Bible Strands
Exodus 18:17
But Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses’ father-in-law addresses Moses at the wilderness camp, speaking directly after Moses explains his daily practice of judging every dispute and teaching the people God’s statutes.
The words — The Hebrew phrase לֹא־טוֹב הַדָּבָר (lo-tov ha-davar) translates literally as “the thing is not good,” serving as a direct evaluation of Moses’ current judicial method.
The thread — This assessment of unsustainable leadership directly precedes the warning in Exodus 18:18 and parallels Moses’ later declaration of an unbearable burden in Numbers 11:14.
Why it lands — It requires a clear-eyed recognition of human limits before a task causes exhaustion, mandating structural delegation rather than solitary endurance.
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 Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.