Jethro (Bible) - Names

Names

There is a controversy about this father-in-law of Moses and whether or not the Bible contradicts itself in regard to his name(s). In the KJV version of Judges 4:11, a man named Hobab appears as Moses' father-in-law, while Numbers 10:29 makes him "the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law". One thing to consider is that there is only one Biblical Hebrew word for both "brother-in-law" and "father-in-law" (chathan). It is, in fact, the word for any and all relations by marriage. If one takes into account the Biblical custom of multiple names for one person as well as Judges 4:11 calling Hobab Reuel's son, Reuel and Jethro both appear as Moses' father-in-law, while Hobab must be seen as his brother-in-law. There are, however, disputes among theologians in this matter.

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