אחר שלוחיה – Who Sent What to Whom/2

"אחר שלוחיה" – Who Sent What to Whom?

Exegetical Approaches

The commentators offer a number of different possibilities regarding the meaning of שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ:

Moshe Sent Zipporah Away

שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ refers to Moshe's sending (שלח) of Zipporah back to her father's home. This possibility subdivides regarding the meaning of this action:

Moshe Divorced Zipporah

Sources:R. Yehoshua in Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelYitro Amalek 1About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael and R. Elazar HaModai in Mekhilta DeRashbiShemot 18:2About Mekhilta DeRashbi.¹

Use of שלח – The opinions in the Mekhiltas link שלח here with its use in the context of divorce in Devarim 24:1-4. See שלח for similar cases, and for a discussion of the terms used for divorce in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew.

Chronology – See Zipporah's Return to Midyan for the different possibilities as to when the divorce could have taken place. The difficulty according to all of the variations, though, is that the Torah makes no mention of a divorce until Shemot 18.²

Yitro's initiative – If Moshe divorced Zipporah, why is Yitro bringing her back, and why does he still refer to Zipporah as Moshe's wife in 18:6? R. D"Z HoffmannShemot 18:2About R. D"Z Hoffmann asks these questions and suggests that perhaps the divorce was only a formality intended as a temporary measure until Moshe would be out of danger.³

Motivation – It is possible that this position is motivated by a desire that Moshe not be married to the daughter of an idolatrous priest when he becomes the leader of the Jewish people – see Moshe and Zipporah's Marriage. If so, it is possible that Moshe never remarries Zipporah. See also Bemidbar 12 for the various positions regarding Moshe's marriage to (or divorce from) the Cushite woman.

Moshe Only Sent Zipporah Home but Did Not Divorce Her.

Sources:R. Elazar HaModai in Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelYitro Amalek 1About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, R. Yehoshua in Mekhilta DeRashbiShemot 18:2About Mekhilta DeRashbi,⁴ R. SaadiaIbn Janach Sefer HaShorashim שלחR. Avraham b. HaRambam Shemot 4:24R. Avraham b. HaRambam Shemot 18:2About R. Saadia (cited by Ibn Janach and R. Avraham b. HaRambam), RashiShemot 18:2About Rashi, RashbamShemot 18:2About Rashbam in his first opinion, Ibn EzraShemot 18:2About Ibn Ezra in his first opinion.

Chronology – See Zipporah's Return to Midyan for the different possibilities among these exegetes as to when Zipporah was sent home. According to R. Saadia, Shemot 4:20 already tells of Zipporah returning home, while according to the other commentators the Torah notes this information only (parenthetically) in Shemot 18 and not when the event transpired.⁵

Zipporah Sent Messengers

שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ describes Zipporah's sending (שלח) of messengers to find out where Moshe was encamped. According to this approach, Zipporah is actively seeking to reunite with Moshe, and Yitro is attempting to assist her. See Yitro's Purpose.

Sources:SefornoShemot 18:2About Seforno,⁶ Or HaChayyimShemot 18:2About Or HaChayyim.

Chronology – According to this opinion, the narrator is recounting an event which is happening now (rather than previously), and it is clear why it is recorded here.⁷

Zipporah's initiative – As Yitro takes the initiative throughout the entire chapter and Zipporah takes a backseat, it is surprising that it would be Zipporah who sent the messengers and not Yitro himself.

Dowry or Gifts

שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ refers to a dowry given by Yitro to Zipporah or gifts sent by Zipporah to Moshe. According to all of the commentators who adopt this possibility, the word is linked to the two other Biblical appearances of the noun שִׁלּוּחִים. However, they disagree regarding who gave what to whom and as to when this happened. These questions greatly depend on whether the term שִׁלּוּחִים can describe any gift or only a dowry – see שלח for the basis of the dispute on this matter.

Yitro Gave Zipporah Now

Yitro gave Zipporah her dowry now since he was returning her to Moshe.

Sources:RashbamShemot 18:2About Rashbam in his second and preferred opinion.

Chronology and foreshadowing – Rashbam explains that he prefers this opinion because were the verse to be referring to an event which took place earlier such as Moshe's sending away of Zipporah, this event would have been noted already at the time when it happened,⁸ in order to lay the necessary groundwork for our verse.⁹

The meaning of אַחַר – Even though it would appear from the simple reading of the verse that the dowry preceded the taking of Zipporah, Rashbam (because of his assumptions above about chronology and foreshadowing) is forced to explain that the dowry came only afterwards. He thus interprets אַחַר as "and afterwards…" rather than "after."¹⁰

Yitro Gave Zipporah Previously

Yitro previously gave Zipporah her dowry¹¹ when she married Moshe.

Sources:R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 18:2About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor.

Chronology – R. Yosef Bekhor Shor reads all of 18:2-4,6 as a retrospective summary of Yitro's prior actions and agreement with Moshe.¹² According to him, Zipporah initially accompanied Moshe to Egypt, anticipating that they would only be there for a short time. However, when Paroh caused the Exodus to be delayed,¹³ Yitro traveled to Egypt to bring Zipporah back to Midyan¹⁴ so that she could manage the properties given to her as part of her dowry, and this is what is described in 18:2-4.

Yitro's initiative – According to R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, when Yitro came to collect Zipporah from Egypt, he promised Moshe that after the Exodus, he would meet up with him and return Zipporah to him, and it is this pledge which is recorded in 18:6. For elaboration, see Purpose of Yitro's Visit.

The meaning of אַחַר – In order to facilitate his explanation, R. Yosef Bekhor Shor interprets אַחַר as "nearby" (סמוך)‎,¹⁵ i.e. Zipporah had returned to Midyan to be near her estate.

Zipporah Gave Moshe Now

Zipporah sent gifts to Moshe immediately prior to her arrival.

Sources:R. Yonah ibn JanachSefer HaShorashim (שלח)About Ibn Janach, Ibn EzraShemot 18:2About Ibn Ezra in his second opinion.¹⁶

Chronology and Zipporah's initiative – Zipporah is sending ahead a gift before she arrives to find favor in Moshe's eyes.¹⁷ According to this approach, the events are being told when they happened.

The meaning of שִׁלּוּחִים – According to these exegetes, the word שִׁלּוּחִים means any gift which is sent,¹⁸ and not specifically a dowry given when a father sends away his daughter to her husband's home.¹⁹

According to all of the above approaches, and regardless of how one explains אַחַר שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ, it is clear from Shemot 18:1-6 that Zipporah was sent home at some point. For an analysis of the various positions on the timing of this event – see Zipporah's Return to Midyan.

¹ Some of the Ba'alei HaTosafotShemot 18:2About Ba'alei HaTosafot raise the question of how Moshe who served as a priest could remarry Zipporah if she had already become a divorcee. One answer given is that the divorce was only conditional (on Moshe not returning alive from Egypt – see R. D"Z Hoffmann below), while an additional answer offered is that Moshe remarried Zipporah before the Torah was given – see Mitzvot Before Matan Torah and Ba'alei HaTosafot. It is also possible that Moshe never remarried Zipporah – see below.

² RashbamShemot 18:2About Rashbam notes the difficulty – see below. Additionally, this position needs to say that "Yitro took Zipporah" refers either to his taking in of Zipporah after she was divorced (in which case the expected past perfect is lacking), or to his bringing back of Zipporah (in which case אַחַר does not mean immediately after, but rather after a considerable time had passed).

³ R. Elhanan Samet is bothered by an additional question of why Moshe's sons remained with Zipporah if she had been divorced. However, R. Elazar HaModai would likely respond that the terms of Moshe's marriage placed the sons under Yitro's control – see his opinion in Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelYitro Amalek 1About the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael regarding Moshe's agreement with Yitro (see Murder Mystery at the Malon and cf. Bereshit 31:31,43). It is also possible that Zipporah was still nursing at least one of the sons and that the travails of the journey through the desert were too much for them.

⁴ This is one possible explanation of the Tannaitic dispute in both Mekhiltas (and according to this, even the previous opinion which says that Moshe divorced Zipporah might maintain that he didn't do so with a halakhically valid get. Alternatively, both Tannaim agree that Moshe divorced Zipporah, and the only disagreement is over whether he did so with a halakhically valid get or by mere verbal instructions (as may have been the custom before the giving of the Torah).

⁵ See RashbamShemot 18:2About Rashbam below who notes the difficulty according to this opinion. Additionally, this position needs to say that "Yitro took Zipporah" refers either to his taking in of Zipporah after she was divorced (in which case the expected past perfect is lacking), or to his bringing back of Zipporah (in which case אַחַר does not mean immediately after, but rather after a considerable time had passed; see Seforno below who avoids this problem).

⁶ This understanding would vocalize Seforno's interpretation as אַחַר שֶׁשָׁלְחָה. In contrast, R. Yehuda Copperman's edition of Seforno vocalizes the words as אַחַר שֶׁשִּׁלְּחָהּ (with a chirik under the second ש, a dagesh in the ל, and a mappiq in the ה) which would mean that Yitro had previously sent Zipporah to find out where Moshe was camped. However, it is questionable whether Zipporah would have made a likely choice for a scout. See also Seforno 18:1 where he implies that Yitro would not have sent Zipporah alone.

⁷ SefornoShemot 4:18,20About Seforno additionally maintains (like R. Chananel) that Shemot 4:20 already describes Zipporah's being sent home – see Zipporah's Return to Midyan. Seforno thereby gains that the Torah records the events of both Shemot 4 and Shemot 18 exactly when they happened, and the story of Zipporah's return home is not missing from the text. [Once Seforno interpreted 4:20 as referring to Zipporah's going back to Midyan, he could have explained that שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ in 18:2 refers to this same return (Seforno's language in 4:20 of "אַחַר שִׁלּוּחֵיהֶם" alludes to this possibility). However, Seforno likely did not adopt this option in 18:2 because the word אַחַר implies that Yitro's returning of Zipporah came soon after שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ.]

⁸ See below that R. Saadia and Seforno obviate this difficulty by claiming that the verse in Shemot 4:20 refers to Zipporah being sent home.

⁹ Rashbam refers here to the verse in Bereshit 9:18 "And Cham is the father of Canaan," which is his classic example of foreshadowing. See Rashbam for a discussion of his deployment of this principle. Rashbam champions the concept of Biblical foreshadowing to such an extent, that here he rejects the alternative exegesis on the grounds that the anticipated foreshadowing would be absent.

¹⁰ Rashbam attempts to adduce several other verses to support his claim, but all of these either read וְאַחַר (with an additional ו which completely changes the meaning) or are generally explained differently than Rashbam.

¹¹ R. Yosef Bekhor Shor explains like Rashbam that שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ refers specifically to a dowry.

¹² R. Yosef Bekhor Shor here takes almost the completely opposite approach from Rashbam. Rashbam objected to even the two words of אַחַר שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ alone referring to earlier events, while R. Yosef Bekhor Shor expands the flashback to four full verses.

¹³ It is unclear how much time elapsed between Shemot 4 and the Exodus, and it is even possible that it was a number of years – see Chronology of Shemot 5-7.

¹⁴ See Zipporah's Return to Midyan regarding the advantages of this position.

¹⁵ It is questionable whether such an interpretation can muster any Biblical support. Sefer HaGan points to Shemot 3:1 as having a similar meaning of אַחַר, but R. Yosef Bekhor Shor does not interpret that verse in a similar way. [It is possible that R. Yosef Bekhor Shor may have been unconsciously influenced by the language of Bereshit Rabbah 44:5.]

¹⁶ Ibn Ezra may be influenced by Ibn Janach; both of these Andalusian exegetes explain that שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ refers to general gifts and not specifically to a dowry (like the French exegetes cited above). In his Short Commentary, Ibn Ezra also cites Yeshuah the Karaite as maintaining that שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ refers to gifts. Ibn Janach and the citation from Yeshuah do not explicitly say who gave the gifts and when, but it seems likely that they understood like Ibn Ezra.

¹⁷ Cf. Yaakov sending gifts to Esav in Bereshit 32.

¹⁸ Ibn Ezra appears to connect שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ to the verb שלח.

¹⁹ See שלוחים that the concept of a dowry does not exist in Islamic society, and for the likely influence of this reality on the Andalusian exegetes.