| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse opens with the wayyiqtol verb vayyishma {וַיִּשְׁמַע | way-yiš-maʿ} ‘and he heard’, a narrative marker that foregrounds the action before introducing the subject Yitro {יִתְרוֹ | yiṯ-rô} ‘Jethro’. Two appositional phrases—kohen Midyan {כֹהֵן מִדְיָן | kō-hēn miḏ-yān} ‘priest of Midian’ and khoten Moshe {חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה | ḥō-tēn mō-šeh} ‘father-in-law of Moses’—specify his religious and familial identity. The direct object marker et {אֵת | ʾēṯ} plus kol-asher {כָּל־אֲשֶׁר | kāl-ʾă-šer} ‘all that’ introduce a relative clause asah Elohim {עָשָׂה אֱלֹהִים | ʿā-śāh ʾĕ-lō-hîm} ‘had done for Moses and for Israel his people.’ The causal conjunction kihotsi {כִּי־הוֹצִ֧יא | kî-hô-ṣîʾ} ‘because he brought out’ signals the transition to the defining deliverance event, with Yahweh {יְהוָה | Yə-hō-wāh} ‘the LORD’ as the agent. The structure shifts from general divine activity under the title Elohim to personal covenant action under the name Yahweh, highlighting both universal power and particular redemption in the exodus. |