Exodus 18:16

16. A matter A matter of controversy requiring the intervention of a judge .

I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws The statutes and laws ( torahs) are not naturally understood of such enactments and “judgments” as Moses is commanded, in Exodus 21:1, to set before the people . As matters of dispute arose, the judgments sought of Moses afforded him a most fitting opportunity to communicate to the people such statutes and laws as many of those recorded in chaps. 21 and 22. The people observed that Jehovah talked from heaven with their great leader, (Exodus 20:18-22,) and would thenceforth accept his word as a God-given oracle. Compare Exodus 18:15. The way in which Moses in this verse speaks of his judging the people, and making them know the laws, implies something that had already become habitual with him a thing hardly supposable before their arrival at Sinai. This passage also suggests how Moses may have orally set forth many statutes and ordinances both before and after he had written them in a book.