Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
Parallel Translations
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Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God. Aaron came with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
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And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.
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And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God.
Cross-references (24)
Passages linked to Exodus 18:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 31:54 Jacob offered a sacrifice in the mountain, and called his relatives to eat bread. They ate bread, and stayed all night in the mountain.
- Deuteronomy 12:7 There you shall eat before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Yahweh your God has blessed you.
- Exodus 24:5 He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh.
- Exodus 24:11 He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
- Genesis 4:4 Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering,
- Genesis 8:20 Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
- Genesis 12:7 Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” He built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 26:25 He built an altar there, and called on Yahweh’s name, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac’s servants dug a well.
- Genesis 43:25 They prepared the present for Joseph’s coming at noon, for they heard that they should eat bread there.
- Exodus 2:20 He said to his daughters, “Where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”
- Leviticus 7:11-17 “ ‘This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings, which one shall offer to Yahweh: If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil. He shall offer his offering with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving with cakes of leavened bread. Of it he shall offer one out of each offering for a heave offering to Yahweh. It shall be the priest’s who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings. The flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning. “ ‘But if the sacrifice of his offering is a vow, or a free will offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice. On the next day what remains of it shall be eaten, but what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire.
- Deuteronomy 27:7 You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God.
- 2 Samuel 9:7 David said to him, “Don’t be afraid; for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your father. You will eat bread at my table continually.”
- 1 Chronicles 29:21-22 They sacrificed sacrifices to Yahweh, and offered burnt offerings to Yahweh, on the next day after that day, even one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel, and ate and drank before Yahweh on that day with great gladness. They made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him before Yahweh to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.
- 2 Chronicles 30:22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who had good understanding in the service of Yahweh. So they ate throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace offerings, and making confession to Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
- Job 1:5 It was so, when the days of their feasting had run their course, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts.” Job did so continually.
- Job 42:8 Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept him, that I not deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.”
- Job 42:11 Then came there to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that Yahweh had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.
- Daniel 10:3 I ate no pleasant bread. No meat or wine came into my mouth. I didn’t anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled.
- Luke 14:1 When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him.
- Luke 14:15 When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!”
- 1 Corinthians 10:18 Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?
- 1 Corinthians 10:21 You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain They ate in that place, where the sacrifice was…
They ate in that place, where the sacrifice was offered: for part was burnt, and the rest eaten.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 18:12 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took…
Exo 18:12 And Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with Moses’ father in law before God.
Ver. 12. Before God,] i.e., As in his presence, with reverence and godly fear. "To feed without fear" is a foul fault. {Jdg 1:12} See my "Commonplace of Abstinence."
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Took a burnt-offering, i.e. gave, or offered; as that…
Took a burnt-offering, i.e. gave, or offered; as that verb is used Psa 68:18, compared with Eph 4:8; also Exo 25:2. Which he did, that he might publicly testify both his embracing of the true religion, and his thankfulness to God for the great deliverance given to his people, wherein also himself and family were concerned. And he took or offered these, not immediately, or by himself, (which would have seemed a presumptuous and unwarrantable action for a stranger to undertake in the church of Israel,) but by those who were appointed to do it; in which sense David is said to have sacrificed, 2Sa 24:25, and Solomon, 1Ki 8:63, and all those who brought their offerings to the priests to offer for them.
A burnt offering and sacrifices, to wit, of thanksgiving, as is expressed Exo 24:5; for part of these the offerers, with others, did eat, Lev 7:15, whereas no man might eat of the burnt-offerings, Lev 1:9.
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To eat bread, i.e. to feast together of the remainders of the sacrifices.
Before God; either before the cloudy pillar; or rather, before the altar, and in the place of public worship; for some such place undoubtedly they had, though the tabernacle was not yet built; and that was the place appointed for such feasts. See Deu 12:7; 27:7; 1Ch 29:21; Psa 116:17.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And it came to pass on the morrow,.... The…
And it came to pass on the morrow,.... The above Targum paraphrases it,"on the day after the day of atonement:''and so Jarchi observes the same, out of a book of theirs called Siphri; but rather this was either the day after the entertainment of Jethro with Aaron and the elders in the tent of Moses, or the day after Jethro's coming, as Aben Ezra:
that Moses sat to judge the people; though his father-in-law was come to visit him, yet he did not neglect the care of his people, and the business that lay upon his hands for their good, civil and religious; but, the very day following his coming, closely applied himself to hear and judge causes; and such a vast body of people must find him work enough; and especially if we consider their quarrelsome disposition, for if they were so to one another, as they were to Moses and Aaron, they must be very litigious; however Moses bore with them, and attended to their causes, to do justice and judgment among them, being now made a prince and a judge over them by divine authority, and whom they acknowledged as such:
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and the people stood by Moses, from the morning unto the evening; not that a single cause was so long a trying, but there being so many of them in one day, that they lasted from the morning tonight; so that when one cause was dispatched and the parties dismissed, another succeeded, and so continued all the day long: Moses he sat as judge, with great majesty, gravity, and sedateness, hearkening with all attention to what was said on both sides, and the people they "stood", both plaintiff and defendant, as became them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And Jethro took a burnt offering for God -…
And Jethro took a burnt offering for God - And probably offered it himself, for he was a priest in Midian, and a worshipper of the true God, and the priesthood was not yet settled in Israel. And they did eat bread before God - Soberly, thankfully, in the fear of God; and their talk such as became saints. Thus we must eat and drink to the glory of God; as those that believe God's eye is upon us.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 12. Jethro - took a burnt-offering] עלה olah.…
Verse 12. Jethro - took a burnt-offering] עלה olah. Though it be true that in the patriarchal times we read of a burnt-offering, (see Ge 22:2, c.,) yet we only read of one in the case of Isaac, and therefore, though this offering made by Jethro is not a decisive proof that the law relative to burnt-offerings, c., had already been given, yet, taken with other circumstances in this account, it is a presumptive evidence that the meeting between Moses and Jethro took place after the erection of tabernacle. See Clarke on Ex 18:5.
Sacrifices for God] זבחים zebachim, slain beasts, as the word generally signifies. We have already seen that sacrifices were instituted by God himself as soon as sin entered into our world and we see that they were continued and regularly practised among all the people who had the knowledge of the only true God, from that time until they became a legal establishment. Jethro, who was a priest, (Ex 2:16), had a right to offer these sacrifices nor can there be a doubt of his being a worshipper of the true God, for those Kenites, from whom the Rechabites came, were descended from him; 1Ch 2:55. See also Jer 35:1-19.
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And Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel to eat bread] The burnt-offering was wholly consumed; every part was considered as the Lord's portion, and therefore it was entirely burnt up. The other sacrifices mentioned here were such that, after the blood had been poured out before God, the officers and assistants might feed on the flesh. Thus, in ancient times, contracts were made and covenants sealed; See Clarke on Ge 15:13, c. It is very likely, therefore, that the sacrifices offered on this occasion, were those on the flesh of which Aaron and the elders of Israel feasted with Jethro.
Before God.] Before the tabernacle, where God dwelt for it is supposed that the tabernacle was now erected. See Clarke on Ex 18:5; and see De 12:5-7, and 1Ch1 29:21-22, where the same form of speech, before the Lord, is used, and plainly refers to his manifested presence in the tabernacle.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 18:12. And Jethro took a burnt-offering for God…
Exo 18:12. And Jethro took a burnt-offering for God — And probably offered it himself, for he was a priest in Midian, and a worshipper of the true God, and the priesthood was not yet settled in Israel. And they did eat bread before God — Soberly, thankfully, in the fear of God: and their talk was such as became saints. Thus we must eat and drink to the glory of God, as those that believe God’s eye is upon us.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain A burnt offering and sacrifices - This verse clearly…
A burnt offering and sacrifices - This verse clearly shows that Jethro was recognized as a priest of the true God, and is of great importance in its bearings upon the relation between the Israelites and their congeners, and upon the state of religion among the descendants of Abraham.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Sacrifices. Peace-offerings, of which he might partake with the…
Sacrifices. Peace-offerings, of which he might partake with the ancients. (Haydock) --- Jethro being a stranger, and a servant of the true God, might perform this duty in person, even though we allow that the priesthood was restrained to the family of Aaron before this time with regard to the Hebrews. (Calmet) --- Before God. St. Augustine, who supposes that the tabernacle was not yet erected, explains this in honour of God: but others, who believe this happened at the close of the year, say that the feast was made before the tabernacle, the house of God. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Jethro . . . took a burnt offering--This friendly…
Jethro . . . took a burnt offering--This friendly interview was terminated by a solemn religious service--the burnt offerings were consumed on the altar, and the sacrifices were peace offerings, used in a feast of joy and gratitude at which Jethro, as priest of the true God, seems to have presided, and to which the chiefs of Israel were invited. This incident is in beautiful keeping with the character of the parties, and is well worthy of the imitation of Christian friends when they meet in the present day.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 12. Burnt offering and sacrifices for God — Jethro,…
12. Burnt offering and sacrifices for God — Jethro, the venerable priest, according to ancient usages of patriarchal worship, presides and officiates at this sacrifice and festival. The Levitical ritual and institutions had not yet been established, and no one but Jethro could, on that occasion, have so appropriately acted as priest. This great patriarch, with an intensified faith in Jehovah as the only true God, (Exo_18:10-11,) worships in thorough accord with Moses and Aaron and all the elders of Israel. All these probably assisted in some form at this sacrifice. Comp. Gen_31:46-54. “This passage is of great importance in its bearings upon the relation between the Israelites and their congeners, and upon the state of religion among the descendants of Abraham.” — Speaker’s Commentary.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. a burnt offering and sacrifices] see on Exo_20:24.
12. a burnt offering and sacrifices] see on Exo_20:24.
to eat bread] i.e. to take part in the sacred meal accompanying the sacrifice: the ‘sacrifice’ here meant being of the nature of the later ‘peace-offering,’ an essential part of which was the accompanying sacred meal, in which the worshipper and his friends partook, and by which they entered symbolically into communion with the Deity (Lev_7:15; Deu_12:7; Deu_12:18; Deu_27:7). For other cases in which ‘eating’ (sometimes accompanied by ‘drinking’) is to be understood similarly of the sacred meal, see Gen_31:54; Exo_24:11; Exo_32:6; Exo_34:15 (in the worship of heathen gods: so Num_25:2, Psa_106:28); 1Sa_9:13; Psa_22:26; Psa_22:29.
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before God] i.e. before the altar, presupposed by the sacrifices.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) Jethro . . . took a burnt offering…
(12) Jethro . . . took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God.—Jethro had brought sacrifices with him, and now offered them in token of his thankfulness for God’s mercies towards himself and towards his kinsman. He occupied a position similar to that of Melchizedek (Gen_14:18), holding a priesthood of the most primitive character, probably as patriarch of his tribe, its head by right of primogeniture. As Abraham acknowledged rightly the priesthood of Melchizedek (Gen_14:19; Heb_7:2-9), so Moses and Aaron rightly acknowledged that of Jethro. They markedly indicated their acceptance of his priestly character by participation in the sacrificial meal, which, as a matter of course, followed his sacrifice. They “ate bread with Moses’ father in law” (or rather, brother-in-law) “before God.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Jethro took a burnt offering. Or brought a burnt…
Jethro took a burnt offering. Or brought a burnt offering;" as the same verb is rendered in Exo_25:2. It is not distinctly related that he offered the victim; but as no other offerer is mentioned, and as he was a priest, (Exo_3:1 Exo_18:1) we may assume that he did so. Moses, Aaron, and the elders, partook of the sacrificial meal, regarding the whole rite as one legitimately performed by a duly qualified person, and so as one in which they could properly participate. Jethro, like Melchisedek, (Gen_14:18) was recognised as a priest of the true God, though it would seem that the Midianites generally.were, a generation later, idolaters. (Num_25:18 Num_31:16) To eat bread before God. This expression designates the feast upon a sacrifice, which was the universal custom of ancient nations, whether Egyptians, Assyrians, Phenicians, Persians, Greeks, or Romans. Except in the case of the "whole burnt offering" (oJlokautwma), parts only of the animals were burnt, the greater portion of the meat being consumed, with bread, at a meal, by the offerer and his friends and relatives
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 burnt offering
translationWords
burnt offering
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sacrifice
Aaron
elder
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.