Old Testament Commentary - Exodus 18

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 18 Jethro comes to Moses bringing Moses'wife and sons; he offers sacrifice to the Lord—Moses sits in judgement seat and hears all cases—Jethro counsels Moses to teach the law, to appoint lesser judges, and to delegate power to them.
1 WHEN ^aJethro, the ^bpriest of ^cMidian, Moses' father in law, heard of all that ^dGod had done for Moses, and for Israel his people, and that the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt; 2 Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took ^aZipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, 3 And her two ^asons; of which the name of the one was ^bGershom; for he said, ^cI have been an alien in a strange land: 4 And the name of the other was ^aEliezer; for the God of my father, said he, was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh: 5 And Jethro, Moses' father in law, came with his sons and his wife unto Moses into the wilderness, where he encamped at the ^amount of God: 6 And he ^asaid unto Moses, I thy father in law Jethro am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.		1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
7 ¶ And Moses went out to meet his father in law, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare; and they came into the tent. 8 And Moses told his father in law all that the LORD had done unto Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the LORD had done to Israel, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians.		1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the LORD, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt ^aproudly he was above them. 12 And Jethro, Moses' father in law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God: and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat ^abread with Moses' father in law before God.		1^a OR consecrate or set apart. ^b Lev. 21:10 (10-15) ^c OR young bull (also vv. 3, 10-12, 14, 36).; Lev. 8:2; 1 Chr. 13:9 2^a Lev. 2:4 ^b HEB mingled OR smeared
13 ¶ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to ^ajudge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14 And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?
15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to ^aenquire of God: 16 When they have a ^amatter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
17 And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good^a. 18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is ^atoo heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel^a, and God shall be with thee: ^aBe thou for the people to ^bGod-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:	17^a The thing that thou doest is not good While Moses is God's prophet, Moses is still only a man himself. And God does not command and guide in all things even unto his prophet. To some who consider that a prphet stands above being a mere man, it might not seem appropriate for Jethro to tell God's prophet what is and is not good, and what God's prophet should do. But since Moses is just a man, while being God's prophet, Moses is subject to the 'follies' of being human. It is but a matter of common sense which Jethro speaks unto Moses about. Jethro can see a better way of organizing the people which has seemed to allude Moses, perhaps because Moses is to close to the trees to see the forest, that is Moses is too involved, too busy, with the matter of his daily work to step back for a moment to assess the efficientcy of the process. Certainly it is wisdom to deligate and seek help with work which is too heavy for just one man to bear. And what is common for a man to attempt to do all himself, Jethro merely points out to Moses a better way. He is not correcting or commanding God's prophet what to do. Rather he sees a 'better' way of doing something and makes a suggestion to that effect. Such any man can benefit from, even God's prophet. 17^a I will give thee counsel God expect men, even prophets to think things out for themselves. And in such a thought process, 'two heads are better than one'. It is an eternal principle for a man to seek 'counsel' with others. A husband and wife ought to counsel one with another. A Bishop or Stake President ought to seek counsel and not rely only on his own thought process. No man, even the brightest and most intelligent can know everything and consider all perspectives of a matter. It is wisdom that counsel be a part of a man's problem solving process, not only to gain a concensus on a matter, but to attempt to find the best solution to a situation and that all angles and perspective of the matter might be considered and addressed, making them a part of the consideration in arriving at the most proper and efficient solution which can be thought of. In such cases what one does not think of, another just might be able to contribute. It always help to talk things out one with another, to lay it all out on the table so to speak and seek help in asscertaining just how the peices fit. Life after all, and all its dealings, can be quite the puzzlement. What solution seeker of such a great puzzle, the puzzle of life and all its situations, could not benefit from a little help of others?
20 And thou shalt ^ateach them ^bordinances and ^claws, and shalt shew them the ^dway wherein they must ^ewalk, and the work that they must do. 21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people ^aable men, such as ^bfear God, ^cmen of truth, hating ^dcovetousness; and place such over them, to be ^erulers of thousands, and rulers of ^fhundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22 And let them ^ajudge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the ^bburden with thee. 23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them ^aheads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
27 ¶ And Moses let his father in law depart; and he went his way into his own land.