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.

Numbers 11:16-17

The Response of God

11:16 ⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Gather to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know are elders of the people and officials ⁹  over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting; let them take their position there with you. 11:17 Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take part of the spirit that is on you, and will put it on them, and they will bear some of the burden of the people with you, so that you do not bear it ¹⁰  all by yourself.

Acts 1:21-23

1:21 Thus one of the men ¹¹  who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus associated with ¹²  us, 1:22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he ¹³  was taken up from us – one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.” 1:23 So they ¹⁴  proposed two candidates: ¹⁵  Joseph called Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias.

Acts 6:2-6

6:2 So the twelve ¹⁶  called ¹⁷  the whole group ¹⁸  of the disciples together and said, “It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to wait on tables. ¹⁹  6:3 But carefully select from among you, brothers, ²⁰  seven ²¹  men who are well-attested, ²²  full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge ²³  of this necessary task. ²⁴  6:4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 6:5 The ²⁵  proposal pleased the entire group, so ²⁶  they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, with ²⁷  Philip, ²⁸  Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a Gentile convert to Judaism ²⁹  from Antioch. ³⁰  6:6 They stood these men before the apostles, who prayed ³¹  and placed ³²  their hands on them.

[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.

[11:16]  ⁸ sn The Lord provides Spirit-empowered assistance for Moses. Here is another variation on the theme of Moses’ faith. Just as he refused to lead alone and was given Aaron to share the work, so here he protests the burden and will share it with seventy elders. If God’s servant will not trust wholeheartedly, that individual will not be used by God as he or she might have been. Others will share in the power and the work. Probably one could say that it was God’s will for others to share this leadership – but not to receive it through these circumstances.

[11:16]  ⁹ tn The “officials” (שֹׁטְּרִים, shottÿrim) were a group of the elders who seem to have had some administrative capacities. The LXX used the word “scribes.” For further discussion, see R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 69-70.

[11:17]  ¹⁰ tn The imperfect tense here is to be classified as a final imperfect, showing the result of this action by God. Moses would be relieved of some of the responsibility when these others were given the grace to understand and to resolve cases.

[1:21]  ¹¹ tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, where a successor to Judas is being chosen, only men were under consideration in the original historical context.

[1:21]  ¹² tn Grk “the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.” According to BDAG 294 s.v. εἰσέρχομαι 1.b.β, “ἐν παντὶ χρόνῳ ᾧ εἰσῆλθεν καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς went in and out among us = associated with us Ac 1:21.”

[1:22]  ¹³ tn Here the pronoun “he” refers to Jesus.

[1:23]  ¹⁴ tc Codex Bezae (D) and other Western witnesses have “he proposed,” referring to Peter, thus emphasizing his role above the other apostles. The Western text displays a conscious pattern of elevating Peter in Acts, and thus the singular verb here is a palpably motivated reading.

[1:23]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “So they proposed two.” The word “candidates” was supplied in the text for clarity.

[6:2]  ¹⁶ sn The twelve refers to the twelve apostles.

[6:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “calling the whole group…together, said.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενοι (proskalesamenoi) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[6:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the multitude.”

[6:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “to serve tables.”

[6:3]  ²⁰ tn It is not clear from a historical standpoint (but it is unlikely) that women would have been involved in the selection process too. For this reason the translation “brothers” has been retained, rather than “brothers and sisters” (used in contexts where both male and female believers are clearly addressed).

[6:3]  ²¹ sn Seven. Jewish town councils often had seven members (Josephus, Ant. 4.18.14 [4.214]).

[6:3]  ²² tn Or “are of good reputation” (BDAG 618 s.v. μαρτυρέω 2.b).

[6:3]  ²³ tn The translation “put in charge” is given by BDAG 492 s.v. καθίστημι 2.

[6:3]  ²⁴ tn Grk “of this need”; translated “necessary work” or “needed task” by L&N 42.22.

[6:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[6:5]  ²⁶ tn The translation “so” has been used to indicate the logical sequence in English.

[6:5]  ²⁷ tn “With” is smoother English style for an addition like this. Because of differences between Greek and English style, καί (kai), which occurs between each name in the list, has not been translated except preceding the last element.

[6:5]  ²⁸ sn Philip. Note how many of the names in this list are Greek. This suggests that Hellenists were chosen to solve the problem they had been so sensitive about fixing (cf. 6:1).

[6:5]  ²⁹ tn Or “a proselyte.”

[6:5]  ³⁰ map For location see JP1 F2; JP2 F2; JP3 F2; JP4 F2.

[6:6]  ³¹ tn Literally this is a participle in the Greek text (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi). It could be translated as a finite verb (“and they prayed and placed their hands on them”) but much smoother English results if the entire coordinate clause is converted to a relative clause that refers back to the apostles.

[6:6]  ³² tn Or “laid.”