Moses’ Speech Impediment: Taking Action before Using Words

When Moses is born, his mother sees that he is טוֹב (tov), “good”:

^{שׁמות ב:ב} וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתֵּרֶא אֹתוֹ כִּי טוֹב הוּא וַתִּצְפְּנֵהוּ שְׁלֹשָׁה יְרָחִים.

^{Exod 2:2} The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months.^[1]

This phrase has been understood by some as referring to his appearance—as in the translation here—or that he is healthy.^[2] The Talmud connects Moses’ goodness to the same phrase found in the creation account:

^{בבלי סותה יב.} וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנּוֹלַד מֹשֶׁה, נִתְמַלֵּא הַבַּיִת כּוּלּוֹ אוֹר. כְּתִיב הָכָא: ״וַתֵּרֶא אוֹתוֹ כִּי טוֹב הוּא״, וּכְתִיב הָתָם: ״וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָאוֹר כִּי טוֹב״.

^{b. Sotah 12a} And the Sages say: At the time when Moses was born, the whole house was filled with light, as it is written here: “And when she saw him, that he was good,” and it is written there: “And God saw the light, that it was good” (Gen 1:4).^[3]

No matter how we translate it or understand it, the phrase כִּי טוֹב hints at something special about Moses^[4] and suggests why YHWH chooses him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Yet when YHWH speaks to Moses from the burning bush and commissions him, Moses objects that he is not fit for the role:

^{שׁמות ד:י} וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל יְ־הוָה בִּי אֲדֹנָי לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אָנֹכִי גַּם מִתְּמוֹל גַּם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁם גַּם מֵאָז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל עַבְדֶּךָ כִּי כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן אָנֹכִי.

^{Exod 4:10} But Moses said to YHWH, “Please, O Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

Scholars have long grappled with the meaning of כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן אָנֹכִי, literally “heavy of mouth^[5] and heavy of tongue am I.”^[6] Rashi (Rabbi Solomon b. Isaac; ca. 1040–1105) offers a common interpretation:

^{רש״י שׁמות ד:י} בכבידות אני מדבר. בלשון לעז: בלבא

^{Rashi Exod 4:10} I speak heavily (with difficulty); Old French balbus (English = stammerer).

Rashbam (Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, ca. 1080–ca. 1160) suggests instead that Moses is worried about communicating in Egyptian:^[7]

^{רשב״ם שמות ד:י} איני בקי בלשון מצרים בחיתוך לשון, כי בקטנותי ברחתי משם ועתה אני בן שמונים.

^{Rashbam Exod 4:10} “I am not an expert in speaking the Egyptian language fluently, for I ran away from there when I was young and now I am eighty years old.”^[8]

וכן מצינו ביחזקאל שמי שאינו בקי בלשון המלכות קרוי כן, דכתיב: ויאמר אלי בן אדם לך בא אל בית ישראל ודברת [ב]דבריי אליהם, כי לא אל עם עמקי שפה וכבדי לשון אתה שלוח אל בית ישראל, לא אל עמים [רבים] עמקי שפה וכבדי לשון אשר לא תשמע דבריהם וגומר.

So we find also in Ezekiel that such a phrase [as כבד לשון] is used to describe someone who does not speak the language of the realm well. It is written there: “And he said to me, ‘Mortal, go to the House of Israel and repeat My very words to them. For you are sent, not to a people of unintelligible speech and difficult language, but to the House of Israel, not to the many peoples of unintelligible speech and difficult language, whose talk you cannot understand,’” etc. (Ezek 3:4–6).

He explicitly rejects the idea that Moses stuttered:^[9]

^{רשב״ם שמות ד:י} וכי איפשר נביא אשר ידעו השם פנים אל פנים וקיבל תורה מידו לידו היה מגמגם בלשונו. ואין דבר זה בדברי התנאים והאמוראים, ואין לחוש לספרים החיצוניים.

^{Rashbam Exod 4:10} Could one imagine that a prophet whom God singled out, face to face and who received the Torah in his hands directly from God's hand used to stutter?! This [legend, about Moses stuttering,] is not to be found in the words of the tannaʾim or the ʾamoraʾim and no attention should be paid to apocryphal works.

Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1167) proposes that Moses’ problem is a difficulty producing certain “heavy” sounds:^[10]

^{אבן עזרא שמות [ארוך] ד:י} רק ככה נולד שהיה כבד פה, כי לא יכול להוציא אותיות השפה וכל אותיות הלשון, רק קצתם היה מוציאם בכובד. וזהו טעם: ואנכי אהיה עם פיך והוריתיך אשר תדבר – שיורנו לדבר מלות שאין שם מאותיות הכבדות על פיו.

^{Ibn Ezra [long] Exod 4:10} The upshot of this is that Moses was born with slowness of speech; i.e., he could not pronounce the labials or all of the linguals. However, he was able to pronounce some of them with difficulty. This is the meaning of: “I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall speak” (Exod 4:12)—that He would teach him to speak with words that do not contain letters that he had difficulty enunciating.^[11]

He argues that the issue must be physical. After all, in response to Moses’ objection, YHWH responds:

^{שׁמות ד:יא} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה אֵלָיו מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם אוֹ מִי יָשׂוּם אִלֵּם אוֹ חֵרֵשׁ אוֹ פִקֵּחַ אוֹ עִוֵּר הֲלֹא אָנֹכִי יְ־הוָה.

^{Exod 4:11} And YHWH said to him, “Who gives man speech? Who makes him dumb or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, YHWH?

Jeffrey Tigay, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, identifies “heavy” as a medical term, used in the Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts to describe malfunctioning body parts. Jacob’s eyes, for example, are described as כָּבְדוּ מִזֹּקֶן, “heavy with age” (Gen 48:10). In Akkadian texts, deafness is referred to as being heavy (kabātu) of ears. Heaviness also appears with ailments of the head, eyes, limbs, and breath.

Tigay acknowledges, however, that the lack of detail about Moses’ condition permits a novel, non-medical interpretation:

Such views might draw support from God’s statement “I will tell you what to say” (Exod 4:12): if this is what it takes to overcome Moses’ problem, the problem must be not knowing what to say.^[12]

Indeed, while the final term in YHWH’s list of bodily functions, עִוֵּר, primarily means physically blind,^[13] the remaining terms are more ambiguous.

אִלֵּם, from the root א.ל.ם, can be translated as “dumb,” but it can also refer to the act of being “speechless” or “silent,”^[14] as Isaiah makes clear in a sheep simile used to describe the silence of YHWH’s servant:^[15]

‏^{ישׁעיה נג:ז} נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַעֲנֶה וְלֹא יִפְתַּח פִּיו כַּשֶּׂה לַטֶּבַח יוּבָל וּכְרָחֵל לִפְנֵי גֹזְזֶיהָ נֶאֱלָמָה וְלֹא יִפְתַּח פִּיו.

^{Isa 53:7} He was maltreated, yet he was submissive, he did not open his mouth; like a sheep being led to slaughter, like a ewe, dumb before those who shear her, he did not open his mouth.

חֵרֵשׁ,“deaf,” from the root ח.ר.ש, carries a connotation of unhearing but also “speechless” or “silent,” as when Jacob chooses to be silent in the story of the rape of Dinah:^[16]

^{בראשׁית לד:ה} וְיַעֲקֹב שָׁמַע כִּי טִמֵּא אֶת דִּינָה בִתּוֹ וּבָנָיו הָיוּ אֶת מִקְנֵהוּ בַּשָּׂדֶה וְהֶחֱרִשׁ יַעֲקֹב עַד בֹּאָם.

^{Gen 34:5} Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but since his sons were in the field with his cattle, Jacob kept silent until they came home.

פִקֵּחַ, from the root פ.ק.ח, means “seeing” or “opening eyes,” as in Jeremiah’s description of YHWH:^[17]

^{ירמיה לב:יט} גְּדֹל הָעֵצָה וְרַב הָעֲלִילִיָּה אֲשֶׁר עֵינֶיךָ פְקֻחוֹת עַל כָּל דַּרְכֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם לָתֵת לְאִישׁ כִּדְרָכָיו וְכִפְרִי מַעֲלָלָיו.

^{Jer 32:19} Wondrous in purpose and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of men, so as to repay every man according to his ways, and with the proper fruit of his deeds!

It is possible that Moses does have some kind of speaking disorder, either biological or learned, and the biblical text is hinting that anyone can overcome what could be considered disabling. Reading Moses’ heavy tongue in light of his behavior from his youth throughout his leadership of the Israelites in the wilderness, however, suggests that the issue is more about Moses’ tendency to act before speaking than a physical impediment.^[18]

Moses, the Impulsive Youth

The first time we meet Moses as an adult is when he kills an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew:

‏^{שׁמות ב:יא} וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וַיִּגְדַּל מֹשֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל אֶחָיו וַיַּרְא בְּסִבְלֹתָם וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי מַכֶּה אִישׁ עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו. ^ב:יב וַיִּפֶן כֹּה וָכֹה וַיַּרְא כִּי אֵין אִישׁ וַיַּךְ אֶת הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּטְמְנֵהוּ בַּחוֹל.

^{Exod 2:11} Some time after that, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and witnessed their labors. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers. ^2:12 He turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

The fact that he looks around could suggest some sort of premeditation, though limited. Moses does not, however, have a conversation with the Egyptian about his actions before he kills him. Moses is a bit of a hothead.

The next day, when Moses finds two Hebrews fighting, he does speak briefly with the offender. The text is silent as to what language they speak, but there is no suggestion that Moses has difficulty doing so:

‏^{שׁמות ב:יג} וַיֵּצֵא בַּיּוֹם הַשֵּׁנִי וְהִנֵּה שְׁנֵי אֲנָשִׁים עִבְרִים נִצִּים וַיֹּאמֶר לָרָשָׁע לָמָּה תַכֶּה רֵעֶךָ. ^ב:יד וַיֹּאמֶר מִי שָׂמְךָ לְאִישׁ שַׂר וְשֹׁפֵט עָלֵינוּ הַלְהָרְגֵנִי אַתָּה אֹמֵר כַּאֲשֶׁר הָרַגְתָּ אֶת הַמִּצְרִי וַיִּירָא מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמַר אָכֵן נוֹדַע הַדָּבָר.

^{Exod 2:13} When he went out the next day, he found two Hebrews fighting; so he said to the offender, “Why do you strike your fellow?” ^2:14 He retorted, “Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was frightened, and thought: Then the matter is known!

The interaction leads Moses to flee, again with no suggestion that he discussed his plan or actions with anyone; he just acts on his own impulses:

^{שׁמות ב:טו} וַיִּשְׁמַע פַּרְעֹה אֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה וַיְבַקֵּשׁ לַהֲרֹג אֶת מֹשֶׁה וַיִּבְרַח מֹשֶׁה מִפְּנֵי פַרְעֹה וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּאֶרֶץ מִדְיָן וַיֵּשֶׁב עַל הַבְּאֵר.

^{Exod 2:15} When Pharaoh learned of the matter, he sought to kill Moses; but Moses fled from Pharaoh. He arrived in the land of Midian, and sat down beside a well.

In Midian, he impulsively, without any conversation, drives off the shepherds who are preventing the seven daughters of Reuel from watering their flocks (Exod 2:16–17).

Moses, the Less Impulsive, Eloquent Elder

After the theophany at Sinai, when YHWH tells Moses on the mountain that the Israelites are making a golden calf under the direction of his brother, Aaron, Moses’ first response is to successfully talk YHWH down from a decision to destroy the Israelites and make a nation from Moses’ offspring. Moses begins with an eloquent reminder of what YHWH has just done in rescuing Israel:

‏^{שׁמות לב:יא} וַיְחַל מֹשֶׁה אֶת פְּנֵי יְ־הוָה אֱלֹהָיו וַיֹּאמֶר לָמָה יְ־הוָה יֶחֱרֶה אַפְּךָ בְּעַמֶּךָ אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בְּכֹחַ גָּדוֹל וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה.

^{Exod 32:11} But Moses implored YHWH his God, saying, “Let not Your anger, O YHWH, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.”

He continues by noting the consequences should YHWH reject the Israelites, invoking YHWH’s reputation:

^{שׁמות לב:יב} לָמָּה יֹאמְרוּ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר בְּרָעָה הוֹצִיאָם לַהֲרֹג אֹתָם בֶּהָרִים וּלְכַלֹּתָם מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה שׁוּב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפֶּךָ וְהִנָּחֵם עַל הָרָעָה לְעַמֶּךָ.

^{Exod 32:12} “Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people.”

Finally, he recalls YHWH’s promises to the patriarchs, which would be unfulfilled if YHWH destroys the Israelites (v. 13).^[19]

Since Moses here is trying to persuade YHWH, presumably YHWH did not place these words in Moses’ mouth. Just a short while later, however, we see evidence that Moses still has a quick temper. When he sees for himself what the Israelites are doing, he impulsively destroys the tablets of the covenant in anger:

^{שׁמות לב:יט} וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר קָרַב אֶל הַמַּחֲנֶה וַיַּרְא אֶת הָעֵגֶל וּמְחֹלֹת וַיִּחַר אַף מֹשֶׁה וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ מִיָּדוֹ [מִיָּדָיו] אֶת הַלֻּחֹת וַיְשַׁבֵּר אֹתָם תַּחַת הָהָר.

^{Exod 32:19} As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.

In the wilderness, when YHWH is angry because the people want meat, Moses’ anger and eloquence combine in a speech in which Moses lashes out at YHWH:

^{במדבר יא:יא} וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל יְ־הוָה לָמָה הֲרֵעֹתָ לְעַבְדֶּךָ וְלָמָּה לֹא מָצָתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ לָשׂוּם אֶת מַשָּׂא כָּל הָעָם הַזֶּה עָלָי.

^{Num 11:11} And Moses said to YHWH, “Why have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me?”

He even asks to die:

‏^{במדבר יא:טו} וְאִם כָּכָה אַתְּ עֹשֶׂה לִּי הָרְגֵנִי נָא הָרֹג אִם מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ וְאַל אֶרְאֶה בְּרָעָתִי.

^{Num 11:15} “If You would deal thus with me, kill me rather, I beg You, and let me see no more of my wretchedness!”

This speech also apparently persuades YHWH to help the Israelites, as YHWH then provides quail to feed the Israelites (vv. 31–32), though he also destroys some of them in anger (v. 33). In two subsequent episodes, Moses is able to avert YHWH’s anger without losing his own temper. He intervenes on Miriam’s behalf when YHWH is angry at Miriam and Aaron for speaking against Moses because of the Cushite woman (Num 12), and he persuades YHWH not to destroy and disown the Israelites when the people are afraid because of the reports of the scouts returning from Canaan, though YHWH does bar that generation from entering the promised land (Num 14).

The last time Moses shows his temper is consequential for him, as it is the act which keeps him from entering the land.^[20] At Meribah, the people complain to Moses because they cannot find water:

^{במדבר כ:ה} וְלָמָה הֶעֱלִיתֻנוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם לְהָבִיא אֹתָנוּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הָרָע הַזֶּה לֹא מְקוֹם זֶרַע וּתְאֵנָה וְגֶפֶן וְרִמּוֹן וּמַיִם אַיִן לִשְׁתּוֹת.

^{Num 20:5} “Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There is not even water to drink!”

Though YHWH instructs Moses to lift the rod and command the rock to yield water (v. 8), Moses instead yells at the people and strikes the rock:

‏^{במדבר כ:י} וַיַּקְהִלוּ מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן אֶת הַקָּהָל אֶל פְּנֵי הַסָּלַע וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם שִׁמְעוּ נָא הַמֹּרִים הֲמִן הַסֶּלַע הַזֶּה נוֹצִיא לָכֶם מָיִם. ^כ:יא וַיָּרֶם מֹשֶׁה אֶת יָדוֹ וַיַּךְ אֶת הַסֶּלַע בְּמַטֵּהוּ פַּעֲמָיִם וַיֵּצְאוּ מַיִם רַבִּים וַתֵּשְׁתְּ הָעֵדָה וּבְעִירָם.

^{Num 20:10} Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock; and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” ^20:11 And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank.

While water does come out of the rock, and the people and their animals drink, Moses and Aaron learn that because they did not trust enough in YHWH, they will not make it into the promised land:

^{במדבר כ:יב} וַיֹּאמֶר יְ־הוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן יַעַן לֹא הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָכֵן לֹא תָבִיאוּ אֶת הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם.

^{Num 20:12} But YHWH said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”

In this case, Moses does speak before hitting the rock, but his speech is part of an act of anger. Thus, despite years of what we might now refer to as “anger management” Moses reveals a remnant of his earlier self, with significant consequences for his own future.

Moses often has good reasons for his anger, but he nevertheless also acts in such cases without apparent forethought. Yet in the face of YHWH’s anger, Moses also often manages to find the words to convince YHWH not to destroy the people.^[21] This pattern suggests that Moses’ problem is not a speech impediment, but an impulse to act before speaking.

Moses’ Unrecognized Strength

Moses’ life story places the burning bush episode in a different light. His concern over his tendency to act before he speaks may be what spurs him to try to avoid YHWH’s plans for him. Indeed, despite Moses’ objections and YHWH’s appointment of Aaron to speak for him (Exod 4:14–15), the evidence does not suggest that Moses has either a speech impediment or trouble speaking.

Rather, Moses’ eloquence is what repeatedly saves the Israelites from YHWH’s anger. Moreover, it appears that Moses learns to manage the anger of his youth—unless he is pushed too hard. Thus, interpreting Moses’ claim that he is “heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue” as a physical impediment obscures our recognition of one of his great strengths.