Commentaire sur L’Exode 2:16

ולכהן מדין THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN — כהן signifies the chief amongst them (see Targ. Onkelos and Mekhilta יתרו); he had abandoned the idol-worship to which they were addicted and they banished him, driving him away from them (Exodus Rabbah 1:32).

NOW THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN HAD SEVEN DAUGHTERS. Scripture does not mention him by name for he is not known [to the reader], but rather epithetically mentions that he was the honored one in his priesthood. This was Jethro, for after he became related to Moses it is written, And Moses went and returned to Jether his father-in-law,⁹³Further, 4:18. and there it is written, And Jethro said to Moses: Go in peace.⁹³Further, 4:18. [This proves that Jether and Jethro are the same person], just as Eliyah and Eliyahu,⁹⁴Eliyah (II Kings 1:3), Eliyahu (I Kings 17:1). Yirmiyah and Yirmiyahu.⁹⁵Yirmiyah (Jeremiah 27:1), Yirmiyahu (ibid., 1:1). After he became a proselyte to Judaism, he was called Hobab, as it is written, from the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses,⁹⁶Judges 4:11. for it is the way of all who become converts to Judaism that they be called another name in Israel. And he [Jethro or Hobab] was the son of Reuel, for it is written, And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite.⁹⁷Numbers 10:29. The verse here stating, And they came to Reuel their father,⁹⁸Verse 18. means “their father’s father,” just as [Jacob had said], O G-d of my father Abraham,⁹⁹Genesis 32:10. [and Abraham was his father’s father], and [when speaking of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Scripture says], Nebuchadnezzar his father,¹⁰⁰Daniel 5:2. [while he was his father’s father].¹⁰¹Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, ruled after Nebuchadnezzar (see II Kings 25:27), and he was followed by Belshazzar (see Megillah 11a). Nebuchadnezzar was thus Belshazzar’s grandfather, and yet Scripture (Daniel 5:2) speaks of him as his father. Similarly: Know ye Laban the son of Nahor?¹⁰²Genesis 29:5. But Laban was really the son of Bethuel, for he was the brother of Rebekah (ibid., 24:29), and of Rebekah it is written that her father was Bethuel (ibid., Verse 15). Bethuel’s father was Nahor (ibid., 22:20-22). Yet Jacob asked, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? It is because a grandfather is called “father.” And Mephibosheth the son of Saul.¹⁰³II Samuel 19:25. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan (ibid., 4:4), who was the son of Saul. There are many other such verses.
[Jethro’s daughters came and told Reuel their grandfather of how Moses came to their aid — as is related in Verses 18-19 — and did not tell Jethro] because the priest was not found in the house since he was preoccupied with the ministry in his temple, and so they came to the grandfather. It is possible that the verse, And Moses was content to dwell with the man,¹⁰⁴Verse 21. refers to the priest mentioned above [in Verse 16 — namely, Jethro]¹⁰⁵The intent of Ramban’s words is as follows: According to the above-mentioned interpretation that Jethro was not to be found in his home and that consequently his daughters told Reuel, his father, what had happened (as stated in Verses 18-20), it should follow that the expression, And Moses was content to dwell with ‘the man’ (Verse 21) refers to Reuel, and it was Reuel who gave Moses Zipporah his granddaughter as a wife. But, continues Ramban, it is possible that “the man” in Verse 21 refers back to “the priest” in Verse 16, and so it was Jethro who gave Moses his daughter in marriage. — for it was he who gave Moses Zipporah his daughter.

THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN ... TO R'U'EL, the father of THEIR FATHER (v. 18). If so, their father's name is Yitro, and Hovav, the son of R'u'el, who is mentioned below in Parashat B'ha'alot'cha (Num. 10:29) -- "Moses said to Hovav son of R'u'el" -- Hovav and Yitro are the same. And if R'u'el is Yitro, then he [Hovav] was Yitro's son. But what is written in the Prophets (Jud. 4:11) -- "descendants of Hovav, father-in-law of Moshe" -- proves that Hovav is Yitro, since all other mentions of "Moshe's father-in-law" mention Yitro.