Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God. You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”
Show the surrounding paragraph
Exodus 18:19-23 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.” Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God. You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”
Parallel Translations
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Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God.
You shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do.
Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you.
If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.”
-
Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
Show all 3 translations
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Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God be with thee: be thou for the people before God, and bring thou the causes unto God.
And thou shalt teach them the statutes and the laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
And let them judge the people at all seasons; and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge themselves; so shall they make it easier for thee and bear the burden with thee.
If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people also shall go to their place in peace.'
Cross-references (90)
- Acts 6:3 (v21) Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this…
- Deuteronomy 1:13-17 (v21) Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” You answered me, and said, “The…
- Deuteronomy 5:1 (v20) Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may…
- Deuteronomy 16:18-19 (v21) You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the…
- 2 Chronicles 19:5-10 (v21) He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, “Consider what you do, for…
Show all 88 cross-references
- Numbers 27:5 (v19) Moses brought their cause before Yahweh.
- Psalms 143:8 (v20) Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my…
- Numbers 11:17 (v22) I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit which is on you, and will put it on them; and they shall bear the…
- Deuteronomy 1:18 (v20) I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
- Genesis 39:2 (v19) Yahweh was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
- Exodus 3:12 (v19) He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt,…
- Exodus 20:19 (v19) They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let God speak with us, lest we die.”
- Deuteronomy 4:1 (v20) Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land…
- Deuteronomy 4:5 (v20) Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land…
- Deuteronomy 5:5 (v19) (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you Yahweh’s word; for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the…
- 2 Samuel 23:3 (v21) The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,
- Psalms 32:8 (v20) I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.
- Exodus 18:18 (vv22–23) You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it…
- Matthew 28:20 (vv19–20) teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- Genesis 22:12 (v21) He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son,…
- Exodus 4:12 (v19) Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak.”
- Exodus 4:16 (v19) He will be your spokesman to the people. It will happen that he will be to you a mouth, and you will be to him as God.
- Exodus 18:15 (v19) Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God.
- Exodus 18:16 (v20) When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his…
- Exodus 18:24 (v19) So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said.
- Exodus 18:25 (v21) Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties,…
- Exodus 18:26 (v22) They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
- Exodus 23:2-9 (v21) “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. You shall not favor a…
- Leviticus 24:11 (v22) The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the…
- Numbers 15:33 (v22) Those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation.
- Numbers 27:2 (v22) They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Tent of Meeting,…
- Numbers 36:1 (v22) The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of…
- Deuteronomy 1:17-18 (v22) You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for…
- Deuteronomy 20:1 (v19) When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, and a people more numerous than you, you shall not be afraid of…
- Joshua 1:9 (v19) Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”
- 1 Samuel 8:3 (v21) His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- 1 Samuel 8:6-7 (v23) But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” Samuel prayed to Yahweh. Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to…
- 2 Samuel 14:17 (v19) Then your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good…
- Nehemiah 5:9 (v21) Also I said, “The thing that you do is not good. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our…
- Nehemiah 7:2 (v21) I put my brother Hanani, and Hananiah the governor of the fortress, in charge of Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and feared God above…
- Job 29:16 (v21) I was a father to the needy. I researched the cause of him who I didn’t know.
- Job 31:13 (v21) “If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me,
- Psalms 15:5 (v21) he who doesn’t lend out his money for usury, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.
- Psalms 26:9-10 (v21) Don’t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men; in whose hands is wickedness, their right hand is full of bribes.
- Proverbs 9:9 (v19) Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning.
- Proverbs 28:2 (v21) In rebellion, a land has many rulers, but order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13 (v21) This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
- Isaiah 59:14-15 (v21) Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter. Yes,…
- Jeremiah 5:1 (v21) “Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there…
- Ezekiel 18:8 (v21) he who hasn’t lent to them with interest, hasn’t taken any increase from them, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true…
- Ezekiel 22:12 (v21) In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by…
- Zechariah 7:9 (v21) “Thus has Yahweh of Armies spoken, saying, ‘Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother.
- Zechariah 8:16 (v21) These are the things that you shall do: speak every man the truth with his neighbor. Execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates,
- 1 Timothy 3:3 (v21) not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;
- 2 Peter 2:14-15 (v21) having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;…
- Genesis 42:18 (v21) Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this, and live, for I fear God.
- Deuteronomy 6:1-2 (v20) Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in…
- Deuteronomy 7:11 (v20) You shall therefore keep the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances which I command you today, to do them.
- Deuteronomy 17:8-9 (v22) If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being…
- 1 Samuel 8:22 (v23) Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to their voice, and make them a king.” Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go to your own city.”
- 1 Samuel 12:3-4 (v21) Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I…
- 1 Samuel 12:23 (v20) Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and…
- 1 Kings 3:9-12 (v21) Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge…
- Nehemiah 9:13-14 (v20) “You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from heaven, and gave them right ordinances and true laws, good statutes and…
- Isaiah 30:21 (v20) and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk…
- Isaiah 33:15 (v21) He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a…
- Isaiah 59:4 (v21) No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity, and speak lies. They conceive mischief, and give birth to…
- Jeremiah 6:16 (v20) Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for…
- Jeremiah 42:3 (v20) that Yahweh your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the things that we should do.”
- Ezekiel 3:17 (v20) “Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.
- Micah 4:2 (v20) Many nations will go and say, “Come! Let’s go up to the mountain of Yahweh, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of…
- Acts 20:33 (v21) I coveted no one’s silver, gold, or clothing.
- Romans 13:6 (v22) For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, continually doing this very thing.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:1 (v20) Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that…
- 1 Timothy 6:9-11 (v21) But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and…
- Genesis 18:33 (v23) Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
- Genesis 21:10-12 (v23) Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this servant and her son! For the son of this servant will not be heir with my son, Isaac.” The…
- Numbers 10:4 (v21) If they blow just one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.
- Joshua 22:14 (v21) With him were ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were each head of their fathers’…
- 1 Samuel 8:12 (v21) He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground, and to reap his…
- 2 Samuel 18:3 (v23) But the people said, “You shall not go out; for if we flee away, they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for…
- 1 Kings 18:3 (v21) Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. (Now Obadiah feared Yahweh greatly;
- 1 Kings 18:12 (v21) It will happen, as soon as I leave you, that Yahweh’s Spirit will carry you I don’t know where; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he…
- Isaiah 16:5 (v21) A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to…
- Mark 13:34 (v20) “It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and…
- Luke 18:2 (v21) saying, “There was a judge in a certain city who didn’t fear God, and didn’t respect man.
- Luke 18:4 (v21) He wouldn’t for a while, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God, nor respect man,
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 (v20) Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks in rebellion,…
88 distinct cross-references across this passage (90 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (18 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv19, 21 Judge thou in hard causes, which cannot be decided…
Judge thou in hard causes, which cannot be decided but by consulting with God.
Or, counsel.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19–23 Exo 18:19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will…
Exo 18:19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
Ver. 19. I will give thee counsel.] A Midianite counsels Moses: God hereby teacheth him humility.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23 God shall be with thee, i.e. I doubt not…
God shall be with thee, i.e. I doubt not God will assist and bless thee, as well in the course which I propose to thee, as in that which thou now dost use, because God is a God of order, and loves order; and he is a God of mercy, and would not have thee destroy thyself in his work. Or it may be taken for a prayer, and God be with thee, i.e. bless and assist thee therein.
To Godward, Heb. before God, i.e. in hard and weighty causes, which the inferior judges cannot determine, as it is explained Exo 18:22; where they need and seek direction from God, there thou shalt be as a mediator between God and them, to bring their matters to God, as it here follows, and to receive directions and commands from him. See Num 15:33,34; 27:5,6.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv19–23 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws,.... Both…
And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws,.... Both with respect to things civil and religious, which he should receive from God:
and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk; the path of faith and duty, the way of truth, holiness, and righteousness:
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and the work that they must do; both with respect to God, and one another, the various duties and exercises of religion, everything relating to their moral, religious, and civil conduct.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v19 Be thou for them to God-ward - That was…
Be thou for them to God-ward - That was an honour which it was not fit any other should share with him in. Also whatever concerned the whole congregation must pass through his hand, ver. 20. But, he appointed Judg. in the several tribes and families, which should try causes between man and man, and determine them, which would be done with less noise, and more dispatch than in the general assembly. Those whose gifts and stations are most eminent may yet be greatly furthered in their work by the assistance of those that are every way their inferiors. This is Jethro's advice; but he adds two qualifications to his counsel. (1.)That great care should be taken in the choice of the persons who should be admitted into this trust; it was requisite that they should be men of the best character.
1. For judgment and resolution, able men: men of good sense, that understood business; and bold men, that would not be daunted by frowns or clamours. Clear heads and stout hearts make good Judges.
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2. For piety, such as fear God, who believe there is a God above them, whose eye is upon them, to whom they are accountable, and whose judgment they stand in awe of. Conscientious men, that dare not do an ill thing, though they could do it never so secretly and securely.
3. For honesty, men of truth, whose word one may take, and whose fidelity one may rely upon.
4. For a generous contempt of worldly wealth, hating covetousness, not only not seeking bribes, or aiming to enrich themselves, but abhorring the thought of it. (2.) That he should attend God's direction in the case, ver. 23. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so - Jethro knew that Moses had a better counsellor than he was, and to his counsel he refers him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23 Verse 19. I will give thee counsel, and God…
Verse 19. I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee] Jethro seems to have been a man of great understanding and prudence. His advice to Moses was most appropriate and excellent; and it was probably given under the immediate inspiration of God, for after such sacrificial rites, and public acknowledgment of God, the prophetic spirit might be well expected to descend and rest upon him. God could have showed Moses the propriety and necessity of adopting such measures before, but he chose in this case to help man by man, and in the present instance a permanent basis was laid to consolidate the union of the two families, and prevent all future misunderstandings.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v19 Exo 18:19-23. Be thou for them to God-ward —…
Exo 18:19-23. Be thou for them to God-ward — That was an honour in which it was not fit any other should share with him. Also whatever concerned the whole congregation must pass through his hand, Exo 18:20. But he appointed judges in the several tribes and families, which should try causes between man and man, and determine them, which would be done with less noise and more despatch than in the general assembly. Those whose gifts and stations are most eminent may yet be greatly furthered in their work by the assistance of those that are every way their inferiors. This is Jethro’s advice; but he adds two qualifications to his counsel. First, That great care should be taken in the choice of the persons who should be admitted into this trust; it was requisite that they should be men of the best character. 1st, For judgment and resolution, able men — Men of good sense, that understood business; and bold men, that would not be daunted by frowns or clamours. 2d, For piety, such as fear God — Who believe there is a God above them, that his eye is upon them, and that they are accountable to him, and who therefore stand in awe of his judgment. Conscientious men, that will not do a wrong thing, though they could do it never so secretly and securely. 3d, For honesty, men of truth — Whose word one may take, and whose fidelity one may rely upon. 4th, For a generous contempt of worldly wealth; hating covetousness — Not only not seeking bribes, or aiming to enrich themselves, but abhorring the thought of it. Secondly, That he should attend to God’s direction in the case, verse
23. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so — Jethro knew that Moses had a better counsellor than he was, and to his counsel he refers him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23 Counsel - Jethro draws the distinction between the functions…
Counsel - Jethro draws the distinction between the functions of the legislator and the judge.
To God-ward - Literally, “before God,” standing between them and God, both as His minister or representative and also as the representative of the people, their agent, so to speak, or deputy before God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv20, 21, 23 To do. Be a mediator between God and the…
To do. Be a mediator between God and the people: explain their wants, and bring back his decision: but let inferior officers see them executed. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v23 If thou shalt do this thing, &c.--Jethro's counsel was…
If thou shalt do this thing, &c.--Jethro's counsel was given merely in the form of a suggestion; it was not to be adopted without the express sanction and approval of a better and higher Counsellor; and although we are not informed of it, there can be no doubt that Moses, before appointing subordinate magistrates, would ask the mind of God, as it is the duty and privilege of every Christian in like manner to supplicate the divine direction in all his ways.
Next: Exodus Chapter 19
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv19–23 19. I will give thee counsel — Like Melchizedek,…
19. I will give thee counsel — Like Melchizedek, “priest of the Most High God,” (Gen_14:18,) who blessed Abram, the father of the faithful, Jethro, another priest of like rank, assumes to counsel Moses the man of God. Conscious of holding an approved relationship toward God, he put forth his advice as one having a measure of authority over his son-in-law.
Be thou for the people to God-ward — That is, be thou the representative and spokesman of the people before God, as the next sentence further explains. That thou mayest bring the causes (הדברים, matters of controversy, comp. Exo_18:16) unto God — Matters of great moment, on which divine counsel was to be sought, should be intrusted to Moses; but affairs of less importance might be left to inferior judges. Exo_18:22.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23 19, 20. be thou (emph.) to the people in…
19, 20. be thou (emph.) to the people in front of God] i.e. be thou (as hitherto) God’s representative to the people, and bring thou (again emph.) the causes,—i.e., from the context (cf. vv. 22, 26), the more important or difficult cases,—unto God for decision; and warn them of the statutes and the directions, and make them to know the way wherein they should walk, and the work that they should do. All this relates to what Moses has done already: he is, as he has already done, to bring important cases to God, and to advise the people of the general laws which follow from their determination (as, for instance, from a particular case of damage, there might result a decision which would give such a law as Exo_21:33-34), and so make known to them how they are to act when such cases arise. Jethro’s fresh suggestions for the future follow in vv. 21–23.
and God be with thee] or, more probably (G.-K. § 109 f), that God may be with thee to assist thee—as He hardly will be, if thou undertakest what is altogether beyond thy powers.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23 (19) God shall be with thee.—Rather, may Go be…
(19) God shall be with thee.—Rather, may Go be with thee. May He give thee wisdom to direct the course aright.
Be thou for the people to God-ward.—Be the person, i.e., to bring before God whatever needs to be brought before Him. Continue both to act as representative of the people towards God, and as representative of God towards the people. Take all difficult causes to Him, and pronounce to the people His decision upon them. Be also the expounder to the people of God’s laws and ordinances; be their moral instructor, and the guide of their individual actions (Exo_18:20). All this is quite compatible with the change which I am about to recommend to thee.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv19–23 I will give thee counsel, and God shall be…
I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Rather may God be with thee!" May God incline thine heart to accept mycounsel and act upon it. Be thou for the people to God-ward, etc. "Continue," i.e. , as at present, to be the intermediary between God and the people still be the whole and sole source of legislative power (ver. 20), and still be the fount and origin of judicial authority; but commit the actual decision of the lighter causes to others chosen by thyself for the office (vers. 21, 22). The separation of the legislative and judicial functions was well known in Egypt, where the kings alone made new laws (Heb 2:109, Heb 2:136, Heb 2:177, etc.), but causes were ordinarily determined by a body of judges. Bring the causes unto God. In difficult cases, Moses actually laid the cause before God, and obtained directions from God as to the manner in which he was to decide it. See Num_27:5-11.
HOMILIES BY G. A. GOODHART Ver. 19. The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee.
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Men may make a channel for the stream, but they cannot make the stream. Water-power is a grand natural agency; but it is by means of human agency that it may be applied to the best advantage. So also in other matters; power comes from God; the way to use and economise power it is left for man to discover and to act upon. Consider here:
I THE DIVINE POWER. "God shall be with thee," said Jethro. The history shows how God had been with him already, how he was with him all through his life. Especially we may notice
1. His relation to Pharaoh. The shepherd facing the king. Whence his boldness? He had shrunk beforehand at the mere prospect; when the hour came Pharaoh quailed before him. It was not Moses, it was the power which manifested itself through Moses, that humbled Pharaoh. Moses was but the visible rod in the outstretched hand of the invisible Jehovah.
2. His relation to the people. Harder to face a fickle multitude than to face an obstinate and Powerful monarch. Here too the Divine Power was manifested; the glory of Jehovah was, as it were, reflected from the face of his servant. It was the radiancy of the reflected glory which again and again cowed the rebels to submission. As with Jeremiah, (Jer_1:4-8) Zerubbabel, (Zec_4:6) St. Paul, (2Co_12:9, 2Co_12:10) so also with Moses; human weakness the more evidently testified to Divine power.
II THE HUMAN COUNSEL. Notice:
1. The need of it. Men are so weak that they are soon unhinged by a great trust reposed in them. Their attention is so fixed upon the one thing, that other things are seen out of perspective. Moses was so filled with the consciousness of a Divine power working through him, that he failed at first to realise the fact that he was unequal to the friction necessitated by such a power. He realised the effect of the power in prospect more accurately than he could do after it possessed him (cf. ch. 4.). As the mediator between God and Israel, had it not been for Jethro"s counsel, he must soon have been worn out through forgetting the necessities of his own nature. Lives are still wasted and shortened through a like oversight. The man who feels that he is the channel of Divine power is, for the time, so God-intoxicated, that it does not occur to him to share his responsibilities. He must be both head and hands in everything, and the head in consequence soon grows heavy, and the hands hang down. Under the force of inspiration, common-sense is in abeyance; all the more need for wise counsel from those who occupy a neutral stand-point.
2. The wisdom of it. Jethro saw that the great thing was not that Moses should do all the work, but that all the work should be done. The power to do it, was no doubt lodged with Moses (cf. water-power lodged with keeper of sluice gates). The work, however, might be best done by a distribution of the power through selected agents. Moses need not to be head and hands; he might choose other hands, making them responsible to himself as head. Moses showed his wisdom by accepting the wise counsels of Jethro; many men would have shown their folly by setting them aside as the suggestions of ignorance.
Concluding considerations. Inspiration is a grand thing; but it may be best utilised by common-sense. God"s power enables for action; but that power is best applied when the counsels of Jethro are attended to. All men have not the same gifts; and those who have what seem to be the higher gifts, are apt to set too small a value upon advice given by those less gifted. Even the gift of faith, however, needs the gift of wisdom to direct it. Moses was able to do more than he otherwise could have done because he was wise enough to hearken to the voice of Jethro, his father-in-law. G.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v21
Exodus
THE IDEAL STATESMAN 1
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Exo 18:21.
You will have anticipated my purpose in selecting this text. I should be doing violence to your feelings and mine if I made no reference to the event which has united the Empire and the world in one sentiment. The great tree has fallen, and the crash has for the moment silenced all the sounds of the forest. Wars abroad and controversies at home are hushed. All men, of all schools of opinion, creeds, and parties, see now, in the calm face of the dead, ‘the likeness to the great of old’; and it says something, with all our faults, for the soundness of the heart of English opinion, that all sorts and conditions of men have brought their sad wreaths to lay them on that coffin.
But, whilst much has been said, far more eloquently and authoritatively than I can say it, about the many aspects of that many-sided life, surely it becomes us, as Christian people, to look at it from the distinctively Christian point of view, and to gather some of the lessons which, so regarded, it teaches us.
My text is part of the sagacious advice which Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, gave him about the sort of men that he should pick out to be his lieutenants in civic government. Its old-fashioned, simple phraseology may hide from some of us the elevation and comprehensiveness of the ideal that it sets forth. But it is a grand ideal; and amongst the great names of Englishmen who have guided the destinies of this land, none have approached more nearly to it than he whose death has taken away the most striking personality from our public life.
So let me ask you to look with me, first, at the ideal of a politician that is set forth here.
The free life of the desert, far away from the oppressions of surrounding military despotisms, that remarkable and antique constitution of the clan, with all its beautiful loyalty, had given this Arab sheikh a far loftier conception of what a ruler of men was than he could have found exemplified at Pharaoh’s court; or than, alas! has been common in many so-called Christian countries. The field upon which he intended that these great qualities should be exercised was a very limited one, to manage the little affairs of a handful of fugitives in the desert. But the scale on which we work has nothing to do with the principles by which we work, and the laws of perspective and colouring are the same, whether you paint the minutest miniature or a gigantic fresco. So what was needed for managing the little concerns of Moses’ wanderers in the wilderness is the ideal of what is needed for the men who direct the public affairs of world-wide empires.
Let me run over the details. They must be ‘able men,’ or, as the original has it, ‘men of strength.’ There is the intellectual basis, and especially the basis of firm, brave, strongly-set will which will grasp convictions, and, whatever comes, will follow them to their conclusions. The statesman is not one that puts his ear down to the ground to hear the tramp of some advancing host, and then makes up his mind to follow in their paths; he is not sensitive to the varying winds of public opinion, nor does he trim his sails to suit them, but he comes to his convictions by first-hand approach to, and meditation on, the great principles that are to guide, and then holds to them with a strength that nothing can weaken, and a courage that nothing can daunt. ‘Men of strength’ is what democracies like ours do most need in their leaders; a ‘strong man, in a blatant land,’ who knows his own mind, and is faithful to it for ever. That is a great demand.
‘Such as fear God’-there is the secret of strength, not merely in reference to the intellectual powers which are not dependent for their origin, though they may be for the health and vigour of their work, upon any religious sentiment, but in regard to all true power. He that would govern others must first be lord of himself, and he only is lord of himself who is consciously and habitually the servant of God. So that whatever natural endowment we start with, it must be heightened, purified, deepened, enlarged, by the presence in our lives of a deep and vital religious conviction. That is true about all men, leaders and led, large and small. That is the bottom-heat in the greenhouse, as it were, that will make riper and sweeter all the fruits which are the natural result of natural capacities. That is the amulet and the charm which will keep a man from the temptations incident to his position and the weaknesses incident to his character. The fear of God underlies the noblest lives. That is not to-day’s theory. We are familiar with the fact, and familiar with the doctrine formulated out of it, that there may be men of strong and noble lives and great leaders in many a department of human activity without any reference to the Unseen. Yes, there may be, but they are all fragments, and the complete man comes only when the fear of the Lord is guide, leader, impulse, polestar, regulator, corrector, and inspirer of all that he is and all that he does.
‘Men of truth’-that, of course, glances at the crooked ways which belong not only to Eastern statesmanship, but it does more than that. He that is to lead men must himself be led by an eager haste to follow after, and to apprehend, the very truth of things. And there must be in him clear transparent willingness to render his utmost allegiance, at any sacrifice, to the dawning convictions that may grow upon him. It is only fools that do not change. Freshness of enthusiasm, and fidelity to new convictions opening upon a man, to the end of his life, are not the least important of the requirements in him who would persuade and guide individuals or a nation.
‘Hating covetousness’; or, as it might be rendered, ‘unjust gain.’ That reference to the ‘oiling of the palms’ of Eastern judges may be taken in a loftier signification. If a man is to stand forth as the leader of a people, he must be clear, as old Samuel said that he was, from all suspicion of having been following out his career for any form of personal advantage. ‘Clean hands,’ and that not only from the vulgar filth of wealth, but from the more subtle advantages which may accrue from a lofty position, are demanded of the leader of men.
Such is the ideal. The requirements are stern and high, and they exclude the vermin that infest ‘politics,’ as they are called, and cause them to stink in many nostrils. The self-seeking schemer, the one-eyed partisan, the cynic who disbelieves in ideals of any sort, the charlatan who assumes virtues that he does not possess, and mouths noble sentiments that go no deeper than his teeth, are all shut out by them. The doctrine that a man may do in his public capacity things which would be disgraceful in private life, and yet retain his personal honour untarnished, is blown to atoms by this ideal. It is much to be regretted, and in some senses to be censured, that so many of our wisest, best, and most influential men stand apart from public life. Much of that is due to personal bias, much more of it is due to the pressure of more congenial duties, and not a little of it is due to the disregard of Jethro’s ideal, and to the degradation of public life which has ensued thereby. But there have been great men in our history whose lives have helped to lift up the ideal of a statesman, who have made such a sketch as Jethro outlined, though they may not have used his words, their polestar; and amongst the highest of these has been the man whose loss we to-day lament.
Let me try to vindicate that expression of opinion in a word or two. I cannot hope to vie in literary grace, or in completeness, with the eulogies that have been abundantly poured out; and I should not have thought it right to divert this hour of worship from its ordinary themes, if I had had no more to say than has been far better said a thousand times in these last days. But I cannot help noticing that, though there has been a consensus of admiration of, and a practically unanimous pointing to, character as after all the secret of the spell which Mr. Gladstone has exercised for two generations, there has not been, as it seems to me, equal and due prominence given to what was, and what he himself would have said was, the real root of his character and the productive cause of his achievements.
And so I venture now to say a word or two about the religion of the man that to his own consciousness underlay all the rest of him. It is not for me to speak, and there is no need to speak, about the marvellous natural endowments and the equally marvellous, many-sided equipment of attainment which enriched the rich, natural soil. Intermeddling as he did with all knowledge, he must necessarily have been but an amateur in many of the subjects into which he rushed with such generous eagerness. But none the less is the example of all but omnivorous acquisitiveness of everything that was to be known, a protest, very needful in these days, against the possible evils of an excessive specialising which the very progress of knowledge in all departments seems to make inevitable. I do not need to speak, either, of the flow, and sometimes the torrent, of eloquence ever at his command, nor of the lithe and sinewy force of his extraordinarily nimble, as well as massive, mind; nor need I say more than one word about the remarkable combination of qualities so generally held and seen to be incompatible, which put into one personality a genius for dry arithmetical figures and a genius for enthusiasm and sympathy with all the oppressed. All these things have been said far better than I can say them, and I do not repeat them.
But I desire to hammer this one conviction into your hearts and my own, that the inmost secret of that noble life, of all that wealth of capacity, all that load of learning, which he bore lightly like a flower, was the fact that the man was, to the very depths of his nature, a devout Christian. He would have been as capable, as eloquent, and all the rest of it, if he had been an unbeliever. But he would never have been nor done what he was and did, and he would never have left the dint of an impressive and lofty personality upon a whole nation and a world, if beneath the intellect there had not been character, and beneath character Christianity.
He was far removed, in ecclesiastical connections, from us Nonconformists, and he held opinions in regard to some very important ecclesiastical questions which cut straight across some of our deepest convictions. We never had to look for much favour from his hands, because his intellectual atmosphere removed him far from sympathy with many of the truths which are dearest to the members of the Free Evangelical Churches. But none the less we recognise in him a brother in Jesus Christ, and rejoice that there, on the high places of a careless and sceptical generation, there stood a Christian man.
In this connection I cannot but, though I have no right to do so, express how profoundly thankful I, for one, was to the present Prime Minister of England that in his brief eulogium on, I was going to say, his great rival, he ended all by the emphatic declaration that Mr. Gladstone was, first and foremost, a great Christian man. Yes; and there was the secret, as I have already said, not of his merely political eminence, but of the universal reverence which a nation expresses to-day. All detraction is silenced, and all calumnies have dropped away, as filth from the white wings of a swan as it soars, and with one voice the Empire and the world confess that he was a great and a good man.
I need not dwell in detail on the thoughts of how, by reason of this deep underlying fear of God, the other qualifications which are sketched in our ideal found their realisation in him; how those who, all through his career, smiled most at the successive enthusiasms which monopolised his mind, and sometimes at the contrasts between these, are now ready to admit that, whether the enthusiasms were right or wrong, there is something noble in the spectacle of a man ever keeping his mind, even when its windows were beginning to be dimmed by the frosts of age, open to the beams of new truth. And the greatest, as some people think, of his political blunders, as we are beginning, all of us, to recognise, now that party strife is hushed, was the direct consequence of that ever fresh and youthful enthusiasm for new thoughts and new lines of action. Innovators aged eighty are not too numerous.
Nor need I say more than one word about the other part of the ideal, ‘hating covetousness.’ The giver of peerages by the bushel died a commoner. The man that had everything at his command made no money, nor anything else, out of his long years of office, except the satisfaction of having been permitted to render what he believed to be the highest of service to the nation that he loved so well. Like our whilom neighbour, the other great commoner, John Bright, he lived among his own people; and like Samuel, of whom I have already spoken, he could stretch out his old hands and say, ‘They are clean.’ One scarcely feels as if, to such a life, a State funeral in Westminster Abbey was congruous. One had rather have seen him laid among the humble villagers who were his friends and companions, and in the quiet churchyard which his steps had so often traversed. But at all events the ideal was realised, and we all know what it was.
Might I say one word more? As this great figure passes out of men’s sight to nobler work, be sure, on widened horizons corresponding to his tutored and exercised powers, does he leave no lessons behind for us? He leaves one very plain, homely one, and that is, ‘Work while it is called to-day.’ No opulence of endowment tempted this man to indolence, and no poverty of endowment will excuse us for sloth. Work is the law of our lives; and the more highly we are gifted, the more are we bound to serve.
He leaves us another lesson. Follow convictions as they open before you, and never think that you have done growing, or have reached your final stage.
He leaves another lesson. Do not suppose that the Gospel of Jesus Christ cannot satisfy the keenest intellect, nor dominate the strongest will. It has come to be a mark of narrowness and fossilhood to be a devout believer in Christ and His Cross. Some of you young men make an easy reputation for cleverness and advanced thought by the short and simple process of disbelieving what your mother taught you. Here is a man, probably as great as you are, with as keen an intellect, and he clung to the Cross of Christ, and had for his favourite hymn-
‘Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.’
He leaves another lesson. If you desire to make your characters all that it is in them to be made, you must, like him, go to Jesus Christ, and get your teaching and your inspiration from that great Lord. We cannot all be great men. Never mind. It is character that tells; we can all be good men, and we can all be Christian men. And whether we build cottages or palaces, if we build on one foundation, and only if we do, they will stand.
Moses leaves another lesson, as he glides into the past. ‘This man, having served his generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was gathered to his fathers, and saw corruption’; but He ‘whom God hath raised up saw no corruption.’ The lamps are quenched, the sun shines. Moses dies, ‘The prophets, do they live for ever?’ but when Moses and Elias faded from the Mount of Transfiguration ‘the apostles saw no man any more, save Jesus only,’ and the voice said, ‘This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him.’
1 Preached on occasion of Mr. Gladstone’s death.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv19, 21 Hearken now unto my voice
Hearken now unto my voice
(Cf) Num 11:14-17. Jehovah entirely ignored this worldly-wise organization, substituting His own order.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v21 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jethro continues speaking to Moses.
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Furthermore, you must choose
"In addition, you must choose" or "You must also choose"
You must put them over people
Jethro speaks of giving them authority over people as putting them over people. AT: You must give them authority over people" (See: Metaphor)
leaders in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and of tens
Possible meanings are 1) these numbers represent the exact amount of people in each group. AT: "leaders in charge of groups of 1,000 people, groups of 100 people, groups of 50 people, and groups of 10 people" or 2) these numbers are not exact, but represent groups of people of various sizes. AT: "leaders in charge of very small groups, small groups, large groups, and very large groups" (See: Numbers)
routine cases
"the simple cases"
the difficult cases they will bring to you
Jethro speaks of telling Moses about the difficult cases as bringing him the difficult cases. AT: "the difficult cases they will tell you about" or "when there are difficult cases, they will tell you about them so you can judge them" (See: Metaphor)
they will carry the burden with you
Jethro speaks of the hard work that they would do as if it were a burden that they would carry. AT: "they will do the hard work with you" or "they will help you do the hard work" (See: Metaphor)
endure
What they will endure can be stated clearly. AT: "endure the stress of the work" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
true
just
judge
command
endure
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v19 18:19-22 Moses needed to distinguish between his teaching function,…
18:19-22 Moses needed to distinguish between his teaching function, in which he received and declared God’s decrees and instructions (18:19-20), and his administrative function, in which he applied all of those decrees and instructions (18:21-22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.