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Exodus 18:6

in Exodus 18

He sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

and he said unto Moses, I, thy father-in-law Jethro, am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.

KJV

And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.

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This verse in Exodus 18

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

And he said unto Moses - That is, by a messenger; in consequence of which Moses went out to meet him, as is stated in the next verse, for an interview had not yet taken place. This is supported by reading הנה hinneh, behold, for אני ani, I, which is the reading of the Septuagint and Syriac, and several Samaritan MSS.; instead therefore of I, thy father, we should read, Behold thy father, etc. - Kennicott’s Remarks.

This site's exposition

along with Moses’ wife and sons

on Exodus 18:5-6

Jethro reaches Moses at the mountain of God, where 3:1 says Moses kept this same man's flock when he saw the bush. At 3:12 God gave Moses the sign that the people would worship on this mountain, and it has now come due.

This site's exposition

He sent word to Moses

The Berean rendering, He sent word, makes verse 6 a message carried ahead of the meeting. Adam Clarke notes that the Septuagint, the Syriac and several Samaritan manuscripts read hinneh, behold, where the Hebrew has ani. That reading makes the line a herald's announcement.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Moses had now a great deal both of honour and care put upon him, and it was fit that his wife should be with him to share with him in both. Notice is taken of the significant names of his two sons. The eldest was called Gershom (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

And he said unto Moses,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

And he said ... - Or according to the Greek Version, “And it was told to Moses, saying, Lo, thy father in law Jether is come.”

The words behind it

12 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • אֲנִ֛יI

    ʾaniH589 →874 times

  • חֹתֶנְךָ֥father-in-law your

    chotenkhaH2859 →33 times

  • יִתְר֖וֹJethro

    yitroH3503 →9 times

  • בָּ֣א[am] coming

    ba'H935 →2568 times

  • אֵלֶ֑יךָto you

    ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times

  • וְאִ֨שְׁתְּךָ֔and wife your

    veishtekhaH802 →781 times

  • וּשְׁנֵ֥יand [the] two

    usheneiH8147 →768 times

  • בָנֶ֖יהָsons her

    vaneihaH1121 →4930 times

  • עִמָּֽהּ׃with her

    ʾimahH5973 →1050 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; 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.

Read on in Exodus 18 →