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: Chet
The Passover – Pesach
Pesach is to be celebrated throughout all the generations of the people of Israel wherever they lived. In Joshua chapter 5, the Israelites celebrate Pesach in Gilgal after taking flint knives and circumcising all the men who had come out of the wilderness. In 2 Kings chapter 23, King Josiah destroys all the high places and idols in Israel, and the nation celebrates Pesach in Jerusalem for the first time since the days of the Judges. In Ezra chapter 6, when the Israelites return from captivity in Babylon, everyone who renounced the pagan practices of the nations celebrated the Pesach.
Psalm 119:57-64 (Chet)
Psalm 119 is about loving God’s Torah, His statutes, commands and precepts. It is broken up into sections with strange looking words or letters which are the Hebrew alphabet. In the Hebrew Scriptures, each line of each section starts with a word beginning with this letter. This is called an acrostic poem. Each Hebrew letter also has a word picture associated with it giving greater meaning and symbolism to each line of the specific letter-ed section.