Exodus 18

This work argues that Exod 18:1-27 functions literarily and theologically as the key transitional midpoint in the Exodus narrative. As such, the chapter's function is both retrospective (recalling key features of chapters 1-17) and prospective (anticipating key features of chapters 19-40) at the midpoint of the book. In the Exodus narrative, the character of Jethro is rhetorically employed by the narrator as a model to contrast with all the nations and as a model to contrast with all the faithle