Chronology – Shemot 18

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The different reconstructions of the timeline for the events of Chapter 18 have many interesting ramifications for various other stories and questions:

• When did the nation arrive at Mount Sinai? On what date was the Decalogue given?
  • See here for a discussion of the chronology of Chapter 19. If the nation arrived at Mount Sinai on the first of the third month and the Decalogue was given on the sixth day of the month, it would be difficult to say that all of the events of Chapter 18 took place at Sinai but before the Decalogue. Thus, Josephus is able to adopt his position regarding the Yitro story only because he does not give a date for the giving of the Decalogue.
• Was Yitro present for the revelation at Sinai?
  • Pesikta DeRav Kahana and Tanchuma (Buber) Yitro claim that presence at Sinai was reserved for the Children of Israel. Thus, they maintain that Yitro both came and left before the Decalogue.
  • Yitro was not present also according to the opinions that he came after the Decalogue.
  • Only according to the middle positions that Yitro came before the Decalogue and left afterwards was Yitro present for the Decalogue. Minchah Belulah Shemot 18:5 states explicitly that Yitro's purpose in coming was to be present for the revelation, and thus he came also with his own wife and children, in addition to Zipporah and her sons.
• Were Moshe's children present for the revelation at Sinai?
  • Yes – The Tur in his Long Commentary, some Tosafists (see Tosafot HaShalem 18:13:1,6), and Akeidat Yitzchak assume that Yitro must have arrived before the Decalogue, because they deem it inconceivable that Moshe's own children would not have been present for Hashem's revelation. See here for a discussion of the status of Moshe's children.
  • No – According to the positions that Yitro came only after the revelation, they were not there. Chizkuni 18:27 points out that this may account for why the Torah never mentions them again.
• Were "peace offerings" (שלמים) offered before the revelation at Sinai?
  • Yerushalmi Megillah 1:11, Bereshit Rabbah 22:5, and Bavli Zevachim 115b-116a record a dispute as to whether peace offerings were offered before the revelation at Sinai, and they say that the opinions correspond to the positions on whether Yitro came before or after the Decalogue.¹ R. Saadia adopts the position that there were no peace offerings beforehand and hence claims that Yitro came after the Decalogue. See here for a discussion of the institution of sacrifices before the revelation at Sinai.
• Did Yitro convert?
  • Yes – Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Yitro Amalek 1, Bavli Zevachim 116a,² Ramban. If Yitro converted, it is likely that he would have chosen to remain with the Children of Israel. Thus, R"E HaModai in Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Yitro Amalek 2 and Ramban assume that Yitro converted, went back and forth, and ultimately stayed on with the nation.
  • No – Shadal and Cassuto posit that he did not convert, came only once, and left.
  • See here for a discussion of Yitro's religious beliefs during the various stages of his life.
• Was there a fast of Yom HaKippurim in the first year in the desert?
  • According to the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Yitro Amalek 2, Yitro observed Moshe judging the people "on the day after" Yom HaKippurim. Assuming that this scene also happened "on the day after" the events of the first half of Chapter 18, this would imply that Aharon and the elders partook of a festive meal on Yom HaKippurim. R. Eliyahu Mizrachi accepts this conclusion and assumes that this occurred before the nation was commanded to fast on Yom HaKippurim. See also Minchah Belulah.
  • Commentators adhering to a strict conception of our forefathers keeping the entire Torah even before Sinai are faced with a difficulty in explaining the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. Thus, Rashi and Ramban in his explanation of the Mekhilta veer from the simple interpretation of "on the next day" and claim that the two halves of Chapter 18 did not happen on successive days (cf. Tosafot HaShalem 18:13:6). Others such as the Tur suggest that the text of the Mekhilta is corrupted.
• Did the Children of Israel receive civil laws at Mara?
  • See Miracles and Mitzvot at Marah for a discussion of the meaning of "there (at Mara) he made a statute and an ordinance for them" in Shemot 15:25. According to those who interpret this verse as referring to the giving of laws, Moshe already had laws to teach the people even if Yitro arrived before the Decalogue.
  • Those who interpret this verse in other ways, need to either maintain that Moshe's reference to teaching the laws in the second half of Chapter 18 was after the Decalogue (as Rashbam does), or say that it refers to ad hoc laws given before Sinai (Shadal).
• Why did Moshe not come up with Yitro's advice on his own?

  See here for expansion.

  • Moshe was always planning to appoint judges, but he was waiting for Divine instructions to convey all of the laws to the people – Akeidat Yitzchak and Abarbanel.
  • In the initial stage, Moshe needed to judge the people himself in order to win over their hearts so that they would accept the Torah and its commandments – Shadal 18:24.
  • The overwhelming caseload was an aberration resulting from Moshe being away on Mount Sinai for four months – perhaps Rashi.
  • Even as great a leader as Moshe sometimes needs advice from others – Ralbag.
• How much time elapsed between the Decalogue and Moshe's descent with the second set of tablets?

  For how much of this time was Moshe on Mount Sinai?

  • See here for a discussion of whether there were two or three sets of forty days. Within the majority opinion that there were three sets of forty days, Moshe spent the middle forty days praying either on Mount Sinai or in his personal tent – see here. This has ramifications for whether the reunion with Yitro and the judging of the people could have taken place during this period.

¹ See the close parallel in Vayikra Rabbah 9:6 in which the dispute hinges on whether Yitro converted before or after the Decalogue. Some manuscripts of Vayikra Rabbah are missing the word nitgayyer and read like Bereshit Rabbah.

² This is explicit in the printed editions of the Bavli which read 'and he converted' (ונתגייר). [Cf. Vayikra Rabbah 9:6 and the textual discussion in the note above.] However, most manuscripts (as well as the Sheiltot #166) do not contain that word.