Exodus 18:7

7 Da ging Mose hinaus, seinem Schwiegervater entgegen, und beugte sich nieder und küßte ihn; und sie fragten einer den anderen nach ihrem Wohlergehen und gingen ins Zelt.

Exodus 18:7 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 18:7

And Moses went out to meet his father in law
Out of the camp, at least out of his tent: the Targum of Jonathan says, from under the cloud of glory; how far he went is not certain, nor material to know: this was an instance of his great humility and modesty, and was doing Jethro a great deal of honour; that one who was in such great dignity, at the head of such a vast body of people, and superior to him both in natural and spiritual abilities, yet condescended to go forth in person to meet him, when he might have sent a guard of his men to escort him to his camp, which would have been honour sufficient; and it is not said he went out to meet his wife and children; for Aben Ezra says it was not usual for honourable men so to do:

and did obeisance:
to Jethro, bowed unto him and worshipped him in a civil way, after the manner of the eastern nations, who used to make very low bows to whom they paid civil respect:

and kissed him;
not to make him a proselyte, as the above Targum, nor in token of subjection, but of affection and friendship; it being usual for relations and friends to kiss each other at meeting or parting:

and they asked each other of their welfare;
or "peace" F14; of their prosperity and happiness, temporal and spiritual, of their peace, inward and outward, and of the bodily health of them and their families:

and they came into the tent;
the Targum of Jonathan says,

``into the tabernacle of the house of doctrine,''

or school room; which is not likely, since Jethro was a man well instructed in divine things, and needed not to be put to school; and if he did, it can hardly be thought that as soon as Moses met him he should set about the instruction of him; but into his tent where he dwelt; that, as Aben Ezra says, which was the known tent of Moses, though it is not expressly said his tent.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (Mwlvl) "ad pacem", Montanus; "de pace", Munster, Fagius, Drusius, Piscator; so Ainsworth.

Exodus 18:7 In-Context

5 und Jethro, der Schwiegervater Moses, und seine Söhne und sein Weib kamen zu Mose in die Wüste, wo er gelagert war am Berge Gottes.
6 Und er ließ Mose sagen: Ich, dein Schwiegervater Jethro, bin zu dir gekommen, und dein Weib und ihre beiden Söhne mit ihr.
7 Da ging Mose hinaus, seinem Schwiegervater entgegen, und beugte sich nieder und küßte ihn; und sie fragten einer den anderen nach ihrem Wohlergehen und gingen ins Zelt.
8 Und Mose erzählte seinem Schwiegervater alles, was Jehova an dem Pharao und an den Ägyptern getan hatte um Israels willen, all die Mühsal, die sie auf dem Wege getroffen, und daß Jehova sie errettet habe.
9 Und Jethro freute sich über all das Gute, das Jehova an Israel getan, daß er es errettet hatte aus der Hand der Ägypter.
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