This article is about the view of this character in the Hebrew Bible. For the view of him as a prophet in Islam and among the Druze, see Shuaib. For the parsha, see Yitro.
In the Hebrew Bible, Jethro (/ˈdʒɛθroʊ/; Hebrew: יִתְרוֹ, Modern: Yītrō, Tiberian: Yīṯrō, lit. "His Excellence/Posterity"; Arabic: يثرون, romanized: Yaṯrūn) was Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian,[1] sometimes called Reuel (or Raguel).[2] In Exodus, Moses' father-in-law is initially referred to as "Reuel" (Exodus 2:18) but afterwards as "Jethro" (Exodus 3:1). He was also identified as the father of Hobab in Numbers 10:29, though Judges 4:11 identifies him as Hobab.[3][4][5]
Muslim scholars and the Druze identify Jethro with the prophet Shuayb, also said to come from Midian.[6][7][8] For the Druze, Shuayb is considered the most important prophet, and the ancestor of all Druze.[9][10]
^Meyers, Carol (1 March 2018). Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Newsom, Carol A.; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Fifth ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 81–83. ISBN978-0-19-027605-8. Like the rest of the Pentateuch, Exodus contains contradictions and redundancies. For example, Moses' father-in-law is sometimes called Reuel and sometimes Jethro; and the mountain of revelation is Sinai in some passages and Horeb in others.
^Harris, Stephen (20 January 2010). Understanding The Bible (8 ed.). McGraw-Hill Education. p. 69. ISBN978-0-07-340744-9. J names Moses' father-in-law as Reuel or Hobab, whereas E knows him as Jethro, priest of Midian.