Chapter Eighteen

1–27. The meeting of Moses with Jethro and the organization of the court.

Exodus 18:1. And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, His people, because the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, Exodus 18:2. and Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah, the wife of Moses, who had been sent back, Exodus 18:3. and her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, because Moses said: I have been a sojourner in a foreign land; Exodus 18:4. and the other was named Eliezer, because [he said:] The God of my father was my help and saved me from the sword of Pharaoh. Exodus 18:5. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was camped at the mountain of God, Exodus 18:6. and he sent word to Moses: I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her. Exodus 18:7. Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down, and kissed him; and after they had greeted one another, they went into the tent. Exodus 18:8. And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, and all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had delivered them [from the hand of Pharaoh and from the hand of the Egyptians]. Exodus 18:9. And Jethro rejoiced over all the good things that the Lord had done for Israel, in that He had delivered him from the hand of the Egyptians [and from the hand of Pharaoh], Exodus 18:10. and Jethro said: Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered this people from under the power of the Egyptians; Exodus 18:11. now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, in that He proved Himself superior to those with whom they were proud when they dealt with the Israelites. Exodus 18:12. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God. Exodus 18:13. On the next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning to evening. Exodus 18:14. And when Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, saw all that he was doing for the people, he said: What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning to evening? Exodus 18:15. And Moses said to his father-in-law: Because the people come to me to seek God’s judgment; Exodus 18:16. when they have a dispute, they come to me, and I judge between them, and I declare to them [the statutes of God and His laws]. Exodus 18:17. But the father-in-law of Moses said to him: What you are doing is not good: Exodus 18:18. You will surely wear yourself out, and this people that is with you as well, because the task is too heavy for you; you alone cannot do it; Exodus 18:19. Therefore, listen to my voice; I will give you counsel, and may God be with you: you be for the people a mediator before God, and bring their matters to God; Exodus 18:20. and teach them the statutes [of God] and His laws, [and] show them the way [in which they must walk], and the work which they must do; Exodus 18:21. Moreover, you shall select from all the people able men, fearing God, men of truth, hating dishonest gain, and appoint them as rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens [and scribes]; Exodus 18:22. and let them judge the people at all times; but every great matter let them bring to you, while every small matter they may decide themselves: so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you; Exodus 18:23. if you do this, and God commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will go to their homes in peace. Exodus 18:24. And Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said to him; Exodus 18:25. and Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads of the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens [and scribes], Exodus 18:26. and they judged the people at all times; the hard cases they brought to Moses, but every small matter they decided themselves. Exodus 18:27. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went off to his own country. The event described in this chapter belongs to a later time than the stay of the Hebrews at Rephidim, and the account of it should be placed, according to the opinion of exegetes, in chapter 10 of the Book of Numbers between verses 10 and 11 (Num 10:10-11). The correctness of such an assumption is confirmed by the following. According to Exod 18:5, the event took place at the mountain of God, that is, Horeb (Exod 3:1), but not at Rephidim, where the Hebrews are at this moment. More precisely, according to the indication Deut 1:6-19, the selection by Moses of helpers for himself in the form of rulers of thousands and rulers of hundreds took place after the legislation at Sinai, before the departure of the Hebrews from Horeb, at which time also falls the return of Jethro from the Hebrew camp to his own country (Exod 18:27, Num 10:29). And since the account of the journey of the Hebrews from Sinai begins with Num 10:11, before them there should be placed the description of the event of chapter 18 of Exodus.