And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
I spake unto you at that time - a little before their arrival in Horeb. Moses addresses that new generation as the representatives of their fathers, in whose sight and hearing all the transactions he recounts took place. A reference is here made to the suggestion of Jethro (Exodus 18:18), and in noticing his practical adoption of a plan by which the administration of justice was committed to a select number of subordinate officers, Moses, by a beautiful allusion to the patriarchal blessing, ascribed the necessity of that memorable change in the government to the vast increase of the population.
Verse 10. Ye are this day as the stars ... for multitude. This was neither an Oriental hyperbole nor a mere empty boast; because Abraham was told (Genesis 15:5-6) to look to the stars; and though they appear innumerable, yet those seen by the naked eye amount in reality to no more than 3,010 in both hemispheres-so that the Israelites already far exceeded that number, being at the last census above 600,000. Nay, even on the supposition that we take into account all the stars which the marvelous discoveries of modern astronomy have brought within our knowledge-namely, about 75,000,000 of stars, the highest number which, it is computed, has been realized by the telescope-still the affirmation of Moses, after the Word of God, would hold good.
From Abraham to Christ there were 42 generations (Matthew 1:17). 'Now, we find that at the second census the fighting men among the Hebrews amounted to 600,000; and the Israelites, who have never ceased to be a distinct people, have so multiplied that, if the aggregate number of them who had ever lived could be ascertained, it would be found far to exceed the number of all the fixed stars taken together' (Horne's 'Introduction,' vol. 1:, p. 600). It was a seasonable memento, calculated to animate their faith in the accomplishment of other parts of the divine promise. (On the alleged discrepancy between the statements made by Moses relative to the appointment of judges and the account in Exodus 18:1-27, see 'General Introduction.')
Verse 13. Take you wise men ... The import of Moses' announcement to the people was that they should select the men, while he would install those nominated into the magisterial office; and while the choice was limited to those who were already recognized as 'elders of the people,' and acting in the capacity of public officers (cf. Exo. 24:49; Numbers 11:16-17; Deuteronomy 1:24), the special qualifications required were skill and experience, honesty, fidelity, and the fear of God. These 70 men, enjoying the respect and confidence of the people, thus advanced to this new dignity, and guided by the Divine Spirit, were to aid Moses as a corporate council-an ultimate court of appeal in cases brought from the ordinary administrators of justice.
Verse 17. The judgment is God's. No tribunal can enforce justice in the same absolute spirit of independence as that which existed under the Hebrew theocracy. The judges were represented as holy persons sitting in the place of God (cf. Deuteronomy 19:17); and this official elevation placed all the people of Israel, both small and great, on a lever of equality. The 70, as judges, were to know no difference among the litigants whose causes were submitted to their tribunal, nor were they to be biassed by a regard either to rich or poor, but to decide without fear or favour.