Exodus 2:18
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you are come so soon to day?
American King James Version (AKJV)
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you are come so soon to day?
American Standard Version (ASV)
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon to-day?
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you have come back so quickly today?
Webster's Revision
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you are come so soon to day?
World English Bible
When they came to Reuel, their father, he said, "How is it that you have returned so early today?"
English Revised Version (ERV)
And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon today?
Clarke's Exodus 2:18 Bible Commentary
Reuel, their father - In Numbers 10:29 this person is called Raguel, but the Hebrew is the same in both places. The reason of this difference is that the ע ain in רעואל is sometimes used merely as vowel, sometimes as g, ng, and gn, and this is occasioned by the difficulty of the sound, which scarcely any European organs can enunciate. As pronounced by the Arabs it strongly resembles the first effort made by the throat in gargling, or as Meninski says, Est vox vituli matrem vocantis, "It is like the sound made by a calf in seeking its dam." Raguel is the worst method of pronouncing it; Re-u-el, the first syllable strongly accented, is nearer to the true sound. A proper uniformity in pronouncing the same word wherever it may occur, either in the Old or New Testament, is greatly to be desired. The person in question appears to have several names. Here he is called Reuel; in Numbers 10:29, Raguel; in Exodus 3:1, Jethor; in Judges 4:11, Hobab; and in Judges 1:16 he is called קיני Keyni, which in Exodus 4 we translate Kenite. Some suppose that Re-u-el was father to Hobab, who was also called Jethro. This is the most likely; see Clarke's note on Exodus 3:1.
Barnes's Exodus 2:18 Bible Commentary
Reuel - Or, as in Numbers 10:29, "Raguel." The name means "friend of God." It appears to have been not uncommon among Hebrews and Edomites; e. g. Genesis 36:4, Genesis 36:10. If Reuel be identified with Jethro, a point open to grave objection (see Exodus 3:1), then Reuel was his proper name, and Jether or Jethro, which means "excellency," was his official designation.
Wesley's Exodus 2:18 Bible Commentary
2:18 Reul or Raguel (see Numbers 10:29 ,) seems to have been their grandfather and father of Hobab or Jethro, their immediate father.