Numbers 10:29-32

NUMBERS—NOTE ON Numbers 10:29 The relationship of Hobab and Reuel to Jethro (Exodus 3:1; Exodus 18:1) is uncertain. The simplest solution is that Reuel and Jethro are alternative names of Moses’ father-in-law. This would make Hobab Moses’ brother-in-law. In Judges 4:11, Hobab’s descendants are called Kenites, whereas here he is called a Midianite; the Kenites were most likely a subgroup of the Midianites. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred. Hobab apparently rejects a share in Canaan, and the text does not say whether Moses’ offer persuades him to reconsider. In Numbers 25:1 and Numbers 31:1, the Midianites are fierce enemies of Israel, but in Judges 1:16 and Judges 4:11, the Kenites are Israel’s allies in Canaan.