World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Exodus 18
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Now Jethro, the priest of , ' -in-law, heard of all that had done for and for Israel his people, how had brought Israel out of . Jethro, ' -in-law, received Zipporah, ' wife, after he had sent her away, and her two sons. The name of one son was , for said, "I have lived as a in a foreign land". The name of the other was , for he said, " was my help and me from ." Jethro, ' -in-law, came with ' sons and his wife to into where he was encamped, at . 6He said to , "I, your -in-law Jethro, have come to you with your wife, and her two sons with her." went out to meet his -in-law, and bowed and kissed him. They asked each other of their welfare, and they came into the tent. told his -in-law all that had done to and to the for Israel's sake, all the hardships that had come on them on , and how them. Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which had done to Israel, in that he had them out of the hand of the . Jethro said, " be , who has you out of the hand of the , and out of the hand of ; who has the people from under the hand of the . Now I know that is greater than all gods because of that they treated people arrogantly." Jethro, ' -in-law, took a burnt offering and for . came with all the , to eat bread with ' -in-law before . On the next day, sat to judge the people, and the people stood around from the morning to the evening. 14When ' -in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, "What is this thing that you do for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning to evening?" said to his -in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of . When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the of , and his laws." 17' -in-law said to him, "The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you; for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to perform it yourself alone. Listen now to my voice. I will give you , and be with you. You represent the people before , and bring the causes to . You shall teach them the and the laws, and shall show them in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which : men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. Let them judge the people at all times. It shall be that every great matter they shall bring to you, but every small matter they shall judge themselves. So shall it be easier for you, and they shall share the load with you. If you will do this thing, and commands you so, then you will be able to , and all these people also will go to their place in peace." So listened to the voice of his -in-law, and did all that he had said. chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. They judged the people at all times. They brought the hard cases to , but every small matter they judged themselves. let his -in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land.
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The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.