Jethro (biblical figure)
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox religious biography In the Hebrew Bible, JethroTemplate:Efn was Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian,<ref name="Harris">Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref> sometimes called Reuel (or Raguel).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Exodus, Moses' father-in-law is initially referred to as "Reuel" (Exodus 2:18) but afterwards as "Jethro" (Exodus 3:1). He was also identified as the father of Hobab in Numbers 10:29, though Judges 4:11 identifies him as Hobab.<ref name="Harris2010">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Hamilton 2008 p. 121">Template:Cite book</ref>
Druze identify Jethro with the prophet Shuayb, also said to come from Midian.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> For the Druze, Shuayb is considered the most important prophet, and the ancestor of all Druze.<ref name="Blumberg 1985 201">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In ExodusEdit
Jethro is called a priest of Midian and became father-in-law of Moses after he gave his daughter, Zipporah, in marriage to Moses. He is introduced in Template:Bibleverse.
Jethro is recorded as living in Midian, a territory stretching along the eastern edge of the Gulf of Aqaba, northwestern Arabia. Some believe Midian is within the Sinai Peninsula. Biblical maps from antiquity show Midian on both locations.Template:Citation needed
Jethro's daughter, Zipporah, became Moses' wife after Moses fled Egypt for killing an Egyptian who was beating an enslaved Hebrew. Having fled to Midian, Moses intervened in a water-access dispute between Jethro's seven daughters and the local shepherds; Jethro consequently invited Moses into his home and offered him hospitality. However, Moses remained conscious that he was a stranger in exile, naming his first son (Jethro's grandson) "Gershom", meaning "stranger there".
Moses is said to have worked as a shepherd for Jethro for 40 years before returning to Egypt to lead the Hebrews to Canaan, the "promised land". After the Battle at Rephidim against the Amalekites, word reached Jethro that under Moses' leadership the Israelites had been delivered out of Egypt, so he set out to meet with Moses. They met in the wilderness at the "Mountain of God";<ref>Exod 18:5</ref> Moses recounted to Jethro all that had taken place, and then, according to Exodus 18:9–12a:
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Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And Jethro said, "Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them".
Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt offering and other sacrifices to offer to God.<ref>Exod: 18:9–12a NKJV</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
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Following this event, it was Jethro who encouraged Moses to appoint fellows to share the burden of ministering to the Israelites by allowing others to help in judging smaller matters.
These events take place in the Torah portion Yitro (Exodus 18:1–20:23).
NamesEdit
There is some disagreement over the name(s) of Moses' father-in-law. When he is first mentioned in Template:Bibleverse, his name is Reuel, or Raguel in translations of the Septuagint. In Template:Bibleverse, he is called Jethro, and in Template:Bibleverse he is called both Jether and Jethro. In Template:Bibleverse, a man named Hobab appears as Moses' father-in-law, while Template:Bibleverse calls Hobab "the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father in law", which scholars have considered more likely.<ref>Clarke, Adam, Commentary on The Holy Bible, Abingdon Press, Nashville, vol. 1, pp. 300–301.</ref>
In Jewish tradition, these discrepancies were explained in the belief that the father-in-law of Moses had seven names: "Reuel", "Jether", "Jethro", "Hobab", "Heber", "Keni" (comp. Judges i. 16, iv. 11), and "Putiel"; Eleazar's father-in-law (Ex. vi. 25) being identified with Jethro by interpreting his name either as "he who abandoned idolatry" or as "who fattened calves for the sake of sacrifices to the idol".<ref>Ex. R. xxvii. 7; Mek., Yitro, 'Amaleḳ, 1; Tan., Shemot, 11; comp. Targ. pseudo-Jonathan to Ex. vi. 25 and Soṭah 43a</ref><ref>http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=258&letter=J&search=Jethro#1035 JewishEncyclopedia.com – JETHRO</ref>
According to some modern scholars, "Jethro" was a title meaning "His Excellency", and that "Reuel" was his personal, given name.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DruzeEdit
Template:Druze Jethro, Moses' non-Hebrew father-in-law, is a central figure, particularly in the rites and pilgrimages, of the Druze religion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He is called Shuayb and viewed as the most important prophet for the Druze.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Nabi Shuʿayb is the site recognized by Druze as the tomb of Shuʿayb. It is located at Hittin in the Lower Galilee and is the holiest shrine and most important pilgrimage site for the Druze.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Each year on 25 April, the Druze gather at the site in a holiday known as Ziyarat al-Nabi Shuʿayb to discuss community affairs and commemorate the anniversary of Jethro's death with singing, dancing and feasting.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Another Druze shrine in Ein Qiniyye is the supposed burial place of Jethro's sister, Sit Shahwana.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Jethro is revered as the chief prophet in the Druze religion.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="auto"/> They believe he was a "hidden" and "true prophet" who communicated directly with God and then passed on that knowledge to Moses, whom they describe as a "recognised" and "revealed prophet."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> According to Druze belief, Moses was allowed to wed Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, after helping save his daughters and their flock from competing herdsmen. He is also considered an ancestor of the Druze;<ref name="Blumberg 1985 201"/> as is expressed by such prominent Druze as Amal Nasser el-Din,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and according to Salman Tarif, who was a prominent Druze shaykh, this makes the Druze related to the Jews through marriage.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> This view has been used to represent an element of the special relationship between Israeli Jews and Druze.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Israeli Druze also have a folktale called "Jethro's revenge on the [Sunni Muslim] inhabitants of the village of Hittin."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Islam he is mentioned in the Quran as a prophet who was sent to the city of Midian. His people were destroyed because of their corruption except for the believers. He is thought to be the father-in-law for prophet Moses.