Exodus 4:18

And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֜ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
went	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
returned	וַיָּ֣שָׁב vai.Ya.shov	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Jethro	יֶ֣תֶר Ye.ter	H3500	Jether · proper noun, a man's name
law	חֹֽתְנ֗וֹ cho.te.No	H2859	to give (a daughter) away in marriage · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
return	וְאָשׁ֙וּבָה֙ ve.'a.Shu.vah	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
brethren	אַחַ֣י 'a.Chai	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
Egypt	בְּמִצְרַ֔יִם be.mitz.Ra.yim	H4714	Mitsrajim · preposition + proper noun, a place name
see	וְאֶרְאֶ֖ה ve.'er.'Eh	H7200	to see · conjunction + verb, qal, 1st person common singular
yet	הַעוֹדָ֣ם ha.'o.Dam	H5750	properly · interrogative particle + cardinal number, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
alive	חַיִּ֑ים chai.Yim	H2416	alive · adjective, masculine plural absolute
Jethro	יִתְר֛וֹ yit.Ro	H3503	Jethro · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֧אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Moses	לְמֹשֶׁ֖ה le.mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
Go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
peace	לְשָׁלֽוֹם le.sha.Lom	H7965	safe · preposition + noun, common masculine singular 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

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to…
Genesis 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at hi…
1 Samuel 1:17 Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
Luke 7:50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.
Acts 15:36 And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lor…
Acts 16:36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.
1 Timothy 6:1 Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasph…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 4:18-23

Here, I. Moses obtains leave of his father-in-law to return into Egypt, Exo 4:18. His father-in-law had been kind to him when he was a stranger, and therefore he would not be so uncivil as to leave his family, nor so unjust as to leave his service, without giving him notice. Note, The honour of being admitted into communion with God, and of being employed for him, does not exempt us from the duties of our relations and callings in this world. Moses said nothing to his father-in-law (for aught that appears) of the glorious manifestation of God to him; such favours we are to be thankful for to God, but not to boast of before men. II. He receives from God further encouragements and directions i…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 4:18

Moses . . . returned to Jethro--Being in his service, it was right to obtain his consent, but Moses evinced piety, humility, and prudence, in not divulging the special object of his journey.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 4:18

Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren - Moses, having received his commission from God, and directions how to execute it, returned to his father-in-law, and asked permission to visit his family and brethren in Egypt, without giving him any intimation of the great errand on which he was going. His keeping this secret has been attributed to his singular modesty: but however true it might be that Moses was a truly humble and modest man, yet his prudence alone was sufficient to have induced him to observe silence on this subject; for, if once imparted to the family of his father-in-law, the news might have reached Egypt before he could get thither, and a general alarm among the Egy…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on Exodus 4:18

And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law,.... With his flock of sheep he kept, Exodus 3:1, and said unto him: let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brethren which are in Egypt; the Israelites, who were so by nation and religion; as Jethro had been kind and beneficent to him, he did not choose to leave him without his knowledge and consent, and especially to take away his wife and children without it: and see whether they be yet alive; it seems by this that Moses had heard nothing of them during the forty years he lived in Midian, which may be thought strange, since it was not very far from Egypt; and besides the Midianites traded in Egypt, as we learn from Genesis 37:28 b…

Dictionary and topics

Fish — Called dag by the Hebrews, a word denoting great fecundity (Gen. 9:2; Num. 11:22; Jonah 2:1, 10). No fish is mentioned by name either in the Old or in the New Testament. Fish abounded in the…
Jether — Surplus; excellence. (1.) Father-in-law of Moses (Ex. 4:18 marg.), called elsewhere Jethro (q.v.). (2.) The oldest of Gideon’s seventy sons (Judg. 8:20). (3.) The father of Amasa, David’s general (1…
Contracts · .By mutual consent — .By mutual consent
Jethro · Moses spent forty years of exile with, and married his daughter — Moses spent forty years of exile with, and married his daughter
Moses · in Egypt — in 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 4:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 4:18-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 4:18

Adam Clarke on Exodus 4:18

John Gill on Exodus 4:18

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 4:18

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 4:18-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 4:18

Adam Clarke on Exodus 4:18

John Gill on Exodus 4:18

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 4:18-23

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 4:10-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 4:18

Rashi on Exodus 4:18