Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for the thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

Thou are spent with foolish labour, both thou and this people that is with thee: the business is above thy strength, thou alone canst not bear it.

Thou wilt be quite exhausted, both thou and this people that is with thee; for the thing is too heavy for thee: thou canst not perform it alone.

thou dost surely wear away, both thou, and this people which is with thee, for the thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able to do it by thyself.

Your strength and that of the people will be completely used up: this work is more than you are able to do by yourself.

You will be consumed by foolish efforts, both you and this people who are with you. The task is beyond your strength; you will not be able bear it alone.

Deficiendo deficies tam tu quam populus iste qui tecum est: Nam haec res gravis est supra tuas vires: non poteris ergo praestare solus.

Thou wilt surely wear away - From decay and exhaustion.

Thou wilt surely wear away - נבל תבל nabol tibbol, in wearing way, thou wilt wear away - by being thus continually employed, thou wilt soon become finally exhausted. And this people that is with thee; as if he had said, "Many of them are obliged to wait so long for the determination of their suit that their patience must be soon necessarily worn out, as there is no one to hear every cause but thyself."

Thou wilt surely wear away,.... His natural strength and animal spirits, and so his flesh; he feared his constant application and attendance to business would impair his health, break his constitution, and bring him into a consumption. Moses was naturally of a strong and vigorous constitution; for, forty years after this, even to the time of his death, his natural force was not abated; or "fading thou wilt fade", or, "falling thou wilt fall" (r); in allusion to the leaves of trees in autumn, which fade, and wither, and fall:
both thou and this people that is with thee; it was tiresome to the people, as well as fatiguing to Moses, who, because of the multitude of cases, were obliged to wait a long time, some of them from morning to night, and yet could not get their suit to come and so were obliged to attend next day, and perhaps day after day. The Targum of Jonathan is,"even thou also, Aaron and his sons, and the elders that are with them;''and so Jarchi; but these do not seem to have been assisting to him at all, as appears by what follows:
for this thing is too heavy for thee: it was too great a burden upon his shoulders, what his strength was not equal to; for though his internal abilities were exceeding great, and he had a good will to the work, to serve God and his people, yet it was more, humanly speaking, than his bodily strength would admit of, or any mortal man could go through:
thou art not able to perform it thyself alone; and this Moses was sensible of himself afterwards, and says the same thing, Deuteronomy 1:9.
(r) "marcescendo marcesses", Montanus; so Ainsworth; "cadendo cades", Pagninus.