<b>And Moses was content to dwell (Exod. 2:21).</b> The word <i>content</i> (<i>vayo’el</i>) is used with reference to an oath, as in the case of Saul: <i>And he adjured</i> (<i>vayo’el</i>) <i>the people</i> (I Sam. 14:24).
Why did Jethro compel him to take an oath? Lest he do to him what Laban had stated: <i>If thou shalt afflict my daughters and take wives</i> (Gen. 31:50). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: The righteous Moses risked his life for the sake of My children and was forced to flee to Midian, but he will redeem them from Egypt. Therefore it is written: <i>And Moses was keeping the flock</i> (Exod. 3:1).
<i>Moses was keeping the flock</i>. Though the time for their redemption was at hand, they had not as yet performed any meritorious deeds. Scripture declares this through the words of Ezekiel: <i>I caused thee in increase even as the growth of the field … thy breasts were fattened, and thy hair was grown, yet thou wast naked and bare</i> (Ezek. 16:7). Is it not so that the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have written <i>breasts</i> and <i>hair</i> except for the fact that breasts and hair allude to Moses and Aaron? Inasmuch as it is said concerning them: <i>Thy two breasts are like two fawns, that are twins of a gazelle</i> (Song 4:5). <i>Thy hair was grown</i> implies that the time for redemption had arrived, but <i>naked and bare</i> signify that Israel had not yet performed any good deeds. The verse <i>For thy love is better than wine</i> (ibid. 1:2) refers to the patriarchs, who are called beloved. <i>And God heard their groaning, and remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel</i> (Exod. 2:24). That is, though He saw that they had not yet performed any meritorious deeds, He redeemed them nevertheless, as is said: <i>He saved them for His name’s sake</i> (Ps. 106:8).