View source for Moshe's Speech Impediment/2

<aht-xml>

<page type="Approaches">
<h1>Moshe's Speech Impediment – "כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן אָנֹכִי"</h1>
<!--
<div class="overview">
<h2>Overview</h2>
	<p></p>
	<continue>
	<p></p>
	</continue>
</div>
<p></p>
-->
<approaches>
<category name="">Physical Disability
<mekorot><multilink>
<a href="DevarimRabbah1-1" data-aht="source">Devarim Rabbah</a><a href="DevarimRabbah1-1" data-aht="source">Devarim Rabbah (Vilna) 1:1</a><a href="DevarimRabbahLiebermanDevarim" data-aht="source">Devarim Rabbah (Lieberman) Devarim 1:1 (p.4-5)</a><a href="Devarim Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Devarim Rabbah</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="DivreiHaYamimLeMoshe" data-aht="source">Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu</a><a href="DivreiHaYamimLeMoshe" data-aht="source">Otzar HaMidrashim (Eisenstein p.358)</a><a href="Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu" data-aht="parshan">About Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu</a></multilink>,<fn>The Midrash appears in Yalkut Shimoni Shemot 166. <multilink><a href="RashbamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="RashbamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Meir</a></multilink>, here, is likely referring to this work when he says "ואין לחוש לספרים החיצונים" (see Rashbam Bemidbar 12:1 where he explicitly cites this Midrashic collection).</fn> 
<multilink><a href="ShemotRabbah1-26" data-aht="source">Shemot Rabbah</a><a href="ShemotRabbah1-26" data-aht="source">1:26</a><a href="Shemot Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Shemot Rabbah</a></multilink>,<fn>This section of Shemot Rabbah dates to the 11th–12th century and may have incorporated a version of the legend found in Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu (see below regarding some of the relatively minor distinctions between them). Cf. <multilink><a href="LekachTovShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Lekach Tov</a><a href="LekachTovShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Toviah b. Eliezer (Lekach Tov)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Toviah b. Eliezer</a></multilink> who cites a similar story in the name of "יש אומרים". Note that <multilink><a href="RashbamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="RashbamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Meir</a></multilink>, in apparently referring to and dismissing this legend, attributes it to "ספרים החיצונים". By <multilink><a href="RambanShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe Nachmanides</a></multilink>'s time, though, the story is cited in the name of "רבותינו" and viewed as more authoritative.</fn> 
<multilink><a href="RasagTafsirShemot6-12" data-aht="source">R. Saadia</a><a href="RasagTafsirShemot6-12" data-aht="source">Tafsir Shemot 6:12</a><a href="RAvrahamShemot7-1" data-aht="source">cited by R. Avraham b. HaRambam Shemot 7:1</a><a href="R. Saadia Gaon" data-aht="parshan">About R. Saadia Gaon</a></multilink>,<fn>R. Kapach renders the Arabic translation as "having difficulty in enunciating clearly".</fn> 
<multilink><a href="RChananel" data-aht="source">R. Chananel</a><a href="RChananel" data-aht="source">Cited by R. Bachya Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Chananel b. Chushiel" data-aht="parshan">About R. Chananel</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="RashiShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="RashiShemot6-12" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:12</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="IbnEzraShemotLong4-10" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraShemotLong4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot Long Commentary 4:10</a><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort6-12" data-aht="source">Shemot Short Commentary 6:12</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham ibn Ezra</a></multilink>,<fn>Ibn Ezra here attempts to prove from the words "מִי יָשׂוּם אִלֵּם" that Moshe had a physical disability. See, however, Ibn Ezra in his Short Commentary 4:10 cited below.</fn> 
<multilink><a href="RYBSShemot4-10" data-aht="source">R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a><a href="RYBSShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Yosef Bekhor Shor" data-aht="parshan">About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="RAvrahamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">R. Avraham b. HaRambam</a><a href="RAvrahamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Avraham Maimonides" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham Maimonides</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="RambanShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe Nachmanides</a></multilink></mekorot>
	<point><b>Nature of the disability</b> – There are a couple of possible variations:<fn>See J. Tigay, "'Heavy of Mouth' and 'Heavy of Tongue' – On Moses' Speech Difficulty", BASOR 231 (1979): 57-67, who gathers the evidence from Semitic cognates which supports the defective speech option (as well as evidence for the lack of fluency in a language alternative), but notes that the available data does not allow for a more precise identification of the type of defect.</fn>
		<ul>
			<li>R. Chananel specifies that Moshe had trouble with letters pronounced both with the teeth ("כְבַד פֶּה") and the tongue ("כְבַד לָשׁוֹן").&#8206;<fn>R. Chananel includes the sibilants זשרס"ץ in the first category and the dentals דטלנ"ת in the second. One might have reversed the categorization.</fn></li>
			<li>Rashi understands Moshe's disability to be a form of stuttering.<fn>See אוצר לעזי רש"י regarding the old French word "בלב"א" (balbe) found in Rashi.</fn></li>
		</ul>
	</point>
	<point><b>Reason for the disability</b> – The proponents of this approach generally agree that Moshe's condition existed from birth or early childhood,<fn>Thus "גַּם מֵאָז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל עַבְדֶּךָ" does not describe when the disability began (cf. Ralbag below), but rather that the condition did not improve with Hashem's revelation – see Ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, and Ramban.</fn> however there is some divergence of opinions as to why Hashem did not remedy the condition:
		<ul>
			<li>Shemot Rabbah and Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu<fn>There are slight discrepancies in the details between the two Midrashim, but their basic motif is the same. A similar story is found in the more ancient source of <multilink><a href="Josephus2-9" data-aht="source">Josephus</a><a href="Josephus2-9" data-aht="source">Antiquities 2:9:7</a><a href="Josephus" data-aht="parshan">About Josephus</a></multilink>. According to Josephus' account, when Moshe was brought before Paroh, Paroh placed his crown on Moshe's head and Moshe threw the crown to the ground. In this version, however, there is no mention of a burning coal or Moshe's speech impediment, and it is Paroh's daughter who saves Moshe from Paroh's advisers.</fn> recount a legend of how Moshe's tongue was burnt in the course of a miraculous saving of his life.<fn>According to this Midrash, when Moshe was a young child in Paroh's palace, he removed Paroh's crown and placed it on his own head. When many of Paroh's advisers (Shemot Rabbah simply mentions "חרטומי פרעה", while Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu specifies "בלעם הקוסם") presciently warned that this was a sign that Moshe would pose a future threat to the throne and should thus be killed, one advisor (Shemot Rabbah identifies him as Yitro, while Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu says it was the angel Gavriel in disguise) suggested to test Moshe by placing before him gold (Divrei HaYamim LeMoshe Rabbeinu has a precious stone) and a glowing coal and seeing which he would select. When Moshe reached for the gold, an angel intervened, placing his hand on the coal and saving his life. Moshe then placed the coal in his mouth, burning his tongue. The Midrash is likely influenced by the similar story in Yeshayahu 6:6-7, in which an angel touches a coal to Yeshayahu's mouth.</fn> Ramban adds that Hashem may have avoided healing Moshe's condition in order that this miracle be memorialized.<fn>Ramban alternatively suggests that Hashem did not remove the condition as a punishment for Moshe's employing of it as an excuse not to go to Paroh and not simply praying for it to be cured. Cf. <multilink><a href="LekachTovShemot4-14" data-aht="source">Lekach Tov</a><a href="LekachTovShemot4-14" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:14</a><a href="R. Toviah b. Eliezer (Lekach Tov)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Toviah b. Eliezer</a></multilink>.</fn></li>
			<li>R. Yosef Bekhor Shor suggests that Hashem wanted to demonstrate that the Divine will could be realized even via a messenger lacking a silver tongue.<fn>Cf. <multilink><a href="ShemotRabbah3-15" data-aht="source">Shemot Rabbah</a><a href="ShemotRabbah3-15" data-aht="source">3:15</a><a href="Shemot Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Shemot Rabbah</a></multilink>. See, however, Shadal who dismisses this approach because of Hashem's response in 4:11.</fn> Similarly, the <multilink><a href="Ran5" data-aht="source">Ran</a><a href="Ran5" data-aht="source">Derashot HaRan 5</a><a href="R. Nissim Gerondi (Ran)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Nissim Gerondi</a></multilink> states that Hashem intentionally chose a leader who was not a charismatic speaker to insure that all would recognize that the miracles of the Exodus were brought about not by oratorical talents but rather by Hashem's will.<fn>See below for Rashbam and Shadal's objections to the possibility that Hashem's messenger would have a disability.</fn></li>
		</ul>
	</point>
	<point><b>Temporary or Permanent?</b> These commentators differ regarding how Moshe was able to deliver the lengthy addresses of Sefer Devarim:
		<ul>
			<li>Hashem removed the impediment while Moshe was still at the Burning Bush – This possibility is rejected by Ibn Ezra and Ramban.</li>
			<li>The disability was cured at the time of the national revelation at Mt. Sinai – Devarim Rabbah.<fn>Cf. Tanchuma Devarim 2 below and see Tanchuma Yitro 8 which describes how Hashem removed all physical handicaps from the entire nation when they stood at Sinai.</fn></li>
			<li>Moshe remained disabled, but Hashem alleviated the condition when necessary – Ibn Ezra.<fn>See Shadal who dismisses Ibn Ezra's position.</fn></li>
			<li>Moshe's speech impediment remained, and Aharon and Elazar (after Aharon's death) continued to serve as Moshe's spokespersons throughout the forty years in the wilderness – <multilink><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort4-16" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort4-16" data-aht="source">Shemot Short Commentary 4:16</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham ibn Ezra</a></multilink>.</li>
		</ul>
	</point>
</category>
<category name="">Non-physical Disability
<mekorot><multilink><a href="TanchumaDevarim2" data-aht="source">Tanchuma</a><a href="TanchumaDevarim2" data-aht="source">Devarim 2</a><a href="Tanchuma" data-aht="parshan">About the Tanchuma</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="LekachTovShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Lekach Tov</a><a href="LekachTovShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Toviah b. Eliezer (Lekach Tov)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Toviah b. Eliezer</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="RashbamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Rashbam</a><a href="RashbamShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="RashbamShemot4-14" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:14</a><a href="R. Shemuel b. Meir (Rashbam)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shemuel b. Meir</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="RalbagShemotM4-10" data-aht="source">Ralbag</a><a href="RalbagShemotM4-10" data-aht="source">Beiur HaMilot Shemot 4:10</a><a href="RalbagShemotP4-10" data-aht="source">Beiur Divrei HaParashah Shemot 4:10</a><a href="RalbagShemot3T18" data-aht="source">Shemot 3-4 Toelet 18</a><a href="RalbagShemotP6-9" data-aht="source">Beiur Divrei HaParashah Shemot 6:9</a><a href="R. Levi b. Gershom (Ralbag, Gersonides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Levi b. Gershon</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="SefornoShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Seforno</a><a href="SefornoShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Ovadyah Seforno" data-aht="parshan">About R. Ovadyah Seforno</a></multilink>, 
<multilink><a href="ShadalShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shadal</a><a href="ShadalShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="ShadalShemot6-12" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:12</a><a href="R. Shemuel David Luzzatto (Shadal)" data-aht="parshan">About R. S.D. Luzzatto</a></multilink></mekorot>
	<point><b>Nature of the disability</b> – These commentators agree that the disability was not physical, but disagree as to the specifics:
		<ul>
			<li>Moshe did not know seventy languages, and would thus be mocked at Paroh's court – Tanchuma.<fn>The Midrash reflects a reality in which sages and members of the royal court knew many languages. Cf. R. Yochanan's statements in Talmud Bavli Sotah 36b regarding Gavriel teaching Yosef seventy languages before Paroh appointed him, and in Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 17a that the Sanhedrin needs to know seventy languages. See also Mishna Shekalim 5:1 that Mordekhai knew seventy languages.</fn></li>
			<li>Moshe did not know Egyptian well<fn>Rashbam suggests that the parallel term "כִבְדֵי לָשׁוֹן" in <a href="Yechezkel3-4" data-aht="source">Yechezkel 3:4-6</a> has a similar meaning. For additional support from Semitic cognates, see J. Tigay, "'Heavy of Mouth' and 'Heavy of Tongue' – On Moses' Speech Difficulty", BASOR 231 (1979): 57-67.</fn> – Rashbam.<fn>Rashbam deems it impossible that Hashem would elect to transmit the Torah through a stutterer, and Shadal makes a similar argument against Ibn Ezra's position. See, similarly, the aversion of Talmud Bavli Sotah 12b to the possibility that Moshe had any physical deformity, and Tanchuma Yitro 8 which states that at Mt. Sinai Hashem healed all of the Israelites' physical handicaps. But cf. R. Yosef Bekhor Shor and the Ran above who adopt a completely opposite view.</fn></li>
			<li>Moshe was not an eloquent orator – Lekach Tov, Seforno, Shadal.</li>
			<li>Moshe could not order his speech in a clear and organized manner – Ralbag.<fn>Ralbag suggests that the dual description "כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן" is merely an instance of "כפל ענין במלות שונות".</fn></li>
			<li>Moshe did not have any special disability, and his profession of ineloquence was merely an expression of his innate modesty.<fn>Compare to Yirmeyahu's similar reluctance <a href="Yirmeyahu1-6" data-aht="source">Yirmeyahu 1:6</a>) to accept Hashem's mission.</fn></li>
		</ul>
	</point>
	<point><b>Cause of Moshe's disability</b> – These commentators give various explanations in accordance with their respective understandings of the nature of the disability:
		<ul>
			<li>Rashbam claims that since Moshe left Egypt when he was young, he did not remember Egyptian well.<fn>Rashbam also explains that this made Aharon a good choice for the speaker's role, as his Egyptian was fluent. Shadal argues against Rashbam, as he finds it difficult to imagine that Moshe would have forgotten his native tongue. Rashbam, though may be maintaining merely that Moshe did not speak "King's Egyptian" like Egyptian nobility, even though he retained basic fluency. The plausibility of Rashbam's approach may depend in part on how much time passed between Moshe fleeing Egypt and his commission at the Burning Bush – see <a href="Chronology of Shemot" data-aht="page">Chronology of Shemot 2-4</a>.</fn></li>
			<li>Seforno claims that Moshe did not know how to speak before kings, and he suggests that this might have been because of a slow development of the speech organs.</li>
			<li>Ralbag claims that since Moshe was so spiritual and spent so much of his mental energy on being close to Hashem, he couldn't order his speech to make it comprehensible to other humans.<fn>See below for other interpretations of Ralbag which develop this position.</fn> According to Ralbag, this imperfection of Moshe began only with Hashem's revelation to him at the Burning Bush ("גַּם מֵאָז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל עַבְדֶּךָ").&#8206;<fn>In contrast to other commentators who interpret these words as Moshe saying that his condition did not improve with Hashem's revelation, Ralbag understands that the revelation itself aggravated the condition. Ralbag also appears to maintain that Moshe's spiritual connection with Hashem began before the Burning Bush. This relates to the dispute among the commentators as to whether Moshe's conversation with Hashem at the Burning Bush took place over many days (<multilink><a href="VayikraRabbah11-6" data-aht="source">Vayikra Rabbah</a><a href="VayikraRabbah11-6" data-aht="source">11:6</a><a href="Vayikra Rabbah" data-aht="parshan">About Vayikra Rabbah</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="RashiShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Rashi</a><a href="RashiShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="RashiShemot6-12" data-aht="source">Shemot 6:12</a><a href="R. Shelomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki</a></multilink>, <multilink><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort4-10" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot Short Commentary 4:10</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham ibn Ezra</a></multilink>) or only one (<multilink><a href="RambanShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Ramban</a><a href="RambanShemot4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot 4:10</a><a href="R. Moshe b. Nachman (Ramban, Nachmanides)" data-aht="parshan">About R. Moshe Nachmanides</a></multilink>).</fn></li>
		</ul>
	</point>
	<point><b>Temporary or Permanent?</b>
		<ul>
			<li>The Tanchuma says that Hashem enhanced Moshe's language faculties, and thus by the time of Sefer Devarim, Moshe could translate the whole Torah into seventy languages.<fn>Cf. Devarim Rabbah above.</fn></li>
			<li>According to Rashbam, the lack of eloquence in Egyptian was relevant only in Egypt.<fn>This raises the question of what language the Israelites spoke both in Egypt (note that Moshe's initial diffidence about his speaking abilities in Chapter 4 was connected to his mission to the Israelites, not to Paroh) as well as at different points during their years in the wilderness.</fn></li>
			<li>Shadal claims that Hashem fixed this disability, and Moshe gradually became more eloquent.</li>
			<li>Ralbag maintains that the closer Moshe moved toward God, the further removed he became from man. Thus this condition persisted and had ramifications for the rest of Moshe's life. This is consistent with Ralbag's understandings of other flaws of Moshe – see <a href="Did Moshe Need Yitro's Advice" data-aht="page">Did Moshe Need Yitro's Advice</a> and <a href="Moshe" data-aht="page">Moshe's Character</a>.</li>
		</ul>
	</point>
</category>
<category name="">Combination
<mekorot><multilink><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort4-10" data-aht="source">Ibn Ezra</a><a href="IbnEzraShemotShort4-10" data-aht="source">Shemot Short Commentary 4:10</a><a href="R. Avraham ibn Ezra" data-aht="parshan">About R. Avraham ibn Ezra</a></multilink><fn>See, however, Ibn Ezra in his Long Commentary 4:10 cited above.</fn></mekorot>
	<point><b>Nature of the disability</b> – According to Ibn Ezra, Moshe's condition included both a medical condition from birth as well as a lack of eloquence stemming from not having spoken Egyptian in many years. Ibn Ezra differentiates between "כְבַד פֶּה" and "כְבַד לָשׁוֹן", and derives from the doublet that there was a dual difficulty.</point>
</category>
</approaches>
<!--
	<opinion name=""> <span class="unbold"> – There are two variations of this possibility:</span>
			<point><b></b> – 
				<ul>
					<li></li>
					<li></li>
					<li></li>
				</ul>
			</point>
-->
	</page>
</aht-xml>