Exodus 18:21

18:21 But you choose ¹  from the people capable men, ²  God-fearing, ³  men of truth, ⁴  those who hate bribes, ⁵  and put them over the people ⁶  as rulers ⁷  of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

Exodus 18:2

18:2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back,

Exodus 19:7-9

19:7 So Moses came and summoned the elders of Israel. He set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him, 19:8 and all the people answered together, “All that the Lord has commanded we will do!” ⁸  So Moses brought the words of the people back to the Lord.

19:9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come ⁹  to you in a dense cloud, ¹⁰  so that the people may hear when I speak with you and so that they will always believe in you.” ¹¹  And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

Nehemiah 5:14

5:14 From the day that I was appointed ¹²  governor ¹³  in the land of Judah, that is, from the twentieth year until the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes – twelve years in all – neither I nor my relatives ¹⁴  ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁵ 

[18:21]  ¹ 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.

[18:21]  ² 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.

[18:21]  ³ tn The description “fearers of God” uses an objective genitive. It describes them as devout, worshipful, obedient servants of God.

[18:21]  ⁴ 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.

[18:21]  ⁵ 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.

[18:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “over them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ⁷ 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.

[19:8]  ⁸ tn The verb is an imperfect. The people are not being presumptuous in stating their compliance – there are several options open for the interpretation of this tense. It may be classified as having a desiderative nuance: “we are willing to do” or, “we will do.”

[19:9]  ⁹ tn The construction uses the deictic particle and the participle to express the imminent future, what God was about to do. Here is the first announcement of the theophany.

[19:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the thickness of the cloud”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT “in a thick cloud.”

[19:9]  ¹¹ tn Since “and also in you” begins the clause, the emphasis must be that the people would also trust Moses. See Exod 4:1-9, 31; 14:31.

[5:14]  ¹² tc The BHS editors suggest reading צֻוֵּאתִי (tsuvve’ti, “and I was appointed”) rather than the reading of the MT, אֹתִי צִוָּה (tsivvah ’oti, “he appointed me”).

[5:14]  ¹³ tc The translation reads with one medieval Hebrew MS פֶּחָה (pekhah, “governor”) rather than פֶּחָם (pekham, “their governor”) of the MT. One would expect the form with pronominal suffix to have a tav (ת) before the suffix.

[5:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “brothers.”

[5:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the food of the governor.” Cf. v. 18.