John Calvin Commentary Exodus 18:7

"And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance, and kissed him: and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent." — Exodus 18:7 (ASV)

And Moses went out. In the preceding verse, he had related what happened last, namely, that Jethro said, "I have come, and have brought to you your wife and children"; but this transposition is common in Hebrew. He then adds that Moses went to meet him and to pay him honor, and that they met each other with mutual kindness, and performed their respective duties of affection. “To ask each other of their peace,”¹⁹⁶ is equivalent to inquiring if things were well and prosperous.

But the main point is that Moses told him how gracious God had been to His people. For this was the main purpose of his entire account: that when he had left his father-in-law, he had not yielded to a frivolous impulse but had obeyed the call of God, as had afterwards been proved by His extraordinary help and by heavenly wonders.

¹⁹⁶ So in margin A. V.