Exodus 18:14

18:14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this ¹  that you are doing for the people? ²  Why are you sitting by yourself, and all the people stand around you from morning until evening?”

Exodus 18:16

18:16 When they have a dispute, ³  it comes to me and I decide ⁴  between a man and his neighbor, and I make known the decrees of God and his laws.” ⁵ 

Exodus 18:26

18:26 They judged the people under normal circumstances; the difficult cases they would bring ⁶  to Moses, but every small case they would judge themselves.

[18:14]  ¹ tn Heb “what is this thing.”

[18:14]  ² sn This question, “what are you doing for the people,” is qualified by the next question. Sitting alone all day and the people standing around all day showed that Moses was exhibiting too much care for the people – he could not do this.

[18:16]  ³ tn Or “thing,” “matter,” “issue.”

[18:16]  ⁴ tn The verb שָׁפַט (shafat) means “to judge”; more specifically, it means to make a decision as an arbiter or umpire. When people brought issues to him, Moses decided between them. In the section of laws in Exodus after the Ten Commandments come the decisions, the מִשְׁפָּטִים (mishppatim).

[18:16]  ⁵ tn The “decrees” or “statutes” were definite rules, stereotyped and permanent; the “laws” were directives or pronouncements given when situations arose. S. R. Driver suggests this is another reason why this event might have taken place after Yahweh had given laws on the mountain (Exodus, 165).

[18:26]  ⁶ tn This verb and the verb in the next clause are imperfect tenses. In the past tense narrative of the verse they must be customary, describing continuous action in past time.