Bible Strands
Exodus 18:13
The next day Moses took his seat to judge the people, and they stood around him from morning until evening.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses takes a seat to adjudicate Israel's disputes the day after Jethro's sacrificial visit, while the congregation gathers around him from dawn to dusk.
The words — The verb וַ/יֵּ֥שֶׁב (va/i.Ye.shev) records Moses sitting, directly linked to לִ/שְׁפֹּ֣ט (li/sh.Pot) to define the judicial purpose of his posture.
The thread — Seated judgment appears at the city gate in Job 29:7 and is tied to a Davidic throne in Isaiah 16:5, while Judges 5:10 describes travelers resting on saddle blankets along the road.
Why it lands — The text documents the physical and temporal weight of solitary leadership, requiring readers to assess the structural sustainability of centralized authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Judges 5:10 You who ride white donkeys, who sit on saddle blankets, and you who travel the road, ponder
- Job 29:7 When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
- Isaiah 16:5 in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.
- Joel 3:12 Let the nations be roused and advance to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit down to judge all the nations on every side.
- Matthew 23:2 “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
- Romans 12:8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
- Romans 13:6 This is also why you pay taxes. For the authorities are God’s servants, who devote themselves to their work.