Arcana Coelestia 8641. The subject treated of in the internal sense in this chapter is truths in successive order from the First to the last, and that they are set in order by good Divine. Truth in the first degree is represented by Moses; the truths derived therefrom in successive order are represented by the princes of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And good Divine, by which the setting in order is effected, is represented by Jethro, Moses‘ father-in-law.

8641. Exodus 18

1. And Jethro, the priest of Midian, the father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel His people, that Jehovah had brought Israel out of Egypt.

2. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah, the wife of Moses, after he had sent her away, ¹

3. And her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, I have been a sojourner in a foreign land),

4. And the name of the other was Eliezer (Because the God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh).

5. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, and his sons and his wife came to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of God.

6. And he said to Moses, I your father-in-law Jethro come to you, and your wife, and her two sons with her.

7. And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and bowed down, and kissed him; and they asked, a man his companion, as regards peace; ² and they came into the tent.

8. And Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the distress that had come upon them on the way, and how Jehovah had rescued them.

9. And Jethro rejoiced over all the good which Jehovah had done for Israel, who had rescued him from the hand of the Egyptians.

10. And Jethro said, Blessed be Jehovah, who has rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has rescued His people from under the hand of the Egyptians.

11. Now I know that Jehovah is greater than all gods, for this reason, that they behaved proudly over them.

12. And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

13. And so it was, on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people; and the people stood before Moses from morning until evening.

14. And the father-in-law of Moses saw all that he was doing for the people, and he said, What is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people are standing before you from morning until evening?

15. And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God.

16. When they have a matter they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbour; ³ and I make known the judgements of God and His laws.

17. And the father-in-law of Moses said to him, The thing that you do is not good.

18. You will surely wither away, both you and this people who are with you, for the task ⁴ is too heavy for you; you are not able to do it yourself alone.

19. Now hear my voice; I will counsel you, and God will be with you. Be for the people with God, and you are to bring matters to God ⁵ .

20. And you are to teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must go, and the work they must do.

21. And you are to see ⁶ out of all the people men of vigour fearing God, men of truth hating gain; and you are to appoint them ⁷ rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

22. And let them judge the people at all times. And it shall be, every great matter let them bring to you, and every small matter let them judge themselves; and roll down [the burden] from upon yourself, and let them bear [it] with you.

23. If you do this thing and God has commanded you, you will be able to stand fast; and also all this people will come upon their place in peace.

24. And Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he said.

25. And Moses chose men of vigour from all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.

26. And they will judge the people at all times; a difficult matter they will bring to Moses, and every small matter they will judge themselves.

27. And Moses sent his father-in-law away; and he went his way to his own land.

CONTENTS

The internal sense in this chapter deals with levels of truth that follow one another in order from the first to the last, arranged into order by good from God. The first level of truth is represented by Moses; the levels of truth that follow on from it in order are represented by the rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens; and the good from God by which they are arranged into order is represented by Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses.

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