He had six names: Jether, Jethro, Hobab, Reuel, Putiel, and Keni. He was called Jether because through him one "additional" portion was added to the Torah. When he did good deeds, an extra letter was added to Jether, making it Jethro (Mechilta Yitro 1:1).

At the time that Moses told Jethro, "Give me your daughter Zipporah as a wife," Jethro said to him, "Agree that your first son will be dedicated to the discovery of God through investigation and that the later progeny will be dedicated to the Name of Heaven." Moses agreed. "Swear to me," said Jethro. Moses swore (Mechilta Yitro 1:1).

When Jethro saw that the Holy One had destroyed Amalek in this world and the next, he regretted his idol worship and repented, saying, "I should follow only the God of Israel" (Shemot Rabbah 27:6).

What Jewish children escape their parents’ admonition to carefully observe the attitudes of their future spouses' parents? In the case of Moses, who already had been raised in two nationally and religiously divergent households (Jewish and Egyptian), that age-old imprimatur was made all the more difficult because he met his future father-in-law on the lam. No one could have prepared the young fugitive (Moses had fled from Egypt after killing an Egyptian taskmaster) for the personality (ies) of the "priest of Midian." Indeed, Jethro’s variegated shades of character would make "The Three Faces of Eve" look normal.

Jethro is a Kohen - but not a Jewish "priest." He is an idolator, a political leader, a philosopher, a trusted counselor and adviser to his ambitious, Divinely inspired son-in-law. Jethro is judicious and pragmatic. He knows Moses is the true and fearless leader of the people, particularly as the future general of Israel rescues his seven daughters from marauding shepherds at the prototypical watering hole. There is an immediate recognition of what each could give to each other. Exodus 2:21 states: "Moses desired to dwell with Jethro; and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses." It was in Midian that Moses discovered his mission, experiencing the epiphany of the burning bush while tending his father-in-law’s flock.

Important chapters intervene as Moses returns to Egypt and vitiates the reign of Pharaoh. After the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses reunites with his family, who had earlier returned to Midian while he led the Israelites out of the land of servitude. Jethro exclaims his approval of Moses’s mission and declares his loyalty: "Now I know that the Lord is the greatest of all the gods" (Exodus 18:11). Moses had won over his father-in-law, although moments later Jethro is advising his brilliantly educated son-in-law that he was taking too much responsibility upon himself. Moses listens and appoints judges over his people. Although rarely invoked as one of the principal characters in Israel’s destiny, Jethro’s influence upon the new nation was profound. He was, as much as Zipporah, Moses’s "helpmate."