What Does Exodus 18:26 Mean?
And they judged the people at all times; the hard word they brought to Moses, but every small word they judged themselves.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.THE KEY
Judgment is shared across levels: ordinary matters stay with the judges who can resolve them, while harder cases rise to Moses.
THE MEANING
Judgment is work that can live at more than one level. The judges decide matters within their reach, while what is hard is carried to Moses. The distinction is the weight of the case, not a claim that every decision belongs to one center.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that legitimate judgment can come only from the highest authority. The verse gives the judges real responsibility to decide ordinary matters themselves.
THE ROOT
שָׁפַט
shāphaṭ
GROWS FROM
ש־פ־ט
sh-p-ṭ
To judge, decide a case, or govern.
Both instances of “judged” carry this same root: the judges decide the people’s cases, and they decide small matters themselves. Its branches connect the act of judgment with both justice and the person entrusted to govern, showing judgment as shared responsibility, not merely a verdict handed down from above.
ALSO GROWS
mishpat: Judgment, justice, or a legal decision.
מִשְׁפָּט
Deuteronomy 1:17 uses this related word for judgment while also describing hard cases being brought to a higher authority.
shofet: A judge or one who governs.
שֹׁפֵט
The noun names the person who carries the judging work; here, that responsibility belongs to the appointed judges as well as to Moses.
THE PATTERN
Wise judgment is distributed by capacity: ordinary cases are handled near their source, while what exceeds that capacity is brought to a wider authority.
And let them judge the people at all times; and it shall be that every great word they bring to you, but every small word they shall judge, so it will lighten from upon you, and they shall carry the burden with you.You shall not recognize faces in judgment; hear and respond to the small as well as the great; do not shrink from the face of man; for the judgment is God's; and the word that is too hard for you, draw it near to me, and I will hear and respond to it.Now, brothers, look out among you seven men of good witness, full of the Set-Apart Breath and wisdom, whom we may set over this need.THE THREAD
You shall not recognize faces in judgment; hear and respond to the small as well as the great; do not shrink from the face of man; for the judgment is God's; and the word that is too hard for you, draw it near to me, and I will hear and respond to it.“Judgment” here is מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), a branch of the ש־פ־ט (sh-p-ṭ) root behind “judged” in Exodus 18:26. The connection shows that sharing the work across levels carries judgment forward while hard cases receive a wider hearing.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us