מדוע אתה יושב לבדך לא הוכיחו על שהיה יושב והם עומדים, שהרי הדין כך הוא הדיין יושב ובעלי הדין עומדים כדכתיב ועמדו שני האנשים אשר להם הריב, גם לא היה ליתרו להוכיח איש גדול כמשה שהרי אהרן שהיה גדול ממשה שלש שנים אמר לו בי אדוני, אלא ה״ק מה דעתך לעשות שאתה יושב ודן לבדך, היה לך לחבר עמך הרבה חכמים להיות דנים עמך להקל מעליך ולא תשב בדין אתה לבדך, ומשה חשב בלבו ששאל לו יתרו למה היו עומדין עליו ועל זה השיבו כי יבא אלי העם וגו'.
מדוע אתה יושב לבדך, “why are only you seated?” Yitro did not criticize Moses for sitting and the people having to stand; He meant that if Moses would delegate some of his tasks there would not be such long queues. The Torah itself expects the litigants to be standing, as we know form Deuteronomy 19,17: 'ועמדו שני האנשים אשר להם הריב לפני ה, “and the two men who have a dispute are to stand in the presence of the judges;” Besides, it would not have been appropriate for Yitro to chastise a great man like Moses, someone who was even addressed as “my master” by his own brother Aaron who was three years his senior. (Compare Numbers 12,11)
The verse in front of us has to be understood as follows: “what made you decide to shoulder the entire burden of judging all the people’s problems all by yourself, without assistance from anyone? You would do well to appoint junior judges that can share the burden with you, so that you would only have to deal with the litigations that these juniors could not find a proper solution for. All this will result in your burden being decreased so that you do not break down under it prematurely. Moses had first misunderstood his father in law as being critical that he alone remained seated throughout these proceedings. This is why he had replied that the people had come to him; (verse 15)
A moment will come when all the people are with you and you won't be able to judge them by yourself all of their quarrels. It'll get to a point where your closeness with God will be affected in such a way that God will not desire to connect with you vis a vis prophecy because you've taken on too much.
(א) וירא חתן משה. מה ראה, ראהו שהיה כמלך יושב על כסאו והכל עומדין עליו; אמר לו, מה הדבר הזה אשר אתה עושה לעם מדוע אתה יושב לבדך.
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(א) ויאמר חותן משה אליו לא טוב הדבר נבול תבול. ר' יהושע אומר, יחללו אותך וינשרו אותך; ר' אלעזר המודעי אומר, ינבלו אותך ויקנטרו אותך כתאנה זו שעליה נובלות שנ' (ישעיהו ל״ד:ד׳) כנבול עלה מגפן וכנובלת מתאנה. – גם אתה. אתה, זה משה. גם, זה אהרן. העם הזה אשר עמך, אלו שבעים זקנים, דברי ר' יהושע; ר' אלעזר המודעי אומר: אתה, זה משה. גם, זה אהרן. גם זה, נדב ואביהוא, העם הזה אשר עמך, אלו שבעים זקנים.
(1) (Exodus 18:14) "And Moses' father-in-law saw": What did he see? He saw him sitting like a king sitting on his throne and all paying attendance upon him, whereupon he said to him: "What is this that you are doing to the people? Why are you sitting alone?"
(1) (Exodus 18:18) "You will languish": R. Yehoshua says: They will wear you out and cause you to collapse. R. Elazar Hamodai says: They will belabor you and vex you, as a fig tree whose leaves are wilted, viz. (Isaiah 1:30) "like an elah of wilted leaf." "also you": Moses; "also": Aaron; "also this people": the seventy elders. These are the words of R. Yehoshua. R. Elazar Hamodai says: "you" — Moses; "also" — Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu; "this people" — the seventy elders.
פירוש אם אתה עושה הדבר הזה לבדך במה שאתה יושב לבדך לשפוט את העם בלתי צויית הקב"ה אליך בזה, הנה כבד ממך הדבר. כי אם היית מצווה בזה מאתו וברשותו. אז היתה עזרתו אליך ובקל היית עושהו אבל לא תוכל עשוהו לבדך בלתי צויית אלוה בזה. על כן איעצך ויהי אלהים עמך. ופירוש שיסכים עמו יתברך בזה ואז תוכל עשוהו. ועל כן ואתה תחזה מכל העם אנשי חיל וגו'. כלומר תראה אם יעכב הקב"ה לך למנות שופטים או לא. ועל כן סיים (שם שם, כ"ב-כ"ג) וכל הדבר הקטן ישפטו הם והקל מעליך ונשאו אתך אם את הדבר הזה תעשה וצוך אלהים ויכלת עמוד וגם כל העם הזה וגו'. כלומר אתה תבחר ותקרב ראשי אלפי ישראל בכדי להקל מעליך. ואך אם את הדבר הזה תעשה וצוך אלהים כלומר אם תעשה אתה לבדך כל הדבר הזה שאתה רוצה להשליך עליהם, ואך וצוך אלהים שהוא יצוה לך שדוקא אתה לבדך תעשה, ויעכב על ידך מניית דיינים. אז ויכלת עמוד וגם כל העם הזה וגו' כי הוא יסייעך וכו'.
If you do this thing alone in judging the people without God's command, it will be too heavy for you. If you have God's blessing, it will be manageable. Therefore, here is my advice that God should be with you. The explanation is that if God agrees with this new plan, you will be able to do it.
You will see if God prevents this plan or not. That is why it ends in 22-23 the way it does. That is to say, you pick and choose who leads to lessen your load. But if you go at it alone and it turns out that God commands as such and prevents you from appointing judges, then that will be telling as well.
Exodus 18,14. “why are you alone seated while all the people have to stand in attendance in your presence?” Moses explains to his father-in-law what his function is, i.e. to arbitrate quarrels and to teach God’s laws.
Yitro explains that he objects to the manner in which Moses carries out his duties, saying that it contributes to both his becoming tired and the people becoming frustrated. He points out that the present arrangement is counterproductive on both counts.
Our author may also have hinted at a metaphysical aspect of the spectacle he had witnessed. Man, whether Israelite of high caliber or of modest stature, must constantly; strive to advance spiritually, and come closer to the highest level he is capable of attaining considering the attributes that had been granted to him at birth. By referring to Moses “sitting” and the people “standing,” Yitro hints that the present arrangement interferes with the people concerned being able to progress spiritually through this tiresome arrangement. Moreover, if the tzaddik, righteous, spiritually superior person, conducts himself in a manner that shows that he considers himself superior, the people on a lower level will only confuse him as they resent such behavior. When someone is an outstanding tzaddik towering far above his peers, he may succeed in elevating his peers to his level by speaking to them in the appropriate manner. Yitro was under the impression that Moses had initiated this system, thereby causing resentment. Moses explained that the opposite was the case; the people had come to him begging him to adjudicate their problems. By using words judicially, he, Moses was doing his best to elevate them spiritually. Upon hearing this, Yitro told Moses that in his opinion Moses was assuming a greater burden than he would be able to carry single-handedly.