Exodus 18:2
in Exodus 18After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah, his father-in-law Jethro had received her,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away,
KJV
Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,
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This verse in Exodus 18
Commentary
4 notes on this verseAfter he had sent her back - Why Zipporah and her two sons returned to Midian, is not certainly known. From the transaction recorded Exo 4:20, Exo 4:24, it seems as if she had been alarmed at the danger to which the life of one of her sons had been exposed, and fearing worse evils, left her husband and returned to her father.
This site's exposition
the priest of Midian
on Exodus 18:1-2
News of the exodus travels outside Israel, and the first man on record to act on it is the priest of Midian. Chapter 17 closed with Amalek at war with Israel, and chapter 18 opens with a foreigner setting out toward the God who did it.
This site's exposition
After Moses had sent back his wife Zipporah
The verse reports a parting Exodus never narrates. Zipporah was last seen at 4:25 on the road to Egypt. Adam Clarke reads her return to Midian as a retreat after the danger at that lodging place.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses's wife,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Our Rabbis have already differed concerning this section. 1 Zebachim 116 a, and Mechilta in beginning of this Seder.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּ֗ח | vaiyikach | and he had taken | H3947 → | 966 times |
| יִתְרוֹ֙ | yitro | Jethro | H3503 → | 9 times |
| חֹתֵ֣ן | choten | [the] father-in-law of | H2859 → | 33 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֔ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| צִפֹּרָ֖ה | tziporah | Zipporah | H6855 → | 3 times |
| אֵ֣שֶׁת | ʾeshet | [the] wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֑ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אַחַ֖ר | ʾachar | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| שִׁלּוּחֶֽיהָ׃ | shilucheiha | dismissal<s> her | H7964 → |
וַיִּקַּ֗חand he had taken
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
יִתְרוֹ֙Jethro
yitroH3503 →9 times
חֹתֵ֣ן[the] father-in-law of
chotenH2859 →33 times
מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
צִפֹּרָ֖הZipporah
tziporahH6855 →3 times
אֵ֣שֶׁת[the] wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
מֹשֶׁ֑הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אַחַ֖רafter
ʾacharH310 →715 times
שִׁלּוּחֶֽיהָ׃dismissal<s> her
shilucheihaH7964 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Exodus 2:21Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
it leads to
- Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Genesis 31:38–40
I have been with you for twenty years now. Your sheep and goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten the rams of your flock.
- Exodus 2:10
When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”
- Exodus 4:20–25
So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and headed back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
- Hebrews 11:25
He chose to suffer oppression with God’s people rather than to experience the fleeting enjoyment of sin.
- Hebrews 13:5
Where this verse is studied
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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.