12 And Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, taketh a burnt-offering and sacrifices for God; and Aaron cometh in, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Moses, before God.
and ye have eaten there before Jehovah your God, and have rejoiced in every putting forth of your hand, ye and your households, with which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee.
And Jacob sacrificeth a sacrifice in the mount, and calleth to his brethren to eat bread, and they eat bread, and lodge in the mount;
and he sendeth the youths of the sons of Israel, and they cause burnt-offerings to ascend, and sacrifice sacrifices of peace-offerings to Jehovah -- calves.
And now, take to you seven bullocks and seven rams, and go ye unto My servant Job, and ye have caused a burnt-offering to ascend for you; and Job My servant doth pray for you, for surely his face I accept, so as not to do with you folly, because ye have not spoken concerning Me rightly, like My servant Job.
Ye are not able the cup of the Lord to drink, and the cup of demons; ye are not able of the table of the Lord to partake, and of the table of demons;
See Israel according to the flesh! are not those eating the sacrifices in the fellowship of the altar?
And it came to pass, on his going into the house of a certain one of the chiefs of the Pharisees, on a sabbath, to eat bread, that they were watching him,
desirable bread I have not eaten, and flesh and wine hath not come in unto my mouth, and I have not anointed myself at all, till the completion of three weeks of days.
And come unto him do all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all his former acquaintances, and they eat bread with him in his house, and bemoan him, and comfort him concerning all the evil that Jehovah had brought upon him, and they gave to him each one kesitah, and each one ring of gold.
and Abel, he hath brought, he also, from the female firstlings of his flock, even from their fat ones; and Jehovah looketh unto Abel and unto his present,
and it cometh to pass, when they have gone round the days of the banquet, that Job doth send and sanctify them, and hath risen early in the morning, and caused to ascend burnt-offerings -- the number of them all -- for Job said, `Perhaps my sons have sinned, yet blessed God in their heart.' Thus doth Job all the days.
And Hezekiah speaketh unto the heart of all the Levites, those giving good understanding concerning Jehovah, and they eat the appointed thing seven days; sacrificing sacrifices of peace-offerings, and making confession to Jehovah, God of their fathers.
And they sacrifice to Jehovah sacrifices, and cause to ascend burnt-offerings to Jehovah on the morrow of that day, bullocks a thousand, rams a thousand, lambs a thousand, and their oblations, even sacrifices in abundance, for all Israel. And they eat and drink before Jehovah on that day with great joy, and cause Solomon son of David to reign a second time, and anoint `him' before Jehovah for leader, and Zadok for priest.
And David saith to him, `Be not afraid; for I certainly do with thee kindness because of Jonathan thy father, and have given back to thee all the field of Saul thy father, and thou dost eat bread at my table continually.'
`And this `is' a law of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings which `one' bringeth near to Jehovah: if for a thank-offering he bring it near, then he hath brought near with the sacrifice of thank-offering unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and thin unleavened cakes anointed with oil, and of fried flour cakes mixed with oil; besides the cakes, fermented bread he doth bring near `with' his offering, besides the sacrifice of thank-offering of his peace-offerings; and he hath brought near out of it one of the whole offering -- a heave-offering to Jehovah; to the priest who is sprinkling the blood of the peace-offerings -- it is his; as to the flesh of the sacrifice of the thank-offering of his peace-offerings, in the day of his offering it is eaten; he doth not leave of it till morning. `And if the sacrifice of his offering `is' a vow or free-will offering, in the day of his bringing near his sacrifice it is eaten; and on the morrow also the remnant of it is eaten; and the remnant of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day with fire is burnt;
and he saith unto his daughters, `And where `is' he? why `is' this? -- ye left the man! call for him, and he doth eat bread.'
and he buildeth there an altar, and preacheth in the name of Jehovah, and stretcheth out there his tent, and there Isaac's servants dig a well.
And Jehovah appeareth unto Abram, and saith, `To thy seed I give this land;' and he buildeth there an altar to Jehovah, who hath appeared unto him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 18
Commentary on Exodus 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 18
This chapter is concerning Moses himself, and the affairs of his own family.
Exd 18:1-6
This incident may very well be allowed to have happened as it is placed here, before the giving of the law, and not, as some place it, in connection with what is recorded, Num. 10:11, 29, etc. Sacrifices were offered before; in these mentioned here (v. 12) it is observable that Jethro is said to take them, not Aaron. And as to Jethro's advising Moses to constitute judges under him, though it is intimate (v. 13) that the occasion of his giving that advice was on the morrow, yet it does not follow but that Moses's settlement of that affair might be some time after, when the law was given, as it is placed, Deu. 1:9. It is plain that Jethro himself would not have him make this alteration in the government till he had received instructions from God about it (v. 23), which he did not till some time after. Jethro comes,
Exd 18:7-12
Observe here,
Exd 18:13-27
Here is,
Now Moses did not despise this advice because it came from one not acquainted, as he was, with the words of God and the visions of the Almighty; but he hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, v. 24. When he came to consider the thing, he saw the reasonableness of what his father-in-law proposed and resolved to put it in practice, which he did soon afterwards, when he had received directions from God in the matter. Note, Those are not so wise as they would be thought to be who think themselves too wise to be counselled; for a wise man (one who is truly so) will hear, and will increase learning, and not slight good counsel, though given by an inferior. Moses did not leave the election of the magistrates to the people, who had already done enough to prove themselves unfit for such a trust; but he chose them, and appointed them, some for greater, others for less division, the less probably subordinate to the greater. We have reason to value government as a very great mercy, and to thank God for laws and magistrates, so that we are not like the fishes of the sea, where the greater devour the less.