Exodus 18 - Introduction
_JETHRO BRINGETH TO MOSES HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN; AND ADVISES HIM TO CONSTITUTE RULERS OVER THE PEOPLE: MOSES FOLLOWS HIS COUNSEL; AND JETHRO DEPARTS INTO HIS OWN LAND._ _Before Christ 1491._... [ Continue Reading ]
_JETHRO BRINGETH TO MOSES HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN; AND ADVISES HIM TO CONSTITUTE RULERS OVER THE PEOPLE: MOSES FOLLOWS HIS COUNSEL; AND JETHRO DEPARTS INTO HIS OWN LAND._ _Before Christ 1491._... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN JETHRO THE PRIEST, &C.— Houbigant and others translate this, _When Jethro the_ prince _of Midian, the_ kinsman or relation _of Moses, heard,_ &c. See note on ch. Exodus 2:18 and Genesis 14:17. Like Melchisedec, he was, most probably, both _prince_ and _priest;_ see Exodus 18:12. _Father-in-law,... [ Continue Reading ]
AFTER HE HAD SENT HER BACK— The Vulgate, which Houbigant follows and approves, renders this _quam remiserat; whom he had sent back._ See ch. Exodus 4:24, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HER TWO SONS— Their names are mentioned, Gershom, _a stranger,_ and Eliezer, _God is my help;_ expressive of the state of Moses in Midian, and his confidence in God's care of him. _Note;_ We are all strangers upon earth, as our fathers were; but we have a child born unto us, to comfort us, the t... [ Continue Reading ]
AT THE MOUNT OF GOD— See note on ch. Exodus 3:1. The Israelites were not yet come to this _mount of God;_ but Moses, says Houbigant, being about to relate the departure from Rephidim to the desart of Sinai, where was Horeb, the mountain of GOD, first finishes what was to be related concerning Jethro... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SAID— The Vulgate renders it, _mandavit ad Mosem: he sent_ persons _to tell Moses._ The word אמר _amar_ is sometimes used in this sense, which is certainly just in this place; as it appears from the following verse, that Jethro and Moses had not yet met: it should therefore be rendered, _and... [ Continue Reading ]
WELFARE— In the Hebrew, _peace;_ the usual inquiry and salutation among the easterns: a word implying all temporal and spiritual good.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JETHRO REJOICED— The Hebrew word חדה _chidah,_ signifies _to be transported with great joy:_ the LXX, therefore, translate it, very properly, εξεστη, _he was in an exstacy._ Jethro appears to have been a good man, and a believer: the context seems to prove this, as well as the marriage of Moses... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IN THE THING WHEREIN THEY DEALT PROUDLY, &C.— Jethro, in the former part of the verse, expresses his belief in the superiority of Jehovah over all false gods: a belief, confirmed by the reason subjoined; and which shews, that the false gods, to which he more particularly alludes, were the idols... [ Continue Reading ]
JETHRO—TOOK A BURNT-OFFERING— Hence it plainly appears, that Jethro was a priest of the true God; and that _burnt-offerings,_ which were to be wholly consumed upon the altar, (Leviticus 1:9.) and _sacrifices_ or _peace-offerings,_ of which the people, as well as the priests, partook, (Leviticus 15:3... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES SAT TO JUDGE THE PEOPLE— Rather, which the context clearly proves to be the meaning, _to administer justice to the people._ The word שׁפט _shapat,_ says Cocceius, denotes, at large, all _regulation_ and _disposal._ Moses informs Jethro, that this was the case: he tells him first, Exodus 18:15... [ Continue Reading ]
EXODUS 18:16. _When they have a matter,_ [דבר _dabar,_ any subject of business or litigation] _I judge between man and man; and,_ being in the place of God, and instructed by him, _inform them of the statutes and laws_ by which he would have them governed. From hence it does not follow that the law... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU WILT SURELY WEAR AWAY— Thou wilt both consume _thyself_ by too much fatigue, as well as the _people,_ by this long and painful attendance, which they must necessarily give upon thee their sole judge.... [ Continue Reading ]
_EXODUS 18:19_.— _Be thou for the people to God-ward_] i.e. "Do thou continue still as the mediator between God and the people, going between them: bringing the causes of the people, or their affairs of consequence, before GOD, and receiving from him those _statutes_ and _ordinances,_ those declarat... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER THOU SHALT PROVIDE, &C.— Jethro, advising Moses to retain his high office of mediator between God and the people, and to preserve to himself the supreme legislative power under God, (see Exodus 18:22.) exhorts him, very prudently, to establish subordinate rulers of thousands, of hundreds, o... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU SHALT DO THIS THING, AND GOD COMMAND THEE, &C.— The humility of Jethro is as apparent as his wisdom. He was not so vain as to think that Moses should follow his counsel without the immediate approbation of GOD; and therefore he says, _if GOD shall command thee_ to do what I advise, and appro... [ Continue Reading ]
AND MOSES CHOSE ABLE MEN— It is thought by some, that this constitution continued only during their peregrination in the wilderness; and so is different from the institution of those _seventy elders_ (Numbers 11:16.) who were of God's own nomination, and continued to have their name, title, and auth... [ Continue Reading ]
MOSES LET HIS FATHER-IN-LAW DEPART— See Numbers 10:29; Numbers 10:36 from whence it appears, that Moses had the highest opinion of Jethro, and an earnest desire to have retained him, observing, in very strong terms, that he might be to them _instead of eyes;_ and, indeed, from this specimen, one can... [ Continue Reading ]