25Moses chose men of substance out of all Israel and appointed them as heads of the people, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens.
And they would judge: וְֹשָפְטוּ. [Onkelos renders:], וְדַייְנִין יַתעַמָּא, And they judge the people. [Unlike this word in verse 22, which denotes the imperative, this denotes the present.]
ושפטו: ודיינין ית עמא:
they would bring: Heb. יְבִיאוּן. [Onkelos renders:] מַייְתִין, they bring [in the present tense and not in the future tense].
יביאון: מייתין:
they themselves would judge: Heb. יִשְׁפּוּטוּ, same as יִשְׁפֹּטוּ, and similarly [we find the verb תעבורי,], “neither shall you go away (לֹא תַעִבוּרִי)” (Ruth 2:8), like לֹא תַעֲבוֹרִי. The Targum [Onkelos] renders: דַּייְנִין אִינוּן, they judge. The earlier passages(verse 22) were in the imperative form. Therefore, they are rendered: וִִידוּנוּן, יַיְתוּן, יְדוּנוּן, but these passages [here in verse 26] are expressions of doing [and are not imperative].
ישפוטו הם: כמו ישפוטו וכן (רות ב ח) לא תעבורי, כמו לא תעברי ותרגומו דיינין אינון. מקראות העליונים הם לשון צווי, לכך מתורגמין וידונון ייתון, ידונון, ומקראות הללו לשון עשייה:
27Moses saw his father in law off, and he went away to his land.
