Ben Mordecai
Puritan Board Freshman
Jethro has always been a perplexing character to me. Initially I was confused because he is portrayed as a sympathetic character who shows kindness to Moses and gives him good advice, but at the same time he was not an Israelite and was called a priest. I had always assumed that this meant that he was a priest of some pagan deity like other non-Israelite priests, and that at most he quit being a priest once he met Moses, but that is why the portrayal of his goodness was confusing. Jethro and Moses both speak to one another in ways that express their shared belief that God exists, but in paganism it's not a problem to claim the existence of other gods.
I'm just now realizing there was an option I hadn't considered, that Jethro was a priest of God after some other non-Israelite order, similar to Melchizedek, Job, or the virtuous men of prehistory like Enoch. That would make sense of his residence near the mountain of Horeb, which in Exodus 2 is called "the mountain of God" even before the theophanies and the ratification of the covenant and the Bible's constant portrayal of him as a hospitable, generous, and wise priest.
Does anyone know if this is a novel interpretation? Any corrections to my claims? Any materials I need to look at?
I'm just now realizing there was an option I hadn't considered, that Jethro was a priest of God after some other non-Israelite order, similar to Melchizedek, Job, or the virtuous men of prehistory like Enoch. That would make sense of his residence near the mountain of Horeb, which in Exodus 2 is called "the mountain of God" even before the theophanies and the ratification of the covenant and the Bible's constant portrayal of him as a hospitable, generous, and wise priest.
Does anyone know if this is a novel interpretation? Any corrections to my claims? Any materials I need to look at?