Exodus 18:24

So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.

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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
hearkened	וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע vai.yish.Ma'	H8085	to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
voice	לְק֣וֹל le.Kol	H6963	a voice or sound · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
law	חֹתְנ֑וֹ cho.te.No	H2859	to give (a daughter) away in marriage · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
did	וַיַּ֕עַשׂ vai.Ya.'as	H6213	to do or make · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
said	אָמָֽר 'a.Mar	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular

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

Exodus 18:2-5 Then Jethro, Moses’ father in law, took Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back,
Exodus 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…
Ezra 10:2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, answered and said unto Ezra, We have trespassed against our God, and have taken s…
Ezra 10:5 Then arose Ezra, and made the chief priests, the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they should do according to this word. And they swar…
Proverbs 1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
1 Corinthians 12:21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

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 18:23

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

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:23

If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee - Though the measure was obviously of the utmost importance, and plainly recommended itself by its expediency and necessity; yet Jethro very modestly leaves it to the wisdom of Moses to choose or reject it; and, knowing that in all things his relative was now acting under the immediate direction of God, intimates that no measure can be safely adopted without a positive injunction from God himself. As the counsel was doubtless inspired by the Divine Spirit, we find that it was sanctioned by the same, for Moses acted in every respect according to the advice he had received.

John Gill on Exodus 18:24

So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law,.... Considered what he said, weighed it well in his mind, and judged it good advice, and determined to follow it: and did all that he had said; by choosing such men as he directed to, and committing the judgment of the people to them, as follows:

The Church Fathers

For nothing was ever more humble than he; who, being leader of so great a people, and having overwhelmed in the sea the king and the host of all the Egyptians, as if they had been flies; and having wrought so many wonders both in Egypt and by the Red Sea and in the wilderness, and received such high testimony, yet felt exactly as if he had been an ordinary person, and as a son-in-law was humbler than his father-in-law, and took advice from him, and was not indignant, nor did he say, "What is this? After such and so great achievements, art thou come to us with thy counsel?" This is what most people feel; though a man bring the best advice, despising it, because of the lowliness of the person. But not so did he: rather through lowliness of mind he wrought all things well.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON 1 CORINTHIANS 1.4

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

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…
Court · SUPERIOR, AND INFERIOR — SUPERIOR, AND INFERIOR
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 18:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:23

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:23

John Gill on Exodus 18:24

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 18:24

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:13–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 18:23

Adam Clarke on Exodus 18:23

John Gill on Exodus 18:24

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 18:13–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 18:24

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 18:19-22

Rashi on Exodus 18:23