Exodus 18:15

18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire ¹  of God.

Exodus 18:22

18:22 They will judge ²  the people under normal circumstances, ³  and every difficult case ⁴  they will bring to you, but every small case ⁵  they themselves will judge, so that ⁶  you may make it easier for yourself, ⁷  and they will bear the burden ⁸  with you.

¹ tn The form is לִדְרֹשׁ (lidrosh), the Qal infinitive construct giving the purpose. To inquire of God would be to seek God’s will on a matter, to obtain a legal decision on a matter, or to settle a dispute. As a judge Moses is speaking for God, but as the servant of Yahweh Moses’ words will be God’s words. The psalms would later describe judges as “gods” because they made the right decisions based on God’s Law.

² tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.

³ tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

⁴ tn Heb “great thing.”

⁵ tn Heb “thing.”

⁶ tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.

⁷ tn The expression וְהָקֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ (vÿhaqel me’aleykha) means literally “and make it light off yourself.” The word plays against the word for “heavy” used earlier – since it was a heavy or burdensome task, Moses must lighten the load.

⁸ tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.