# Exodus 18.2

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-10-29 | updated: 2026-10-29 -->

**Book:** [Exodus](/codex/exodus/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 1. Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt.
>
> **2. And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away,**
>
> 3. and her two sons; of whom the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land: 4. and the name of the other was Eliezer; for he said, The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. (Exodus 18:1-4, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 1. Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, how that Yahweh had brought Israel out of Egypt.
>
> **2. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away,**
>
> 3. and her two sons. The name of one son was Gershom, for Moses said, “I have lived as a foreigner in a foreign land”. 4. The name of the other was Eliezer, for he said, “My father’s God was my help and delivered me from Pharaoh’s sword.” (Exodus 18:1-4, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 1. When Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that God had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt;
>
> **2. Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,**
>
> 3. And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land: <sup>Gershom: that is A stranger there</sup> 4. And the name of the other was Eliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: <sup>Eliezer: that is, My God is an help</sup> (Exodus 18:1-4, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 1. And Jethro priest of Midian, father-in-law of Moses, heareth all that God hath done for Moses, and for Israel his people, that Jehovah hath brought out Israel from Egypt,
>
> **2. and Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh Zipporah, wife of Moses, besides her parents,**
>
> 3. and her two sons, of whom the name of the one [is] Gershom, for he said, 'a sojourner I have been in a strange land:' 4. and the name of the other [is] Eliezer, for, 'the God of my father [is] for my help, and doth deliver me from the sword of Pharaoh.' (Exodus 18:1-4, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._

- None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.

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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Israelites Were Black Racial Descriptors Objection Defeater](/codex/israelites-were-black-racial-descriptors-objection-defeater/), via [Exodus 18.1-6](/codex/exodus-18-1-6/)

**People:**

- [Zipporah](/codex/zipporah/)

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## Notes

_Your annotations._

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.