JETHRO jĕth’ rō (יִתְרֹ֥ו; LXX ̓Ιοθὸ̀ρ, abundance or excellence). Priest of Midian; father-in-law of Moses.

There is some confusion concerning the names used for Moses’ father-in-law. Jethro is also called Reuel in two places (Exod 2:18; Num 10:29). He is called Hobab in Judges 4:11, but in Numbers 10:29 Hobab seems to be Reuel’s (Jethro’s) son. In all other passages the name Jethro is used. The Scriptures do not explain the difficulty. Jethro apparently was known by all of these names. As a priest of Midian, it may be that he was given a different name by the various Midianite tribes that he served in the Sinai peninsula and the area E of the Gulf of Aqaba.

When Moses fled from Egypt (Exod 2:15), he came to the land of Midian. Stopping at a watering place, he had occasion to champion the cause of seven shepherdesses, and thus gain the favor and protection of their father Jethro, a priest of Midian. Moses was content to dwell with Jethro and tend his sheep. In time he married Zipporah, one of his daughters. We are not told in what religion Jethro served as priest, nor the name of its deity. We are told, however, that Moses was vouchsafed a theophany by “the God of Abraham...Isaac...Jacob...” while tending Jethro’s sheep (Exod 3:1ff.). In this divine-human encounter he was commissioned to deliver the enslaved Israelites from Egypt. In due time Moses took his wife and children and set out for Egypt (Exod 4:20), but apparently he sent his family back to Midian, for they joined the camp of Israel for the first time when Jethro made his visit there (Exod 18:5ff.).

In addition to reuniting Moses and his family, the visit of Jethro was important for at least two reasons: (1) he either acknowledged or reaffirmed his faith in the supremacy of Israel’s God, and (2) he assisted Moses in setting up an administrative and judicial system for Israel.

On Jethro’s arrival in camp, Moses seemed eager to tell his father-in-law of God’s marvelous deliverance of Israel at the Red Sea, and of God’s continued protection and guidance in the wilderness. When he had finished, Jethro was so deeply impressed that he began to bless the God of Israel, saying, “Now I know that the Lord [Yahweh] is greater than all gods” (Exod 18:11). He then witnessed his faith in Israel’s God by conducting a sacrificial meal to which, along with Moses, Aaron and the elders of Israel were invited. Was Jethro already acquainted with the God of the Hebrews? Some scholars think he was.

Jethro’s next contribution came when he observed Moses trying to serve as judge and moderator for the vast multitude of ex-slaves (Exod 18:13). He immediately saw that it was too much for one man. He advised Moses to set up a system that would organize the Israelites into a respectable nation of people, and at the same time relieve their leader of an unmanageable amount of responsibility. He outlined his method of organization (18:17-23): the multitude should be separated into units, with a leader over each unit to whom authority for settling minor problems is delegated. In this way only the more difficult problems would come to Moses. Moses quickly saw that his father-in-law was correct in his evaluation of the situation, and accepted his advice.

For several decades scholars have sought to credit Jethro for originating Mosaic religion. Involved in the problem is the name for God used in the OT. Basing their views on Exodus 6:3, these scholars claim that God was not known to Israel as Yahweh (the Lord) until the time of Moses. They insist that Moses learned all he knew about Yahweh from Jethro who was a Yahwistic priest among the Midianites. Moses, in turn, introduced this tribal god of the Kenites (see Kenites) to Israel, perhaps changing things a bit to suit his needs.

Although much at this point is hidden from our view, it is evident from the Scriptures that God was known by His name Yahweh (the Lord) in the Palestinian area long before the time of Moses (see Gen 4:26; 6:3, 5; 12:1, 4, et al.). To say that Moses and the children of Israel had never heard of Yahweh before meeting Jethro is inaccurate. He was none other than “the God of your fathers” (Exod 3:6, 13). On the other hand, it is true that Moses took an old and familiar name and deepened and enriched its meaning from his own experience with God at the burning bush, at the Red Sea, and on Mt. Sinai—and in doing so he became the founder of Heb. religion.

Because “Yahweh” was a well-known name for God among the tribes of the Middle E, it is altogether possible that Jethro knew and worshiped God as Yahweh before visiting Moses’ camp. When one remembers that the Midianites (see Midian, Midianites) were descendants of Abraham by Keturah (Gen 25:2, 4; 1 Chron 1:32, 33), it is not unlikely that at least some of the Midianite tribes, such as the Kenites (Judg 1:16; 4:11), may have continued to worship God as Yahweh until the time of Moses.

Bibliography F. James, Personalities of the Old Testament (1939), 24, 25; N. Glueck, Rivers in the Desert (1959), 132-134; G. L. Archer, SOTI (1964), 110-115; W. Harrelson, Interpreting the Old Testament (1964), 77-80.