Exodus 18:12

And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Jethro	יִתְר֨וֹ yit.Ro	H3503	Jethro · proper noun, a man's name
Moses’	מֹשֶׁ֛ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
law	חֹתֵ֥ן cho.Ten	H2859	to give (a daughter) away in marriage · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
took	וַיִּקַּ֞ח vai.yi.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
offering	עֹלָ֥ה 'o.Lah	H5930	a step or (collectively · noun, common feminine singular absolute
sacrifices	וּזְבָחִ֖ים u.ze.va.Chim	H2077	properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
God	לֵֽאלֹהִ֑ים le.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Aaron	אַהֲרֹ֜ן 'a.ha.Ron	H175	Aharon · proper noun, a man's name
came	וַיָּבֹ֨א vai.ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
elders	זִקְנֵ֣י zik.Nei	H2205	old · adjective, masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
eat	לֶאֱכָל le.'e.khol-	H398	to eat (literally or figuratively) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
bread	לֶ֛חֶם Le.chem	H3899	food (for man or beast) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Moses’	מֹשֶׁ֖ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
law	חֹתֵ֥ן cho.Ten	H2859	to give (a daughter) away in marriage · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct
before	לִפְנֵ֥י lif.Nei	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
God	הָאֱלֹהִֽים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 31:54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the moun…
Deuteronomy 12:7 And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the…
Exodus 24:5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
Exodus 24:11 And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.
Genesis 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Genesis 8:20 And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared u…
Genesis 26:25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:7-12

Observe here, I. The kind greeting that took place between Moses and his father-in-law, Exo 18:7. Though Moses was a prophet of the Lord, a great prophet, and king in Jeshurun, yet he showed a very humble respect to his father-in-law. However God in his providence is pleased to advance us, we must make conscience of giving honour to whom honour is due, and never look with disdain upon our poor relations. Those that stand high in the favour of God are not thereby discharged from the duty they owe to men, nor will that justify them in a stately haughty carriage. Moses went out to meet Jethro, did homage to him, and kissed him. Religion does not destroy good manners. They asked each other of th…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:12

Jethro . . . took a burnt offering--This friendly interview was terminated by a solemn religious service--the burnt offerings were consumed on the altar, and the sacrifices were peace offerings, used in a feast of joy and gratitude at which Jethro, as priest of the true God, seems to have presided, and to which the chiefs of Israel were invited. This incident is in beautiful keeping with the character of the parties, and is well worthy of the imitation of Christian friends when they meet in the present day.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:12

Jethro - took a burnt-offering - עלה olah. Though it be true that in the patriarchal times we read of a burnt-offering, (see Gen 22:2, etc)., yet we only read of one in the case of Isaac, and therefore, though this offering made by Jethro is not a decisive proof that the law relative to burnt-offerings, etc., had already been given, yet, taken with other circumstances in this account, it is a presumptive evidence that the meeting between Moses and Jethro took place after the erection of tabernacle. See Clarke's note on Exo 18:5. Sacrifices for God - זבחים zebachim, slain beasts, as the word generally signifies. We have already seen that sacrifices were instituted by God himself as soon as si…

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Dictionary and topics

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…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Government · Closely as — Closely as
Kenites, The · Showed kindness to Israel in the desert — Showed kindness to Israel in the desert
Midianites · A small part of: Retained the knowledge and worship of Jehovah — A small part of: Retained the knowledge and worship of Jehovah
Religion · .Jethro — .Jethro
Sacrifices · Were offered: After the departure of Israel from Egypt — Were offered: After the departure of Israel from Egypt

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 18:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:7-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:12

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:12

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 18:12

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:7-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:12

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:12

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 18:12

John Calvin on Exodus 18:1-12

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 18:12

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 18:7

Rashi on Exodus 18:12