Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Exodus 18:26

in Exodus 18

And they judged the people at all times; they would bring the difficult cases to Moses, but any minor issue they would judge themselves.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

KJV

And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

⋯

This verse in Exodus 18

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

they judged the people at all times

on Exodus 18:26-27

The difficult cases go to Moses, the wording Deuteronomy 1:17 echoes when Moses recounts his charge to the judges. Then Jethro goes home, and the man whose counsel shaped Israel's courts leaves before Sinai. Numbers 10:29 to 31 records Moses later pressing this family to stay.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And they judged the people at all seasons,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Moses sat to judge the people, &c.--We are here presented with a specimen of his daily morning occupations; and among the multifarious duties his divine legation imposed, it must be considered only a small portion of his official employments.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְשָׁפְט֥וּand they judged

    veshafetuH8199 →202 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • בְּכָל־at every

    bekholH3605 →5413 times

  • עֵ֑תtime

    ʾetH6256 →296 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַדָּבָ֤רthe matter

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • הַקָּשֶׁה֙<the> difficult

    hakashehH7186 →36 times

  • יְבִיא֣וּןthey brought !

    yeviunH935 →2568 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֔הMoses

    moshehH4872 →765 times

  • וְכָל־and every

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הַדָּבָ֥ר<the> matter

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • הַקָּטֹ֖ן<the> small

    hakatonH6996 →

  • יִשְׁפּוּט֥וּthey judged

    yishputuH8199 →202 times

  • הֵֽם׃they

    hemH1992 →553 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Deuteronomy 1:17Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I will hear it.”9 worksExodus 18:22Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.7 worksNumbers 9:6But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day3 worksLeviticus 24:11The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)3 works1 Kings 3:16–28At that time two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.2 worksExodus 18:14–15When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone as judge, with all the people standing around you from morning till evening?”2 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Job 29:16I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.2 worksDeuteronomy 17:8If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will choose.2 works1 Kings 10:1Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.2 works2 Samuel 15:2He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate. Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for a decision, Absalom would call out and ask, “What city are you from?” And if he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,”2 worksJudges 4:5And she would sit under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where the Israelites would go up to her for judgment.1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Job 29:16

    I was a father to the needy, and I took up the case of the stranger.

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 29:7

      The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.

    • Psalms 68:5

      A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in His holy habitation.

  • Through

    Exodus 18:22

    Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 11:17

      And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the…

    • Numbers 36:1

      Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families…

    • Leviticus 24:11

      The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse. So they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.)

  • Through

    Deuteronomy 17:8

    If a case is too difficult for you to judge, whether the controversy within your gates is regarding bloodshed, lawsuits, or assaults, you must go up to the place the LORD your God will…

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 12:5

      Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.

    • Haggai 2:11

      “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling.

    • Deuteronomy 1:17

      Show no partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be intimidated by anyone, for judgment belongs to God. And bring to me any case too difficult for you, and I…

Where this verse is studied

About Exodus

The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
The Israelites Leaving Egypt, David Roberts, 1829. Public domain.
Exodus: the study guide →Read Exodus 18 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.

Read on in Exodus 18 →