What Does Exodus 18:26 Mean in the King James?
And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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 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.Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.THE THREAD
Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear 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.
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