Passage

Exodus 18.4

Book: Exodus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of God: 6. and he said unto Moses, I, thy father-in-law Jethro, am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. (Exodus 18:2-6, ASV)

WEB

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.”

Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the Mountain of God. 6. He said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her.” (Exodus 18:2-6, WEB)

KJV

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: ^{Gershom: that is A stranger there}

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: ^{Eliezer: that is, My God is an help}

And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the mount of God: 6. And he said unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her. (Exodus 18:2-6, KJV)

YLT

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.'

And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, cometh, and his sons, and his wife, unto Moses, unto the wilderness where he is encamping, the mount of God; 6. and he saith unto Moses, 'I, thy father-in-law, Jethro, am coming unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.' (Exodus 18:2-6, YLT)

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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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

H0259 - echad, echad, Strong's H0259
H8034 - shem, shem, Strong's H8034
H0001 - ab, ab, Strong's H0001
H0430 - elohim, elohim, Strong's H0430

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.