JETHRO

also called Reuel, or Hobab, in the Old Testament, priest of Midian of the Kenite clan, with whom Moses took refuge after he killed an Egyptian and whose daughter Moses married (Exodus 3:1). After the Exodus, Jethro visited the Hebrews encamped at the mountain of God and brought with him Moses' wife and sons. There he officiated at a sacrifice to God that was attended by Aaron and the elders of Israel. He also suggested that Moses appoint able men to assist him in judging his people, thus founding the Hebrew judiciary (Exodus 18). Jethro's Kenite descendants settled in Judaean territory in the Negev and were on friendly terms with the Hebrews in the time of Deborah, Saul, and David. On the basis of Exodus 18, some scholars have suggested that Yahweh was the god of the Kenites and was introduced to Moses and the Israelites by Jethro.