Yitro and Amalek

When does Yitro arrive? When does the meeting with Moshe take place? What was it that he heard that motivated him to see Moshe? And where does this meeting fit in chronologically- before or after Ma’amad Har Sinai? Why is it recorded here? There are astoundingly strong linguistic parallels between the Yitro and the Amalek story that precedes it. We look at these mirror image parallels, as well as the story of Yael and Sisra to see that the nearby nations are not monolithic when it comes to choices about the knowledge of God and the attitude toward Bnei Yisrael.