The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan sharpens Jethro's warning with a realism the plain text softens: "Thou wilt verily wear thyself away. Aaron also, and his sons, and the elders of thy people, because the thing is heavier than thou art, able to do by thyself, (should take part in it.)" (Exodus 18:18).
The Aramaic phrase "verily wear thyself away" — in Hebrew navol tibbol — is a doubled verb, the grammar of inevitability. Not might. Will. Jethro is not hedging. He is predicting burnout as a matter of physics.
Then comes the practical diagnosis: the burden is heavier than Moses alone can carry. Jethro names the candidates for delegation — Aaron, Aaron's sons, and the elders. These are not random choices. Aaron is Moses's brother, the high-priest-designate. Aaron's sons — Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar — represent the next generation of priestly leadership. The elders carry tribal authority.
Jethro is effectively sketching the architecture of a functional judiciary before the Torah has even been given. He understands that great men collapse alone and that institutions must carry the weight great men cannot.
The takeaway: the measure of leadership is not how much you can carry. It is whom you have trained to carry with you. Even Moses needed a system bigger than Moses.