John Calvin Commentary Exodus 18:10

"And Jethro said, Blessed be Jehovah, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh; who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians." — Exodus 18:10 (ASV)

And Jethro said, Blessed. From this it appears that although the worship of God was then everywhere profaned by strange additions, Jethro was not so devoted to superstition as to fail to acknowledge and honor the true God. Nevertheless, the comparison he adds, that Jehovah is greater than all gods, implies that he was not pure and free from all error.

For, although the Prophets often speak this way, it is with a different meaning. Sometimes God is exalted above the angels so that His unique eminence may appear, with every heavenly dignity being put in its proper order. Sometimes, too, He is improperly called “Greater”—not as if the false gods had any rank, but so that the greatness falsely and foolishly attributed to them in the world may be brought to nothing.

But Jethro here imagines, in accordance with the common notion, that a multitude of inferior gods are subordinate to the Most High. Thus, where the pure truth of God does not shine, religion is never uncorrupted and clear, but always has some dregs mixed with it.

At the same time, Jethro seems to have made some progress. In affirming that he now knows the power of God, he implies that he was better informed than before. However, one might perhaps prefer to understand this as experiential knowledge, which confirms even believers, so that they more willingly submit themselves to God, whom they already knew.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that by the name of Jehovah he designates the God of Israel. For, although people everywhere boasted that they worshipped the eternal God, yet by asserting the true deity of the one God, Jethro places all others beneath Him. At any rate, he confesses that, through the account of their deliverance, he was assured of the immense power of God, who had manifested himself in Israel, leading him to despise, in comparison with God, whatever other deities were honored elsewhere in the world.

The latter clause¹⁹⁷ of verse 11 is unfinished, for it reads: According to the word (or reason) wherein they dealt proudly against them; thus, the principal verb is missing that would express God repaid the Egyptians the just wages of their cruelty. This is just as He denounces judgment without mercy upon all who proudly and unmercifully mistreat their neighbors (James 2:13), according to the declaration of our Lord Jesus Christ, With what measure ye mete, etc. (Matthew 7:2).

The interpretation that some offer seems too limited—namely, that the Egyptians, who had drowned the infants in the river, were themselves drowned in the Red Sea. I prefer, therefore, to extend this to every instance of punishment they received.

¹⁹⁷ S. M. has rendered this clause, In re qua insolenter egerunt contra illos [perierunt]; and in his note he says, “Hoc est, remensus est illis ea mensura qua ipsi mensi fuerunt Israelitis.” They drowned the little ones of Israel in the water, and they also perished in the waters. Thus Abraham Sepharadi expounds this passage: — “Alii sic exponunt; Propterea quod superbe egerunt contra eos, voluit quoque Deus se magnificum ostendere contra AEgyptios.” — has rendered this clause, In re qua insolenter egerunt contra illos [perierunt]; and in his note he says, “Hoc est, remensus est illis ea mensura qua ipsi mensi fuerunt Israelitis.” They drowned the little ones of Israel in the water, and they also perished in the waters. Thus Abraham Sepharadi expounds this passage: — “Alii sic exponunt; Propterea quod superbe egerunt contra eos, voluit quoque Deus se magnificum ostendere contra AEgyptios.” — W..