Literary Devices – Shemot 18

Structure of Chapter 18

Chapter 18 splits into two main scenes – The Reunion (18:1-12) and Yitro's Advice (18:13-27). For more on the structural units of the chapter and their relationship, see Structure.

Parallels & Contrasts – 18:1-12

The Reunion Scene of Chapter 18 (18:1-12) divides into two subscenes – Yitro's arrival in 18:1-7 and his conversation with Moshe in 18:8-12.¹ An examination of the parallels and contrasts between the two subscenes highlights several points:

Two Accounts

There are significant similarities between the report Yitro initially received (18:1) and the account he heard from Moshe (18:8), but also striking differences. Are these variations simply literary flourishes or is Moshe's recapitulation fundamentally different from the first version Yitro heard? See Two Accounts for a comparative analysis of the contents of the reports and the impact each had on Yitro, and for the possibility that the first report was limited to the Exodus while the second described the miracles at Yam Suf.²

Taking and Coming

Each of the accounts which Yitro hears prompts both a "taking" (וַיִּקַּח‎ – 18:2,12)³ and a "coming" (וַיָּבֹא‎ – 18:5,12). The initial news motivates Yitro to take Moshe's family and come with them to Moshe, whereas in verse 12, Moshe's account leads him to offer sacrifices to God and meet with Aharon and the elders of Israel.⁴ What does this tell us about the objective of Yitro's visit? Did he come simply to reunite the family, or with a religious or diplomatic agenda? Alternatively, perhaps he arrived with one purpose but in the course of his visit discovered another. See Purpose of Yitro's Visit, Yitro's Religious Identity, and Yitro's Sacrifices for elaboration.

Location

In the first subscene, Yitro arrives at God's Mountain (הַר הָאֱ-לֹהִים) and then enters Moshe's tent (הָאֹהֱלָה‎),⁵ while in the second subscene he breaks bread with Aharon and the elders of Israel "before God" (לִפְנֵי הָאֱ-לֹהִים). What exactly does "before God" mean? Is it identical to one of the previously mentioned locations – either God's mountain or Moshe's tent? See Lifnei HaElohim and Chronology for more.⁶

Additionally, within the first subscene (18:1-7) there is a threefold repetition of Yitro's coming and taking of wife and children. See Who Accompanied Yitro for a comparison table of these verses and an analysis of their variations.

Parallels & Contrasts – 18:13-27

Problem and Solution (Subscenes A + B)

Parallels

In offering his advice in Subscene B, Yitro relates to the various tasks mentioned by Moshe in Subscene A. Yitro reflects two of these responsibilities back to Moshe, using similar language with only slight modifications.⁷

In response to Moshe's words (18:15), "the people come to me to inquire of God" (לִדְרֹשׁ אֱ-לֹהִים), Yitro similarly says (18:19) "You be for the people before God, and you bring the matters to God" (מוּל הָאֱ-לֹהִים‎).⁸ See Moshe's Duties for the meaning of these verses.
Moshe says (18:16) "and I make known the statutes of God and His laws" (וְהוֹדַעְתִּי אֶת חֻקֵּי הָאֱ-לֹהִים וְאֶת תּוֹרֹתָיו), and this is echoed by Yitro (18:20) "And you should teach them the statutes and the laws and you should make known to them..." (אֶת הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת הַתּוֹרֹת וְהוֹדַעְתָּ‎).⁹ See Moshe's Duties for the meaning of these verses.

Contrasts

The text uses contrasting language to emphasize the changes and improvements that will result from implementing Yitro's advice.

Shifting the Burden – In contrast to his basic agreement regarding the first two tasks, Yitro disagrees about the role played by Moshe regarding the third task, judging the people. Whereas Moshe said, "and I judge between man and his neighbor," (וְשָׁפַטְתִּי) Yitro proposes "seek out from among the people capable men… And let them judge the people" (וְשָׁפְטוּ). Similarly, in response to Moshe's statement "When they have a matter, it comes to me" (כִּי יִהְיֶה לָהֶם דָּבָר בָּא אֵלַי), Yitro suggests that only "every great matter they will bring to you" (הַדָּבָר הַגָּדֹל יָבִיאוּ אֵלֶיךָ). In this manner, the burden which had until then fallen "on" Moshe (עַל מֹשֶׁה,‏ עָלֶיךָ – vvs. 13-14) will be transferred "from on Moshe" (מֵעָלֶיךָ – v.22) and placed instead "on them" (עֲלֵהֶם – v.21), i.e. on the newly appointed judges.
Body Position – Verses 13-14 both depict Moshe sitting (יוֹשֵׁב) while the nation stands (וַיַּעֲמֹד,‏ נִצָּב) waiting for him. Yitro's advice in 18:23 will, in contrast, enable Moshe to stand (וְיָכָלְתָּ עֲמֹד) and all of the people to "go to their place" (עַל מְקֹמוֹ יָבֹא בְשָׁלוֹם – an image of resting). The words וְיָכָלְתָּ עֲמֹד in 18:23 are a wordplay, for they connote both Moshe's ability to endure as well as the fact that he will no longer need to physically be sitting in judgment.
Heavy → Light – What was "too heavy" (כָבֵד) for Moshe in 18:18 will be made "light" (וְהָקֵל) in 18:22, and whereas Moshe was "unable" (לֹא תוּכַל), he will now "be able" (וְיָכָלְתָּ).

Solution and Implementation (Subscenes B + C)

Parallels

The linguistic parallels between the wording of Yitro's advice and its implementation by Moshe illustrate how closely Moshe adhered to his in-law's suggestions.

The openings of the two sections echo each other. Yitro tells Moshe, "Listen now to my voice" (שְׁמַע בְּקֹלִי) and the narrator tells us, "Moshe listened to the voice of his father-in-law" (וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה לְקוֹל חֹתְנוֹ).
Similarly, verses 21-22 and 25-26, are almost identical. Moshe appoints "capable men" (אַנְשֵׁי חַיִל) to be "rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens," just as Yitro suggested. They judge the "small matters" (הַדָּבָר הַקָּטֹן) on a regular basis, bringing only the difficult ones to Moshe.

Contrasts

The near verbatim repetition highlights a significant omission in the account of Moshe's implementation.¹⁰

While Yitro tells Moshe to appoint "capable men, God fearing, men of truth, who hate unjust gain," the Torah records only that Moshe chose "capable men" without mentioning the other qualities. See Advice and Implementation for several approaches to understanding this discrepancy.

Keywords

הציל

The word הציל (deliver/save) appears five times in various forms¹¹ in the Reunion Scene (18:1-12). In 18:4 it describes the saving of Moshe on a personal level, while in 18:8-9 it is used to refer to the deliverance of the entire nation. As noted by RashbamShemot 18:1About Rashbam, Yitro's blessing in 18:10 then combines the two, reflecting his joy over the salvation of both Moshe and the nation – see Two Accounts.¹²

שפט

The verb שפט (judge) appears twice in each subscene of the second half of the chapter (18:13-27). In subscene A, Moshe is the subject of the verbs as he judges alone,¹³ while in subscenes B and C, the appointees are the subject of the verbs, highlighting the transfer of the judicial burden.

הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה

Variations of the phrase הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה (the thing that you are doing) repeat several times in verses 14, 17 and 23, revealing how Yitro's critique was carefully considered. He first observed a problem ("saw all that he did"), he continued by probing to get to the heart of the matter ("What is this thing that you are doing"), then he evaluated the situtation ("The thing that you are doing is not good"), and finally he offered a solution ("If you will do this thing…").

God's role

Yitro's advice (18:19-23) is framed by two parallel phrases "and may God be with you" (וִיהִי אֱ-לֹהִים עִמָּךְ) in 18:19 and "and God command you so" (וְצִוְּךָ אֱ-לֹהִים) in 18:23, creating an inclusio and indicating Yitro's sensitivity to the need for his advice to be sanctioned by God.¹⁴

Character Titles

Chapter 18 refers to each of God, Yitro, and the Children of Israel by various names. In some instances, these variations reflect a fundamental difference of meaning, while in others they serve a literary function. See here for a general discussion of Character Titles in Tanakh.

God

The names used – Chapter 18 uses two different names to refer to God, depending on the speaker and the role of God being described:
- אֱ-לֹהִים (Elohim) – 18:1a,¹⁵ 12a, 12b,¹⁶ 15, 16, 19a, 19b, 19c,¹⁷ 21,¹⁸ 23.¹⁹ This is the generic name for God used universally.
- '‎ה (Hashem, the tetragrammaton) – 18:1b, 8a, 8b, 9, 10, 11.²⁰ This is the name of God used when describing Him as the God of Israel, or when focusing on his relationship with the Children of Israel.²¹
Accounting for the variations verse by verse:²²
- 18:1a-18:1b – In 18:1a, Elohim, the generic name for God is used since Yitro is hearing an account, presumably, from a Gentile.²³ 18:1b, however, adds that what prompted this report was Hashem's taking Israel out of Egypt.²⁴ This parenthetical explanation is given using the Torah's own narrative voice, and thus 18:1b switches to use the proper name of Hashem.²⁵
- 18:8-11 – In contrast to the original report in 18:1a which spoke of the deeds of a generic God, in 18:8-11 Moshe and Yitro discuss the events which displayed Hashem's supremacy over all gods and His special relationship with the Children of Israel. Thus, in these verses, both Moshe and Yitro use the special Israelite name of Hashem.²⁶
- 18:12 – In 18:12, the topic is no longer Hashem's special bond with Israel, but rather Yitro's personal offering of sacrifices, and thus the name Elohim reappears. Also, see Yitro's Sacrifices for the approach that Yitro never converted or became fully monotheistic, despite his recognition of Hashem's preeminence.²⁷ Also see there for R. D"Z Hoffmann's suggestion that the sacrifices were part of a diplomatic (and not a religious) ceremony.
- 18:15-21 – These verses continue to use the generic name Elohim,²⁸ as they do not discuss God's connection to the Children of Israel or actions on their behalf.²⁹ U. CassutoShemot 18:13About Prof. U. Cassuto adds that the generic name of Elohim is the one generally used in conversations with Gentiles.

Israel

The names used – In Chapter 18, the Israelite nation is called by two different names:
- יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel) – 18:1(2x), 8, 9, 12, 25a.
- הָעָם (the people) – 18:10, 13(2x), 14(3x), 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25b, 26.³⁰
Accounting for the variations verse by verse – This task is a considerable challenge, as any approach must be consistent with the use of these terms in the rest of the Torah as well. If you have a working hypothesis, please email us at: resources@alhatorah.org. In the absence of a complete theory, here are some basic patterns which can be discerned:
- 18:1 – This verse opens a new unit, and thus the proper noun Israel is used as it is more formal and clearer as to its designee.
- 18:8-9 – Generally, when the narrator contrasts two nations, the name Israel is used to prevent ambiguity.
- 18:10 – In our chapter, the formal name Israel is utilized only by the narrator, while the characters in direct dialogue use only "the people" and not the proper name.³¹ This is not surprising as Moshe and Yitro are standing in the midst of the nation, and are not viewing it as an external body. For this reason, throughout Torah, Moshe almost always refers to the nation as "the people" or "the congregation."³² Alternatively, according to Rashbam, "the people" may be in contrast to Moshe, as "the people" and Moshe together make up all of Israel.
- 18:12 – The Torah almost always refers to the "Elders" by their formal name "Elders of Israel."³³
- 18:13-14a – Moshe is judging the masses of "the people."
- 18:14b-23 – In direct dialogue "the people" is almost always used, as noted above.
- 18:25a – The formal name Israel is used at the beginning of the narrator's description of the implementation of Yitro's advice.
- 18:25b-26 – The rulers/judges are chosen to lead and judge the masses, and thus "the people" is used.

Yitro

The names used – Chapter 18 refers to Yitro in four different ways.³⁴ These reflect the various capacities in which he functions:³⁵
- יִתְרוֹ (Yitro) without designating his relationship to Moshe – 18:9, 10. The Torah employs just Yitro's name³⁶ when describing an action of Yitro which is unconnected to Moshe or his family.
- חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, חֹתְנוֹ (Moshe's father-in-law) without his proper name – 18:7, 8, 12b, 14,³⁷ 15, 17, 24, 27. This is how the Torah refers to Yitro when describing his interactions with Moshe.³⁸
- יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה (Yitro, Moshe's father-in-law) – 18:2, 5, 6, 12a. This combination description³⁹ is used when Yitro is functioning in the role of Moshe's father-in-law, but is not interacting exclusively with or engaged in direct dialogue with Moshe himself.⁴⁰
- יִתְרוֹ כֹהֵן מִדְיָן חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה (Yitro, kohen of Midyan, Moshe's father-in-law) – 18:1. This is the fullest version, giving Yitro's name, his occupation, and his relationship to his co-protagonist, Moshe. It appears only at the beginning of the story when Yitro is first mentioned.
Accounting for the variations verse by verse:
- 18:1 – At the outset of the story, the Torah formally introduces Yitro with its fullest description. This is consistent with Tanakh's introduction of many other characters – see Character Titles.⁴¹
- 18:2-6 – In this section, Yitro acts in his capacity as Moshe's father-in-law, but is relating to other members of his family and not engaging Moshe directly.⁴² They therefore refer to Yitro by both his name and his relationship to Moshe.
- 18:7-8 – The title choteno suffices in these verses, as Moshe and Yitro are engaged in direct dialogue.⁴³
- 18:9-10 – Yitro and his recognition of Hashem's miracles on behalf of the nation is the exclusive focus of these verses, and neither Moshe nor his family members are mentioned.⁴⁴ Thus, Yitro is referred to by name only, with no mention of his relationship to Moshe.⁴⁵
- 18:12a-b – Yitro offers sacrifices and dines with Moshe's brother, Aharon, and the elders of Israel. While Yitro interacts with them in the role of Moshe's father-in-law, Moshe is in the background and not mentioned explicitly in the verse – see Where Was Moshe. Thus, 18:12a calls Yitro by his proper name as well as referring to him as choten Moshe, while 18:12b uses just choten Moshe as it is an abridgement of the earlier mention in the verse.⁴⁶
- 18:14-27 – In the second half of the chapter, Moshe and Yitro are interacting face to face, and thus Yitro is referred to merely as Moshe's father-in-law. In 18:14 and 17, Yitro is the active participant mentioned first in the verse and thus choten Moshe is used. In contrast, in 18:15,24,27 Moshe is the active party mentioned prior to Yitro, and the shorter choteno suffices.

¹⁴ This is in accordance with the interpretation of Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Yitro Amalek 2 and Rashi 18:19,23. In contrast, see Did Moshe Need Yitro's Advice for the Akeidat Yitzchak's alternative explanation that Yitro is stipulating that God needs to give a code of civil law before the judges can function. See also Abarbanel who offers a third possibility that Yitro is merely saying that if Moshe appoints judges he will then have time to speak to God. Abarbanel notes that there would have been no need for Yitro to stipulate that Moshe should consult with God (as per the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael and Rashi), as this would have been obvious. [Support for Abarbanel's reading may be brought from the internal order of both verses. In each, Yitro mentions that Moshe should dialogue with God only after telling Moshe to implement the advice.]

²⁴ In his translation of the Septuagint, Charles Thomson goes even further in offering the intriguing possibility which completely separates 18:1b from the first part of 18:1, attaching it instead to 18:2-4. According to his reading, at the time that Hashem was working to take the Israelites out of Egypt, Yitro took Zipporah and her two sons home to Midyan, and 18:1b is the backdrop for the flashback in 18:2-4. His interpretation is very similar to that of R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, and has the advantage of eliminating the wordiness in 18:1 as well as the apparent redundancy in 18:2-4,5 – see Who Accompanied Yitro. Thomson himself, though, is not concerned with the change in the name of God in verse 1, as the LXX reads Hashem in both parts of the verse.

³⁰ Israel appears six times and "the people" is used another fourteen times for a total of 20. U. Cassuto attaches literary significance to the appearance of keywords either ten or twenty times in the chapters before the Decalogue. The examples he brings are the ten occurrences of דבר‎ (18:11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22(2x), 23, 26(2x)), ten instances of each of the verbs עשה‎ (18:1, 8, 9, 14(2x), 17, 18, 20, 23, 24) and בוא‎ (18:5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 16, 19, 22, 23, 26), and the total of twenty times which Yitro and choten Moshe appear (in five of these cases they appear together; see below for the itemization). One can add to his list the twenty appearances of terms describing the nation (יִשְׂרָאֵל and הָעָם)‎ noted above and the twenty times that Moshe's name appears in the chapter (18:1(2x), 2 (2x), 5(2x), 6, 7, 8, 12(2x), 13(2x), 14, 15, 17, 24, 25, 26, 27). However, whether or not any of this is statistically significant requires more systematic study.

⁴⁶ An interesting alternative for the switch in the midst of 18:12 from Yitro choten Moshe to merely choten Moshe is offered by the Ba'alei HaTosafot and independently by the Meshekh Chokhmah. They suggest that the name Yitro was connected to Yitro's idolatry (see above for the Melekhet Machshevet's attempt at a broader application of this approach), and that since Yitro converted in 18:12 (see Yitro's Religious Identity) the name is never used again. The roots of this approach may be found in Ramban who similarly suggests that after Yitro's conversion he is referred to as Chovav (see Who is Yitro), as the custom of converts is to take on a new name. Cf. the opposite attempt of R. Elhanan Samet who tries to suggest that the name Yitro in 18:12 is a sign of Yitro's new exalted religious status.