Jethro

Jethro, the priest of Midian, is Moses' father-in-law. He is also called Reuel in the same narratives. He shelters Moses through the forty years of his Midianite exile, gives him his daughter Zipporah, and, after the deliverance from Egypt, comes out to meet Israel at the mountain of God. The arc traces him from refuge through marriage to participation in Israel's worship and counsel.

Refuge in Midian

When Moses flees Pharaoh and arrives in Midian, his first encounter is with the priest's seven daughters at a well. The narrative introduces him as Reuel: the daughters return home, and "when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you⁺ have come so soon today?" (Ex 2:18). The household receives Moses, takes him in, and binds him to itself by marriage: "And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter" (Ex 2:21). The flight, the welcome, and the marriage occupy the closing verses of Exodus 2 (Ex 2:15-22).

Shepherding the Priest's Flock

Across the long years in Midian, Moses keeps his father-in-law's sheep. The opening of the burning-bush episode pictures him at this work: "Now Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb" (Ex 3:1). Here the man is named Jethro for the first time, and the title "priest of Midian" recurs.

After his commissioning at the bush, Moses asks Jethro's leave to return to his kin in Egypt: "And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go, I pray you, and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace" (Ex 4:18). The dismissal is brief and gracious; Jethro does not delay him.

Worship at the Mountain of God

After the exodus, Jethro himself comes out to meet Moses at the mountain. The narrative reintroduces him as the man who has heard what Yahweh has done: "Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt" (Ex 18:1). His arrival becomes the occasion for sacrifice and a shared meal with the leaders of Israel: "And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God" (Ex 18:12). Jethro's offering and the elders' meal frame Israel's first encounter with him after the deliverance.

Hobab and the Journey from Sinai

When Israel sets out from Sinai, Moses appeals to a member of the same family — Hobab, son of Reuel — to travel with them. The patronymic ties the kin-group of the priest of Midian into Israel's journey: "And Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, We are journeying to the place of which Yahweh said, I will give it to you⁺: come with us, and we will do you good; for [the Speech of] Yahweh has spoken good concerning Israel" (Num 10:29). The reference back to Reuel shows the narrative still drawing on the same Midianite household that had received Moses years earlier.