Hobab

Biblical Record

Hobab first appears in Numbers 10:29–32. The text introduces him as "Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses' father in law" (KJV; the name Raguel is elsewhere rendered Reuel). As Israel breaks camp before Mount Sinai and begins its march, Moses invites Hobab to come with them and promises that whatever good the Lord does for Israel, they will also do for him. Hobab at first declines: "I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred." Moses then presses him again: "forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes." The text does not record how Hobab answered this second request.

Judges 4:11 describes Heber the Kenite as one "of the children of Hobab the father in law of Moses." Judges 1:16 records that the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah and dwelt among them. On the basis of these two verses, many interpreters conclude that Hobab's family ultimately accompanied Israel into Canaan.

Significance Within Scripture

Hobab is a foreigner, a Midianite, who is nonetheless invited to join Israel. The Kenites, who descend from him, continue to appear on friendly terms with Israel. In 1 Samuel 15:6, Saul tells the Kenites to separate themselves from the Amalekites because they showed kindness to Israel when Israel came up out of Egypt; some readers connect this passage with Hobab's family. Hobab is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

Relationship to Moses. In Exodus, Moses' father-in-law appears under two names: Reuel (2:18) and Jethro (3:1; ch. 18). Numbers presents Hobab as the son of Reuel, which would make him Moses' brother-in-law, whereas Judges 4:11 calls Hobab Moses' father-in-law. Several explanations have been offered for this discrepancy:

• Some take the Hebrew word translated "father-in-law" in Judges as a broader term for a relative by marriage, and so understand Hobab to be Moses' brother-in-law.
• According to Exodus 18:27, Jethro had already returned to his own land before Israel arrived at Sinai. On this basis, some hold that the Hobab of Numbers 10 is a different person from Jethro, namely his son.
• Rabbinic Jewish tradition reportedly includes an interpretation that Jethro had several names and that Hobab was one of them.
• Some critical scholars explain the difference as a trace of distinct traditions that were later combined.

Views on this question divide less along denominational lines than according to scholars' interpretive approaches.

Human guidance and divine leading. Immediately after the conversation with Hobab, Numbers 10:33–34 records that the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before the people to search out a resting place for them, and that the cloud of the Lord was over them. Interpreters read this arrangement in different ways. Some see divine leading and human wisdom working together; others read it as a contrast in which God's leading takes precedence over human guidance. The text does not directly state that Hobab actually went with Israel; that conclusion is inferred from the record in Judges.

In the Korean Church

Because Hobab is a minor figure, he is rarely treated on his own in Sunday school materials or worship songs. In preaching, the phrase from Numbers 10, "thou mayest be to us instead of eyes," is sometimes cited when speaking of the role of those who journey alongside others, and sometimes when speaking of God's leading in the wilderness. He is often introduced alongside Jethro as a member of Moses' family by marriage.