Exodus 2:18

So when they came home ¹  to their father Reuel, ²  he asked, “Why have you come home so early ³  today?”

When the girls returned to Reuel their father, he asked them, "Why have you returned so early today?"

When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "Why have you come back so soon today?"

When the girls returned to Reuel, their father, he asked, "How did you get the flocks watered so quickly today?"

When they got home to their father, Reuel, he said, "That didn't take long. Why are you back so soon?"

And when they came to Reuel their father, he said, How is it that you have come back so quickly today?

When they returned to their father Reuel, he said, "How is it that you have come back so soon today?"

When they came to Reuel their father, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?"

So when they came home ¹  to their father Reuel, ²  he asked, “Why have you come home so early ³  today?”

¹ tn The verb means “to go, to come, to enter.” In this context it means that they returned to their father, or came home.

² sn The name “Reuel” is given here. In other places (e.g., chap. 18) he is called Jethro (cf. CEV, which uses “Jethro” here). Some suggest that this is simply a confusion of traditions. But it is not uncommon for ancients, like Sabean kings and priests, to have more than one name. Several of the kings of Israel, including Solomon, did. “Reuel” means “friend of God.”

³ tn The sentence uses a verbal hendiadys construction: מִהַרְתֶּן בֹּא (miharten bo’, “you have made quick [to] come”). The finite verb functions as if it were an adverb modifying the infinitive, which becomes the main verb of the clause.

sn Two observations should be made at this point. First, it seems that the oppression at the well was a regular part of their routine because their father was surprised at their early return, and their answer alluded to the shepherds rather automatically. Secondly, the story is another meeting-at-the-well account. Continuity with the patriarchs is thereby kept in the mind of the reader (cf. Gen 24; 29:1-12).