Exodus 18:7

_AND MOSES WENT OUT TO MEET HIS FATHER IN LAW, AND DID OBEISANCE, AND KISSED HIM; AND THEY ASKED EACH OTHER OF THEIR WELFARE; AND THEY CAME INTO THE TENT._ Moses went out ... Their salutations would be marked by all the warm and social greeting of Oriental friends (see the note at Exodus 4:27) - the one going out to "meet" the other-the "obeisance," the "kiss" on each side of the head, the silent entrance into the tent for consultation; and their conversation ran in the strain that might have been expected of two pious men, rehearsing and listening to a narrative of the wonderful works and providence of God....

7._And Moses went out. _In the foregoing verse he had related what happened last, viz., that Jethro said, I am come, and have brought to thee thy wife and children; but this transposition is common in Hebrew. Now, then, he adds, that Moses went to meet him, and to pay him honor; and that they met each other with mutual kindness, and respectively performed the duties of affection. “To ask each other of their peace,” (196) is tantamount to inquiring whether things were well and prospering. But the main point is, that Moses told him how gracious God had been to His people; for this was the drift of the whole of his address, that, when he had left his father-in-law, he had not yielded to the impulse of lightness, but had obeyed the call of God, as had afterwards been proved by His extraordinary aids and by heavenly prodigies....

7-12 Conversation concerning God's wondrous works is good, and edifies. Jethro not only rejoiced in the honour done to his son-in-law, but in all the goodness done to Israel. Standers-by were more affected with the favours God had showed to Israel, than many were who received them. Jethro gave the glory to Israel's God. Whatever we have the joy of, God must have the praise. They joined in a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Mutual friendship is sanctified by joint worship. It is very good for relations and friends to join in the spiritual sacrifice of prayer and praise, as those that meet in Christ. This was a temperate feast; they did eat bread, manna. Jethro must see and taste that bread from heaven, and though a gentile, is welcome: the gentiles are welcomed to Christ the Bread of life....

Verse Exodus 18:7. _AND DID OBEISANCE_] וישתחו _vaiyishtachu, he bowed_ _himself down_, (Genesis 17:3; and _"_Exodus 4:31_"_;) this was the general token of respect. _And kissed him_; the token of friendship. _And they asked_ _each other of_ their _welfare_; literally, _and they inquired,_ _each man of his neighbour, concerning peace or prosperity_; the proof of affectionate intercourse. These three things constitute _good breeding_ and _politeness_, accompanied with _sincerity_. _AND THEY CAME INTO THE TENT._] Some think that the _tabernacle_ is meant, which it is likely had been erected before this time;...

ASKED EACH OTHER OF THEIR WELFARE - Addressed each other with the customary salutation, “Peace be unto you.”...

JETHRO'S VISIT TO MOSES. EXPOSITION JETHRO'S VISIT TO MOSES. It has been noticed, in the comment on Exodus 4:1; that shortly after the circumcision of Eliezer, Moses' second son, he sent back his wife, Zipporah, to her own kinsfolk, the Midianites, together with her two sons, Eliezer and Gershom. Reuel, Zipporah's father, was then dead (Exodus and had been succeeded in his priesthood and headship of the tribe by Jethro, probably his son, and therefore the brother-in-law, and not the father-in-law, of Moses. (The Hebrew word used, as already observed, has both meanings.) Jethro gave protection to his sister and her children until he heard of the passage of the Red Sea, when he set forth to meet and congratulate his kinsman, and to convey back

AND MOSES WENT OUT TO MEET HIS FATHER IN LAW,.... Out of the camp, at least out of his tent: the Targum of Jonathan says, from under the cloud of glory; how far he went is not certain, nor material to know: this was an instance of his great humility and modesty, and was doing Jethro a great deal of honour; that one who was in such great dignity, at the head of such a vast body of people, and superior to him both in natural and spiritual abilities, yet condescended to go forth in person to meet him, when he might have sent a guard of his men to escort him to his camp, which would have been honour sufficient; and it is not said he went out to meet his wife and children; for Aben Ezra says it was not usual for honourable men so to do: AND DID OBEISANCE: to Jethro, bowed unto him and worshipped him in a civil way, after the manner of the eastern nations, who used to make very low bows to wh...

CHAPTER 18 MOSES AND JETHRO _ 1. The coming of Jethro (Exodus 18:1)_ 2. Moses' and Jethro's communion (Exodus 18:6) 3. Jethro's advice (Exodus 18:13) 4. Moses' action (Exodus 18:24) This chapter concludes the first section of the second part of Exodus. We have in it a beautiful dispensational foreshadowing of things to come. God had redeemed Israel, delivered them from Pharaoh's host, manifested His power and had given them victory. The priest of Midian, a Gentile, now comes, having heard all that Jehovah had done for Moses and for Israel, his people. Zipporah, Moses' wife, and his two sons are with

JETHRO AS PRIEST. Exodus 18:1 a (Midian) J, Exodus 18:1 b E, Exodus 18:1 c (supply heard) J, Exodus 18:2 Rje, Exodus 18:5 E, Exodus 18:6 a(b) - Exodus 18:7 J, Exodus 18:8 ab (was) E, Exodus 18:8 c -...

WELFARE— In the Hebrew, _peace;_ the usual inquiry and salutation among the easterns: a word implying all temporal and spiritual good....