Jethro: His excellence, or gain, a prince or priest of Midian, who succeeded
his father Reuel. Moses spent forty years after his exile from the
Egyptian court as keeper of Jethro's flocks. While the Israelites
were encamped at Sinai, and soon after their victory over Amalek,
Jethro came to meet Moses, bringing with him Zipporah and her two
sons. They met at the "mount of God," and "Moses told him all that
the Lord had done unto Pharaoh"
(Exodus 18:8) On the following day Jethro,
observing the multiplicity of the duties devolving on Moses, advised
him to appoint subordinate judges, rulers of thousands, of hundreds,
of fifties, and of tens, to decide smaller matters, leaving only the
weightier matters to be referred to Moses, to be laid before the
Lord. This advice Moses adopted
(Exodus 18:1)ff He was also called Hobab
(q.v.), which was probably his personal name, while Jethro was an
official name.
