What Does Exodus 4:18 Mean?

**Moses . . . returned to Jethro.**—Heb., *to Jether.* When Moses married Zipporah, he was probably adopted into the tribe, of which Reuel, and after him Jethro, was the head. The tribal tie was close, and would make the asking of permission for even a temporary absence the proper, if not even the necessary, course Apart from this, Moses would have had to “return,” in order to restore the flock, which he was tending, to its owner. (See Exodus 3:1.) **My brethren.**—Not “my nation,” for Moses could not doubt that some survived; nor “my actual brothers,” for he had but one brother; but, “my relations,” or “my family,” my kith and kin. Let me go and see whether my relatives survive, or whether they have succumbed to the tyranny of the Pharaoh. It is certain that this was not Moses’ sole motive, not even his main motive for wishing to return to Egypt; but, as it was among his motives, he was within his right in putting it forward, and omitting to mention others. **Jethro said, Go in peace.**—Jethro’s character is altogether one of which kindness and peacefulness are the main elements. If he be identified with Reuel, the pleasing picture drawn in Exodus 2:18-21 will furnish traits towards his portraiture. Even without this, the present passage and the notice in Exodus 18 sufficiently delineate him. He is a sort of second Melchizedek, both priest and king, a worshipper of the true God, and one in whose presence both Moses and Aaron are content to play a secondary part (Exodus 18:9; Exodus 18:12). But he never asserts himself; he is always kind, gentle, acquiescent, helpful. He might easily have made a difficulty at the present point of the narrative, have demurred to the weakening of the tribe by the withdrawal of an important member from it, have positively refused to allow of the departure of ‘Zipporah and her children. But his words are simply “Go in peace.” He consents, and does not mar the grace of his act by any show of reluctance. He lets Moses take his wife and children. He afterwards receives them back, and protects them (Exodus 18:2); and, finally, when his protection is no more needed, he restores them to their natural guardian, by a spontaneous act, as it would seem.