Keluaran 18:15

18:15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire ¹  of God.

Imamat 24:12

24:12 So they placed him in custody until they were able ²  to make a clear legal decision for themselves based on words from the mouth of the Lord. ³ 

Bilangan 15:34

15:34 They put him in custody, because there was no clear instruction about what should be done to him.

[18:15]  ¹ tn The form is לִדְרֹשׁ (lidrosh), the Qal infinitive construct giving the purpose. To inquire of God would be to seek God’s will on a matter, to obtain a legal decision on a matter, or to settle a dispute. As a judge Moses is speaking for God, but as the servant of Yahweh Moses’ words will be God’s words. The psalms would later describe judges as “gods” because they made the right decisions based on God’s Law.

[24:12]  ² tn The words “until they were able” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied.

[24:12]  ³ tn The Hebrew here is awkward. A literal reading would be something like the following: “And they placed him in custody to give a clear decision [HALOT 976 s.v. פרשׁ qal] for themselves on the mouth of the Lord.” In any case, they were apparently waiting for a direct word from the Lord regarding this matter (see vv. 13ff).