RAGUEL răg’ yŏŏ əl, rə gu’ əl (רְעוּאֵ֖ל; LXX ̔Ραγουηλ, meaning friend of God or God is friend). 1. KJV spelling of Moses’ father-in-law (Num 10:29). The same person (Exod 2:18) is spelled Reuel in the KJV, although the Heb. spelling is identical in both cases. The difference can be explained by the lack of uniformity in transliterating the Heb. letter ע. The RSV and NEB have Reuel in both passages.

2. A character in the Book of Tobit (3:7ff.); the husband of Edna and father of Sarah, Tobias’s wife.

3. An (arch) angel in 1 Enoch 20:4.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

ra-gu’-el, rag’-u-el (Rhagouel): "The friend of God," of Ecbatana, the husband of Edna, father of Sarah, and father-in-law of Tobias (Tobit 3:7,17; 6:10; 7:2 f; 14:12). In Tobit 7:2 he is called cousin of Tobit, and in Tobit 6:10 the King James Version he is erroneously represented as "cousin" of Tobias = "kinsman" in the Revised Version (British and American). In Enoch 20:4 Raguel appears as one of the archangels, perhaps by confusion for Raphael (Tobit 3:17). Another form of the name is REUEL (which see). one of whom composed the Zardtusht-Namah.

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ra-gu’-el, rag’-u-el (re`u’-el; Septuagint: Rhagouel): The Midianite chothen, i.e. either father-in-law or brother-in-law of Moses (Nu 10:29 the King James Version, the Revised Version (British and American) "Reuel"), the father of Hobab, called a Kenite, who is likewise described as a chothen of Moses (Jud 4:11). See Family Relationships. Moses’ wife’s father is called re`u’el in Ex 2:18 where Lucian reads "Iothor" and English Versions of the Bible "Reuel," which transliteration is adopted in the Revised Version (British and American) in Nu 10:29 also. In other passages the chothen of Moses is called "Jether" or "Jethro." Among the harmonizations suggested the following are worthy of consideration:

(a) that all are names or perhaps titles of one man (Rashi);

(b) that Reuel was the father of Hobab and Jethro, that Jethro was the father-in-law of Moses, and that the word "father" is used for grandfather in Ex 2:18;

(c) that Reuel was the father-in-law and Jethro and Hobab brothers-in-law;

(d) that either Reuel or Hobab is to be identified with Jethro.

None of these views is free from difficulty, nor is the view of those who would give Jethro as the name in the Elohist (E) and Reuel as that in the Jahwist (Jahwist) and (J-E).

See also REUEL.

See also

Reuel