Midrash sur L’Exode 18:7

R. Eliezer maintained that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses, I am He who commanded the world to come into existence, and I am He who draws (people) near and does not keep (them away), as it is said: Am I a God near at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off (Jer. 23:23); I am He who brought Jethro near and did not keep him far off, and so when a man comes to you to be converted, bring him near, do not keep him far off. Thereupon Moses went out to meet his father-in-law (Exod. 18:7). Our sages say that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and all the elders of Israel accompanied him. Hence it is said: The wise shall inherit honor.

And Joseph made ready his chariot (Gen. 46:29). R. Yudan said in the name of R. Aibu: Two men were accorded more homage than any other men in all the world; they were Jethro and Jacob. It is written that when Jethro came to Moses, Moses went out to meet his father-in-law (Exod. 18:7). Who would imagine Moses going out and other people not going out with him? Would not the leaders of the thousands and the hundreds go out, and would not the seventy elders and Aaron, the high priest, go out? Indeed, if he went out, would not all Israel go out with him to meet Jethro? Similarly, when Jacob came to live with Joseph, it is written: Joseph made ready his chariot and went out. Who, upon observing Joseph going out to meet his father, would fail to accompany him? Would not Pharaoh’s servants go out, would not the elders of his household and the elders of Egypt go out? He went out to fulfill the verse The wise shall inherit honor (Prov. 3:35).