Exodus 18:18

18 You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone.

Exodus 18:18 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 18:18

Thou wilt surely wear away
His natural strength and animal spirits, and so his flesh; he feared his constant application and attendance to business would impair his health, break his constitution, and bring him into a consumption. Moses was naturally of a strong and vigorous constitution; for, forty years after this, even to the time of his death, his natural force was not abated; or "fading thou wilt fade", or, "falling thou wilt fall" F18; in allusion to the leaves of trees in autumn, which fade, and wither, and fall:

both thou and this people that is with thee;
it was tiresome to the people, as well as fatiguing to Moses, who, because of the multitude of cases, were obliged to wait a long time, some of them from morning to night, and yet could not get their suit to come and so were obliged to attend next day, and perhaps day after day. The Targum of Jonathan is,

``even thou also, Aaron and his sons, and the elders that are with them;''

and so Jarchi; but these do not seem to have been assisting to him at all, as appears by what follows:

for this thing is too heavy for thee:
it was too great a burden upon his shoulders, what his strength was not equal to; for though his internal abilities were exceeding great, and he had a good will to the work, to serve God and his people, yet it was more, humanly speaking, than his bodily strength would admit of, or any mortal man could go through:

thou art not able to perform it thyself alone;
and this Moses was sensible of himself afterwards, and says the same thing, ( Deuteronomy 1:9 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F18 (lbt lbn) "marcescendo marcesses", Montanus; so Ainsworth; "cadendo cades", Pagninus.

Exodus 18:18 In-Context

16 When two people have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide which one of them is right, and I tell them God's commands and laws."
17 Then Jethro said, "You are not doing this right.
18 You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone.
19 Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him.
20 You should teach them God's commands and explain to them how they should live and what they should do.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.