출애굽기 4:11의 주석

מי שם פה וגו׳ WHO HATH MADE MAN’S MOUTH etc.? — Who taught you to speak when you were arraigned in judgment before Pharaoh on account of the Egyptian whom you slew?

WHO HATH MADE MAN’S MOUTH? This is a reference to man’s power of speech because it resides in the mouth. Similarly: Safa echad²⁷⁵Genesis 11:1. [literally: “one lip”] (one language); that speak ‘s’fath’ Canaan²⁷⁶Isaiah 19:18. [literally: “the lip of”] (the language of Canaan).

מי שם פה לאדם?, Who provided the natural infrastructure for nature to be able to provide the body’s equipment?

ויאמר ה׳ אליו מי שם פה, G'd said to him: "Who has given man a mouth, etc." G'd criticised Moses. He should have relied on the fact that the One who provides others with the ability to speak without impediment could also do the same for him. If G'd had failed to do so thus far, surely He must have had an adequate reason. If and when the need arose, G'd would surely remedy Moses' deformity. G'd responds with the words (verse 12) "and now go and I will be with you." He does not, however, assure Moses that He will cure him of his deformity. It is also possible that G'd only hinted to Moses that he should express repentance at his lack of trust that G'd would cure him.

מי שם פה לאדם?, “Who has equipped man with a mouth?” The Torah refers to the mouth here as an instrument of formulating speech.

[And who made] his servants deaf. The Re”m asks: If Pharaoh became dumb and exerted no effort to kill Moshe, why did Hashem also need to make his servants deaf and blind? The Re”m answers: [Originally, Pharaoh spoke up and ordered Moshe’s death. And] after he heard of Moshe’s escape, he commanded his servants to give chase and capture him. It was then that all his servants became deaf. And when Pharaoh saw that Moshe was not captured, he thought they gave chase but did not find him. Thus Pharaoh did not exert any effort to send many more servants from all areas to find and capture Moshe and have him executed. Instead, he kept silent and went his way.

V. 11. "Bin ichs nicht, ה׳?" Derselbe, der ich Stab in Schlange und Schlange in Stab umwandle? Kann ich nicht auch den Stammelnden zum Beredtesten und den Beredten zum Stammelnden machen? Gerade ein stammelnder Mensch war der geeignete zu dieser Sendung. Jedes Wort dieses Stammelnden selbst wird zum אות. Wenn der sonst stammelnde Mann in Gottes Auftrag fließend spricht, so bringt jedes Wort seine Beglaubigung mit sich. —

מי שם פה לאדם “Who has provided man with a mouth to speak with?” G-d replies that since it is He Who has given man the power of speech when He created the species, it was He who has given or restricted his power of speech. Clearly, if it was His will to do so, He could correct his handicap. G-d, as previously, answers Moses point by point.

או מי ישום אלם OR WHO MAKETH THE DUMB — Who made Pharaoh dumb so that he could not insist upon the carrying out of his command to kill you? Who made his ministers deaf so that they could not hear when he gave orders concerning you? And the executioners whose task it was to slay — who made them blind so that they could not see when you fled from the platform (raised place of execution) and escaped? (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 10)

OR WHO MAKETH A MAN DUMB? Scholars have explained²⁷⁷The difficulty presents itself: Since the absence of a property is nothing positive and dumbness is the lack of the property of speech, how can one speak of “the making” of dumbness when it is nonexistent? See Rambam’s Moreh Nebuchim, III, 10, where the author discusses this problem. The answer, quoted here by Ramban, that it refers back to “the man,” suggesting, “Who can create a man without the capacity of speech?” is mentioned there by Rambam. that this refers back to man, meaning: “Who maketh a man that is dumb?” That is to say, “Who has created a man without the capacity of speaking?” “The making” thus refers to the making of man, but as regards the absence of the power of speech, you cannot speak in terms of “making,” for it is non-existence, the lack of the power of speech. Perhaps because man has a speaking soul,²⁷⁸See Ramban on Genesis 2:7 (Vol. I, pp. 66-69) on the great significance of this point. and, for people who lack this capacity, it is due to some obstruction in the veins of the tongue, it is then possible to say, “Who made the dumbness?” [since the making of the obstruction required an act]. Now the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] said in the Moreh Nebuchim²⁷⁹Moreh Nebuchim, III, 10. that it may be said of him who removes a certain property that he produced the absence of that property, for they say of him who puts out the light that he has produced darkness. In accordance with this view, Rambam explains the verse, I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil,²⁸⁰Isaiah 45:7. [for darkness and evil are non-existent things].

או מי ישום אלם?, “or Who makes (man) dumb?” The verb ישום, refers back to the word אדם in the first half of our verse. G’d does not “make“ man dumb, as dumbness is the lack of something, something similar to “nothing,” in the sense that it did not require to be created or refined. If the Torah, nonetheless, created the impression as if G’d had made some people “dumb,” perhaps the reason is that man is considered a נפש מדברת, “a personality equipped with the power of speech.” When one encounters a human being who lacks this power, one assumes that someone, i.e. Gd, had locked the power of expressing itself within that personality, and had made him dumb. The word אלם is the opposite of the word פה, mouth, just as the word פקח is the opposite of the word עור, blind; and the word חרש describes someone not equipped with the sense of hearing. Seeing that the word פקח can be applied to both eyes and ears, describing a lack of perceptive powers of the eyes or ears, we encounter such expression as לפקוח עינים,עינים פקוחות , i.e. “to open one’s eyes”, or “open eyes”, as otherwise we could not be certain in which mode the word פקח was being used at the time. Some commentators view the line מי שם פה simply as a rebuke to Moses, G’d saying: “did you really think that I was unaware that you had a speech impediment?” Surely, seeing that I have made you, you need not remind Me of such matters!”

Is it not I, that My Name is Adonoy, who did all this? [Rashi adds“that My Name” to explain that] it does not mean “My essence is Adonoy.” For it is written (Shemos 6:3), “My Name Adonoy I did not make known to them.” The reason Rashi says, “ ששמי ה (that My Name is Adonoy)” instead of simply “ שמי ה' (My name is Adonoy),” is that it would otherwise mean Hashem is informing us of His Name, which is Adonoy. And if so, how does it relate back to [the beginning of the verse]: “Who gave man a mouth . . .”? But with the added ש it means: “Who gave man a mouth? . . . It is I, that My Name is Adonoy.” Rashi’s further addition, “Who did all this?” refers back to “Who gave man a mouth . . .”

On the other hand, one may read meaning into what G'd did not say, i.e. that He did not instruct Moses how he could ensure that G'd would provide him with a healthy mouth, i.e. the equipment to impress people with his eloquence. G'd did not even hint that He is in the habit of rectifying defects such as speech defects that did not originate at birth. He declared that He provides the initial equipment, i.e. a sense of hearing, a sense of sight, etc. G'd did not refer to His taking remedial action in that regard. We are therefore at a loss as to what precisely G'd wanted to convey with His reply in verse 12.

אִלֵם , von אלם, binden: dessen Zunge gebunden ist. — חרש, von חרש, pflügen: der Taube "pflügt" nur seinen Gedankenacker, aber es werden keine Saaten von außen in den Boden seines Denkvermögens eingestreut. — פקח, das verstärkte בקע ,פקע, ausklaffen: der ein ungewöhnlich offenes Organ hat. — עוֹר ,עור: Haut, עור wachen und nackt sein. Grundbedeutung von עור: den äußeren Eindrücken blosgestellt sein, daher: Haut, das den menschlichen Körper für die Eindrücke empfänglich machende Organ, der Tastsinn. Während des Schlafes ist die Empfänglichkeit gleichsam in das Innere des Menschen zurückgezogen; je tiefer der Schlaf, je weniger steht der Mensch durch seine Haut in Verbindung mit der Außenwelt. Mit dem Erwachen tritt wieder die Wahrnehmung durch die Haut ein. עִַוֵר ist der "Hautmensch", der Tastmensch, der Blinde, der nur durch sein Tastorgan die Körper der Außenwelt wahrnimmt. —

אלם, “dumb,” this is spelling out the first of the faculties that G-d has equipped the human species with, i.e. speech; חרש, refers to the ability to hear sounds. [Thus far G-d mentions physical faculties. Ed.]פקח, “intelligent;” the reason why this faculty is inserted here before the sense of sight, is that although both hearing correctly and seeing correctly, are merely physical functions, they require the abstract faculty of intelligence to become meaningful to a human being. Compare: Isaiah 42,20: ולא תשמור פקוח אזנים ולא ישמע, “with ears open he hears nothing.” Or: verse 7 in the same chapter of Isaiah: לפקוח עמים עורות, “opening eyes deprived of light.”

הלא אנכי ה' DID NOT I whose name is THE LORD do all this?

We must assume that in verse eleven G'd asserted His sovereignty inasmuch as He is the supreme intelligence having provided man with the organs necessary including a mouth, etc. Considering all this Moses should understand that if he was plagued by a deformity this was not accidental or an oversight but was part of an overall design by G'd who knows best. It is precisely because G'd had not seen fit to remedy Moses' deformity that the latter should have given Him credit for knowing what He was doing. Most of you are familiar with the aggadah reported in Shemot Rabbah 1,25 according to which the young Moses playfully removed Pharaoh's crown and placed it on his own head. Some of Pharaoh's advisers were alarmed at this and saw in it an omen of the future. They decided to test the child by placing two bowls in front of him. One contained glowing coals, the other glittering jewels. If Moses were to try and grab for the jewels he would be considered as potentially dangerous to Pharaoh and would be executed; if he grabbed for the glowing coals this would be seen as proof that his having removed Pharaoh's crown had only been a youthful prank by a child with average or below average intelligence. According to the aggadah, Moses was about to grab for the jewels when an angel guided his hands to the coals and he burned his mouth. As a result he was afflicted with a stammer. G'd hinted to Moses that unless He had seen some positive value in Moses' burning his mouth at that time He would not have allowed this to happen. G'd either allows something like this to happen because of something that will happen in the future, or it is retribution for some sin committed, something that could not apply in Moses' case. Rabbi Ami said in Shabbat 55 that no one is saddled with afflictions unless he has become guilty of some sin. If someone suffers from a stutter such as Moses, this too is considered an affliction. If so, it would have been incumbent for Moses to know the reason for his affliction and to remove its cause and then to pray to G'd concerning removal of his affliction. The fact that he did not do so indicates that his affliction had nothing to do with any sin of his. This is why G'd said to him: ועתה. This is to be understood as contradicting previously held convictions. In other words, there was no need for Moses to blame himself for his stutter and to take remedial action.

או עור, “or blind?” Rashi understands this as a question concerning who made the Egyptians blind when Moses fled and as a result of their blindness they did not find him. He bases himself on Exodus 2,15: וישמע פרעה, “Pharaoh heard,” but he could not see. According to Rashi, Pharaoh’s executioner’s sword was blunted by Moses’ neck becoming rock hard. (Jerusalem Talmud tractate B’rachot chapter 9, halachah 1)

As to his concern that Israel would not believe in his leadership because of his stammer, G'd told Him that He would assist him and teach him what to say.

הלא אנכי “Is it not I?” Possibly the addition of the word י-ה-ו-ה at the end of this verse is a reference to the emanation בינה, (נשמה) which is given an outlet by means of the power of speech possessed by man. This idea is reflected in (Job 32,8) “but truly it is the spirit in man, the breath of Shaddai that gives them understanding.” Psalms 45,2 alludes to this when the sons of Korach observe: “I speak my poem to a king; my tongue is the pen of an expert scribe.” I have made some comment on this phenomenon on Genesis 1,26 נעשה אדם .

The words: לך ואנכי אהיה עם פיך "go and I shall be with your mouth," was an ironclad answer valid as long as Moses had not actually commenced his mission. As long as he had not yet become G'd's instrument there was no reason to cure his stammer. This is why G'd urged Moses by saying: "Go!" He implied that if Moses were to accept this mission he would notice that as soon as he began speaking his stammer would have disappeared. G'd said: והוריתיך אשר תדבר; there is a subtle difference between this and את אשר תדבר, which is what we would have expected. G'd did not tell Moses that He would teach him what to say, but He told Moses that He would demonstrate to him that he had developed fluency in speaking, etc. The reason G'd used the word: "I will teach you" instead of "I will show you," is that Moses was to notice that his cure was not something temporary, only for the benefit of fulfilling his mission, but that it would remain the norm from then on.