Exodus 18:25

Summary

Moses selects capable men from among all Israel and appoints them as chiefs over the people, establishing a hierarchical structure of officials over groups of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. The verse describes the practical implementation of the judicial/administrative system suggested to Moses by Jethro.

Key words

• va-yiv.Char — bachar ("he chose", H0977), qal narrative form: the vav-narrative links this action directly to the preceding advice, marking it as the next event in sequence ("and then he chose").
• 'an.shei-chayil — chayil ("ability", H2428G) in construct with 'anshei ("men of", H0582): the construct chain literally reads "men of ability/capacity," describing the qualification Moses sought.
• va-yi.Ten — natan ("he appointed", H5414I), qal narrative: again a sequential action, "and he appointed/gave them" as chiefs.
• ra.Shim — ro'sh ("chiefs", H7218H), masculine plural: the general term for the men's new function, "heads," before the text specifies their exact ranks.
• sa.Rei — sar ("officials of", H8269), masculine plural construct: repeated four times, each time governing a different number (thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens), forming the layered structure of command.

What the text says

The verse contains two main clauses joined by narrative vav-forms: first va-yiv.Char ("and he chose") describing Moses' selection, then va-yi.Ten ("and he appointed/gave") describing his action of placing them as ra.Shim ("chiefs", H7218H) 'al-ha-'Am ("over the people", combining H5921A and H5971A with the definite article H9009). The selection criterion is expressed through the construct phrase 'anshei chayil ("men of ability", H0582 + H2428G), drawn mi-kol-Yisra'El ("from all Israel", H9006+H3605+H3478).

The second half of the verse lists four ranks using the repeated construct noun sar ("official of", H8269) attached successively to 'alafim ("thousands", H0505G), me'ot ("hundreds", H3967), chamishim ("fifties", H2572), and 'asarot ("tens", H6235). Each occurrence of sar is grammatically bound to the following numeral, producing a cascading structure: officials of thousands, officials of hundreds, officials of fifties, and officials of tens. The final item is joined by the conjunction ve- ("and", H9002), marking it as the closing term of the list rather than introducing a separate clause. This construct-chain repetition creates a graduated administrative hierarchy visible in the Hebrew syntax itself, with each rank explicitly tied to the size of the group it oversees.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders sar ("official of", H8269) with distinct Greek compound terms — χιλιάρχους, ἑκατοντάρχους, πεντηκοντάρχους, δεκαδάρχους — creating single technical titles rather than repeating a construct noun as the Hebrew does. The Vulgate similarly uses discrete Latin titles (tribunos, centuriones, quinquagenarios, decanos), diverging from the Hebrew's repeated sar + numeral pattern by employing established Roman military/administrative terminology instead of a literal "official of X" construction.