God's bid to commission Moses leads to an extensive dialogue, focusing our attention upon Moses.[1] The text flits back and forth between the two as Moses demurs from undertaking this mission, not once or twice, but five times. God remains patient and stalwart for an extended period, meticulously addressing each of Moses' concerns, but His anger emerges after Moses' fifth refusal, where he deflects the mission without any explanation: "Please my Master, send whomever You will send" (Shemot 4:13). Shockingly, the narrative of commissioning Moses at the burning bush concludes as a veritable failure, at least from a spiritual angle. An angry God chastens Moses and summarily dispatches him to Egypt, allowing Moses no further opportunity to dodge the divine call.
God initiated Moses' commission by divulging His awareness of Israel's oppression. Having seen, heard, and known their pain (Shemot 2:24-25), God informs Moses of His intention to rescue His nation from Egypt and bring them to a good and wide land,[2] flowing with milk and honey (3:7-8).[3] A course of action has already been determined and is slated to be implemented immediately: "And now (ve-ata), behold Israel's cries have come to me and also I have seen the pressure that Egypt has brought to bear upon them" (3:9). The next verse again opens with "And now," as God explains to Moses how He intends to execute this plan: "And now (ve-ata), go and I will send you to Pharaoh, and bring my nation, the children of Israel, out of Egypt" (3:10). God may be the force – and the moral voice – behind the plan, but Moses is the agent selected to implement it.
Moses' reluctance seems surprising in light of the previous story. After all, God charges Moses with the rescue of a suffering nation, and Moses has shown himself to be a person of deep moral concerns, a champion of the oppressed. Before we examine Moses' specific arguments and concerns, it is worth noting Moses' boldness before God. The greatest of God's prophets begins his career with deference, but not automatic obedience. Moses is adamant in his refusal to accept this task. He no longer believes in Israel's future; nor, we will see, does he believe in himself as God's messenger.
To better understand this dialogue, we will now examine its literary construction.
Moses' First Two Arguments Against the Mission
Four of Moses' refusals are presented with sound reasoning, while the fifth (as noted above) is stated as a categorical refusal, lacking any justification. Moses' first refusal focuses on himself; he contends that he is not worthy or capable of the task: "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should remove the children of Israel from Egypt?" (Shemot 3:11).[4] Moses may feel that he is unqualified due to his failure to sway the fighting Hebrews, who did not appear to respect Moses or consider him an authority (Shemot 2:14). Possibly, he thinks that he has been absent from Egypt for too long to have any influence. Moses may also still harbor fear of Pharaoh's reprisal, amid an acute lingering awareness of the absolute power of the Egyptian king.[5]God's response ("For I will be – eheyeh – with you," 3:12) clarifies that Moses' personal merit is immaterial. By stating His intention to accompany Moses on this mission, God assures Moses that he will succeed.
God's reassurance does not alleviate all of Moses' concerns, however. He now turns his attention to Israel, surmising that they will not be easily convinced of the veracity of Moses' mission or His God:
And Moses said to God: "Behold, I will come to the children of Israel, and I will say to them, 'The God of your fathers sent me to you,' and they will say to me 'What is His name?' What shall I say to them?" (Shemot 3:13)
Moses assumes that Israel will ask after the identity (or perhaps the nature)[6]of the God whom Moses represents. Possibly, Moses means to condemn Israel for their prolonged estrangement from God; the nation that, as we saw above, does not see God as an address for their cries (Shemot 2:23) will also not know God's name.[7] He may also be alluding again to his own deficiency as the choice for this mission: how can he lead the nation if he does not himself know the answer to this basic question?[8]
God displays no ire toward Israel or Moses, answering Moses with equanimity. He offers Moses three successive responses. In the first, God states rather obscurely: "I shall be (eheyeh) what I shall be (eheyeh)" (3:14).[9] In the second, God speaks again (with a second va-yomer, "and He said"), offering Moses a formulaic citation to identify Him to the nation: "This is what you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Eheyeh has sent me to you.'" In God's third answer, He introduces Himself again – this time, as the God of Israel's forefathers: "And God further said (va-yomer od) to Moses, this is what you shall say to the children of Israel: The Lord, God of your fathers…" (3:15). This third self-identification flows seamlessly into God's reiteration of Moses' upcoming mission, which again (like 3:10) opens with the word, "Go!" (3:16). There seems to be no reason for Moses to delay God's call any longer; God has addressed each of his concerns.
God now spells out the mission in detail, dwelling at length on the way events will develop. To further boost Moses' willingness, God focuses his attention upon Israel's suffering in Egypt, Pharaoh's intransigence, and God's intention to wield His great power against a doomed Egypt. A keyword in God's speech is Egypt (Mitzrayim), which appears seven times in a concentric manner [for image, click here]:
A- I remember you and that which is being done to you in Egypt.
B- I will take you out of the afflictions of Egypt (oni Mitzrayim)…
C- You will come to the king of Egypt and say… let us go for three days…
D- And I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go…
Cᵃ- And I will send My hand and strike Egypt…
Bᵃ- And I will make this people find favor in Egypt's eyes (einei Mitzrayim)[10]…
Aᵃ- And you will despoil Egypt.
The first half of the speech (A-C) describes Egypt in a position of power. Positioned at the center of the speech (D) is the Egyptian king's abiding obstinacy. Following this, the passage pivots and describes Egypt in a position of powerlessness (Cᵃ-Aᵃ). In response to Pharaoh's arrogant obstinacy, God plans to take charge of Egypt's fortunes, spawning Egypt's downfall and Israel's rise. A compelling speech, it seems designed to stir Moses' empathy for his suffering people and outrage at Egyptian abuse of power, as well as to reinforce Moses' confidence in God and in the success of his mission. God concludes by offering Moses a glimpse of the triumphant conclusion of his mission. Echoing God's pledge to Abraham (Bereishit 15:14), God promises Moses that Israel will leave Egypt with great riches and that Israel's children will exit Egypt bedecked in jewels (Shemot 3:22), the very picture of dignity and nobility.[11]
Two More Arguments Against the Mission
Even after this compelling speech, Moses continues to resist God's mission. God speaks about Pharaoh, but Moses appears more concerned with Israel. Turning his attention back to the nation, Moses ruminates on their waywardness: "Surely, they will not believe me, and they will not heed my voice, for they will say, 'God has not appeared to you'" (Shemot 4:1).
God's patience with Moses remains firm, and He continues to support His chosen leader. To facilitate the nations' trust in Moses, God guides him to perform three signs with his hands.[12]
Following this, Moses demurs a fourth time, again featuring his own inadequacies but this time focusing on his self-described speech defect. Here too, God encourages Moses, effortlessly dismissing Moses' concerns by assuring him that it was He who created speech; God will assist Moses and bolster his mouth.[13]
It is at this point that Moses seems to despair of using logic to explain why he cannot undertake this task. In a fifth bid to resist the divine mission, Moses abruptly tries to deflect God's attention outward, toward someone else – anyone at all – who can undertake this divine burden: "Send whomever you will send!" (4:13).
The Structure of Moses' Arguments
Moses' first four arguments are arranged chiastically [for image, click here], in a circular pattern that is woven through God's repeated attempts to send Moses to Egypt:
God's speech to Moses: "Go!" (3:7-10)
Argument 1 (A): I (anokhi) am not worthy. (3:11)
(God's assurances and response, 3:12)
Argument 2 (B): Israel does not know God's name. (3:13)
(God's assurances and response, 3:14)
God's speech to Moses: "Go!" (3:15-22)
Argument 3 (Bᵃ): Israel will not believe me. (4:1)
(God's assurances and response, 4:2-9)
Argument 4 (Aᵃ): I (anokhi) am not a man of words. (4:10)
(God's assurances and response, 4:11)
God's speech to Moses: "Go!" (4:12)
The chiastic structure illustrates the absence of progression in Moses' arguments; despite God's assurances that address each of Moses points, Moses circles back to his original concerns. This anticipates the dialogue's futility and its failed conclusion. Moses is mired in a cycle of skepticism and hopelessness regarding this undertaking.
The broad outline of the dialogue reveals that it unfolds in two discrete movements. Moses consistently maintains two objections: an inward one, expressing his own inadequacies, and one that looks toward the disaffected nation, delicately questioning Israel's suitability as the object of the mission.
God's answer to both of Moses' concerns revolves around a keyword, eheyeh, which appears four times in the span of three verses. This word (which literally means, "I will be") focuses on God's presence. Its first appearance involves a general assurance that God will accompany Moses: "For I will be (eheyeh) with you" (3:12). This somewhat vague promise is followed by a peculiarly hazy sign (3:12): "This is the sign that I have sent you; when you remove the nation from Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain." Why does God offer Moses a sign that will not present itself until after he completes his mission?[14]
The response God provides for the nation's likely query regarding His name is even more ambiguous than His promise to Moses: "I will be (eheyeh) what I will be (eheyeh)," and "Say to the children of Israel: I will be (eheyeh) has sent me to you."[15] God's enigmatic answers do not reassure an agitated Moses, whose reluctance only deepens. Thus, when God follows His encouraging assurances with a second elucidation of Moses' task (opening with the word "Go!"), Moses remains hesitant.[16]
When Moses resumes articulating his concerns, he first looks outward, focusing on the nation's faith (4:1): "Surely, they will not believe me!" This is the most pressing matter: Moses has recently experienced an encounter with the divine, but the nation has not. Moses is tasked with convincing the nation of the veracity both of God's message and of his own role as God's messenger. How can Moses reassure a skeptical nation by brandishing obscure messages, such as the elusive promise of eheyeh ("I will be")? To ground His promises, God offers tangible signs in the second round (4:2-9), consisting of material objects that manifest God's presence and undergird His promise. These signs involve Moses' hand, which will perform three separate symbolic and miraculous acts, establishing that Moses is God's messenger and God's message is verifiably true.
Following God's proffering of signs, Moses returns to his own inadequacies. God had previously offered a general, abstract promise to Moses: "I will be with you." But Moses knows that he has a specific shortcoming, a speech impediment that disqualifies him from undertaking any assignment that requires eloquence and persuasiveness – and to this, God responds with a concrete promise: not only will He be "with you" generally, but "I will be with your mouth and I will instruct you of everything that you will speak" (4:12).
God's patience thus far is remarkable. He endures two rounds of Moses' questions without censure, readily offering Moses solid assurances in place of vague ones in the second round. It is only after Moses reverts to an unmitigated repudiation of the divine call that God finally becomes angry with him.
Resisting God's Call
This is not the only time that a prophet or a leader will resist God's call. In fact, such reluctance emerges as a common pattern in biblical consecration narratives, which tend to feature candidates who are loathe to take on the responsibility. Perhaps this is an indication of the personal humility of these selected leaders. Moses is certainly distinguished by his modesty; he will later be described as the humblest man on the face of the earth (Bamidbar 12:3). The trend may also indicate the burdensome nature of receiving a divine mission. Moses indeed appears deterred by the difficulty of his task, both in confronting the powerful Pharaoh and in persuading the wayward Israelites (3:11). Moses has already encountered Pharaoh's wrath as well as intimations of Israel's contentiousness, when he confronted the fighting Hebrews.
Moses functions in different roles, as both political leader and prophet. As political leader, Moses is charged with removing the nation from Egypt. The difficulties of this task we have noted above. Later political leaders who eschew their initial divine appointment include both Gideon and Saul. Like Moses, they express a sense of personal inadequacy that precludes them from accepting the assigned task. God responds to the hesitations of these men as well by promising that He will be with them (and offering a sign to buttress the promise); their success bears little relation to their own talents.[17] Following that promise, only a lack of faith allows continued refusal of the position. Humility can easily slide into self-absorption. It is an act of egotism (which spawns faithlessness) for a chosen leader to continue to focus on his own inadequacies after God has pledged to guide him to success.
In addition to serving as political leader, Moses is also a prophet, tasked with representing God's word to humans. Prophets have good reasons to shy away from their role. Who could feel adequate to the task of acting as God's mouthpiece? Moses, in particular, feels unequipped to use his speech effectively.[18] The prophetic office is, moreover, a lonely place; it is difficult to maintain good social relations when one's primary job is to censure his own community. Amos, Jonah, Jeremiah, and Yechezkel all indicate that they prefer not to be chosen; some of these men explicitly express their unworthiness.[19] Similar to God's words to Moses, God promises Jeremiah that He will be with him (Yirmiyahu 1:8), a reassurance designed to allay his fears of assuming the prophetic mantle.
Moses, to be sure, will grow to accept his roles as leader, both political and prophetic. Moses' boldness before Pharaoh and the confidence that characterizes his leadership before God represents a stunning metamorphosis for the initially hesitant leader. Once Moses internalizes that the mission depends not upon him but upon God, he willingly bears the burden of leadership that God places upon him: the act of a truly humble man.
[1] Y. Etshalom, Reading Between the Lines, pp. 52-53, notes that the keyword that appears fourteen times in this narrative unit (Shemot 3:1-4:17) is Moses, indicating that the story is less about the redemption of Israel than it is about the inauguration of Moses as prophet and leader.
[2] The focus on the width of the land of Israel may be designed to contrast with the land of Egypt, whose population inhabits a narrow strip of land surrounding the Nile. Egypt's narrow fertile area may be reflected in its Hebrew name, Mitzrayim, which contains the word tzar, meaning narrow.
[3] Interestingly, God does not explicitly task Moses in 3:10 with bringing the people into the land of Israel. One may speculate that this was never part of Moses' role, a possibility that will have important repercussions for understanding later events.
[4] Significantly, Moses' query opens with the words "mi anokhi," which, read on its own, is a question of identity ("Who am I?"). This phrase hints that Moses continues to dwell upon the question of identity, which has swirled around Moses since his complex birth narrative, as discussed previously.
[5] Some exegetes explain that Moses perceives the chasm between himself (a foreigner and a shepherd) and the powerful Pharaoh. See, e.g., Ibn Ezra Shemot 3:11 and Rashbam Shemot 3:11. This approach seems to represent Moses as casting doubt on God's omnipotence. Moses drops this line of reasoning once God assures him that He will be with him.
[6] Many exegetes (e.g., Nachmanides, Rabbeinu Bechaye, Seforno, Netziv) assume the nature of the question is about God's attributes and His methods of action, especially as they relate to His promise to remove Israel from Egypt. God's different traits and modes of action appear to be embedded in His different names.
[7] Shemot 6:2-8 likewise focuses on introducing God's name to Moses and to the nation. Much of the book of Shemot (which translates as "names") endeavors to introduce God's name through the plagues (9:16), the events at Sinai (20:7; 34:14), theophany (33:19; 34:5), and the building of the Tabernacle (20:21). Revealing God's name constitutes a central theme in the book.
[8] One cannot help but think of a similar exchange between Jacob and the mysterious man with whom he struggles (Bereishit 32:24-32). At the conclusion of that incident, Jacob inquires as to the "man's" name. The man replies elliptically, evading the question: "Why would you ask my name?" (Bereishit 32:29). See, similarly, the exchange between Manoach and the angel in Shoftim 13:17-18. Here, however, Moses feels that he needs to know God's name to effectively carry out his mission.
[9] God's obscure self-introduction has long puzzled exegetes, who offer various interpretations of His words. This passage has spawned a copious amount of secondary literature (including articles, monographs, and dissertations). Many exegetes assume that this phrase (featuring the root haya, which simply means "be") involves a description of God's attributes or essence (e.g., Rasag, Abravanel), His constancy or reliability (see Rashi, Rashbam, and R. Yitzchak's opinion in ShemotRabba 3:6). Other exegetes think that eheyeh is the first-person rendition of the Tetragrammaton (see the cryptic comment by Rashbam – decoded by Chizkuni – on 3:15). Bechor Shor finds this approach difficult to accept, given that this is the only place in Tanakh where God uses eheyeh as a first-person description. (M. Greenberg's suggestion (Understanding Exodus, p. 82) that eheye appears as the name of God in Hoshea 1:9 and Tehillim 50:21 seems unconvincing.) In all other places where God refers to Himself with the Tetragrammaton, He uses its third-person formulation.
[10] Note the wordplay between B and Bᵃ, based on the similar orthography of the words oni (suffering) and einei (eyes).
[11] Much has been written regarding the moral implications of Israel despoiling Egypt and of the deceit that accompanies it. For more on this topic, see B. Gesundheit, "Borrowing Vessels of Silver and Gold," Megadim 33 (2001) pp. 9-12 [Hebrew]; E. Samet, "The Borrowing of the Vessels," Studies in Parashat Ha-Shavua II (Mitzpe Navo: Maaliyot, 2004) pp. 263-285 [Hebrew].
[12] The key word yad (hand) appears ten times in this chapter (4:1-17).
[13] The word peh (mouth) appears a key seven times during this interaction (Shemot 4:10-17).
[14] Exegetes have focused a great deal of attention on answering this question. Some (including Rashi, Rashbam, and Ibn Ezra) posit that the sign is actually the burning bush, a proximate, concrete indication of God's intentions. Others explain that God is indeed referring to a sign that will not be manifest until the future, when the nation arrives at the mountain: the promise is designed to reassure Moses that God has both a reason and an objective for removing Israel from Egypt; the nation exits in the merit of their future accomplishments (see, e.g., Abravanel; this also may be Rashi's intention in his second explanation). I deliberately leave this question unanswered above in order to draw attention to the ambiguity that weaves throughout this first section of the unit.
[15] For Nachmanides, the evasive and enigmatic nature of the phrase may be its very goal, conveying that no human can possibly receive a straightforward answer to the question of God's essence. See also Sefer Ha-Kuzari 4:3.
[16] The verse that introduces God's second attempt to send Moses on his mission opens with the phrase "And God again said to Moses." This highlights both God's patience and Moses' reluctance, which made it necessary for God to reiterate His command.
[17] Rashi (on Shemot 3:12) explains that God informs Moses: "This is not your [action] but rather it is mine." In this vein, we should observe that God counters Moses' self-referential use of the word anokhi in 3:11 (as in "who am I?") with the word anokhi referring to God in 3:12 ("For I have sent you!"). Success hinges not on who Moses is, but rather on who God is.
[18] Malbim (Shemot 4:11) cites the Ran, who explains that God deliberately chooses Moses not despite but because of his inadequacy. When people see Moses' success alongside his speech defect, they will know without doubt that his success stems from God and not from his own eloquence or persuasiveness.
[19] While Isaiah does express a sense of unworthiness in Yeshayahu 6:5, he functions as a notable exception to the "resistant prophet," instead answering God's call eagerly: "Here I am! Send me!" (Yeshayahu 6:8).
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