worship of Jehovah God; but Jethro’s ancestors may have had true worship inculcated in them, and some of this perhaps continued in the family. His conduct suggests at least a deep respect for the God of Moses and Israel.​—Ex 18:10-12.

Jethro’s association with his future son-in-law began shortly after Moses fled from Egypt in 1553 B.C.E. Moses assisted Jethro’s daughters in watering their father’s flocks, and this they reported to their father, who, in turn, extended hospitality to Moses. Moses then took up living in Jethro’s household and eventually married his daughter Zipporah. After some 40 years of caring for Jethro’s flocks in the vicinity of Mount Horeb (Sinai), Moses was summoned by Jehovah back to Egypt, and he returned with his father-in-law’s good wishes.​—Ex 2:15-22; 3:1; 4:18; Ac 7:29, 30.

Later Jethro received report of Jehovah’s great victory over the Egyptians, and at once he came to Moses at Horeb, bringing along Zipporah and Moses’ two sons; it was indeed a very warm reunion. Jethro responded to Moses’ review of Jehovah’s mighty saving acts by blessing God and confessing: “Now I do know that Jehovah is greater than all the other gods.” He then offered up sacrifices to the true God. (Ex 18:1-12) The next day, Jethro observed Moses listening to the problems of the Israelites “from the morning till the evening.” Perceiving how exhausting this was for both Moses and the people, Jethro suggested a system of delegating authority. ‘Train other capable and worthy men as chiefs over tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands to decide cases, so that you will hear only what they cannot handle.’ Moses agreed, and later Jethro returned to his own land.​—Ex 18:13-27.

Jethro’s son Hobab was requested by Moses to be a scout. Apparently with some persuasion, he responded, and some of his people entered the Promised Land with Israel. (Nu 10:29-33) Judges 4:11 calls Hobab the father-in-law of Moses rather than his brother-in-law, and this has caused difficulty in understanding. However, the Hebrew expression normally rendered “father-in-law” can in a broader sense denote any male relative by marriage and so could also be understood as “brother-in-law.” To say that Hobab instead of Jethro was Moses’ father-in-law would disagree with other texts. If Hobab were another name for Jethro, as some suggest, it would also mean that two men, father and son, bore the name Hobab. On the other hand, Hobab, as a leading member of the next generation of Kenites, might be used in this text as a representative of his father.​—See HOBAB.

(Jeʹtur).

A son of Ishmael (Ge 25:13-15; 1Ch 1:31) and forefather of a people against whom the Israelites warred. (1Ch 5:18, 19) It is possible that Jetur’s descendants were the Ituraeans.​—Lu 3:1; see ITURAEA.

(Je·uʹel).

1. A Levite who helped in cleansing the temple during Hezekiah’s reign; a descendant of Elizaphan.​—2Ch 29:13, 15, 16.

2. A postexilic resident of Jerusalem; head of the Judean paternal house of Zerah.​—1Ch 9:3-6, 9; Ge 46:12.

(Jeʹush) [possibly, May He Lend Aid].

1. A son of Esau by his Hivite wife Oholibamah. Jeush was born in Canaan, but later the family moved to Edom.​—Ge 36:2, 5-8, 14, 18; 1Ch 1:35.

2. A descendant of Benjamin; a warrior and founder of a tribal family.​—1Ch 7:6, 10.

3. A Gershonite Levite; son of Shimei. As both Jeush and his brother Beriah had very few sons, their descendants in David’s time merged to form one paternal house.​—1Ch 23:7, 10, 11.

4. The first-named son of King Rehoboam, presumably by his wife Mahalath. Because Rehoboam loved a different wife more, Jeush was passed up in the royal succession.​—2Ch 11:18-23.

5. A Benjamite; one of King Saul’s descendants.​—1Ch 8:33, 39.

(Jeʹuz) [He Has Counseled (Advised)].

A family head in the tribe of Benjamin; son of Shaharaim by his wife Hodesh.​—1Ch 8:1, 8-10.

[Of (Belonging to) Judah].

A person belonging to the tribe of Judah. The name is not used in the Bible account prior to the fall of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel. In Hezekiah’s time, Isaiah used an adjectival form of the word, translated “the language of the Jews.” (Isa 36:11, 13) Most often, the southern kingdom was called Judah, and the people were called sons of Judah or the tribe of the sons of Judah. The first Bible writer to use the name Jews in direct reference to the people was the writer of the books of Kings, doubtless Jeremiah, whose prophetic service began in 647 B.C.E. (See 2Ki 16:6; 25:25.) After the exile the name was applied to any Israelites returning (Ezr 4:12; 6:7; Ne 1:2; 5:17) and, finally, to all Hebrews throughout the world, to distinguish them from the Gentile nations. (Es 3:6; 9:20) Gentile men who accepted the Jewish faith and became circumcised proselytes also declared themselves Jews. (Es 8:17) However, in the Hebrew Scriptures the expression “alien resident” may refer to one who had adopted the religion of the Jews (Jer 22:3), and even in the Christian Greek