פירוש על שמות 18:18

נבל תבל — Explain this as the Targum does: thou will certainly become weary. Its meaning expresses the idea of withering, old French flestre, just as. (Jeremiah 8:13) “and the leaf is withered (נבל)”; (Isaiah 34:4) “as withereth (כנבל) the leaf from off the vine” — the meaning being that it becomes shrivelled through the heat and through the frost, and so its strength diminishes and it becomes, as it were, weary, and falls from off the vine (מגפן)‎.

גם העם הזה אשר עמך, the member of your court.

נבול תבול, "you will surely become weary, etc." Yitro repeated the word נבול because it has two meanings. We apply this term to describe anything which has lost some of its original strength, and as a result has become weary, fatigued, relative to its original state. Nonetheless the subject under discussion is still able to perform its basic task though with greater exertion. The second meaning of נבול is a feeling of weariness which is felt so keenly that the subject is unable to carry out his regular routine at all. Yitro warned Moses that though, intially, he would feel only slightly weary, eventually he would become so weary, נבול תבול, that he would be unable to function at all. Yitro underlined this by saying: "you will not be able to carry on by yourself." Alternatively, the reason he repeated the word was simply because he wanted to illustrate how both Moses and the litigants would become weary.

נבל תבל, the word is similar to the word נבלה in Genesis 11,7 when G’d announced the confounding of man’s languages, using the words ונבלה שם שפתם, “and confound their speech.” Yitro is telling Moses that his words will create confusion as he has to deal with so many people simultaneously so that his listeners would also become confused by what they heard. As a result, one would shout at the other. Yitro tells Moses that he cannot accomplish what he sets out to do by the method he has chosen.

This includes Aharon, Chur. . . Question: Was not Chur killed when they made the Golden Calf, and this parsha comes afterward? The answer is: Rashi mentions Chur according to a different Aggadah which opines that Chur was not killed when they made the Golden Calf. According to the first Aggadah, גם אתה includes only Aharon and the seventy elders. (Maharshal)

"for this thing is beyond your strength": He said to him: Look at that beam. When it is moist, two or three get under it but cannot lift it; four or five get under it and can lift it. "For this thing is beyond your strength you will not be able to do it alone."

גם אתה, the word גם is meant to include Aaron and Chur. This seems odd, as Chur was killed during the incident with the golden calf as explained by Rashi on Exodus 32,5 on the words ויבן מזבח לפניו, where Rashi says the word מזבח is to be read as if the vowels had been mi-zavoach; we would have to answer that that interpretation was based on the scholars who claim that Yitro arrived before the revelation at Mount Sinai, at which time Chur had still been alive.

נבול תבול, “you will definitely become worn out;” the word is similar to ערבוב, “being confused.” Compare Genesis 11,7 Where G-d confused man’s languages. Yitro felt that Moses would confuse the litigants because each one would shout that he wanted to be heard next. As a result, he himself would become confused. This would be due to his inability to hear each person correctly.

גם אתה THOU ALSO — The word גם “also” was added in order to include Aaron and Hur and the seventy elders (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:17).

לא תוכל עשוהו לבדך, you cannot all by yourself listen to the problems of all the leaders and subsequently to all the problems of the individuals who feel they need your personal attention, believing that no one but you can deal with their specific problems.

גם אתה גם העם הזה, "both you and this people, etc." Yitro used the word גם twice to indicate that not only Moses whose powers were very great and close to inexhaustible would tire (seeing he had to preside over litigation daily for many hours), but also the people who would have to stand in line would find this too tiresome.

גם אתה, “you also.” Rashi understands the word גם as including Aaron and Chur, and the seventy elders. If you were to point out that in Exodus 32,5, on the words: ויבן מזבח לפניו, “he built an altar in front of it (the golden calf),” Rashi comments that Aaron, having seen that Chur (his nephew) had been killed by the mob when he tried to interfere with their worshipping the golden calf, decided to instead build an altar and declare the following day a holiday in honour of G-d. The events related there occurred on the 17th of Tammuz in the first year of the people’s wanderings. Yitro meant that even if Aaron, Chur and the seventy elders were to assist Moses, this would not nearly be enough for governing such a large nation. We find an example of such thinking in Jeremiah 15,1, where G-d tells the prophet that even if Moses personally as well as the prophet Samuel were to intercede on behalf the people of the Kingdom of Yehudah at that time, their merits would not suffice to make Him change His mind concerning the impending doom of that kingdom. G-d mentioned Moses and Samuel who had already long ago passed on, The events recorded in the paragraph that we are dealing with here occurred the day after the Day of Atonement on the eleventh day of Tishrey, over 80 days after Chur had been killed. Nonetheless, Rashi saw fit to mention him as an example of a worthy assistant of Moses. However, in verse 23 in our chapter, Chur is not mentioned by Rashi. When Rashi understands the words: וכל העם הזה (and all this people) as applicable to Aaron, his two older sons, and the seventy elders, no mention is made of Chur. וכל העם הזה, they will also not be able to endure the long wait all day long to have their litigation dealt with.

כי כבד ממך FOR [THIS THING] IS TOO HEAVY FOR THEE — its weight is far more than thy strength can bear.

The Mechilta understands the word גם as referring to Aaron, whereas the word העם would refer to the seventy elders. We need to understand the reason for this interpretation. If they considered only the word גם they would have had to explain these two words in the same way as we have done. However, the sages realised that if Moses would follow Yitro's advice he would have had to appoint close to 80,000 judges. He therefore indicated that even seventy elders were far too few. The sages therefore understood the word גם to refer to the additional judges Moses would have to appoint. They interpreted the second גם to refer to judges in addition to Moses. In each instance the word גם added a new element. According to the sages, the first גם meant that although Moses was such a superior judge, others, less competent would also have to be appointed, whereas the second גם meant that although the elders were numerous, even their number did not suffice to ensure that the litigation procedure would run smoothly and promptly. It is also possible that the words גם אתה included the people who would feel weary because of standing in line, waiting. Yitro added a second גם to tell Moses that even if he co-opted the seventy elders this would still be far short of what was needed.