Tafsiran Bilangan 12:13: Rashi, Sforno, Or HaChaim & Tur HaArokh

אל נא רפא נא לה HEAL HER NOW, O GOD, I BESEECH THEE — Scripture intends to teach you by this form of prayer the correct attitude in social life — that if one is asking a favour of his fellow man he should first say two or three words of supplication and then solicit the favour (Sifrei Bamidbar 105).

א-ל נא רפא נא לה, he was pleading that Miriam should be healed forthwith so that she would not be subjected to the embarrassment of having to leave the camp.

ויצעק משה אל השם, Moses cried out to G'd, etc. The reason the Torah added the word לאמור, was to tell G'd that he had not felt offended at all and that such an assumption should not result in Miriam and Aaron assuming that he harboured some enmity against them although he wanted Miriam to be cured. It had been Aaron's words in verse 12 which had made Moses feel that he had to indicate that he never harboured any resentment against them.

לאמר SAYING (more lit., to say, i.e. that he should say) — What is the force of this word? It means “to say” i.e. that God should say, viz., he (Moses) said to Him, “Answer me whether you are going to heal her or not”, — until at length He replied: “If her father had but spit in her face etc.” Rabbi Eleazer, the son of Azariah, said: In four instances Moses asked the Holy One, blessed be He, to tell him whether He would fulfil his request or not. Similar to the case here is, (Exodus 6:12): “And Moses spoke before the Lord, saying, “[Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hearken to me]”. What is the force of the word לאמר? — “Answer me whether you will redeem them or not”. Until at length the Lord said unto him, (Exodus 6:1) “Now shalt thou see [What I will do to Pharaoh]”. Similar to this is: (Numbers 27:15—18) “and Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, ‘Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh set a man [over the congregation]’”. He answered him, “Take thee [Joshua the son of Nun, etc.]”. Similar to this is: (Deuteronomy 3:23—26) “And I besought the Lord at that time, saying, [O Lord, God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness]’ , the Lord replied: “Let it suffice” (Sifrei Bamidbar 105).