Exodus 2:18 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And when they came to Reuel their father— In Numbers 10:29 our translators have called this person Raguel, though the Hebrew word is the same in both places. In Joshua 1:16 he is called a Kenite; in Joshua 4:11 he is called Hobab; and in the first verse of the next chapter, he is called Jethro: so that either this same person must have had different names, or some of these appellations must have been titles of office and dignity; or חתן choten, ch. Exodus 3:1 rendered father-in-law, must signify, as St. Jerome supposes, a kinsman; and indeed the true meaning of the word seems to be, a relation by marriage. In Genesis 19:14 it is rendered son-in-law; and therefore, possibly, Jethro, mentioned in the next chapter, as priest of Midian, might be the elder son of Reuel, mentioned in this; and so we should read, Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his brother-in-law, the priest of Midian. Houbigant translates it cognati vel affinis, i.e. kinsman, agreeably to the LXX also, who have it, γαμβερου; and so it should be rendered, Judges 1:16.