Bible Strands
Exodus 18:1
Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about all that God had done for Moses and His people Israel, and how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrative reports Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law and priest of Midian, learning of the Exodus event after Moses had already sent his wife Zipporah back to him.
The words — וַ/יִּשְמַ֞ע (va/i.yish.Ma') translates to "and he heard," and יִתְר֨וֹ (yit.Ro) identifies the subject as Jethro.
The thread — This identification of Jethro as priest of Midian and Moses’ father-in-law echoes Exodus 2:16 and Exodus 3:1, where his role and family connection are first established.
Why it lands — The text records a factual transmission of information that requires the reader to acknowledge the historical reach of the Exodus account beyond Israel.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt;
Cross-references
- Exodus 2:16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock.
- Exodus 3:1 Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Psalms 77:14 You are the God who works wonders; You display Your strength among the peoples.
- Joshua 2:10 For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.
- Joshua 9:9 “Your servants have come from a very distant land,” they replied, “because of the fame of the LORD your God. For we have heard the reports about Him: all that He did in Egypt,
- Psalms 34:2 My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice.
- Psalms 44:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
- Psalms 78:4 We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed.
- Psalms 78:50 He cleared a path for His anger; He did not spare them from death but delivered their lives to the plague.
- Psalms 105:36 Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.