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Exodus 18:22-24
New English Translation
Exodus 18:22-24
New English Translation
22 They will judge[a] the people under normal circumstances,[b] and every difficult case[c] they will bring to you, but every small case[d] they themselves will judge, so that[e] you may make it easier for yourself,[f] and they will bear the burden[g] with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you,[h] then you will be able[i] to endure,[j] and all these people[k] will be able to go[l] home[m] satisfied.”[n]
24 Moses listened to[o] his father-in-law and did everything he had said.
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- Exodus 18:22 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive, making it equivalent to the imperfect of instruction in the preceding verse.
- Exodus 18:22 tn Heb “in every time,” meaning “in all normal cases” or “under normal circumstances.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.
- Exodus 18:22 tn Heb “great thing.”
- Exodus 18:22 tn Heb “thing.”
- Exodus 18:22 tn The vav here shows the result or the purpose of the instructions given.
- Exodus 18:22 tn The expression וְהָקֵל מֵעָלֶיךָ (vehaqel meʿalekha) 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.
- Exodus 18:22 tn Here “the burden” has been supplied.
- Exodus 18:23 tn The form is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the same nuance as the preceding imperfect in the conditional clause.
- Exodus 18:23 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.”
- Exodus 18:23 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.”
- Exodus 18:23 tn Literally “this people.”
- Exodus 18:23 tn The verb is the simple imperfect, “will go,” but given the sense of the passage a potential nuance seems in order.
- Exodus 18:23 tn Heb “his place.”
- Exodus 18:23 tn Heb “in peace.”sn See further T. D. Weinshall, “The Organizational Structure Proposed by Jethro to Moses (Ex. 18:17),” Public Administration in Israel and Abroad 12 (1972): 9-13; and H. Reviv, “The Traditions Concerning the Inception of the Legal System in Israel: Significance and Dating,” ZAW 94 (1982): 566-75.
- Exodus 18:24 tn The idiom “listen to the voice of” means “obey, comply with, heed.”
New English Translation (NET)
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