Selecting the leaders that we need and deserve

After describing the difficulty he had in judging the people by himself, Moshe describes how he suggested to the people that they bring forth their most honorable leaders to serve as captains and judges over smaller population groups.

Leaving out the role his father-in-law had in these developments (a topic of a much longer discussion), Moshe says, “You answered me, ‘Yours is a good suggestion.’ I selected of tribal leaders, wise and well known men, and I appointed them your leaders — captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and police for your tribes.” (1:14-15)

In two separate comments, Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin) makes the bold claim that Moshe utilized an unnecessary word to make his point, and each unnecessary word requires an explanation.

First, Moshe said “You answered me.” The word “me” is unnecessary, as Moshe is the one talking and he is describing the response the people had to what he said. Netziv explains that the previous word, which has been translated as “you answered,” can also be read to mean “you caused to suffer.” Had the word only meant “you answered,” then the word “me” would have been extra. But since it could also mean, “You caused to suffer” the word “me” is necessary because the people “caused me [Moshe] to suffer” by the way they treated him.

The second example of an extra word is when Moshe says, “I appointed them your leaders.” The word “them” is extra. In the verse, the Hebrew word for “them” is “otam.” Netziv asks if it is plausible that Moshe “selected of tribal leaders, wise and well known men, and I appointed them your leaders” because, if they were already leaders, how was he appointing them as leaders. Netziv then explains that the word otam can also be read as itam were one to merely change the vowelization. “Itam” means “with them,” and the verse would now mean, “I selected of tribal leaders, wise and well known men, and I appointed your leaders with them!”