Commentaire sur L’Exode 18:22

ושפטו — Onkelos translates this by וידונון AND LET THEM JUDGE (not “and they judged”, as in v. 26) — the word expresses a command.

AND LET THEM JUDGE THE PEOPLE AT ALL TIMES. The meaning thereof is that “when there will be many judges available, the oppressed one will go to the judge at any time he desires and he will find him ready [to listen to his grievance]. He cannot come near you [i.e., Moses] at any time because of the great multitude of people before you and on account of your many preoccupations. The result of this is that many of them will rather tolerate the violence committed against them because they have no opportunity to tell it to you. They do not want to abandon their work and affairs to wait for a free moment when they will be able to approach you.” This is the sense of the expression, each one shall go to his place in peace.¹²⁸Verse 23. At present, because they cannot come near for judgment at all times, they will not rest in peace, since this opens a door for unjust people to commit violence and for oppressors to cause contention. And the meaning of the expression to his place¹²⁸Verse 23. is that to whatever place they will come, [they will live in peace] as long as they are in the camp in the wilderness.
From the language, And let them judge the people ‘at all times,’ our Rabbis have derived the principle¹²⁹Sanhedrin 34b. that in civil cases, the verdict may be reached even during the night,¹³⁰In capital cases, the verdict must be reached during the daytime (ibid., 32 a). The trial itself, in both capital and non-capital cases, must be held during the daytime (ibid.) since it does not say here, “[and let them judge the people] the whole day.”

והקל מעליך, the many minor disputes which do not need to be adjudged by you, personally.

בכל עת, "at all times." The Torah hints that even at times when Moses was busy receiving instructions from G'd these judges would continue to dispense justice, something that Moses had not been able to do.

כל הדבר הגדול, needs to be addressed to G’d.

ושפטו את העם בכל עת, “they shall judge the people at all times.” The meaning of the words בכל עת is “at all times convenient to the people.” As long as Moses was the only judge it was obviously impossible for a litigant to get justice when he wanted to. Moses was constantly swamped with petitioners. If Yitro’s advice were accepted this would change.

וידונון — an expression of a command. It means “They shall always judge,” which is called the “future progressive” tense. I.e., they will always be judging. But the second ושפטו (v. 26) is translated by Onkelos as ודיינין , which means: “They were always judging.” This is called the “past progressive” tense.

ושפטו את העם בכל עת, “they would be ready to sit in judgment of the people at any time.” The reason they would always be available, said Yitro, was that they did not have to take time out to speak with G-d as Moses often was in the habit of doing.

והקל מעליך lit., AND TO LIGHTEN the burden FROM OFF YOU — this thing will serve to lighten it from off you. והקל — the grammatical form is similar to (Exodus 8:11) ”and to harden (והכבד) his heart”; (2 Kings 3:24) “and to smite (והכות) Moab” — both of which words are infinitives expressing present time.

ונשאו אתך, they will give you the chance to give your full attention to those problems that are complicated by sharing the burden of leadership with you. They will also dispense knowledge to the people.

The present tense. I.e., it is not an expression of a command because the above-mentioned appointing of the judges already made things easier, and no further action is necessary. It means, “This is the way to make things easier; not any other way.”

והקל מעליך ונשאו אתך, "so they shall make it easier for you and bear the burden with you." Yitro meant that his suggestion was intended to lighten Moses' burden, not that he would not be allowed to judge any other than the most difficult cases. The idea was that the other judges should share the burden together with Moses.

והקל מעליך, “thus you can make it easier for yourself;” according to some commentators this phrase can be understood not only as advice or prediction, but as tantamount to a command.