Family terminology designating male in-laws are not specific in Middle Eastern culture. Terms for a woman’s male relatives are the same for her father, brother or even grandfather. The ending ‘-el’ in Reu-el is Hebrew for ‘God’ suggesting he has a relationship with Elohim while Yitro is called a priest. In a patriarchal society, the men were the spiritual leaders of the family and it appears both Reu’el and Yitro have that position either with the title of el or the name Yitro.
Tag: alef bet
The Ten Commandments and the Hebrew Alef-Bet
In Hebrew, each letter has a word picture based on its shape. After learning the word pictures through the book Hebrew Word Pictures by Frank T. Seekins, I replaced the ‘roman numerals’ of the 10 Commandments with the numerical word pictures. In this way, I saw the commands in a new and unique way. This is how I taught my children the 10 Commandments after teaching them the Hebrew alphabet. Remembering a concept with a letter was easier than remembering the order and phrases of the commands.