John Calvin Commentary Exodus 18:5

"And Jethro, Moses` father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness where he was encamped, at the mount of God:" — Exodus 18:5 (ASV)

And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. It was not so much love for Moses as the fame of the miracles which drew this old man,¹⁹⁵ bowed down with age, from his home into the wilderness. For it will later appear from the context that he was not induced by ambition; because, after he had offered sacrifice to God and, in solemn thanksgiving, had testified that he ascribed all the glory to God alone, he returned home again with the same simplicity in which he had come.

Moses, too, at the beginning of the chapter, has stated the cause of his coming, for he does not say that he had heard of the arrival of his son-in-law, but how wonderful God’s goodness and power had been in delivering Moses and the people. He desired, therefore, to be in some measure a spectator of the things of which he had heard, and not to neglect, by remaining at home, such illustrious instances of God’s bounty.

I have already explained why Mount Horeb is distinguished by the name of “the Mount of God.” The vision, indeed, which had already been granted to Moses there, rendered it worthy of this honorable title; but here, as before, reference is made rather to the promulgation of the Law, by which God consecrated the mountain to Himself.

¹⁹⁵ “Ce bon veillard;” this good old man. — Fr..