Exodus 18 Father-In-Law

[MePlus6]

Is there any significance to the numerous uses of the term father-in-law to describe Jethro in this one chapter? It seems like the reader would understand even after the first mention but the Holy Spirit had the writer really drive home the point.

Clearly I'm missing the point. What is the point of continuing to say that Jethro is Moses' father-in-law?

 

[antitox]

I looked into this a lot of times. It's hard to say for sure. At first I thought the one was her father and the other was her grandfather because they have been known to call the grandfather their father in those days. But then there's another thought from another poster:

1. Easton’s Bible Dictionary indicates that Reuel in Hebrew means “Friend of God.”Jethro means “Excellency.” So this commentary suggests that Reuel could be the given name, and Jethro could be a title.
2. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia proposes that Reuel was a clan name. So when Jethro is referred to as Reuel in Exodus 2:18 and Numbers 10:29, he is being called by his clan name.

If it is a father/grandfather issue, then in Numbers 10 being called Jethro in that passage at that time I think her father would be Jethro who brought her to camp. But hey, I really don't know.