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Now Moses kept ° the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

3:1 Jethro. Moses’ father in law is also called Reuel (Exodus 2:18) and Raguel (Numbers 10:29). These are probably two forms of his given name, while the name Jethro was associated with his priestly office (see also Exodus 18:1).


3:1 Midian. As descendants of Abraham (Genesis 25:1,2) the Midianites still retained some knowledge of the true God and had apparently ordained a priesthood to mediate that knowledge to their people. No doubt it had become somewhat contaminated over the centuries with the other religions of the land, but Jethro’s faith was soon to be properly clarified and focussed by Jehovah’s great works in Egypt (Exodus 18:11).


3:2 angel of the LORD. This is clearly a theophany, one of the pre-incarnate appearances of the divine Word. Later verses stipulate that God, not a created angel, was speaking to Moses (e.g., Exodus 3:4).


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