Exodus 18:21

But thou shouldst elect from all the people men of ability who fear the Lord, upright men who hate to receive the mammon of dishonesty, and superappoint them to be heads of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

MEN OF ‘CHAYIL.’ This means men who are capable of leading a great multitude of people. Every assembly and gathering is called chayil, and it does not apply only to soldiers going forth to war. Thus it is said [of the dry bones that Ezekiel resurrected], a great ‘chayil’ (host). Of the locusts it is said, My great ‘chayil’ (army). Of wealth it is stated, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten this ‘chayil’ (wealth); they carry upon the shoulders of young asses ‘chayaleihem’ (their riches). Of fruits it is said, the fig-tree and the vine do yield ‘cheilam’ (their strength). Thus an ish chayil in the administration of justice is one who is wise, alert, and fair; in war, an ish chayil is one who is strong, alert, and who knows the art of arraying forces in battle. A woman also is an eisheth chayil (a woman of valor) when she is alert and knows how to conduct the management of a home.
Jethro thus spoke in general and in particular. [In general], he told Moses to select people with powers of leadership in the administration of justice for this great people. In particular, they should be such as fear G-d, men of truth, hating unjust gain, for it is impossible for them to be “men of chayil” in judgment, without these qualities. It was not necessary for him to mention that they must be wise and understanding, for it is clear that these qualities are included in the term “men of chayil.” Further on, when it says, And Moses chose men of ‘chayil,’ everything is already included — i.e., that they were G-d-fearing, men who hated unjust gain, wise and understanding. Moreover, Scripture says [that Moses chose them] out of all Israel, which means [that they were] the preferred of all Israel, being the ones who have all of these qualities. Since Scripture states that he chose them out of all Israel, it is already stating that they were chosen in preference to all, for it is known that the better ones in Israel possess all good qualities. Jethro, however, not being familiar with them, found it necessary to explain in detail [that they be G-d-fearing, men of truth, etc.]
Some scholars. explain anshei chayil as men of physical strength and zeal, such as have ability to stand in the king’s palace. Similarly, eisheth chayil is a woman of strength and industry in the work of the home, as Scripture explains there in that section. Likewise, Make them wander to and fro ‘b’cheilcha,’ which means “by Thy power.” Also, Neither doth it, [i.e., the horse], afford escape by its great ‘cheilo,’, 33:17. [which means “by its great strength”]. The word [chayil] is associated with the Aramaic, as is evidenced by the [Hebrew] expression, ‘yesh l’eil yadi’ (It is in the power of my hand), which is rendered in the Targum: “there is cheila in my hand.” And further on it says, And Moses chose men of ‘chayil’ out of all Israel, which means the preferred ones of the entire nation and all qualities are included, as I have explained.

אנשי חיל, wealthy and influential people who had no reason to be afraid of any of their peers.

שנאי בצע, people who hated ill gotten gains. Bribery and robbery are often referred to as בצע. (compare Chabakuk 2,9). Compare also Genesis 37,26 where Yehudah when saying מה בצע כי נהרוג את אחינו, means: “any gain that we would derive from killing our brother would be illegitimate, illegal.” In Job 27,8 we find a similar use of the word בצע.

ואתה תחזה מכל העם, select, and then appoint. The only area in which you alone are competent is the choosing of suitably qualified helpers, in accordance with the guidelines Yitro outlined. When it came to handing down judicial decisions, however, there would be 78600 appointees of four different levels of competence who would deal with all but the most perplexing problems without having to come to Moses for approval of their rulings. Initially a problem would be submitted to one of the 60000 men appointed as “chief” of ten. If such a man did not know the answer he would refer it to one of the 12000 chiefs of 50, and so on in an ascending order. The different levels of judges would in effect act as appellate judges, reviewing if judgments made by the lower ranking judges and appealed should be changed.

שרי אלפים, “chiefs over a thousand each.” In the chapter of the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin dealing with this chapter it is pointed out that there were 600 chiefs over a thousand each, 6000 chiefs over 100 each and 60000 over each group of 10 Israelites plus 12000 over each group of 50 Israelites. If that had been so, there were no 600000 privates left in that army. We would have to assume therefore that Moses started with appointing 60000 potential chiefs. Having done so, he proceeded step by step to appoint the most capable of them to become either chiefs over 50, or over 1o00, or over 1000 each. As to the statement in the Talmud there that there were a total of 78600 chiefs of different ranks, this number applied to the people appointed as judges. Alternately, whereas the active soldiers were all of the ages between 20 and years of age, the officers over 50, 100, and 1000, respectively, could have been over 60 years of age.