The Bible tells us little about Moses' 40 years as a shepherd in Midian. It is interesting to speculate on Moses' mindset as he fled to Midian and settled down there. Mosheh Lichtenstein presents some interesting discussion of this topic in his book-length character study of Moses.
On the day after Moses intervened on behalf of an Israelite slave, Moses saw two Israelites fighting. A midrash suggests that they were fighting about what Moses had done. Some Israelites felt that it was time to rebel against the Egyptians, while others strongly opposed such a move. Lichtenstein proposes that Moses was disappointed that his people were not united. Rashi says Moses had learned that there were some Israelites who were traitors and collaborators with the Egyptians. Perhaps Moses became disillusioned and despaired of the possibility of freeing his people. So he retreated from public life and decided to live a quiet existence, communing with God in the wilderness.
There is speculation that Jethro and Moses were kindred spirits in this regard. In one midrash, presented in Exodus Rabbah and the Talmud, there was once a meeting of Pharaoh, Balaam, Jethro, and Job to talk about the Israelites. Balaam proposed killing male Israelites babies, and Pharaoh readily agreed. Jethro fled to the wilderness, repulsed by this idea but powerless to do anything to stop it. (Job said nothing.)
At any rate, Moses spent 40 years away from Egypt, and he surely was disappointed that his earlier efforts to help the Israelites had not led to anything. He would need some convincing to take up this cause again.
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