Reuel

Reuel is a name borne by four distinct men in the UPDV: a son of Esau who fathers a line of Edomite chiefs, the Midian-priest father-in-law of Moses (also called Jethro and, through his son Hobab, Raguel), the father of the Gadite prince Eliasaph (whose name appears in Numbers under the variant Deuel), and a Benjamite ancestor named in the Chronicler's post-exilic Jerusalem list.

The Edomite: Son of Esau

In the genealogical record of Esau's house, Reuel is the son born to Esau by Basemath: "And Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bore Reuel" (Gen 36:4). The naming is repeated when the Edomite line is summarized: "these are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz the son of Adah the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau" (Gen 36:10). Reuel himself fathers four sons: "And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife" (Gen 36:13). These four become clan-heads in their own right: "these are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom" (Gen 36:17).

The Chronicler's parallel preserves the same line. Reuel stands second among Esau's five sons — "The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah" (1Chr 1:35) — and his own four sons are listed again: "The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah" (1Chr 1:37). The Reuel of Edom is therefore a clan-patriarch whose name carries forward as the head of one of Esau's tribal divisions.

The Midian-Priest: Father-in-Law of Moses

A different Reuel meets Moses at the well in Midian. When his seven daughters return home unusually early, "they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you⁺ have come so soon today?" (Ex 2:18). The same man is named Jethro in the chapters that follow. In the wilderness Moses is found "shepherding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian" on the approach to Horeb (Ex 3:1), and before the Egypt-departure Moses "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).

After the Exodus, the same father-in-law is again named Jethro and again called the priest of Midian: "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 visit issues in a covenant-meal: "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).

A third name for the same household appears at the Sinai-departure, when Moses presses his Midianite kinsman to march with Israel: "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). Here the Reuel-name reappears as the Midianite patriarch whose son Hobab stands at the camp-edge as the kinsman invited to share Israel's promised inheritance.

The Father of Eliasaph (Called Deuel)

A third Reuel — distinguished as a separate bearer — is the father of Eliasaph, prince of the tribe of Gad in the wilderness. In the Numbers texts the name appears in the variant form Deuel. He is named first in the census: "Of Gad: Eliasaph the son of Deuel" (Num 1:14). Deuel's son is set as Gad's tribal head in the camp-order: "And the tribe of Gad: and the prince of the sons of Gad will be Eliasaph the son of Deuel" (Num 2:14).

At the dedication of the tabernacle Eliasaph brings Gad's offering on the sixth day: "On the sixth day Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the sons of Gad" (Num 7:42), closing with "the oblation of Eliasaph the son of Deuel" (Num 7:47). When the camp moves out, the same patronym appears in the march-order: "And over the host of the tribe of the sons of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel" (Num 10:20).

The Benjamite Forefather

A fourth Reuel surfaces in the Chronicler's list of post-exilic Benjamite settlers in Jerusalem, where he stands as a great-grandfather in Meshullam's line: "and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah" (1Chr 9:8). Here Reuel is named only as a forefather in a genealogical chain — no narrative attaches to him beyond his place in Meshullam's pedigree.