When Moses ran from Egypt forty years earlier he had married into Jethro’s clan, a nomadic shepherding family in the land of Midian. Now, when more than six months had passed since Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt and the sheer managerial logistics were becoming unbearable, Moses received news that his father in law, Jethro, was coming for a visit.

Jethro was a High Priest of a religious sect that, like Abraham, worshiped the one true God.