Was Moses' father-in-law Jethro a descendant of Ishmael?

[EricLHepperle]

I just watched "The Ten Commandments" with Charleton Heston. In it, they state that Jethro was essentially an Arab, a descendant of Ishmael, son of Abraham, father of many nations.

I'm just wondering if there is any evidence for that? 

Thank you.

[other one]

It's my understanding that he was in Median and was a Medianite. I think they are the decedents of one of Abraham's sons with his second wife.  Midian was his name.   

Then there is mention somewhere people from Ishmael's line that were in Midian also.

I guess all that simply to say, "I don't know." but I'll keep reading the thread.

[Duck]

Druze religion follows Jethro

[appy]

Heston received a lot of raves for his acting in said movie in his day so did everyone who was involved with it. However, movie producers main goal is for movies to entertaining more than factual. The bible does imply and teach that we should as Christians take everything we see and hear to the word of God to see that what is said, lines up with the word of God. In this case, you will find that a lot of scenes or lines in the movie do not line up with scripture.

Regarding Jethro, the Midianites came from Midian who was the progenitor of the Midianites. In Genesis 25, we read that upon Sarah's death Abraham married a woman named Keturah and nothing more is said or known about her in scripture other than that, she bore him six children  Midian is one of the six children. Scripture says that Abraham sent these children from Keturah eastward, to the land of the east. Anything more about Keturah is speculation.

[Hands On]

This might well be an argument from silence, but looking up various Bible Dictionaries and Googling about,I can find no evidence that Jethro was from the direct line of Ismael. The New Bible Dictionary tells us "Jethro.Moses' father-in-law Reuel, called Jethro in Ex 3,1;4:18.He brought Zipporah and her sons to meet Moses at Mt.Horeb, and held a sacrifice to Yaweh...Moses persuaded Jethro's son Hobad to join the Israelites In Jdg.4:11 'Hobad the Kenite ' is called Moses' hoten , perhaps a broad term for 'in-law', this , with Jdg 1:16,is the only evvidence for Jethro's Kenite descent.The name may mean 'pre-eminence."(Douglas and others The New Bible Dictionary).

According to Hasting's Dictionary "

KENITES.—A nomadic tribe, closely connected with the Amalekites (wh. see), and probably indeed a

branch of them, but having friendly relations with Israel, and ultimately, it seems, at least in the main, absorbed in Judah. Hobab, Moses' father-in-law (Jg 1¹⁶ 4¹¹ RVm), who had been invited by Moses

and had doubtless accepted the invitation—to be a guide to Israel in the wilderness (Nu lO^29-32), was a Kenite; and his descendants came up from Jericho with the tribe of Judah into the S. part of their territory (Arad is about 17 miles S. of Hebron), though afterwards, true to their Bedouin instincts, they roamed beyond the border an'd rejoined their kinsmen, the Amalekites, in the N. of the Sinaitic Peninsula (Jg 1¹⁶ read in this verse, with MSS of LXX, 'the Amalekite' for 'the people'—three letters have dropped out in the Heb.).

Also in support of Appy "

Also in support of Appy there is  Fasset’s Bible Dictionary,who in turn refer  to

“E. Wilton (Imperial Dictionary). suggests that Kenites is a religious rather than a gentilic term, meaning "a worshipper of the goddess Kain", one form of Ashtoreth or Astarte. This would account for God's denunciation of the Kenites by Balaam (Num_24:21-22 margin). Evidently the Kenites to be dispossessed by Israel (Gen_15:19) were distinct from the Kenites to whom Hobab and Jethro belonged. The latter were of Midianite origin, sprung from Abraham and Keturah, occupying the region E. of Egypt and W. of Seir and the gulf of Akabah (Gen_25:2); the former were Canaanites of the city Kain, which was taken by Judah (Jos_15:57). The Canaanite Kenites Balaam denounces; or else more probably Balaam's prophecy is "Kain (the Midianite Kenites) shall not be exterminated until Asshur shall carry him away into captivity" (Keil).”(Fausset’s Bible Dictionary).No mention is made of any link with Ishmael."

 

[JohnD]

On 3/28/2021 at 5:59 AM, appy said:

Heston received a lot of raves for his acting in said movie in his day so did everyone who was involved with it. However, movie producers main goal is for movies to entertaining more than factual. The bible does imply and teach that we should as Christians take everything we see and hear to the word of God to see that what is said, lines up with the word of God. In this case, you will find that a lot of scenes or lines in the movie do not line up with scripture.

Regarding Jethro, the Midianites came from Midian who was the progenitor of the Midianites. In Genesis 25, we read that upon Sarah's death Abraham married a woman named Keturah and nothing more is said or known about her in scripture other than that, she bore him six children  Midian is one of the six children. Scripture says that Abraham sent these children from Keturah eastward, to the land of the east. Anything more about Keturah is speculation.

Joshua did not inquire of the Lord in the incident of the ruse of the Gibeonites. And therefore the Israelites were stuck with these Canaanites with whom they covenanted for peace. Joshua 9.

Joshua learned this faux pas from Moses who did not consult the Lord when he created what eventually became the Sanhedrin at the behest of his pagan priest father-in-law Jethro (Exodus 18).

That same body of elders condemned the Holy One of Israel to death and turned him over to the Romans to do their bidding.    

[Riverwalker]

According to the Book of Genesis, the Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham and his wife Keturah: "Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah" (Genesis 25:1–2, King James Version).

[appy]

11 hours ago, JohnD said:

Joshua did not inquire of the Lord in the incident of the ruse of the Gibeonites. And therefore the Israelites were stuck with these Canaanites with whom they covenanted for peace. Joshua 9.

Joshua learned this faux pas from Moses who did not consult the Lord when he created what eventually became the Sanhedrin at the behest of his pagan priest father-in-law Jethro (Exodus 18).

That same body of elders condemned the Holy One of Israel to death and turned him over to the Romans to do their bidding.    

The Midianites while being alive at the time of Moses and Joshua, were definitely NOT the people of Canaan. The suffix “ite” does not mean that the Midianites were related to the people living in Canaan or that they were living in Canaan.

“ite” is a suffix latin word the simply means “belonging to” or “descendant of”. In ancient times it was used to form an ethnic or local designation word. For example Isreal “ites”, Ishmael “ites”.  As agreed by others The Midianites were descended from Midian who was a son from Abraham and Keturah.

It was NOT the Midianites in Moses time or Joshua's time that needed to be driven out of the land of Canaan. But the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And none of these are related in any way with the Midianites. Nor are the Ishmaelites related to any of the nations that were in Canaan.

The Gibeonites are a different story. Yes, the Gibeonites were related to the Hivites of the time.  Its interesting fact that Midian can be traced back to Shem. While the Gibeonites can be traced back to Canaan, Ham's son/grandson.

[DeighAnn]

On 3/28/2021 at 6:06 AM, Hands On said:

KENITES.

patronymic from Qayin; a Kenite or member of the tribe of Kajin -- Kenite.

7014  Qayin: Cain

Kenites are the sons of Cain

Cain who is not in Adams bloodline (nor are any of his descendants) but has an entire bloodline all his own, the Kenites. 

[Riverwalker]

12 minutes ago, DeighAnn said:

patronymic from Qayin; a Kenite or member of the tribe of Kajin -- Kenite.

7014  Qayin: Cain

Kenites are the sons of Cain

Cain who is not in Adams bloodline (nor are any of his descendants) but has an entire bloodline all his own, the Kenites. 

None of the line of Cain survived the flood. Noah and His three sons all derived from Seth.