Exodus 18:27
in Exodus 18Then Moses sent his father-in-law on his way, and Jethro returned to his own land.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses let his father-in-law depart; and he went his way into his own land.
KJV
And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.
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This verse in Exodus 18
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Moses let his father-in-law depart - But if this be the same transaction with that mentioned Num 10:29, etc., we find that it was with great reluctance that Moses permitted so able a counsellor to leave him; for, having the highest opinion of his judgment, experience, and discretion, he pressed him to stay with them, that he might be instead of eyes to them in the desert.
This site's exposition
they judged the people at all seasons
on Exodus 18:26-27
The report matches the instruction with one shift of wording, since Jethro said every great matter and the execution says the hard causes, which is the phrase Deuteronomy 1:17 uses when Moses recounts the charge he gave the judges. Then Jethro goes home, and the man whose counsel shaped Israel's courts is out of the camp before Sinai. Numbers 10:29 to 10:31 records Moses later pressing this same family to stay and be to us instead of eyes.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
This incident may very well be allowed to have happened as it is placed here, before the giving of the law, and not, as some place it, in connection with what is recorded, Num. x. Sacrifices were offered before; in these mentioned here (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
6 ) were the posterity of Jethro (compare Judg. i. 16 ), and they are there taken under special protection, for the kindness their ancestor here showed to Israel. The good-will shown to God's people, even in the smallest instances, shall in no wise lose its reward, but shall be recompensed, at furthest, in the resurrection.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And Moses let his father in law depart,....
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְשַׁלַּ֥ח | vayshalach | and he sent off | H7971 → | 845 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֖ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חֹתְנ֑וֹ | choteno | father-in-law his | H2859 → | 33 times |
| וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| ל֖וֹ | lo | <for> himself | ||
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַרְצֽוֹ׃ פ | ʾartzo | land his | H776 → | 2504 times |
וַיְשַׁלַּ֥חand he sent off
vayshalachH7971 →845 times
מֹשֶׁ֖הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חֹתְנ֑וֹfather-in-law his
chotenoH2859 →33 times
וַיֵּ֥לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
ל֖וֹ<for> himself
lo
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַרְצֽוֹ׃ פland his
ʾartzoH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 24:59So they sent their sister Rebekah on her way, along with her nurse and Abraham’s servant and his men.
it leads to
- Genesis 35:8
Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bachuth.
- Genesis 35:8
Through
Genesis 31:55Early the next morning, Laban got up and kissed his grandchildren and daughters and blessed them. Then he left to return home.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:28
But you did not even let me kiss my grandchildren and my daughters goodbye. Now you have done a foolish thing.
- Genesis 18:33
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.
- Deuteronomy 23:5
Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.
- Genesis 30:25
Now after Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, “Send me on my way so I can return to my homeland.
- Numbers 23:8
How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced?
- Genesis 31:28
Through
Judges 19:9When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See,…
it leads to
- James 4:13–14
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
- Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
- James 4:13–14
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.