15:23 A person has joy 1 in giving an appropriate answer, 2
and a word at the right time 3 – how good it is!
16:21 The one who is wise in heart 4 is called 5 discerning,
and kind speech 6 increases persuasiveness. 7
16:23 A wise person’s heart 8 makes his speech wise 9
and it adds persuasiveness 10 to his words. 11
16:24 Pleasant words are like 12 a honeycomb, 13
sweet to the soul and healing 14 to the bones.
18:17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What 15 you are doing is not good! 18:18 You will surely wear out, 16 both you and these people who are with you, for this is too 17 heavy a burden 18 for you; you are not able to do it by yourself. 18:19 Now listen to me, 19 I will give you advice, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God, 20 and you bring 21 their disputes 22 to God; 18:20 warn 23 them of the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk 24 and the work they must do. 25 18:21 But you choose 26 from the people capable men, 27 God-fearing, 28 men of truth, 29 those who hate bribes, 30 and put them over the people 31 as rulers 32 of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 18:22 They will judge 33 the people under normal circumstances, 34 and every difficult case 35 they will bring to you, but every small case 36 they themselves will judge, so that 37 you may make it easier for yourself, 38 and they will bear the burden 39 with you. 18:23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, 40 then you will be able 41 to endure, 42 and all these people 43 will be able to go 44 home 45 satisfied.” 46
18:24 Moses listened to 47 his father-in-law and did everything he had said.
18:1 48 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that 49 the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 50
23:16 “You are also to observe 51 the Feast of Harvest, the firstfruits of your labors that you have sown in the field, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year 52 when you have gathered in 53 your harvest 54 out of the field. 23:17 At 55 three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord God. 56
“We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying 58 foreign women from the local peoples. 59 Nonetheless, there is still hope for Israel in this regard. 60 10:3 Therefore let us enact 61 a covenant with our God to send away all these women and their offspring, in keeping with your counsel, my lord, 62 and that of those who respect 63 the commandments of our God. And let it be done according to the law. 10:4 Get up, for this matter concerns you. We are with you, so be strong and act decisively!”
1 tn Heb “joy to the man” or “the man has joy.”
2 tn Heb “in the answer of his mouth” (so ASV); NASB “in an apt answer.” The term “mouth” is a metonymy of cause for what he says. But because the parallelism is loosely synonymous, the answer given here must be equal to the good word spoken in season. So it is an answer that is proper or fitting.
3 tn Heb “in its season.” To say the right thing at the right time is useful; to say the right thing at the wrong time is counterproductive.
4 tn Heb “wise of heart” (so NRSV).
5 tn Heb “to the wise of heart it will be called discerning.” This means that the wise of heart, those who make wise decisions (“heart” being the metonymy), will gain a reputation of being the discerning ones.
6 tn Heb “sweetness of lips.” The term “lips” is a metonymy of cause, meaning what is said. It is a genitive of specification. The idea of “sweetness” must be gracious and friendly words. The teaching will be well-received because it is both delightful and persuasive (cf. NIV “pleasant words promote instruction”).
7 tn Heb “teaching” or “receptivity”; KJV “learning”; NIV “instruction.”
8 tn Or “mind” (cf. NCV, NRSV, NLT).
9 tn Heb “makes wise his mouth,” with “mouth” being a metonymy of cause for what is said: “speech.”
10 sn Those who are wise say wise things. The proverb uses synthetic parallelism: The first line asserts that the wise heart ensures that what is said is wise, and the second line adds that such a person increases the reception of what is said.
11 tn Heb “to his lips.” The term “lips” functions as a metonymy of cause for what is said.
12 tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.
13 sn The metaphor of honey or the honeycomb is used elsewhere in scripture, notably Ps 19:10 [11]. Honey was used in Israel as a symbol of the delightful and healthy products of the land – “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deut 6:3).
14 sn Two predicates are added to qualify the metaphor: The pleasant words are “sweet” and “healing.” “Soul” includes in it the appetites, physical and spiritual; and so sweet to the “soul” would summarize all the ways pleasant words give pleasure. “Bones” is a metonymy of subject, the boney framework representing the whole person, body and soul. Pleasant words, like honey, will enliven and encourage the whole person. One might recall, in line with the imagery here, how Jonathan’s eyes brightened when he ate from the honeycomb (1 Sam 14:27).
15 tn Heb “the thing.”
16 tn The verb means “to fall and fade” as a leaf (Ps 1:3). In Ps 18:45 it is used figuratively of foes fading away, failing in strength and courage (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 166). Here the infinitive absolute construction heightens the meaning.
17 tn Gesenius lists the specialized use of the comparative min (מ) where with an adjective the thought expressed is that the quality is too difficult for the attainment of a particular aim (GKC 430 §133.c).
18 tn Here “a burden” has been supplied.
19 tn Heb “hear my voice.”
20 tn The line reads “Be you to the people before God.” He is to be their representative before God. This is introducing the aspect of the work that only Moses could do, what he has been doing. He is to be before God for the people, to pray for them, to appeal on their behalf. Jethro is essentially saying, I understand that you cannot delegate this to anyone else, so continue doing it (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 219-20).
21 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; following the imperative it will be instruction as well. Since the imperative preceding this had the idea of “continue to be” as you are, this too has that force.
22 tn Heb “words”; KJV, ASV “the causes”; NRSV “cases”; NLT “questions.”
23 tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) continues the sequence of instruction for Moses. He alone was to be the mediator, to guide them in the religious and moral instruction.
24 tn The verb and its following prepositional phrase form a relative clause, modifying “the way.” The imperfect tense should be given the nuance of obligatory imperfect – it is the way they must walk.
25 tn This last part is parallel to the preceding: “work” is also a direct object of the verb “make known,” and the relative clause that qualifies it also uses an obligatory imperfect.
26 tn The construction uses the independent pronoun for emphasis, and then the imperfect tense “see” (חָזָה, khazah) – “and you will see from all….” Both in Hebrew and Ugaritic expressions of “seeing” are used in the sense of choosing (Gen 41:33). See U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220.
27 tn The expression is אַנְשֵׁי־חַיִל (’anshe khayil, “capable men”). The attributive genitive is the word used in expressions like “mighty man of valor.” The word describes these men as respected, influential, powerful people, those looked up to by the community as leaders, and those who will have the needs of the community in mind.
28 tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.
29 tn The expression “men of truth” (אַנְשֵׁי אֱמֶת, ’anshe ’emet) indicates that these men must be seekers of truth, who know that the task of a judge is to give true judgment (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 220). The word “truth” includes the ideas of faithfulness or reliability, as well as factuality itself. It could be understood to mean “truthful men,” men whose word is reliable and true.
30 tn Heb “haters of bribes.” Here is another objective genitive, one that refers to unjust gain. To hate unjust gain is to reject and refuse it. Their decisions will not be swayed by greed.
31 tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
32 sn It is not clear how this structure would work in a judicial setting. The language of “captains of thousands,” etc., is used more for military ranks. There must have been more detailed instruction involved here, for each Israelite would have come under four leaders with this arrangement, and perhaps difficult cases would be sent to the next level. But since the task of these men would also involve instruction and guidance, the breakdown would be very useful. Deut 1:9, 13 suggest that the choice of these people was not simply Moses’ alone.
33 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.
34 tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.
35 tn Heb “great thing.”
36 tn Heb “thing.”
37 tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.
38 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.
39 tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.
40 tn The form is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the same nuance as the preceding imperfect in the conditional clause.
41 tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive now appears in the apodosis of the conditional sentence – “if you do this…then you will be able.”
42 tn Heb “to stand.” B. Jacob (Exodus, 501) suggests that there might be a humorous side to this: “you could even do this standing up.”
43 tn Literally “this people.”
44 tn The verb is the simple imperfect, “will go,” but given the sense of the passage a potential nuance seems in order.
45 tn Heb “his place.”
46 tn Heb “in peace.”
47 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” means “obey, comply with, heed.”
48 sn This chapter forms the transition to the Law. There has been the deliverance, the testing passages, the provision in the wilderness, and the warfare. Any God who can do all this for his people deserves their allegiance. In chap. 18 the Lawgiver is giving advice, using laws and rulings, but then he is given advice to organize the elders to assist. Thus, when the Law is fully revealed, a system will be in place to administer it. The point of the passage is that a great leader humbly accepts advice from other godly believers to delegate responsibility. He does not try to do it all himself; God does not want one individual to do it all. The chapter has three parts: vv. 1-12 tell how Jethro heard and came and worshiped and blessed; vv. 13-23 have the advice of Jethro, and then vv. 24-27 tell how Moses implemented the plan and Jethro went home. See further E. J. Runions, “Exodus Motifs in 1 Samuel 7 and 8,” EvQ 52 (1980): 130-31; and also see for another idea T. C. Butler, “An Anti-Moses Tradition,” JSOT 12 (1979): 9-15.
49 tn This clause beginning with כִּי (ki) answers the question of what Jethro had heard; it provides a second, explanatory noun clause that is the object of the verb – “he heard (1) all that God had done… (2) that he had brought….” See R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 81, §490.
50 sn This is an important report that Jethro has heard, for the claim of God that he brought Israel out of bondage in Egypt will be the foundation of the covenant stipulations (Exod 20).
51 tn The words “you are also to observe” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
52 tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the going in of the year.” The word “year” is the subjective genitive, the subject of the clause.
53 tn An infinitive construct with a preposition and a pronominal suffix is used to make a temporal clause: “in the ingathering of you.”
54 tn Heb “gathered in your labors.” This is a metonymy of cause put for the effect. “Labors” are not gathered in, but what the labors produced – the harvest.
55 tn Adverbial accusative of time: “three times” becomes “at three times.”
56 tn Here the divine Name reads in Hebrew הָאָדֹן יְהוָה (ha’adon yÿhvah), which if rendered according to the traditional scheme of “
57 tc The translation reads with the Qere, many medieval Hebrew
58 tn Heb “in that we have given a dwelling to.” So also in vv. 14, 17, 18.
59 tn Heb “the peoples of the lands.”
60 tn Heb “upon this.”
61 tn Heb “cut.”
62 tn The MT vocalizes this word as a plural, which could be understood as a reference to God. But the context seems to suggest that a human lord is intended. The apparatus of BHS suggests repointing the word as a singular (“my lord”), but this is unnecessary. The plural (“my lords”) can be understood in an honorific sense even when a human being is in view. Most English versions regard this as a reference to Ezra, so the present translation supplies “your” before “counsel” to make this clear.
63 tn Heb “who tremble at”; NAB, NIV “who fear.”
64 sn Mention of Christian brothers from there (Rome) shows that God’s message had already spread as far as Italy and the capital of the empire.
65 sn The Forum of Appius was a small traveler’s stop on the Appian Way about 43 mi (71 km) south of Rome (BDAG 125 s.v. ᾿Αππίου φόρον). It was described by Horace as “crammed with boatmen and stingy tavernkeepers” (Satires 1.5.3).
66 sn Three Taverns was a stop on the Appian Way 33 mi (55 km) south of Rome.
67 tn Grk “whom, when he saw [them], Paul.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) was replaced by the personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun here in the translation.