Exodus 18:15

And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֖ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֥אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
law	לְחֹתְנ֑וֹ le.cho.te.No	H2859	to give (a daughter) away in marriage · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
people	הָעָ֖ם ha.'Am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
come	יָבֹ֥א ya.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
enquire	לִדְרֹ֥שׁ lid.Rosh	H1875	properly · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
God	אֱלֹהִֽים 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 15:34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.
Numbers 27:5 And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.
Exodus 18:19-20 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…
Leviticus 24:12-14 And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them.
Numbers 9:6 And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came bef…
Numbers 9:8 And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.
Deuteronomy 17:8-13 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:13–end

Here is, I. The great zeal and industry of Moses as a magistrate. 1. Having been employed to redeem Israel out of the house of bondage, herein he is a further type of Christ, that he is employed as a lawgiver and a judge among them. (1.) He was to answer enquiries, to acquaint them with the will of God in doubtful cases, and to explain the laws of God that were already given them, concerning the sabbath, the man, etc., beside the laws of nature, relating both to piety and equity, Exo 18:15. They came to enquire of God; and happy it was for them that they had such an oracle to consult: we are ready to wish, many a time, that we had some such certain way of knowing God's mind when we are at a…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:13

on the morrow . . . 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. He appears in this attitude as a type of Christ in His legislative and judicial characters. the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening, &c.--Governors in the East seat themselves at the most public gate of their palace or the city, and there, amid a crowd of applicants, hear causes, receive petitions, redress grievances, and adjust the claims of contending parties.

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:15

The people come unto me to inquire of God - To know the mind and will of God on the subject of their inquiries. Moses was the mediator between God and the people; and as they believed that all justice and judgment must come from him, therefore they came to Moses to know what God had spoken.

John Gill on Exodus 18:15

And Moses said unto his father in law,.... In answer to his question; and there were two things, as Aben Ezra observes, he did to the people, and for which they came to him; the one is observed in this verse, and the other in the next: because the people come unto me to inquire of God; of his mind and will in certain cases, and of his statutes and laws, as the following verse shows; what they should observe, and according to which they should conduct themselves: they came to inquire what God would have them to do; and, in doubtful cases, what was his will and pleasure, and to desire Moses to inform them; and if the things were of such a nature that he could not easily and readily do it, the…

Dictionary and topics

Appeal — A reference of any case from an inferior to a superior court. Moses established in the wilderness a series of judicatories such that appeals could be made from a lower to a higher (Ex. 18:13-26.)…
Jethro — His excellence, or gain, a prince or priest of Midian, who succeeded his father Reuel. Moses spent forty years after his exile from the Egyptian court as keeper of Jethro’s flocks. While the…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Courts Of Justice · Superior court: Held first by Moses alone in the wilderness — Superior court: Held first by Moses alone in the wilderness
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Judges appointed — Judges appointed
Government · .ADMINISTRATIVE AND — .ADMINISTRATIVE AND
Kenites, The · Showed kindness to Israel in the desert — Showed kindness to Israel in the desert

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 18:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:13

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:15

John Gill on Exodus 18:15

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 18:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:13

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:15

John Gill on Exodus 18:15

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 18:13–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 18:13-23

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 18:13-27

Rashi on Exodus 18:15