Endnote 5 – Moses

Ernst Kutsch notes that the root refers to relationships of affinity rather than blood relationships. He writes, “This relationship is brought into being by marriage between one spouse (or by extension the spouse’s family) and the blood relatives (cognates) of the other spouse” (“Htn,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G.J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren, trans. J.T. Willis, G.W. Bromiley and D.E. Green [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1974], vol. 5, p. 270). Robert O’Connell notes that the form hoten refers to the husband’s male relative by marriage (i.e., father-in-law or brother-in-law). See O’Connell, “Htn,” in The New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE), ed. W.A. VanGemeren, 5 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997), vol. 2, p. 325.