Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clearImportance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV)They’ll be the ones to judge the people, except that every serious situation they’ll bring to you—they’ll judge every minor situation themselves. Yes, you must lighten this load off yourself, and they’ll share the load with you.
Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXΚαὶ κρινοῦσι τὸν λαὸν πᾶσαν ὥραν· τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα τὸ ὑπέρογκον ἀνοίσουσιν ἐπὶ σὲ· τὰ δὲ βραχέα τῶν κριμάτων κρινοῦσιν αὐτοί· καὶ κουφιοῦσιν ἀπὸ σοῦ, καὶ συναντιλήψονταί σοι. (Kai krinousi ton laon pasan hōran; to de ɽaʸma to huperogkon anoisousin epi se; ta de braⱪea tōn krimatōn krinousin autoi; kai koufiousin apo sou, kai sunantilaʸpsontai soi. )
BrTrAnd they shall judge the people at all times, and the too burdensome matter they shall bring to thee, but they shall judge the smaller cases; so they shall relieve thee and help thee.
ULTAnd they will judge the people at all times. And so it will be, every great situation they will bring to you, and every small situation they will judge themselves. And you must lighten this thing from on you! And they will carry alongside you.
USTAllow them to settle disputes for the people usually. It should work like this: The difficult matters they can bring to you, but the matters that are simple, they can decide themselves. Do this to make the work easier for you as they help you do that work.
BSB § Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.
WEBBELet them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you.
NETThey will judge the people under normal circumstances, and every difficult case they will bring to you, but every small case they themselves will judge, so that you may make it easier for yourself, and they will bear the burden with you.
LSVand they have judged the people at all times; and it has come to pass, they bring every great matter to you, and they judge every small matter themselves; and lighten it from off yourself, and they have borne with you.
FBVThese men are to judge the people on a continuing basis. Major issues they can bring to you, but they can decide all the small matters themselves. In this way your burden will be made lighter as they share it with you.
T4TAllow them to serve permanently to settle disputes for the people. The difficult matters the people can bring to you; but the matters that are not difficult, they can decide themselves. That will make the work easier for you, as they help you do that work.
LEBAnd let them judge the people all the time, and[fn] every major issue they will bring to you, and every minor issue they will judge themselves. And so lighten it for yourself, and they will bear it with you.
BBEAnd let them be judges in the causes of the people at all times: and let them put before you all important questions, but in small things let them give decisions themselves: in this way, it will be less hard for you, and they will take the weight off you.
JPSAnd let them judge the people at all seasons; and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge themselves; so shall they make it easier for thee and bear the burden with thee.
ASVand let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge themselves: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
DRAWho may judge the people at all times: and when any great matter soever shall fall out, let them refer it to thee, and let them judge the lesser matters only: that so it may be lighter for thee, the burden being shared out unto others.
YLTand they have judged the people at all times; and it hath come to pass, every great matter they bring in unto thee, and every small matter they judge themselves; and lighten it from off thyself, and they have borne with thee.
Drbythat they may judge the people at all times; and it shall be [that] they shall bring to thee every great matter, and that they shall judge every small matter, and they shall lighten [the task] on thee, and they shall bear [it] with thee.
RVand let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge themselves: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
WbstrAnd let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring to thee, but every small matter they shall judge: So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
KJB-1769And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. (And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee/you, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself/yourself, and they shall bear the burden with thee/you. )
KJB-1611And let them iudge the people at all seasons: and it shall bee that euery great matter they shall bring vnto thee, but euery small matter they shal iudge: so shall it be easier for thy selfe, and they shall beare the burden with thee. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)
BshpsAnd let them iudge the people at all seasons: and euery great matter that commeth, let them bryng vnto thee, but let them iudge all small causes them selues, and so shall it be easier for thy selfe, and they shall beare a burthen with thee. (And let them judge the people at all seasons: and every great matter that cometh/comes, let them bring unto thee/you, but let them judge all small causes themselves, and so shall it be easier for thyself/yourself, and they shall bear a burthen with thee/you.)
GnvaAnd let them iudge the people at all seasons: but euery great matter let them bring vnto thee, and let them iudge all small causes: so shall it be easier for thee, when they shall beare the burden with thee. (And let them judge the people at all seasons: but every great matter let them bring unto thee/you, and let them judge all small causes: so shall it be easier for thee/you, when they shall bear the burden with thee/you. )
Cvdlthat they maye allwaye iudge the people. But where there is eny greate matter, that they brynge the same vnto the, and iudge the small causes them selues: so shall it be lighter for the, yf they beare the burthen with the. (that they may allwaye judge the people. But where there is any great matter, that they bring the same unto them, and judge the small causes themselves: so shall it be lighter for them, if they bear the burthen with them.)
Wyclwhiche schulen deme the puple in al tyme; sotheli what ever thing is grettere, telle thei to thee, and deme thei ooneli lesse thingis, and be it esiere to thee, whanne the burthun is departid in to othere men. (whiche should deme the people in all time; truly what ever thing is greater, telle they to thee/you, and deme they ooneli less things, and be it esiere to thee/you, when the burthun is departed in to other men.)
Luthdaß sie das Volk allezeit richten; wo aber eine große Sache ist, daß sie dieselbe an dich bringen, und sie alle geringen Sachen richten. So wird dir‘s leichter werden, und sie mit dir tragen. (daß they/she/them the people allezeit richten; where but one large matter is, that they/she/them dieselbe at you/yourself bringen, and they/she/them all geringen Sachen richten. So becomes dir‘s leichter become, and they/she/them with you/to_you tragen.)
ClVgqui judicent populum omni tempore: quidquid autem majus fuerit, referant ad te, et ipsi minora tantummodo judicent: leviusque sit tibi, partito in alios onere. (who yudicent the_people all tempore: quidquid however mayus has_been, referant to you(sg), and ipsi minora tantummodo yudicent: leviusque let_it_be tibi, partito in alios onere. )
18:13-27 Jethro’s wise advice is a further example of God’s providence, although it was not given in a miraculous way. Jethro introduced Moses to a style of leadership that involved delegation of authority. It appears that Moses had been following an Egyptian style of leadership that was heavily hierarchical and based on circumstances. No Egyptian law code has yet been discovered. It appears that all authority flowed downward from the pharaoh, who ruled by fiat. Jethro proposed a structure of delegation that would make Moses’ life easier.
By every great situation they will bring to you, Jethro is recommending that the new leaders should pass the most difficult cases to Moses for him to judge them. If your readers would not understand what this image means in this context, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “the difficult cases they will tell you about” or “when there are difficult cases, they will tell you about them so you could judge them”
Jethro speaks of the hard work that they would do as if it were something that they would carry beside Moses and make lighter for Moses by helping him. If your readers would not understand what this image means in this context, you could use an equivalent metaphor from your culture. Alternatively, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “and lessen your work by having them do the hard work with you” or “and make your work easier by having them help you do the hard work”
Like several other events recorded in Scripture, the Bible’s account of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai includes an abundance of geographical references, yet it remains one of the most hotly debated topics among scholars, and numerous theories have been offered. The vast majority of geographical references provided in the story are disputed, including the place where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, the location of Mount Sinai (see Proposed Locations for Mount Sinai map), and the various stops along the Israelites’ journey. A few locations have been established with some degree of scholarly consensus, but even these are not without opposing viewpoints. Amidst this incredible diversity of opinion, however, a single verse provides one of the most helpful clues for weighing the merits of one viewpoint over another: “By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea from Horeb” (Deuteronomy 1:2). For those who assume the Bible’s account to be trustworthy, this verse appears to require the following for any theory to be considered viable: 1) Kadesh-barnea and Mount Sinai must have been located at a distance from each other that could reasonably have been expected to take eleven days for an entire nation of people with small children, flocks, equipment, and perhaps even elderly members to travel on foot; and 2) the pace established by this distance over eleven days should most likely be considered the typical pace for the Israelites as they traveled from place to place along the other parts of the journey. This two-pronged test clearly strains many of the theories put forth to this point, especially when one factors in the time references given for the start of the journey (Exodus 12:6; Numbers 33:3), the middle of the journey (Exodus 16:1; Numbers 33:8), and the end of the journey (Exodus 19:1). In short, the journey from Rameses to the Wilderness of Sin took 31 days, since it included the 15th day of the second month, and the rest of the journey took another 16 days, assuming they arrived at Mount Sinai on the 15th day (not the first day, etc.) of the third month. Along with these criteria, a theory’s overall congruence with other established geographical and archeological data should bolster its credibility over other proposals. Another consideration is the extreme similarity between the events at Rephidim (Exodus 17) and the events at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 20:1-13; 27:12-14; Deuteronomy 32:51; Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28), raising the question of whether Rephidim (meaning “resting places”) is in fact Kadesh-barnea. With these things in mind, the map below proposes a route for the exodus that meets virtually all of these criteria. A careful analysis and explanation of all the elements of the map is far beyond the scope of this article, but a few key points should be noted. The term Red Sea, in addition to referring to what we now regard it, must have also applied to the interconnected lakes and marshlands that lay along what is now the Suez Canal. Also, the portion of the journey that passed through the wilderness for three days without water (Exodus 15:22; Numbers 33:8) may have been comprised of a partial first day, a full second day, and a partial third day, much like Jesus’ time in the tomb is reckoned as three days in Matthew 12:40. Most notably, Mount Sinai is placed on this map at Gebel Khashm et-Tarif, which is appropriately located near, but not in, Midian (Exodus 3:1; 18:5; Numbers 10:29-30). It is also located 89 miles from Kadesh-barnea (assuming Kadesh is at Tall al-Quderat), which establishes a reasonable pace of 7.6 miles (12.2 km) per day to travel between them in 11 days. This lines up well with several known sources of water along that route (e.g., `Ain Qedeis [Hazar-addar?], Tamilat Suwelima [Hor-haggiggad?], and the spring at Kuntillet al-Girafi [unknown ancient identification]). This general pace then synchronizes very well with the timetable and distances required by this map for the other parts of the journey. The distance from Rameses to the Wilderness of Sin (where it is located here) could be completed in under 26 days, leaving an acceptable buffer of about 5 days for the parting of the Red Sea and perhaps a slower pace through the Wilderness of Shur/Etham. The entire journey took about 60 days, and the journey from the Wilderness of Sin to Mount Sinai took about 29 days. This leaves an acceptable buffer of time to complete the rest of the journey (about 16 days of travel) with a very adequate two weeks of extra time for Jethro to visit Moses and the Israelites to do battle with the Amalekites (Exodus 17-18). It should be noted that this timetable generally assumes (but does not necessarily require) that travel continued on sabbath days, but Scripture does not make clear whether travel was prohibited as work prior to the giving of the law at Mount Sinai.
