Exodus 18:21

Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people,.... Or look out (t) from among them; see Acts 6:3, able men; or "men of power" (u); meaning not so much men of strong and robust constitutions,

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.

Able men, Heb. men of might, not for strength of body, but for greatness, resolution, courage, and constancy of mind, which is the best preservative against partiality and corruption in judgment, to which men of little minds, or narrow souls, are easily swayed by fears, or hopes, or gifts. Such as fear God; which will restrain them from all injustice, even when they have ability and opportunity to do wrong so cunningly or powerfully that they may escape the observation and censure of men. Men of truth, or, of faith, or faithful, such as love the truth, and diligently labour to find it out in all causes, and then pass a true and righteous sentence; not at all respecting persons, but only the truth and right of their causes; such as hate lies and slanders, and will severely rebuke and punish them. Hating covetousness: this, though included in the former, is particularly expressed, because gifts and bribes are the great corrupters of judges and judgments.

Exodus 18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place [such] over them, [to be] rulers of thousands, [and] rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:Ver. 2l. Out of all the people.] Magistrates must be drained from the dregs, sifted from the bran of the ordinary sort of people. Able men.] Able and active; strong and stouthearted; wealthy also, and well grounded. See Jethro’ s Justice of Peace, - a sermon by Mr Sam. Ward.

(21) Provide out of all the people able men.—This was the gist of Jethro’s advice. It seems somewhat surprising that it should have been needed. In Egypt, as in all other settled governments, while the king was the fountain of justice, it was customary for him to delegate the duty of hearing causes to officials of different ranks, who decided in this or that class of complaints. In Arabia a similar practice no doubt prevailed. Jethro himself had his subordinates, the head men of the various clans or families, who discharged judicial functions in “small matters,” and thereby greatly lightened the burthen which would otherwise have rested upon his shoulders. His advice to Moses was simply that he should adopt this generally established system—one which belongs to a very early period in the history of nations. Jethro’s definition of “able men”—men, i.e., fitted to exercise the judicial office—is interesting. He requires them to be (1) God-fearing, (2) truthful, and (3) men of integrity. The second and third requirements would approve themselves to men of all times and countries. The first would generally be deemed superfluous. But it really lies at the root of all excellence of character, and is the point of greatest importance. Rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds.—An organisation of the entire people on a decimal system is implied in the arrangement suggested. Such an organisation may not improbably have existed at the same in connection with the march and the encamping. See the Comment on Exodus 13:18.) Jethro thought that it might be utilised for judicial purposes. One an out of ten might be competent to judge in “small matters.” If either party were dissatisfied, there might be an appeal to the “ruler of fifty”—from him the “ruler of an hundred,” and then to the “ruler Of a thousand.” In all ordinary disputes this would suffice, and the contest would not require to be carried further.

Verse 21. Able men] Persons of wisdom, discernment, judgment, prudence, and fortitude; for who can be a ruler without these qualifications? Such as fear God] Who are truly religious, without which they will feel little concerned either for the bodies or souls of the people. Men of truth] Honest and true in their own hearts and lives; speaking the truth, and judging according to the truth. Hating covetousness] Doing all for God's sake, and love to man; labouring to promote the general good; never perverting judgment, or suppressing the testimonies of God, for the love of money or through a base, man-pleasing spirit, but expecting their reward from the mercy of God in the resurrection of the just. Rulers of thousands, c.] Millenaries, centurions, quinquagenaries, and decurions each of these, in all probability, dependent on that officer immediately above himself. So the decurion, or ruler over ten, if he found a matter too hard for him, brought it to the quinquagenary, or ruler of fifty; if, in the course of the exercise of his functions, he found a cause too complicated for him to decide on, he brought it to the centurion, or ruler over a hundred. In like manner the centurion brought his difficult case to the millenary, or ruler over a thousand; the case that was too hard for him to judge, he brought to Moses; and the case that was too hard for Moses, he brought immediately to GOD. It is likely that each of these classes had a court composed of its own members, in which causes were heard and tried. Some of the rabbins have supposed that there were 600 rulers of thousands, 6000 rulers of hundreds, 12,000 rulers of fifties and 60,000 rulers of tens; making in the whole 78,600 officers. But Josephus says (Antiq., lib. iii., chap. 4) that Moses, by the advice of Jethro, appointed rulers over myriads, and then over thousands; these he divided into five hundreds, and again into hundreds, and into fifties; and appointed rulers over each of these, who divided them into thirties, and at last into twenties and tens; that each of these companies had a chief, who took his name from the number of persons who were under his direction and government. Allowing what Josephus states to be correct, some have supposed that there could not have been less than 129,860 officers in the Israelitish camp. But such computations are either fanciful or absurd. That the people were divided into thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, we know, for the text states it, but we cannot tell precisely how many of such divisions there were, nor, consequently, the number of officers.

13–23. Jethro’s advice to Moses, to appoint officers to assist him in the administration of justice.

Able men - The qualifications are remarkably complete, ability, piety, truthfulness, and unselfishness.

21. Able men — Men of strong, commanding character, and manifestly competent for the work to be done.