Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro and said to him, “Please let me return to my brothers in Egypt to see if they are still alive.” “Go in peace,” Jethro replied.
18. And Moses went. It is surprising that Moses should have suppressed the vision whereby the mind of his father-in-law might have been most inclined to let him go; for he speaks merely of human feelings, that he desired to revisit his brethren and relations.
Moses honored his father-in-law by asking leave before departing, showing that divine commission does not free us from the duties we owe in our station. God knew the secret fear that held him back, dread of his old enemies, and assured him the way was clear.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 4:18-23
And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law,.... With his flock of sheep he kept, Exo 3:1, and said unto him: let me go, I pray thee, and return to my brethren which are in Egypt; the Israelites, who were so by nation and religion; as Jethro had been kind and beneficent to him, he did not choose to leave him without...