<q>And Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law, came with <em>his</em> sons and <em>his</em> wife to Moshe, into the wilderness where <em>he</em> was encamped, at God's mountain.</q>
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<q>And Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law, came with <i>his</i> sons and wife to Moshe, into the wilderness where was encamped, at God's mountain.</q>
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<p>Whose sons and wife arrive with Yitro? Since the surrounding verses (18:2-4 and 18:6) speak of Zipporah and her sons (see table below), the reader's natural tendency is to assume that this verse also speaks of those same people and that Yitro came with Moshe's sons and wife. According to this reading, "his" refers not to Yitro, the subject of the sentence, but rather to Moshe.<fn>This interpretation is explicit in <a href="TargumPsJ18-5" data-aht="source">Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Shemot 18:5</a>.</fn></p>
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<p>Whose sons and wife arrive with Yitro? Since the surrounding verses (18:2-4 and 18:6) speak of Zipporah and her sons (see table below), the reader's natural tendency is to assume that this verse also speaks of those same people and that Yitro came with Moshe's sons and wife. According to this reading, "his" refers not to Yitro, the subject of the sentence, but rather to Moshe.<fn>This interpretation is explicit in <a href="TargumPsJ18-5" data-aht="source">Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan) Shemot 18:5</a>.</fn></p>
<p>However, when one compares the various verses, one notices a number of distinctions:</p>
<p>However, when one compares the various verses, one notices a number of distinctions:</p>
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<div>Please compare the verses. If you wish, you can compare your results to the table below.</div>
<li>In verses 2-4 and verse 6, the wife precedes the sons, while in verse 5 the sons are mentioned before the wife.<fn>See the explanations proposed by <a href="IbnEzra18-5" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra Long Commentary 18:5-6</a> and <a href="Hirsch18-5" data-aht="source">Rav Hirsch 18:5</a>.</fn></li>
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<li>In verses 2-4 and verse 6, the wife precedes the sons, while in verse 5 the sons are mentioned before the wife.<fn>See the explanations proposed by <a href="IbnEzra18-5" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra Long Commentary 18:5-6</a> and <a href="Hirsch18-5" data-aht="source">Rav Hirsch 18:5</a>.</fn></li>
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<li>While verses 2-4 and verse 6 specify "two" sons, verse 5 does not give a number.</li>
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<li>While verses 2-4 and verse 6 specify "two" sons, verse 5 does not give a number.</li>
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<li>Verses 2-4 and verse 6 refer explicitly to Moshe's wife and "her" sons, but verse 5 speaks of "his" wife and "his" sons.<fn>See the interpretation suggested by <a href="Hirsch18-5" data-aht="source">Rav Hirsch 18:5</a>.</fn></li>
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<li>Verses 2-4 and verse 6 refer explicitly to Moshe's wife and "her" sons, but verse 5 speaks of "his" wife and "his" sons.<fn>See the interpretation suggested by <a href="Hirsch18-5" data-aht="source">Rav Hirsch 18:5</a>.</fn></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<p>These differences lend credibility to the possibility that verse 5 speaks not of Moshe's wife and sons, but rather of Yitro's wife and sons. This option is suggested by the <multilink><a href="Zohar" data-aht="source">Zohar</a><a href="Zohar" data-aht="source">Yitro (69b)</a><a href="Zohar" data-aht="parshan">About the Zohar</a></multilink><fn><a href="Haketav18-5" data-aht="source">HaKetav VeHaKabbalah 18:5</a> cites the Zohar (in the name of Mekhilta DeRashbi) and adds that this can account for the change in order.</fn> and <multilink><a href="Minchah18-5" data-aht="source">Minchah Belulah</a><a href="Minchah18-5" data-aht="source">Shemot 18:5</a><a href="R. Avraham Porto (Minchah Belulah)" data-aht="parshan">About the Minchah Belulah</a></multilink>.<fn>According to some, Josephus' account in <a href="Josephus3-3-1" data-aht="source">Antiquities 3:3:1</a> goes even further and says that Zipporah and her sons had never left Moshe, and it was Yitro who was being reunited with his family. This reading (in contrast to that of the Zohar/Minchah Belulah) cannot be reconciled with the text of the Torah, and it is possible that Josephus did not mean this. See <a href="Yitro's Visit – Purpose and Significance" data-aht="page">Purpose of Yitro's Visit</a> for further discussion.</fn></p>
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<p>These differences lend credibility to the possibility that verse 5 speaks not of Moshe's wife and sons, but rather of Yitro's wife and sons. This option is suggested by the <multilink><a href="Zohar" data-aht="source">Zohar</a><a href="Zohar" data-aht="source">Yitro (69b)</a><a href="Zohar" data-aht="parshan">About the Zohar</a></multilink><fn><a href="Haketav18-5" data-aht="source">HaKetav VeHaKabbalah 18:5</a> cites the Zohar (in the name of Mekhilta DeRashbi) and adds that this can account for the change in order.</fn> and <multilink><a href="Minchah18-5" data-aht="source">Minchah Belulah</a><a href="Minchah18-5" data-aht="source">Shemot 18:5</a><a href="R. Avraham Porto (Minchah Belulah)" data-aht="parshan">About the Minchah Belulah</a></multilink>.<fn>According to some, Josephus' account in <a href="Josephus3-3-1" data-aht="source">Antiquities 3:3:1</a> goes even further and says that Zipporah and her sons had never left Moshe, and it was Yitro who was being reunited with his family. This reading (in contrast to that of the Zohar/Minchah Belulah) cannot be reconciled with the text of the Torah, and it is possible that Josephus did not mean this. See <a href="Yitro's Visit – Purpose and Significance" data-aht="page">Purpose of Yitro's Visit</a> for further discussion.</fn></p>
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<p>This possibility has some additional interesting ramifications:</p>
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<h2>Additional Consequences</h2>
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<p>The possibility that it was Yitro's wife and sons has additional interesting ramifications:</p>
<ul>
<ul>
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<li>What was the purpose of Yitro's visit? If it was simply to reunite Moshe with Zipporah and their children, there would be no reason for Yitro to bring anyone else along. However, the Zohar and Minchah Belulah suggest that Yitro was coming to experience the revelation at Sinai, and therefore brought along his family. See <a href="Yitro's Visit – Purpose and Significance" data-aht="page">here</a> for further discussion.</li>
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<li>What was the purpose of Yitro's visit? If it was simply to reunite Moshe with Zipporah and their children, there would be no reason for Yitro to bring anyone else along. However, the Zohar and Minchah Belulah suggest that Yitro was coming to experience the revelation at Sinai, and therefore brought along his family. See <a href="Yitro's Visit – Purpose and Significance" data-aht="page">here</a> for further discussion.</li>
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<li>Apparent redundancy of verses 2-6 – The Zohar/Minchah Belulah's reading alleviates some of the difficulty posed by what might have appeared to be a threefold repetition of the arrival of Zipporah and her two sons. See <a href="Yitro's Visit – Purpose and Significance" data-aht="page">Purpose of Yitro's Visit</a> regarding <multilink><a href="RYBS18-6" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a><a href="RYBS18" data-aht="source">Shemot 18:6</a><a href="R. Yosef Bekhor Shor" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a></multilink>'s alternative solution.</li>
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<li>Apparent redundancy of verses 2-6 – The Zohar/Minchah Belulah's reading alleviates some of the difficulty posed by what might have appeared to be a threefold repetition of the arrival of Zipporah and her two sons. See <a href="Yitro's Visit – Purpose and Significance" data-aht="page">Purpose of Yitro's Visit</a> regarding <multilink><a href="RYBS18-6" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a><a href="RYBS18" data-aht="source">Shemot 18:6</a><a href="R. Yosef Bekhor Shor" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a></multilink>'s alternative solution.</li>
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<li>Even though Yitro departs at the end of Shemot 18, Chovav is with the Israelites in Bemidbar 10. Assuming Chovav is Yitro's son (see <a href="Yitro – Names" data-aht="page">Who was Yitro?</a>), this possibility could maintain that Chovav arrived with his father, and remained with the Jewish people, even after his father's departure.</li>
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<li>Even though Yitro departs at the end of Shemot 18, Chovav is with the Israelites in Bemidbar 10. Assuming Chovav is Yitro's son (see <a href="Yitro – Names" data-aht="page">Who was Yitro?</a>), this possibility could maintain that Chovav arrived with his father, and remained with the Children of Israel, even after his father's departure.</li>
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<li>If the "his" in the first half of verse 5 refers to Yitro, it is possible that "he was encamped" in the continuation of verse 5 also refers back to Yitro. This is how <multilink><a href="Ramban18-1" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="Ramban18-1" data-aht="source">Shemot 18:1</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban)" data-aht="parshan">About Ramban</a></multilink> interprets the second half of the verse, and this is critical for the chronology of when Yitro came – see <a href="Chronology – Shemot 18" data-aht="page">Chronology of Shemot 18</a>.</li>
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<li>If the "his" in the first half of verse 5 refers to Yitro, it is possible that "he was encamped" in the continuation of verse 5 also refers back to Yitro. This is how <multilink><a href="Ramban18-1" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="Ramban18-1" data-aht="source">Shemot 18:1</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About Ramban</a></multilink> interprets the second half of the verse, and this is critical for the chronology of when Yitro came – see <a href="Chronology – Shemot 18" data-aht="page">Chronology of Shemot 18</a>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<p>There are numerous other verses which have similar ambiguities – see <a href="GRA$">here</a> for more examples. Bereshit 44:22 (Rashi and Ramban), 46:29 (Rashi and Ramban), Devarim 25:18 (Rashi and Ibn Ezra), Shemuel I 15:27 (Rashi and Radak), Melakhim II 8:15 (Rashi and Radak).</p>
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<p>There are numerous other verses which have similar ambiguities.<fn>See for example: Bereshit 44:22 (Rashi and Ramban), 46:29 (Rashi and Ramban), Devarim 25:18 (Rashi and Ibn Ezra), Shemuel I 15:27 (Rashi and Radak), Melakhim II 8:15 (Rashi and Radak).</fn></p>
And Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law, came with his sons and wife to Moshe, into the wilderness where was encamped, at God's mountain.
Whose sons and wife arrive with Yitro? Since the surrounding verses (18:2-4 and 18:6) speak of Zipporah and her sons (see table below), the reader's natural tendency is to assume that this verse also speaks of those same people and that Yitro came with Moshe's sons and wife. According to this reading, "his" refers not to Yitro, the subject of the sentence, but rather to Moshe.1
However, when one compares the various verses, one notices a number of distinctions:
EN/HEע/E
(ב'-ד')
וַיִּקַּח יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה אֶת צִפֹּרָה
אֵשֶׁת מֹשֶׁה...
וְאֵת שְׁנֵי
בָנֶיהָ
(ה')
וַיָּבֹא יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה
וּבָנָיו
וְאִשְׁתּוֹ
(ו')
אֲנִי חֹתֶנְךָ יִתְרוֹ בָּא אֵלֶיךָ
וְאִשְׁתְּךָ
וּשְׁנֵי
בָנֶיהָ
(2-4)
And Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law, took Zipporah,
Moshe's
wife...
and hertwo
sons
(5)
And Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law, came with
his
sons
and his
wife
(6)
I, your father-in-law Yitro, am coming to you, and
your
wife
and hertwo
sons
In verses 2-4 and verse 6, the wife precedes the sons, while in verse 5 the sons are mentioned before the wife.2
While verses 2-4 and verse 6 specify "two" sons, verse 5 does not give a number.
Verses 2-4 and verse 6 refer explicitly to Moshe's wife and "her" sons, but verse 5 speaks of "his" wife and "his" sons.3
The possibility that it was Yitro's wife and sons has additional interesting ramifications:
What was the purpose of Yitro's visit? If it was simply to reunite Moshe with Zipporah and their children, there would be no reason for Yitro to bring anyone else along. However, the Zohar and Minchah Belulah suggest that Yitro was coming to experience the revelation at Sinai, and therefore brought along his family. See here for further discussion.
Apparent redundancy of verses 2-6 – The Zohar/Minchah Belulah's reading alleviates some of the difficulty posed by what might have appeared to be a threefold repetition of the arrival of Zipporah and her two sons. See Purpose of Yitro's Visit regarding R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 18:6About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor's alternative solution.
Even though Yitro departs at the end of Shemot 18, Chovav is with the Israelites in Bemidbar 10. Assuming Chovav is Yitro's son (see Who was Yitro?), this possibility could maintain that Chovav arrived with his father, and remained with the Children of Israel, even after his father's departure.
If the "his" in the first half of verse 5 refers to Yitro, it is possible that "he was encamped" in the continuation of verse 5 also refers back to Yitro. This is how RambanShemot 18:1About Ramban interprets the second half of the verse, and this is critical for the chronology of when Yitro came – see Chronology of Shemot 18.
There are numerous other verses which have similar ambiguities.6
