Yitro's Life After Shemot 18/2

Yitro's Life After Shemot 18

Exegetical Approaches

The commentators present three major approaches as to whether Yitro or his descendants ever returned and became a part of the Jewish nation:

Nobody Returned

Yitro never returned, and neither he nor his descendants ever joined Israel.

Sources:ShadalShemot 18:1About Shadal,¹ MalbimShemot 18:27Bemidbar 10:29Shofetim 1:16About Malbim, U. CassutoShemot 18:12Shemot 18:27About U. Cassuto.

Chronology – According to Malbim and Shadal, Yitro came in the first year and stayed until the second year when he went home. Cassuto, on the other hand, holds that Yitro first arrived only in the second year, after the building of the tabernacle, and left as the nation was about to leave Sinai in the second year.

Yitro (Shemot 18) and Chovav (Bemidbar 10) – According to these commentators, Yitro and Chovav are the same person and the departure described in Shemot is equivalent to the story in Bemidbar. Yitro's leaving is mentioned in Shemot only to complete the pericope (להשלים את הענין), but the event actually took place only in the second year, as described in Bemidbar where the full parting conversation is recorded.²

Conversion and Yitro's decision to leave – According to Shadal and Cassuto, Yitro does not convert. Shadal points out that had Yitro converted, it would not make sense that he would insist on returning to Midyan when Moshe asks him to join the nation. Malbim, however, thinks Yitro did convert. He explains that Yitro thought he could contribute more by returning to his land and teaching others to believe in Hashem.

Keinites and Reikhavites:

• Shadal attempts to show that there is no evidence of any of Yitro's descendants being a part of the Jewish nation.³ If they had, it would be implausible that they would be on good terms with or living amongst enemies such as the Canaanites, Sisera, and the Amalekites.⁴ As far as the Reikhavites, Shadal points out that it is only a Rabbinic conjecture (motivated by a desire to highlight the accomplishments of the descendants of converts) which relates them to Yitro, but not the simple meaning of the Biblical text.⁵
• Malbim suggests that being nomadic people, the Keinites lived at times amongst Israel and at times in areas also inhabited by her enemies. Throughout, though, they retained peaceful relations with Israel.

וַיְשַׁלַּח – Cassuto explains that this does not mean that Moshe actively sent Yitro home (as that would be inconsistent with his pleading for Chovav=Yitro to stay in Bemidbar 10), but rather that Moshe accompanied him as he departed.⁶

Only Yitro's Family Joined

Yitro did not return, but his relatives either stayed or later joined the nation. This position subdivides regarding the identity of these relatives:

Yitro never returned, but Chovav remained

Sources:Moses Mendelssohneditorial comment on the Biur Bemidbar 10:29About Moses MendelssohnAbout the Biur, perhaps Shadal BemidbarBemidbar 10:31About Shadal,⁷ Hoil MosheBemidbar 10:29Shofetim 1:16About Hoil Moshe.

Chronology – According to the Biur, Yitro arrived before the Decalogue and returned to Midyan the day after arriving and advising. In contrast, Hoil Moshe holds that Yitro came only after the receipt of the Decalogue. It is unclear when Chovav arrived. The Hoil Moshe in Bemidbar 10 says that the Israelites bumped into Chovav on the way from Mt. Sinai to Midbar Paran, and he joined them.⁸

Yitro (Shemot 18) and Chovav (Bemidbar 10) – The two stories are distinct, occurring at different times and involving different people. The Biur suggests that Yitro and Chovav are siblings of Zipporah, while the Hoil Moshe thinks that Yitro is Zipporah's father and Chovav is her brother. For more, see Yitro's Names.

Does Chovav stay – While it is clear from Shemot 18:27 that Yitro departs, the verses in Bemidbar 10 are silent regarding Chovav's final decision.⁹ Shadal and the Hoil Moshe both suggest that he remained.¹⁰ Hoil Moshe adduces proof for this position from Chovav's silence in response to Moshe's plea and from the fact that his descendants can later be found among the Jewish nation in Shofetim 1,4.¹¹ Shadal cites the verse in Bemidbar 24:21 "And he saw the Keinites" (וירא את הקיני) as further proof that Chovav stayed with the nation and could be seen by Bilam when he viewed the Israelite camp.¹²

Keinites – According to Shadal and the Hoil Moshe, these are Chovav's descendants who continued to live among the nation after their ancestor joined.

וַיְשַׁלַּח – As the leave-takings in Shemot 18 and Bemidbar 10 are happening at different times and involving distinct individuals, it would not be contradictory to say that Moshe sent Yitro away while later asking Chovav to stay. Nonetheless, it is surprising why Moshe would do so. Thus, the Biur explains that "וישלח" is not an active sending away but rather an honorary escort.

Yitro=Chovav never returned, but his descendants joined the Children of Israel

Sources:R"E HaModai in Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelYitro Amalek 2About R"E HaModaiAbout the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael,¹³ RashiShemot 18:13Shemot 18:27Bemidbar 10:32About Rashi, Ibn EzraShemot 18:1 (long commentary)Shemot 18:27 (long commentary)Bemidbar 10:29Bemidbar 24:21About Ibn Ezra, RadakShofetim 1:16About Radak, RalbagShemot 18:24Bemidbar 10:29-31About Ralbag, AbarbanelBemidbar 10:11About Abarbanel, SefornoShemot 18:27Bemidbar 10:30-31About Seforno.

Chronology – R"E HaModai, Rashi and Abarbanel suggest that Yitro came in the first year, remained until the second, and then left. Ibn Ezra and Ralbag hold that he first arrived only after the building of the Tabernacle in the second year and left shortly thereafter.

Yitro (Shemot 18) and Chovav (Bemidbar 10) – This position identifies Yitro with Chovav and the leave-taking described in Shemot 18 with that detailed in Bemidbar 10.

Conversion – Ibn Ezra holds that Yitro was always a monotheist while the other commentators suggest that he converted.¹⁴

Why does Yitro leave?

• Spiritual calling – To explain why a newly converted Yitro would desire to leave the nation, R"E HaModai, Rashi and Ralbag suggest that Yitro returned to Midyan to convert either his family (who later do join the nation) or his fellow Midianites.
• Physical infirmity – Seforno posits that Yitro, being elderly, did not feel up to the journey and that is why he sent his children in his place.¹⁵
• Abarbanel holds that Yitro simply was not convinced by Moshe's arguments to stay. He doesn't explain, though, why his descendants are later found in the midst of the Jewish nation.

Keinites – Though all these commentators suggest that they joined the nation, they differ as to the timing and the degree of integration.

• At Mt. Sinai – Seforno suggests that Yitro's children join the nation while they were at Mt. Sinai and traveled through the desert with them.¹⁶
• After the entry to the land of Israel – Radak goes in the opposite direction, suggesting that they first joined at the time of the conquest. According to him, Yitro's descendants remained nomadic, explaining why at times they also lived among the Canaanites and Amalekites.

וַיְשַׁלַּח – Both Ibn Ezra and Ralbag explain that Moshe did not actively send Yitro home in Shemot 18 (as this would be inconsistent with his pleading for Chovav-Yitro to stay in Bemidbar 10), but rather gave him an honorary escort. R"E HaModai suggests alternatively that Moshe gave Yitro parting gifts (see שלח, שלוחים, and אחר שלוחיה).

Yitro himself returned to join the Jewish people

Sources:Targum Pseudo-JonathanShemot 18:27Bemidbar 24:21About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, RambanShemot 18:1Bemidbar 10:29About Ramban,¹⁷ ChizkuniShemot 18:13About Chizkuni, Peirush HaRoshShemot 18:4About Peirush HaRosh, Akeidat YitzchakShemot #43Bemidbar #72Bemidbar #82About Akeidat Yitzchak, perhaps Shadal BemidbarBemidbar 10:31About Shadal.¹⁸

Chronology – Ramban, Chizkuni, and Peirush HaRosh hold that all of chapter 18 is in chronological order and that Yitro arrived, advised, and went home in the first year before the Decalogue. According to Ramban, Yitro returned in the second year and then remained. However, according to Chizkuni and Peirush HaRosh, Moshe sent Yitro away only temporarily so that he would not be present for the revelation at Sinai, and Yitro returned to the Israelite camp immediately following the Decalogue.¹⁹ A third possibility is adopted by the Akeidat Yitzchak who maintains that Yitro arrived in the first year, stayed until his advice was implemented in the second year, went home to convert others and bid farewell, and then returned soon after.

Yitro (Shemot 18) and Chovav (Bemidbar 10) – These approaches identify Yitro with Chovav, but they disagree about the relationship between the stories. Ramban, Chizkuni, and Peirush HaRosh say that the departures in Shemot and Bemidbar are two distinct stories happening at different times, while Akeidat Yitzchak posits that they tell of the same event.

Why does Yitro initially depart? – According to Ramban and Akeidat Yitzchak, Yitro goes home to convert his family and say his goodbyes.²⁰ Peirush HaRosh says that it wasn’t Yitro's decision to leave; rather, Moshe actively sent him away so that he would not participate in Matan Torah, an event intended only for those who had been part of the nation's suffering in Egypt.²¹

Keinites – If Yitro remained with the Jewish people, why would his descendants be living amidst the Amalekites in Shemuel I 15? Ramban suggests either that Yitro or his sons returned to their own homeland after Moshe's death, or that the Keinites in Shemuel I 15 are relatives but not direct descendants of Yitro.

וַיְשַׁלַּח – Peirush HaRosh says that Moshe actively sent Yitro away so that he would not be present for the Decalogue.²²

¹ Shadal in his commentary to Bemidbar 10 expresses a different opinion; see below.

² Alternatively, one could say either that Yitro=Chovav came twice and went home twice, or that Yitro is not Chovav. See the discussion of the Biur's position in the note below.

³ He suggests that at most they were "גרי תושב".

⁴ The most problematic verse for this read is Shofetim 1:16 from which it sounds like the Keinites joined the tribe of Yehuda. Shadal reinterprets the verse in a novel way, suggesting that the Keinites did not join Yehuda but rather moved away from them (את בני יהודה, ענינן מאת בני יהודה, ומ"ם מעיר התמרים מושכת אחרת עמה).

⁵ On Yirmeyahu 35:1, Shadal's student, the Hoil MosheYirmeyahu 35:1About Hoil Moshe, writes that after much back and forth, Shadal changed his mind and concluded, like many others, that the Reikhavites are in fact descendants of Yitro. This would be consistent with his comments on Bemidbar 10 – see below.

⁶ For a similar usage, see Avraham's escorting of the angels in Bereshit 18:16 "הולך עמם לשלחם".

⁷ In his comments to Bemidbar 10:31, Shadal suggests that Chovav remained with the nation. This contradicts what Shadal said in Shemot 18:1 (see above). It is not clear though whether in Bemidbar 10:31 he holds like the Biur and Hoil Moshe that Yitro and Chovav are two distinct characters and one left while the other remained, or like Ramban below that Yitro and Chovav are identical and he left but later returned and remained.

⁸ However, Hoil Moshe in Shofetim 1 brings three possibilities: either Chovav came with Yitro, he came after Yitro arrived but while the nation was still at Mt. Sinai, or he met Israel after they departed from Mt. Sinai.

⁹ It is extremely unusual for the Torah to leave the ending of a story ambiguous.

¹⁰ This seems to be the position of the Biur as well. However, it is possible that the words "והלך עמו" in the Biur mean that Chovav departed with Yitro. The Biur does not address whether Yitro's (or Chovav's) descendants became part of the Jewish nation.

¹¹ It is possible that the story of Chovav is intended to foreshadow his mention and the appearance of his descendants in Shofetim 4:11.

¹² It is also unclear what point there would be in the Torah telling the story of Chovav if neither he nor his descendants remained with the nation.

¹³ The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael is not explicit as to whether Yitro returned or not. Ramban Shemot 18:1 cites the Mekhilta as asking rhetorically: "יכול שהלך ולא חזר". However, all other extant versions and manuscripts read instead "יכול שהלך ולא עשה", without specifying that he returned. This, together with Yitro's analogy in the Mekhilta where he implies that he has nothing to contribute in comparison to Moshe and Aharon, suggest that he himself never returned but rather remained in Midyan to spread belief in God, and that only his descendants joined the Jewish people.

¹⁴ It is unclear what position Radak takes on this issue.

¹⁵ He compares Yitro's reluctance to Barzilai rejecting David's offer to dine at the palace due to his old age (Shemuel II 19:28). In both cases the son(s) take the place of the father.

¹⁶ Seforno explains that Bilam's words regarding the Keini in Bemidbar 24:21 refer to the reward they will receive for suffering with Israel in the desert.

¹⁷ According to Ramban's version of the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Yitro Amalek 2, R"E HaModai also takes this approach. See footnote above.

¹⁸ See discussion of Shadal's position above.

¹⁹ See Chronology for the influence of the Pesikta DeRav Kahana on this position.

²⁰ This works better for Akeidat Yitzchak who thinks that this happens in the second year. For Ramban, though, it is more difficult to understand why a newly converted Yitro, would not have waited to depart until after the Decalogue.

²¹ See elaboration in Chronology.

²² Akeidat Yitzchak cannot take this approach as he says that Yitro departed only in the second year, but he could adopt the possibility that the words refer to an honorary escort.