Exodus 18 · a question people ask
Is Jethro the same man as Reuel?
When Moses first comes to Midian, the father of Zipporah is called Reuel (2:18, 21); from then on Moses' father-in-law is called Jethro (3:1; 4:18; 18:1). In Exodus 2 the daughters of "the priest of Midian" come to "Reuel, their father" (2:16-18); Jethro is called "the priest of Midian" (3:1; 18:1). In 4:18 the Hebrew spells his name two ways, first Yeter and then Yitro; the WEB has "Jethro" both times. Numbers adds "Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law" (Numbers 10:29), and Judges calls Hobab Moses' choten (Judges 4:11), the Hebrew word this chapter uses for "father-in-law" (the WEB there has "brother-in-law"). Christians read these names in two main ways. Both agree that the man in this chapter is Moses' father-in-law, "the priest of Midian" (18:1).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
One man with two names
Those who hold this view note that the daughters of "the priest of Midian" come to "Reuel, their father" (2:16-18), and that Jethro is "the priest of Midian" (3:1), and each is the father of Moses' wife: Reuel "gave Moses Zipporah, his daughter" (2:21), and Jethro "received Zipporah, Moses’ wife" and brought her to Moses (18:2, 5). They read Reuel and Jethro as two names for one man, and Hobab as his son (Numbers 10:29).
Exodus 2:16-21 · Exodus 3:1 · Exodus 18:2 · Exodus 18:5 · Numbers 10:29
More than one man in one family
Those who hold this view note that Numbers 10:29 can be read as calling Hobab, not Reuel, "Moses’ father-in-law", and that Judges 4:11 calls Hobab Moses' choten. On this reading the names belong to more than one man in the same Midianite family, and Reuel, called the daughters' "father" (2:18), is read as the head of that family.
Numbers 10:29 · Judges 4:11 · Exodus 2:18
The verses
“Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb.”
“Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.””
“Now Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, received Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her away,”
“Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the LORD has spoken good concerning Israel.””