Exodus 18:1

1 And Jothor the priest of Madiam, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that the Lord did to his people Israel; for the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt.

Exodus 18:1 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 18:1

When Jethro the priest of Midian, Moses's father-in-law
The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan call him the prince of Midian, and so the word F5 is rendered in some versions; whose daughter Moses had married, and so was his father-in-law, of which see more in ( Exodus 2:16-21 ) .

heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people;
the miracles he had wrought for them in Egypt, the dividing of the Red sea to make a way for them, the destruction of the Egyptians, providing them with bread and water in such a miraculous manner in the wilderness, and giving them victory over Amalek, and appearing always at the head of them in a pillar of cloud and fire:

[and] that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt:
which was the greatest blessing of all, and for the sake of which so many wonderful things had been done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. And now Midian being near to Egypt, it is not to be wondered at that Jethro should hear of these things, the fame of which went through all the countries round about, see ( Exodus 15:14 Exodus 15:15 ) , though it is not improbable that Moses might send messengers to Midian to acquaint his father-in-law, his wife, and sons, of what the Lord had done for him, and by him.


FOOTNOTES:

F5 (zhk) "praeses", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Exodus 18:1 In-Context

1 And Jothor the priest of Madiam, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that the Lord did to his people Israel; for the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt.
2 And Jothor the father-in-law of Moses, took Sepphora the wife of Moses after she had been sent away,
3 and her two sons: the name of the one was Gersam, saying, I was a sojourner in a strange land; —
4 and the name of the second Eliezer, saying, For the God of my father my helper, and he has rescued me out of the hand of Pharao.
5 And Jothor the father-in-law of Moses, and his sons and his wife, went forth to Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped on the mount of God.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.