BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Who Is Jethro, Priest of Midian?

Learn the story of Moses’s father-in-law, a trusted and wise counselor

The Bible introduces Jethro, who is also called Reuel, as a non-Israelite, a priest of Midian, and the father of seven daughters who are shepherdesses (Exodus 2:16–18). ⁱ  Moses marries one of them, Zipporah. Some 40 years later, Jethro figures prominently in Exodus 18 and is called therein the father-in-law of Moses. Exodus 18 details a momentous conversation between the two leaders that quickly establishes the civil, judicial framework for the new Israelite community.

Although Moses and the Lord lead a host of characters in Exodus, Jethro dominates Exodus 18. Set in the wilderness, the chapter serves as a pivot between the book’s two major themes: God’s deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt (Exodus 1–17), and God’s giving of the law to Israel (Exodus 20–40). Sandwiched between the Israelites’ victory over the Amalekites and their journey to Mt. Sinai to receive the law (Exodus 17, 19), Exodus 18 highlights Jethro’s visit to the camp and his wise counsel.

Setting the Scene in Midian

According to the Book of Exodus, once Moses realized that Pharaoh knew he had killed an Egyptian (Exodus 2:15), he fled for his life. The Hebrew Bible remains silent on his escape but pauses on where he rested, Midian; scholars speculate that Midian was a rectangular strip of land along the eastern side of the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat in what is now the northwestern boundary of Saudi Arabia.

He sat by a well. Seven shepherdesses came and began drawing water for their flock. When other shepherds sought to drive them away, Moses rose and singlehandedly routed the harassers. What a hero! He then drew water for the flock (Exodus 2:16–17). The shepherdesses hurried home and excitedly told their father Reuel about “the Egyptian.” Reuel asked his whereabouts, said he wanted to eat with him, and sent the girls back to fetch him (Exodus 2:18–20).

The two men evidently liked what they saw in each other. They seemed to be cut from the same cloth of courtesy, honor, and strength. Although the Bible does not record their conversation, perhaps they discovered that they shared a common ancestor. Moses came from the line of Abraham and Sarah, and Jethro from the line of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1–4).

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Perhaps Jethro asked Moses—obviously a cultured, educated Egyptian—why he traveled alone; perhaps Moses shared his past and his fugitive status. The text remains silent but states that Jethro gave Moses a job, sanctuary, and his daughter in marriage. After all, who would look for a prince of Egypt among shepherds roving in a desert (vv. 16–21)? In any event, Jethro’s unexpected kindness and notable courage changed history.

Although the Bible remains silent on Moses’s 40 years in Jethro’s household, it indicates he never lost his Hebrew heritage. He named his first son Gershom, because “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land,” and his second son Eliezer, because “the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh” (Exodus 18:3–4).

By his 80th year, Moses seemed a man without ambition or dreams, one content to live in hiding and work for another in a dead-end job. Then something unusual happened! A bush burned but was unconsumed! Moses investigated, heard the Lord’s plans to deliver his people from Egypt, learned he was the Lord’s designated deliverer, and realized he had to obey (Exodus 3). The Book of Exodus goes on to describe how Moses continued to learn to obey the Lord and his repeated adventures and deliverances in the Lord’s service. As the Lord’s spokesman before Pharaoh, Moses demanded that Pharaoh let the Hebrews go into the wilderness to worship. In the prolonged contest of wills between the Lord and Moses on one side and Pharaoh on the other, Pharaoh lost. Ten plagues sent by the Lord essentially devastated his kingdom and finally led to the Hebrews’ expulsion from Egypt and their freedom from slavery. 

Jethro’s Amazing Contribution

Upon hearing of the Lord’s deliverance of the “people of Israel” from Egypt (Exodus 18:1), Jethro decided to visit. The setting was an encampment near “the mountain of God,” probably Mt. Horeb (Exodus 3:1; 18:5; 24:13). Jethro, described 13 times in chapter 18 as the father-in-law of Moses (King James Version), takes center stage through his words and actions.

Firstly, both were courteous. Jethro sent advance notification of his upcoming arrival, bringing with him members of Moses’s immediate family. Moses likewise courteously responded by leaving camp to meet Jethro. Secondly, the two embraced. Moses bowed before his elder, a public sign of respect, and they exchanged pleasantries (vv. 6–7). Good will abounded.

The men entered “the tent” (v. 7); scholarly speculation includes three tent possibilities: Jethro’s, Moses’, or the Lord’s. Inside whichever tent it was, Moses retold “everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the Lord had saved them” (v. 8). The chapter’s summary account indicates that: 1) Moses talked only about the Lord and not about himself; and 2) Jethro listened without interruption.

However, the text gives a detailed account of Jethro’s reaction. He rejoiced! Delighted to hear of all the things the Lord had done, Jethro praised the Lord for rescuing Israel from Pharaoh and the hand of the Egyptians (vv. 9–10). Prompted by Moses’s account, Jethro made a firm confession of faith in Israel’s God: “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods!” (v. 11). Jethro, therefore, is possibly the Bible’s first convert.

Jethro then led a worship service that included a burnt offering and sacrifices. A burnt offering is fully consumed by fire and offered in tribute to the Lord; in a sacrifice, the blood and fat are offered to the Lord and the meat is eaten in a fellowship of thanksgiving. Aaron and the 70 elders of Israel joined; although not mentioned, Moses apparently concurred. The participants ate together “in the presence of God” (v. 12). It must have been a magnificent meal and experience.

Jethro the Wise

The next day, Jethro observed the camp’s routine. While watching Moses hear the Israelites’ disputes, Jethro became increasingly concerned; he observed the toll on both Moses and the people. Foreseeing a major leadership crisis, he presented an alternative model.

In the evening when the proceedings closed, Jethro asked Moses two questions: “What is this you are doing for the people?” and “Why do you alone sit and judge?” (v. 14).

Moses replied that the people “come to me to seek God’s will”; he then “decides between the parties” and informs them of “God’s decrees and laws” (vv. 15-16).

Jethro then summarized the problem directly—and probably privately—to Moses: “What you are doing is not good” (v. 17). Jethro described what he had seen: The work is too heavy for you; it is wearing out both you and the people (v. 18). Jethro outlined a job description that emphasized his son-in-law’s strengths. Moses was to continue teaching the people, showing them how to live and behave, representing them before God, and bringing their disputes to God. However, he was to bring only the hardest of the disputes to God; the others were to be decided in the lesser jurisdictions (vv. 19–20).

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Jethro advised Moses on what to do: “Select capable men from all the people…and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens”; he enumerated their qualifications: They must fear God, be trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain (v. 21). Clearly skilled in public relations, Jethro affirmed the probable result of implementing his advice: The “people will go home satisfied” (v. 23). Jethro wisely left unsaid Moses’s obvious need to delegate and the Israelites’ recent threat to stone him (Exodus 17:4).

Moses listened without comment, question, or argument. He acted immediately. He chose capable men from throughout Israel to judge units of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. These judges—all fellow neighbors—would decide the so-called “easy” disputes and send the hard ones to him.

Although judicial levels are now commonplace, Jethro’s advice must have been revolutionary. Moses quite likely had been following the single governance model he knew, that of Pharaoh’s absolute rule. This new civil system of justice preceded the giving of the law (Exodus 20) and prepared the Israelites for it. Arguably, the world stands indebted to Jethro.

God’s silence—no comment, rebuke or correction—affirmed Jethro’s wisdom and plan. It showed that God’s direction can come from both a prophetic word and human reasoning. Moses, later known as Israel’s greatest prophet (Deuteronomy 34:10-12), took advice and wise counsel from Jethro, one whom he respected and knew well.

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Robin Gallaher Branch serves as an adjunct professor at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee. She holds a research appointment at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, where she served as a Fulbright scholar in 2002–2003.

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Notes

 i  Throughout the Bible, names shed light on character. Reuel means “friend of God,” and Jethro, the priest’s most frequent reference, means “his excellency”; it may signify a title and his increased standing over decades. Moses’s name carries the memory of his rescue from the Nile by his foster mother, a daughter of Pharaoh (Exodus 2:10).

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