Replacing Moses

Exodus 18’s description of Jethro’s advice to Moses seems disconnected from its context. As Martin Hauge explains (Descent from the Mountain, 252), the story actually anticipates the entire narrative of chapters 19-40:

“The story of the second day presents how parts of the Moses
function were transferred to representatives of the people. This is comparable
to the main story line in Exodus 19-40. Concluded by the people
as the new theophanic figures, the substitution of Moses by a new
set of actors is presented as the climax of the Sinai events. The appointment
of ‘lesser judges’ in Exodus 18 could represent a special version
of the theme of substitution.”

The substitution of Moses simultaneously frees him for “higher” purposes: “The appointment of lesser judges means that Moses is set free
for the higher aspects of mediation. The new situation is visualized by
the opening scene of the Sinai stories in 19.2-3. While the people settle
down, Moses is free for an immediate ascent on his own. The elevation
of Moses-substitutes combined with the idea of Moses set free for
higher things is comparable to the aspects of Moses substituted by the
people in ch. 40 and Moses elevated into a semi-divine figure in ch. 34.
Taken together, the two versions of the common theme of substitution
indicates the ‘upward mobility’ of the human actors” (254).

That movement in chapter 18 is replicated in the overall movement of Exodus, a movement from reliance on divine action to human action: “The Egyptian and journey stories represent the
first stages, characterized by miraculous divine acts of salvation which
are now concluded. Sinai represents a new stage in the story development,
dedicated to ordinary human reality as the locus of sacred action
performed by human subjects” (258).