When they have a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another; and I make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
Parallel translations
- WEB When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.”
- KJV When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
- BSB “Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”
- NASB When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between someone and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws.”
- NLT When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses settled disputes between people and taught them God's statutes and laws. He both judged and instructed Israel in God's ways.
Overview
Moses combined the roles of judge and teacher, applying God's law to the people's conflicts and making his statutes known. This twofold task underscores how central God's revealed will was to Israel's communal life. The work was vital but too much for one man, prompting the need for shared responsibility.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Exod 24:14He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.”
- 2 Sam 15:3Absalom said to him, “Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you.”
- Deut 4:5Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it.
- 1 Cor 6:1Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
- Deut 5:1Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.”
- Num 27:6–11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
- Exod 2:13He went out the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were fighting with each other. He said to him who did the wrong, “Why do you strike your fellow?”
- Matt 28:20teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
- Exod 23:7“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked.
- Lev 24:15You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
- Num 36:6–9This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best; only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father.
- Acts 18:14–15But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you;
- Num 15:35Yahweh said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside of the camp.”
- 1 Sam 12:23Moreover as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Yahweh in ceasing to pray for you: but I will instruct you in the good and the right way.
- Job 31:13“If I have despised the cause of my male servant or of my female servant, when they contended with me;
- 1 Th 4:1–2Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.
- Deut 17:8–12If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within your gates; then you shall arise, and go up to the place which Yahweh your God chooses.
- Deut 6:1Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it;
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 18:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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