Exodus 18:21

Forsooth purvey thou of all the people wise men, and dreading God, in which is truth, and which hate avarice; and ordain thou of them tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans, [or and ordain of them rulers upon thousands, and rulers upon hundreds, and rulers upon fifty, and rulers upon ten], (But find thou out of the people some men who be wise, and who fear God, in whom is truth, and who hate greed; and make thou them leaders of a thousand, and of a hundred, and of fifty, and of ten,)

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

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:

In Context

20and show to the people the ceremonies, and [the] custom (s) of worshipping, and the way by which they ought to go, and the work which they ought to do.

22which shall deem the people in all time; soothly whatever thing is greater, tell they to thee, and deem they only [the] less (er) things, and be it easier to thee, when the burden is parted into other men. (and they shall judge their people at all times; but whatever case is hard, or too difficult, let them tell that to thee, and judge they only the simple cases, and so it shall be easier for thee, when the burden is shared with these other men.)

Read all of Exodus 18

Cross References

Genesis 42:18soothly in the third day, when they were led out of prison, Joseph said, Do ye that that I said, and ye shall live, for I dread God; (and on the third day, when they were let out of the prison, Joseph said, Do ye what I said, and ye shall live, for I fear God;)

Exodus 18:25And when noble men of all Israel were chosen, Moses ordained them princes of the people, (or And when some noble men were chosen out of all Israel, Moses ordained them the people’s leaders), tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans, [or rulers upon thousands, and rulers upon hundreds, and rulers upon fifty, and rulers upon ten],

Numbers 10:4If thou shalt trump with one trump, the princes and the chief men of the multitude of Israel shall come to thee; (If thou shalt sound with one trumpet, the leaders who be the chief men of the multitude of Israel shall come to thee;)

Deuteronomy 1:15And I took of your lineages men wise, and noble; and I ordained them to be your princes, your tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans, which shall teach you all things. (And so I took from your tribes wise and noble men; and I ordained them to be your leaders, yea, your tribunes, and centurions, and quinquagenaries, and deans, and they shall be your authorities.)

Joshua 22:14and ten princes with him; of each lineage one prince. (and ten leaders with him; one leader from each tribe.)

1 Samuel 8:12and he shall ordain to him tribunes, that is, sovereigns of a thousand, and centurions, that is, sovereigns of an hundred, and earers/tillers of his fields, and reapers of his corns, and smiths of his armours, and (smiths) of his chariots. (and he shall ordain his tribunes, that is, the rulers of a thousand, and his centurions, that is, the rulers of a hundred, and the tillers of his fields, and the reapers of his harvest, and the smiths of his arms, or of his weapons, and the smiths of his chariots.)

Matthew Henry on Exodus 18:14-27

Jethro's Advice to Moses. ( b. c. 1491.) 13 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. 14 And when Moses' father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: 16 When they have a matter,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Exodus 18:21