J. O. F. MUKKAV.
JETHER (in; 'abundance/'Ii^flfp).— 1. Father-in- law of Moses (RVm of E.\ 4" E), prob. a mistake for .Jetiiro, nv. 2. Eldest son of Gideon, Jg S'-". When called upon by his father to avenge his uncle's death by executing the two Midianite chiefs, Zebah and Zalmunna, the lad shrank from the deed ' because ho was yet a youth.' It seems surprising at first to find such a vouth among Gideon's 300 tested warriors ; but 8*"^ belongs to a much older source than 7*'', and may be connected with 6**, where Gideon's men are drawn from his own clan of Abiezer ; thus the boy would be in- cluded in his father's following. 3. An Ishm.ielite, father of Amasa, 1 K 2'-'-, 1 Ch 2" = k-:,t •_> S 17^ 'UOep, Luc. 'UOfp. i. S. Two men of Judah, 1 Ch 2" 4". 6. A man of Asher, 1 Ch 7** = n?: v.", 'U6(p A. Ithran was the name of an Edomite clan, Gn 3C-'« P. G. A. CoOKE.
JETHETH (n?i-).— The eponym of an Edomite clan, Gn 3G'"*=1 Ch 1", which has not been traced. The MT is not bevond suspicion, in view of the LXX (A) reading ''if/jc'p in Gn, (B) 'ItSfr (A) 'Ue^d in 1 Ch, and Luc. 'UOip in both passages.
JETHRO O-w:; in E.\ 4'«* -in;, i.e. Jether [so R'V^m] ; LXX everywhere 'loBip. Svi: may be for I'nr:, or, as Dillmann prefers, for <Tn", a name of the same class as <d;'3 of Keh 6' and bearing the same relation to iri; which id;? bears to or; of Neh 2'"). — The priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses. It was while keeping Jethros flocks that Moses had his vision of the burning bush and received his commission from J" to the court of Egypt (Ex S"'). Shortly thereafter he went to his father-in- law and obtained his permission to return to his brethren (4'"). In a previous narrative (2'") we are told how Moses, on fleeing from Egypt, came and dwelt in the land of Midian, how he assisted the seven daughters of the priest of Midian to ■water their flocks, and how finally he married one of these daughters named Zipporah. In this narrative no name is given to the priest (or it has been lost; see below).
An analysis of the above passages shows that Ex 3' and 4", as well as all the other pas.sa"es where the name Jethro occurs (viz. 18'- '• •• *• '• '"• '-), belong to E, whereas Ex 2'^''- is from J. Now the question arises. What is the relation of Hobab of Nu Itf® (also J) to Jethro? Is he identical with him, so that in the latter passage n^D [nn, ' Moses' father-in-law,' * applies to Hobab ; or is he his son, Reuel being another name for Jethro, so that Hobab ben-Reuel was Moses' brother-in-law ; or, as a third possibility, t are Hobab and Jethro both sons of Reuel and thus brothers ? Various considerations point to the following as the most probable answer to these questions. Jethro is the name of Moses' father-in-law according to one tradition (E), Hobab ben-Reuel is the name according to another (J), which appears not only in Nu 10* but also in Jg 1" (see Moore's note) 4". All difficulty in the way of identifying Jethro and Hobab is removed if we regard ' Reuel ' of Ex 2" as a gloss due to a mis- -lonception of Nu 10^ (Driver, LOT" p. 22f.), or
• It U very doubtful whether the Heb. ]rin has ever the sense 0< bn/tber-in-law ; at least there is no certain example in OT of tti meaning anything hut/rt/Art in-law.
f II (with Ewald, Guch. U. 38) its read ' Jethro ben-Beuel ' for ■Beuef 'inExi>.i».
substitute for this reading ' Hobab ben-Reuel. It i.-) true that some obscurity (but this is so upon any theory of the relation of the two names) still arises from the circumstance that alike in Ex 2"'- (J) and 3' (E) Moses' father-in-law is priest of
Midian, whereas in Jg 1'" 4" he is a Kcnite. (See, furthe on Ex 2'»).
(See, further, Moore on
Jg l'".
and Uillmann-Rys:icl
A very important incident is recorded in Ex 18 (E), where >Ioses receives a vLsit from Jethro, and at his father-in-law's instigation apjHiints subordi- nates to assist him in the work ot 'judgin"' the people. In v." we are told how thereafter Jethro 'went his way into his own country.' In J'a narrative (Nu lO'-*"-) we find Hobab in the camp of Israel, and gather the impression (cf. also Jg l'* 4") that, though at first reluctant, he finally agreed to the proposal of Moses that he should remain and give the people the benefit of his services aa guide. See, also art. Hobab. J. A. Selbik.
JETUR.— See Itur^a.
JEUEL (Sn'v;).— 1. A Judahite, son of Zerah, 1 Ch 9". 2. A Levitical family name, 2 Ch 29". 3. A contemporary of Ezra, Ezr 8". In 2 and 3 ^ere has 'js'i", Jeiel. See GENEALOGY.
JEUSH (chy;; in Gn 36'- », 1 Ch V the Kethihh has c'v: .Jeisli. The ^^cri is suiinorted by Gn 3G", the LXX 'leotJs, 'laoiis, Vulg. Jehus, Jau.'), as well as by the forn\ in which the name occurs elsewhere). — 1. A son of Esau by Oholibamah ; also the eponym of a Horite clan, Gn 36'-'^-'*=l Ch 1". 2. A Benjamite chief, 7'°. 3. A descendant of Saul, 1 Ch 8^. 4. The name of a Levitical family, 1 Ch 23"»-. S. A son of Rehoboam, 2 Ch 11'".