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Texts -- Exodus 18:1-26 (NET)

Context
The Advice of Jethro
18:1 Jethro , the priest of Midian , Moses ’ father-in-law , heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel , that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt . 18:2 Jethro , Moses ’ father-in-law , took Moses ’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back , 18:3 and her two sons , one of whom was named Gershom (for Moses had said , “I have been a foreigner in a foreign land ”), 18:4 and the other Eliezer (for Moses had said, “The God of my father has been my help and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh ”). 18:5 Jethro , Moses’ father-in-law , together with Moses ’ sons and his wife , came to Moses in the desert where he was camping by the mountain of God . 18:6 He said to Moses , “I , your father-in-law Jethro , am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her.” 18:7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him; they each asked about the other’s welfare , and then they went into the tent . 18:8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel’s sake , and all the hardship that had come on them along the way , and how the Lord had delivered them. 18:9 Jethro rejoiced because of all the good that the Lord had done for Israel , whom he had delivered from the hand of Egypt . 18:10 Jethro said , “Blessed be the Lord who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt , and from the hand of Pharaoh , who has delivered the people from the Egyptians ’ control ! 18:11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods , for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” 18:12 Then Jethro , Moses ’ father-in-law , brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God , and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food with the father-in-law of Moses before God . 18:13 On the next day Moses sat to judge the people , and the people stood around Moses from morning until evening . 18:14 When Moses ’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people , he said , “What is this that you are doing for the people ? Why are you sitting by yourself , and all the people stand around you from morning until evening ?” 18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law , “Because the people come to me to inquire of God . 18:16 When they have a dispute , it comes to me and I decide between a man and his neighbor , and I make known the decrees of God and his laws .” 18:17 Moses ’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good ! 18:18 You will surely wear out, both you and these people who are with you, for this is too heavy a burden for you; you are not able to do it by yourself . 18:19 Now listen to me , I will give you advice , and may God be with you : You be a representative for the people to God , and you bring their disputes to God ; 18:20 warn them of the statutes and the laws , and make known to them the way in which they must walk and the work they must do . 18:21 But you choose from the people capable men , God-fearing , men of truth , those who hate bribes , and put them over the people as rulers of thousands , rulers of hundreds , rulers of fifties , and rulers of tens . 18:22 They will judge the people under normal circumstances , and every difficult case they will bring to you, but every small case they themselves will judge , so that you may make it easier for yourself, and they will bear the burden with you. 18:23 If you do this thing , and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure , and all these people will be able to go home satisfied .” 18:24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he had said . 18:25 Moses chose capable men from all Israel , and he made them heads over the people , rulers of thousands , rulers of hundreds , rulers of fifties , and rulers of tens . 18:26 They judged the people under normal circumstances ; the difficult cases they would bring to Moses , but every small case they would judge themselves .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • JETHRO

    [ebd] his excellence, or gain, a prince or priest of Midian, who succeeded his father Reuel. Moses spent forty years after his exile from the Egyptian court as keeper of Jethro's flocks. While the Israelites were encamped at Sinai...
    [isbe] JETHRO - jeth'-ro, je'-thro (yithro, "excellence," Ex 3:1; 4:18b; 18:1-12 (in 4:18a, probably a textual error, yether, "Iether," the King James Version margin, the Revised Version margin); Septuagint always Iothor): The prie...

  • Moses

    [isbe] MOSES - mo'-zez, mo'-ziz (mosheh; Egyptian mes, "drawn out," "born"; Septuagint Mouse(s)). The great Hebrew national hero, leader, author, law-giver and prophet. I. LIFE 1. Son of Levi 2. Foundling Prince 3. Friend of the Pe...
    [nave] MOSES A Levite and son of Amram, Ex. 2:1-4; 6:20; Acts 7:20; Heb. 11:23. Hidden in an ark, Ex. 2:3. Discovered and adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, Ex. 2:5-10. Learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, Acts 7:22. His loyalt...

  • EXODUS, THE BOOK OF, 2

    [isbe] EXODUS, THE BOOK OF, 2 - II. Structure of the Book According to the Scriptures and According to Modern Analyses. In the following section (a) serves for the understanding of the Biblical text; (b) is devoted to the discussio...

  • Heathen

    [nave] HEATHEN Under this head are grouped all who are not embraced under the Abrahamic covenant. Cast out of Canaan, Lev. 18:24, 25; Psa. 44:2; and their land given to Israel, Psa. 78:55; 105:44; 135:12; 136:21, 22; Isa. 54:1-3. ...

  • PENTATEUCH, 2B

    [isbe] PENTATEUCH, 2B - 3. Answer to the Critical Analysis: (1) The Veto of Textual Criticism. The first great objection that may be made to the higher criticism is that it starts from the Massoretic text (MT) without investigation...

  • ISRAEL, RELIGION OF, 1

    [isbe] ISRAEL, RELIGION OF, 1 - || I. INTRODUCTION: HISTORICAL CONSIDERATION OF THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL II. HISTORICAL OUTLINE 1. Pre-Mosaic Religion of the Ancestors of Israel (1) The Traditional View (2) The Modern View (3) A High...

  • ISRAEL, HISTORY OF, 1

    [isbe] ISRAEL, HISTORY OF, 1 - INTRODUCTORY 1. Sources (1) The Old Testament (2) Josephus (3) The Monuments 2. Religious Character of the History I. ORIGINS OF ISRAEL IN PRE-MOSAIC TIMES 1. Original Home 2. Ethnographical Origin 3....

  • BLINDNESS, JUDICIAL

    [isbe] BLINDNESS, JUDICIAL - ju-dish'-al, joo-dish'-al: Among the ancient Israelites in the pre-Canaanite period disputes within the family or clan or tribe would be settled by the natural head of the family or clan or tribe. Accor...

  • COURTS, JUDICIAL

    [isbe] COURTS, JUDICIAL - joo-dish'-al, ju-dish'-al. 1. Their Organization: At the advice of Jethro, Moses appointed judges (shopheTim, Ex 18). In Egypt it appears that the Hebrews did not have their own judges, which, of course, w...

  • Government

    [isbe] GOVERNMENT - guv'-ern-ment: The government of the Hebrews varied at different periods, of which we may distinguish seven: (1) the nomadic period, from the Exodus to the entrance into Palestine; (2) the period of transition f...
    [nave] GOVERNMENT Paternal functions of, Gen. 41:25-57. Civil service school provided by, Dan. 1:3-20. Maintains a system of public instruction, 2 Chr. 17:7-9. Executive departments in. See: Cabinet; King; Ruler; Statecraft. Ju...

  • Judge

    [isbe] JUDGE - juj (shopheT; New Testament dikastes, krites): In the early patriarchal times the heads of families and the elders of the tribes were the judges (compare Gen 38:24), and their authority was based on custom. In the wi...
    [nave] JUDGE Appointed by Persians, Ezra 7:25. Kings and other rulers as, 2 Sam. 8:15; 15:2; 1 Kin. 3:16-28; 10:9; 2 Kin. 8:1-6; Psa. 72:1-4; Matt. 27:11-26; Acts 23:34, 35; 24; 25:11, 12. Priests and Levites as, Deut. 17:9; 2 Ch...

  • APPEAL

    [ebd] a reference of any case from an inferior to a superior court. Moses established in the wilderness a series of judicatories such that appeals could be made from a lower to a higher (Ex. 18:13-26.) Under the Roman law the most...
    [isbe] APPEAL - a-pel': If an appeal be, as it properly is, a petition for the removal of a case that has been decided for rehearing and review and final decision by a higher court, we find no such instance either in the Old Testam...

  • Zipporah

    [ebd] a female bird. Reuel's daughter, who became the wife of Moses (Ex. 2:21). In consequence of the event recorded in Ex. 4:24-26, she and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, when so far on the way with Moses toward Egypt, were s...
    [isbe] ZIPPORAH - zi-po'-ra, zip'-o-ra (tsipporah; Sepphora): The Midianite wife of Moses, daughter of Jethro, also called Hobab, and probably grand-daughter of Reuel, a priest of Midian at the time Moses fled from Egypt, later suc...
    [nave] ZIPPORAH Wife of Moses, Ex. 2:16-22. Reproaches Moses, Ex. 4:25, 26. Separates from Moses, is brought again to him by her father, Ex. 18:2-6. Miriam and Aaron rebuke Moses concerning, Num. 12:1.

  • JUDGING JUDGMENT

    [isbe] JUDGING JUDGMENT - juj'-ing, juj'-ment: Often in the Old Testament for "to act as a magistrate" (Ex 18:13; Dt 1:16; 16:18, etc.), justice being administered generally by "elders" (Ex 18:13-27), or "kings" (1 Sam 8:20) or "pr...

  • DECISION

    [isbe] DECISION - de-sizh'-un: Has several different shades of meaning. It expresses the formation of a judgment on a matter under consideration. It expresses the quality of being firm or positive in one's actions. It expresses the...

  • Prudence

    [nave] PRUDENCE. Job 34:3, 4; Psa. 39:1; Psa. 112:5; Prov. 6:1, 2; Prov. 8:12; Prov. 11:13, 15, 29; Prov. 12:8, 23; Prov. 13:16; Prov. 14:8, 15, 16, 18; Prov. 15:5, 22; Prov. 16:20, 21; Prov. 17:2, 18; Prov. 18:15, 16; Prov. 19:2;...

  • Court

    [nave] COURT. Ecclesiastical 1 Chr. 26:29-32; 2 Chr. 19:8-11; Matt. 18:15-18; John 20:23 See: Church, Rules of Discipline in, Mosaic and Christian. Civil Held at the tabernacle, Num. 27:2; the gates of cities, Deut. 21:19; 22:1...

  • WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL

    [isbe] WANDERINGS OF ISRAEL - won'-der-ingz: I. CONDITIONS 1. The Wilderness 2. Four Separate Regions Included 3. "The Sandy Tract" 4. Description of the Arabah 5. Physical Condition of the Wilderness 6. Difficulties Regarding the ...

  • GATE, EAST

    [isbe] GATE, EAST - The expressions are found in Ezekiel: "Even the gate that looketh toward the east" (43:1); "The gate whose prospect is toward the east" (43:4); but the idea of a gate on the eastern side as the principal entranc...

  • Rulers

    [nave] RULERS Appointed and removed by God. See: Government, God in. Chastised, Dan. 4. See: Nation. Monarchical, See: Kings. Patriarchal, Gen. 27:29, 37. Instances of Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-10. Abraham, Gen. 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:2...
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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. H...
  • Exodus embraces about 431 years of history, from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt (ca. 1876 B.C.) to the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness of Sinai (ca. 1445 B.C.). However 1:1-7 is a review of Jacob's ...
  • I. The liberation of Israel 1:1-15:21A. God's preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-41. The growth of Jacob's family 1:1-72. The Israelites' bondage in Egypt 1:8-223. Moses' birth and education 2:1-104. Moses' flight from Eg...
  • This section introduces some of the secondary characters in Exodus and sets the stage for Moses' call. Its purpose is primarily transitional.Moses provided water for Jethro's daughters and their sheep in the wilderness (vv. 1...
  • 4:19-23 Moses did not return immediately to Egypt when he arrived back in Midian following his encounter with God at Horeb (v. 19). God spoke to him again in Midian and sent him back to Egypt assuring His servant that everyon...
  • As a Midianite, Jethro was a descendant of Abraham as was Amalek. Both were blood relatives of the Israelites. Nevertheless the attitudes of the Amalekites and Jethro were very different, though Midian as a nation was hostile...
  • The Israelites erected the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, almost exactly one year after the Israelites left Egypt (vv. 2, 17). This was about nine months after Israel had arrived at Mt. Sinai (cf. 19:1).First...
  • Adams, Dwayne H. "The Building Program that Works (Exodus 25:4--36:7 [31:1-11])."Exegesis and Exposition1:1 (Fall 1986):82-92.Aharoni, Yohanan. "Kadesh-Barnea and Mount Sinai."In God's Wilderness: Discoveries in Sinai, pp. 11...
  • Here begins the fourth and last leg of the Israelites' journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.1. From Egypt to Sinai (Exod. 12-19)2. From Sinai to Kadesh (Num. 11-12)3. From Kadesh back to Kadesh--38 years of wilderness wand...
  • God had promised the Israelites that if they departed from Him He would discipline them by sending famine on the Promised Land (Deut. 28:17, 23, 38-40, 42).16The famine on Israel at this time indicates God's judgment for unfa...
  • The Book of Samuel covers the period of Israel's history bracketed by Samuel's conception and the end of David's reign. David turned the kingdom over to Solomon in 971 B.C.3David reigned for 40 and one-half years (2 Sam. 2:11...
  • "In the short pericope 13:7b-15a obedience was the stone on which Saul stumbled; here it is the rock that crushes him."147Chapter 15 records one of the battles Saul had with the Amalekites, Israel's enemy to the south (cf. 14...
  • Even though God had spared Jehoshaphat's life in the battle, his close brush with death was the result of an unwise decision to help ungodly Ahab. A prophet rebuked him for this alliance (v. 2)."A Christian's attachment to Go...
  • This vision may have come to Jeremiah immediately after the preceding one or at some other time.1:13 The Lord next directed Jeremiah to view a boiling pot (cauldron used for cooking or washing, Heb. sir) that was tipped so th...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Exodus 18:3-4In old times parents often used to give expression to their hopes or their emotions in the names of their children. Very clearly that was the case in Moses' naming of his two sons, who seem to have been the whole...
  • Exodus 18:21(Preached on occasion of Mr. Gladstone's death.)You will have anticipated my purpose in selecting this text. I should be doing violence to your feelings and mine if I made no reference to the event which has unite...
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