Exodus 18:1

Bible in Basic English (1941)

Now news came to Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, of all God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, and how the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע יִתְר֨וֹ כֹהֵ֤ן מִדְיָן֙ חֹתֵ֣ן מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֵת֩ כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר עָשָׂ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ לְמֹשֶׁ֔ה וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל עַמּ֑וֹ כִּֽי־הוֹצִ֧יא יְהוָ֛ה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃

Transliteration

wə-yišmaʿ yitrô kōhēn midyān ḥōtēn mōšeh ʾēt all-which ʿāśāh ʾĕlōhîm to-mōšeh and-to-yiśrāʾēl ʿammô that-hôṣîʾ YHWH ʾet-yiśrāʾēl from-miṣrayim

Grammar Details

• *wə*-*yišmaʿ*: consecutive imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - and he heard
• *yitrô*: proper noun, masculine singular - Jethro
• *kōhēn*: noun, masculine singular construct - priest of
• *midyān*: proper noun - Midian
• *ḥōtēn*: noun, masculine singular construct - father-in-law of
• *mōšeh*: proper noun - Moses
• *ʾēt*: direct object marker
• *ʿāśāh*: perfect, 3rd masculine singular - had done
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: noun, masculine plural (with singular meaning) - God
• *ʿammô*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his people
• *hôṣîʾ*: perfect, 3rd masculine singular, hiphil form - had brought out
• *YHWH*: proper noun - the LORD
• *miṣrayim*: proper noun - Egypt

Word Meanings

• *yitrô*: Jethro (meaning 'his excellence/abundance')
• *ḥōtēn*: father-in-law/relative by marriage
• *ʾĕlōhîm*: God/gods/divine beings/mighty ones
• *ʿammô*: his people/his nation/his folk

Referenced Verses

• Exod 2:16 : 16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came to get water for their father's flock.
• Exod 3:1 : 1 Now Moses was looking after the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he took the flock to the back of the waste land and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
• Ps 77:14-15 : 14 You are the God who does works of power: you have made your strength clear to the nations. 15 With your arm you have made your people free, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah.)
• Ps 78:4 : 4 We will not keep them secret from our children; we will make clear to the coming generation the praises of the Lord and his strength, and the great works of wonder which he has done.
• Ps 78:50-53 : 50 He let his wrath have its way; he did not keep back their soul from death, but gave their life to disease. 51 He gave to destruction all the first sons of Egypt; the first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham; 52 But he took his people out like sheep, guiding them in the waste land like a flock. 53 He took them on safely so that they had no fear; but their haters were covered by the sea.
• Ps 105:5 : 5 Keep in mind the great works which he has done; his wonders, and the decisions of his mouth;
• Ps 105:36-41 : 36 He put to death the first child of every family in the land, the first-fruits of their strength. 37 He took his people out with silver and gold: there was not one feeble person among them. 38 Egypt was glad when they went; for the fear of them had come down on them. 39 A cloud was stretched over them for a cover; and he sent fire to give light in the night. 40 At the people's request he sent birds, and gave them the bread of heaven for food. 41 His hand made the rock open, and the waters came streaming out; they went down through the dry places like a river.
• Ps 105:43 : 43 And he took his people out with joy, the men of his selection with glad cries:
• Ps 106:2 : 2 Who is able to give an account of the great acts of the Lord, or to make clear all his praise?
• Ps 106:8-9 : 8 But he was their saviour because of his name, so that men might see his great power. 9 By his word the Red Sea was made dry: and he took them through the deep waters as through the waste land. 10 And he took them safely out of the hands of their haters, and kept them from the attacks of those who were against them. 11 And the waters went over their haters; all of them came to an end.
• Ps 136:10-16 : 10 To him who put to death the first-fruits of Egypt: for his mercy is unchanging for ever: 11 And took out Israel from among them: for his mercy is unchanging for ever: 12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm: for his mercy is unchanging for ever. 13 To him who made a way through the Red Sea: for his mercy is unchanging for ever: 14 And let Israel go through it: for his mercy is unchanging for ever: 15 By him Pharaoh and his army were overturned in the Red Sea: for his mercy is unchanging for ever. 16 To him who took his people through the waste land: for his mercy is unchanging for ever.
• Isa 63:11-13 : 11 Then the early days came to their minds, the days of Moses his servant: and they said, Where is he who made the keeper of his flock come up from the sea? where is he who put his holy spirit among them, 12 He who made the arm of his glory go at the right hand of Moses, by whom the waters were parted before them, to make himself an eternal name; 13 He who made them go through the deep waters, like a horse in the waste land?
• Jer 33:9 : 9 And this town will be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth, who, hearing of all the good which I am doing for them, will be shaking with fear because of all the good and the peace which I am doing for it.
• Zech 8:23 : 23 This is what the Lord of armies has said: In those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will put out their hands and take a grip of the skirt of him who is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for it has come to our ears that God is with you.
• Acts 7:35-36 : 35 This Moses, whom they would not have, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge? him God sent to be a ruler and a saviour, by the hand of the angel whom he saw in the thorn-tree. 36 This man took them out, having done wonders and signs in Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the waste land, for forty years.
• Acts 14:27 : 27 And when they came there, and had got the church together, they gave them an account of all the things which God had done through them, and how he had made open a door of faith to the Gentiles.
• Acts 15:12 : 12 And all the people were quiet while Barnabas and Paul gave an account of the signs and wonders which God had done among the Gentiles by them.
• Acts 21:19-20 : 19 And when he had said how glad he was to see them, he gave them a detailed account of the things which God had done through his work among the Gentiles. 20 And hearing it, they gave praise to God; and they said to him, You see, brother, what thousands there are among the Jews, who have the faith; and they all have a great respect for the law:
• Rom 15:18 : 18 And I will keep myself from talking of anything but those things which Christ has done by me to put the Gentiles under his rule in word and in act,
• Gal 1:23-24 : 23 Only it came to their ears that he who at one time was cruel to us is now preaching the faith which before had been attacked by him; 24 And they gave glory to God in me.
• Exod 4:18 : 18 And Moses went back to Jethro, his father-in-law, and said to him, Let me go back now to my relations in Egypt and see if they are still living. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.
• Exod 7:1-9 : 1 And the Lord said to Moses, See I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. 2 Say whatever I give you orders to say: and Aaron your brother will give word to Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go out of his land. 3 And I will make Pharaoh's heart hard, and my signs and wonders will be increased in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not give ear to you, and I will put my hand on Egypt, and take my armies, my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, after great punishments. 5 And the Egyptians will see that I am the Lord, when my hand is stretched out over Egypt, and I take the children of Israel out from among them. 6 And Moses and Aaron did so: as the Lord gave them orders, so they did. 7 And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they gave the Lord's word to Pharaoh. 8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 If Pharaoh says to you, Let me see a wonder: then say to Aaron, Take your rod and put it down on the earth before Pharaoh so that it may become a snake. 10 Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did as the Lord had said: and Aaron put his rod down on the earth before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. 11 Then Pharaoh sent for the wise men and the wonder-workers, and they, the wonder-workers of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. 12 For every one of them put down his rod on the earth, and they became snakes: but Aaron's rod made a meal of their rods. 13 But Pharaoh's heart was made hard, and he did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said. 14 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Pharaoh's heart is unchanged; he will not let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning; when he goes out to the water, you will be waiting for him by the edge of the Nile, with the rod which was turned into a snake in your hand;
• Num 10:29 : 29 Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of his father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, We are journeying to that place of which the Lord has said, I will give it to you: so come with us, and it will be for your profit: for the Lord has good things in store for Israel.
• Josh 2:10 : 10 For we have had news of how the Lord made the Red Sea dry before you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, on the other side of Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you gave up to the curse.
• Josh 9:9 : 9 And they said to him, Your servants have come from a very far country, because of the name of the Lord your God: for the story of his great name, and of all he did in Egypt has come to our ears,
• Judg 4:11 : 11 Now Heber the Kenite, separating himself from the rest of the Kenites, from the children of Hobab, the brother-in-law of Moses, had put up his tent as far away as the oak-tree in Zaanannim, by Kedesh.
• Neh 9:10-11 : 10 And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today. 11 By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great waters.
• Ps 34:2 : 2 My soul will say great things of the Lord: the poor in spirit will have knowledge of it and be glad.
• Ps 44:1 : 1 <To the chief music-maker. Of the sons of Korah Maschil.> It has come to our ears, O God, our fathers have given us the story, of the works which you did in their days, in the old times,
• Exod 2:18 : 18 And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you have come back so quickly today?
• Exod 2:21 : 21 And Moses was happy to go on living with the man; and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses.