If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee [so], then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
23. this thing ] Their position in the Heb. shews that these words are emphatic.
command thee so ] i.e. approve and sanction thy doing this.
go to their place in peace ] return quickly to their houses satisfied, without having to stand all the day before Moses ( v. 14).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To their place – i. e. to Canaan, which is thus recognized by Jethro as the appointed and true home of Israel. Compare Num 10:29-30.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If God approve of the course which I suggest, to whose wisdom I submit my opinion. For Jethro might well think that Moses neither would nor might make so great an alteration in the government without consulting God about it, and expecting his answer. Others render the place thus, both God will give thee his commands, i.e. thou wilt have leisure to ask and take his counsel in all emergencies, which now thou hast not,
and thou wilt be able to endure.
To their place; to their several habitations, which are called mens places, Jdg 7:7; 9:55; 19:28,29; where their calling and business lies, from which they are now diverted and detained by fruitless and wearisome attendances.
In peace, orderly and quietly, having their minds much eased by this course, and their contentions soon ended.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. If thou shalt do this thing,c.Jethro’s counsel was given merely in the form of a suggestion itwas not to be adopted without the express sanction and approval of abetter and higher Counsellor; and although we are not informed of it,there can be no doubt that Moses, before appointing subordinatemagistrates, would ask the mind of God, as it is the duty andprivilege of every Christian in like manner to supplicate the divinedirection in all his ways.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If thou shall do this thing,…. Hearken to the advice given, and put it in execution, by choosing out of the people, and placing over them, judges qualified, as directed: and God command thee so; for he did not desire him to follow his advice any further than it appeared to be according to the will of God, which he doubted not he would inquire about; and if he found it was agreeable to it, and should pursue it:
then thou shall be able to endure; to continue in his office and post, and hold on for years to come, God granting him life and health; whereas otherwise, in all human probability, he must waste and wear away apace:
and all this people shall also go to their place in peace; having had their cases heard and tried, and their differences adjusted to satisfaction; and quick dispatch being made, they would return to their tents or places of abode in much peace of mind, and sit down contented with the determination made, and pleased that the lawsuit was not protracted to any unreasonable length of time. Jarchi interprets all this people, of Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and the seventy elders that came with him, as if they by this means would be eased, and so pleased with it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
23. If thou shalt do this thing. What immediately follows, “and God command thee so,” may be taken in connection with the beginning of the verse, as if, in self-correction, Jethro made the limitation, that he did not wish his counsel to be obeyed, unless God should approve of it. Others extend it more widely, that if Moses followed God’s commands in all things, this moderation of his duties would be useful. However you take it, Jethro declares that he would have nothing conceded to him, which should derogate from God’s supreme authority; but that there was nothing to prevent Moses from following, as he had done, God as his leader, and still adopting the proposed plan. Yet he signifies that this was to be but temporary, when he adds, that the people should go in peace or prosperously into the land of Canaan. Jethro, then, had no wish to establish a law for posterity; but points out a remedy for present inconveniences, and a provisional arrangement, (201) until the people should obtain a peaceful resting-place.
(201) There is an obscurity here in the Latin, which I have not been able to remove. The words are, “atque (ut vulgo loquitur) modum promissionis ostendit.” The common language to which C. alludes may probably be that of the ancient grammarians. The Fr. is “par maniere de provision, (comme on dit.)”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so.A reference of the entire matter to God, before any final decision was made, is plainly indicated. Moses must have already had some mode of consulting God on any point which required to be settled, and obtaining an answer. Was it by the Urim and Thummim?
Thou shalt be able to endure.Comp. Exo. 18:18, where the inability of Moses to endure, unless he made some change, was strongly asserted.
And all this people shall also go to their place in peace.The people, i.e., will go on their way to Canaan peacefully and contentedly, without suffering the inconvenience to which they are now subject.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. To their place Some think that Jethro here refers to Canaan as the promised home or place of Israel . But the more simple reference is to the common place of abode, the tent or home, to which the people, having had their matters of controversy adjusted, could speedily return .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 18:23. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee, &c. The humility of Jethro is as apparent as his wisdom. He was not so vain as to think that Moses should follow his counsel without the immediate approbation of GOD; and therefore he says, if GOD shall command thee to do what I advise, and approve that counsel which I have given, then mayest thou safely follow it, and reap the advantages of it. So that though Jethro gave the advice, Moses followed it not without the immediate consent of God; and we do not see what possible objection can lie against Moses for receiving from wise and good men hints for improvement in legislation, while he put not those hints in execution without the approbation of the Sovereign Lawgiver.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Exo 18:23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee [so], then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
Ver. 23. To their place. ] To the Promised Land, or to their own homes, well apaid, and with good content.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
God: Exo 18:18, Gen 21:10-12, 1Sa 8:6, 1Sa 8:7, 1Sa 8:22, Act 15:2, Gal 2:2
and all this: Exo 16:29, Gen 18:33, Gen 30:25, 2Sa 18:3, 2Sa 19:39, 2Sa 21:17, Phi 1:24, Phi 1:25
Reciprocal: Lev 24:12 – that the mind of the Lord might be showed them 1Ch 13:2 – and that it be Mat 23:3 – whatsoever 2Pe 3:9 – not willing