarry," for once he took his daughter he accepted upon himself to shepherd his flock. "And God heard their groaning" (Exodus 2:24) — this is written elsewhere. "For the teraphim have spoken vanity" (Zechariah 10:2): a parable of two boys, one whose father had died and was buried, and one whose father was alive. The one whose father is alive, his father calls to him and answers him at once. But the one whose father has died goes to his grave and cries, "Father, father," until his strength fails, and there is no answer. So Israel: their Father is alive, and at once He answers them, as it is said, "And God heard their groaning." "And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24), and it says, "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him." But the nations, "they shall cry unto it, yet it cannot answer" (Isaiah 46:7). Rabbi Akiva says: Pharaoh's executioners would choke Israel within the walls of houses for building, and they would cry out from within the building, cry out from within the walls, and the Holy One, blessed be He, heard their groaning, as it is said, "And God heard their groaning." And further, they would burn their children in a furnace of fire as a sacrifice to their gods, as it is said, "And the LORD has taken you and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 4:20). "And God saw" (Exodus 2:25): it is written here "and He saw," and it is written there, "And all the people saw" (Exodus 20:15). Likewise it says, "When you have brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God." Rabbi Joshua ben Levi says: by the merit of the Tabernacle, as it is written, "And Moses saw all the work" (Exodus 39:43), and it is written, "that I might dwell among them" (Exodus 29:46). Rabbi Eleazar said: by the merit of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; it is written here "And God saw," and it is written there, "When he sees his children" (Isaiah 29:23), "children in whom is no blemish."