18:1(i) Va Yishma Yitro (יתרו) [Re'u'el] Kohen Midyan, khoten (father-in-law) Mosheh, heard of all that Elohim had done for Mosheh, and for Yisrael his people, [and] that YHWH (יהוה) had brought Yisrael out of Mitzrayim;
18:2 Then Yitro (יתרו), khoten Mosheh, took Zipporah, Mosheh wife, after he had sent her back,
Veet shenei vanei ha asher shem ha echad Gershom: "ki amar ger ha yiti be eretz nakhriya"
And her two sons; of which the name of the one [was] Gershom; for he said:
"I have been an alien in a strange land:"
18:4 And the name of the other [was] Eliezer (אליעזר):
For the Elohim of my father, [said he, was] mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Paroh:
18:5 And Yitro (יתרו), khoten Mosheh, came with his sons and his wife unto Mosheh into the midbar (wilderness, מדבר), where he encamped at the mount of Elohim[Horev, or Sinai]. :
18:6 And he said unto Mosheh:
I khotenkha Yitro (יתרו) am come unto thee, and thy wife, and her two sons with her.
18:7 And Mosheh went out to meet his khoten, and did obeisance, and kissed him; and they asked each other of [their] welfare; and they came into the tent.
18:8 And Mosheh told his khoten all that YHWH (יהוה) had done unto Paroh and to the Mitzrites forYisrael's sake, [and] all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and [how] YHWH (יהוה) delivered them.
18:9 And Yitro (יתרו) rejoiced for all the goodness which YHWH (יהוה) had done toYisrael, whom he had delivered out of the hand of the Mitzrites.
18:10 And Yitro (יתרו) said:
Blessed [be] YHWH (יהוה), who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Mitzrites, and out of the hand of Paroh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Mitzrites.
18:11 Now I know that YHWH (יהוה) [is] greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly [he was] above them.
18:12 And Yitro (יתרו), Mosheh father-in-law, took a burnt offering and sacrifices for Elohim: and Aharon came, and all the ziknei Yisrael, to eat lechem with Mosheh father-in-law before Elohim.
18:13(ii) And it came to pass on the morrow, that Mosheh sat to shofat the people: and the people stood by Mosheh from the morning unto the evening.
18:14 And when Mosheh father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said,
What [is] this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?
18:15 And Mosheh said unto his khoten, Because the people come unto me to enquire of Elohim:
18:16 When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I shofat between one and another, and I do make [them] know the statutes of Elohim, and his Torah.
18:17
And Mosheh father-in-law said unto him, The thing that
thou doest [is] not good.
18:18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that [is] with thee: for this thing [is] too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
18:19 Hearken now unto my kol, I will give thee counsel, and Elohim shall be with thee: Be thou for the people's representative before Elohim, that thou mayest bring the causes unto Elohim:
18:20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and Torah, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must halak, and the work that they must do.
18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear Elohim, men of truth, hating dishonest gain; and place [such] over them, [to be] rulers of thousands, [and] rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
18:22 And let them shofat the people at all seasons: and it shall be, [that] every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall shofat: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear [the burden] with thee.
18:23 If thou shalt do this thing, and Elohim command thee [so], then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
18:24 (iii) So Mosheh hearkened to the voice of his khoten, and did all that he had said.
18:25 And Mosheh chose able men out of all Yisrael, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
18:26 And they shofat the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Mosheh, but every small matter they shofat themselves.
18:27 And Mosheh let his khoten depart; and he went his way into his own land.
Yitro's Background-
Yitro and his community according to commentary of the Artscroll Chumah explains that Yitro had once been a distinguished personality - minister of Midyan and former adviser to Paroh, throughout the chapter Yitro was received royally, not only by Moshe but also by the entire Yisrael nation and he later justified the honor by offering counsel on how to organize the nation's judicial system in vs 13-23. In recognition of that service, Yitro was given the name Yether, When he converted to Judaism the letter vav was added to his name which was changed from Yether to Yithro were known to be a mixed multitude united as one nation, Hashem desire to create a unified faith.
Yitro (יתרו)- Was called Reuel and in 4:18 he was called both Yethro and Yitro (יתרו) . He has a total of seven names:
Reuel, Yithro (Exodus 4:18, Judges 8:20), Yitro (יתרו), Hobab (Numbers 10:29; Judges 4:11), Heber (Judge 4:11, Keini and Putiel (6:25)
In this chapter we can see Hashem teach Yisrael three important lessons. Prepareness, reliance and revelation.
1st stage Unified faith, One people - preparation one accordance be ready - disunity is devasting.
2nd stage reliance -
1. like-minded believer willing to share responsibilities working together one accord.
2. Assignment of individed into duties called to perform shemot 18:21-22
3rd Stage Revelation - reality allows the entire community to reeceive knowledge of Hashem shemot 20:21-22; more than one individuals to prevent deception and make deception more difficult.
Midbar (wilderness, מדבר) - Desert: The word desert is מדבר midbar translate as wilderness. The Desert of Sinai peninsula in which I visited in June 2008, was a barren places lacking in water and vegetation; places inhospitable for the presence of man. In the desert there are many fiery deadly poisonous snakes and scorpions. The word midbar contains the Hebrew root word dabar meaning "word". Desert is the place of the word, the place of revelation.
The desert is the opposite of Egypt which I have visited is a the place of worldliness, greenery watered by the nile, prosperity, Pride, heroic architecture and there. many idol scuptures.
In the desert benai Yisrael had to dependent of Hashem for food and water. It is also in the desert Yisrael encounters Hashem's faithfulness. It is to a believer that the desert is a spiritual journey that we have to meet with trials , disciplines, separate ourselve the old ways prepare our clean heart before Hashem.