פרשה: שמות · עלייה: חמישי (הוד)

לך ואספת את זקני ישראל, "Go and gather the elders of lsrael,etc." The reason that G'd repeats here again what Moses is to say maybe that when Moses would arrive in Egypt he was to tell the entire people that he had come as messenger from G'd. After that he would assemble the elders and tell them the nature of his mission, namely that G'd had remembered His people and was about to redeem them.

The reason that Moses was to announce the fact that he came as G'd's messenger to the whole people first, was to make them assemble around him. Who would bother to gather around him unless he had first made an announcement that would make the Israelites take notice of him? In His wisdom G'd had instructed Moses what to say to the Israelites and what to say to the assembly of elders. He was to address the elders separately out of respect for them as we know from Vayikra Rabbah 11,8 that in the future G'd will allocate a special place where the elders will be seated.

פקוד פקדתי, "I have surely remembered, etc." G'd speaks of two separate remembrances, 1) the final stage of the redemption, 2) the end of their suffering. When G'd says: אתכם He referred to the final stage of the redemption, when He said: ואת העשוי לכם He referred to the torture the Israelites were experiencing while performing slave labour. G'd also hinted to the Israelites that He would punish the Egyptians for what they had done to the Israelites already.

ושמעו לקולך, "they will listen to your voice, etc." G'd added the apparently superfluous word לקולך when the word לדבריך would have sufficed, in order to convince Moses that the people would believe him even if he did not reveal to them an additional name of G'd. The word קול implies something that is effective only for those who actually hear it. דברים are effective even if not heard directly. G'd wanted Moses to know that anyone who would hear Moses' voice, i.e. the good tidings he would convey, would believe him as there was no impediment such as a lack of faith standing in the people's way. Moses would not even have to perform miracles in order to gain the confidence of the Jewish people.

ה׳ אלוקי העברים נקרה עלינו, "G'd, the Lord of the Hebrews has manifested Himself to us, etc." G'd revealed here that although He did not want that His four-lettered name be associated except with the Hebrews, and that this was the reason He had not revealed it except to the Hebrews, He wanted the Egyptians to know about this name so that when Moses would appear to Pharaoh citing that attribute of G'd, the latter could not claim that he had never heard of such a G'd. He was not familiar with that name because he had not qualified for familiarity with such an exalted name of G'd seeing he was a contemptible person.

נקרה עלינו. "manifested Himself to us." G'd did not want Pharaoh to think that Moses was in regular communication with G'd day by day. It is also possible that the choice of the word נקרה, i.e. a chance encounter, was to forestall Pharaoh demanding to see that Moses and Aaron would receive communications from G'd on a regular basis.

ועתה נלכה נא, "and now let us go, etc." Moses used the word "now" to indicate that this request was an urgent one, requiring immediate action; G'd had not said that these sacrifices were to be offered on a specific date. It is also possible that Moses wanted to indicate to Pharaoh that as far as he was aware this march into the desert for three days in order to offer sacrifices there was a one time affair.

שלושת ימים. "Three days." Moses had to make it appear that the Israelites meant to go for only three days because G'd told him in verse 22 to tell the Israelites to borrow silver trinkets from the Egyptians. Unless the Egyptians would believe that the Jews planned to return they would not lend them the silver trinkets.

This explains also why G'd announced the matter of borrowing the silver trinkets already now, 12 months before the Israelites would actually "borrow" these trinkets. Had that instruction been issued only on the night of the Exodus (when the Torah mentions it as being carried out) it would have been difficult to carry out. We might have assumed that mentioning it at this juncture was merely to make the Israelites believe that the Exodus was really at hand. This is not correct, however. We believe that the reason we have proposed, i.e. that in order to make the eventual request for these trinkets plausible, the Egyptians first had to be under the impression that all the Jewish people really wanted was a three day religious holiday in the desert, away from Egyptian urban areas.

We still have to account for the fact that G'd instructed Moses to deceive Pharaoh by asking for a three day religious pilgrimage when in fact he did not mean for the people to return to Egypt at all? G'd appears to have tricked the Egyptians both regarding the nature of the Israelites' departure and regarding the nature of the "borrowings." Actually, everything G'd told Moses to say was perfectly just and fair. Firstly, inasmuch as the Israelites had performed many decades of slave labour for which the Egyptians had not paid any wages, they were entitled to recompense themselves, if only partially. Sanhedrin 91 records a disputation in front of Alexander the Great on that subject when the Egyptians demanded the return of these borrowed trinkets. The representative of the Jews at that time, a certain Gevihah ben Pesisah, succeeded in making the Egyptians withdraw their claim seeing that what the Jews had taken was so much less than what had been owed them at the time of the Exodus. Still, why did G'd have to resort to trickery? Surely G'd was capable of executing all His designs without having to resort to some form of deception!

We must assume therefore that the reason G'd deceived the Egyptians (on both counts) was in order to orchestrate the pursuit of the Jews by the Egyptian army and the crossing of the sea as well as the drowning of the Egyptian cavalry. Had the Egyptians not felt themselves deceived by the Israelites they would never have undertaken a chase. Compare what we have written on Exodus 14,5 that Pharaoh had a change of heart.

You will find a sign that we are on the right track when you read Shemot Rabbah 14,3 that during the plague of darkness the Jews who were not affected by this discovered the secret hiding places of the Egyptians so that at the time of the Exodus they could prove that the Egyptians lied when they claimed not to possess the items the Jews wanted to borrow. The question is, of course, why, if G'd already enabled the Jews to discover these trinkets, why did He not allow them to help themselves at once? It was only a few days prior to the Exodus! No doubt G'd wanted that the Egyptians should remain under the impression that the Jews were only borrowing these trinkets so that once they realised they had been deceived they would feel morally entitled to pursue the Jews and to retrieve these items.

Now let us look at the legality of the matter. If the Jews had helped themselves to what they discovered in the homes of the Egyptians during the days of darkness they would have been perfectly in order. When a person is forcibly deprived of his possessions there is no law which prevents him to take back what was his. Jacob used subterfuge to compensate himself for what Laban had tricked him out of. The Talmud tells of an occurrence involving three great sages in Yuma 83. When two of them were swindled out of money they had deposited with the innkeeper, they resorted to deception in order to retrieve what was rightfully theirs. Not only did their action not involve a forbidden practice but they did what David refers to in Psalms 18,27 as a practice employed by G'd Who engages in being wily with those who have been devious themselves.

In our situation the matter is even more clear-cut. If you examine the text, you will find that Moses (at G'd's behest) did not utter a single lie. He never mentioned a word about the Israelites ever returning to Egypt. Furthermore, Moses was careful that the deceptive words could not be attributed to G'd himself but only to the Israelites, if at all. The words starting with: "and now we want to go," were to be spoken by Moses, Aaron and the elders. They were not part of what G'd had said. If the Torah had not inserted the word ועתה, we would indeed have assumed that they said, quoting G'd: "Now let us go three days travel into the desert, etc." In chapter 5, verse 1 we do indeed find that Moses quoted G'd saying: "send My people off so that they can celebrate for Me in the desert." He did not mention any time frame at that time. It was only the Israelites who added (in 5,3) "let us go for three days into the desert, etc." While it is true that at that point the Israelites did not say ועתה, they simply assumed that the word ועתה Moses had mentioned in 3,18, was sufficiently clear. The fact that even the Jews had not lied to the Egyptians is proven by history. The Jews who left Egypt celebrated only in the desert seeing that the whole generation died before they came to the land of Canaan. While it is true that many of the children of that generation entered the Holy Land and celebrated there also, it was not the minors who had negotiated with Pharaoh about their release from bondage. People under twenty years of age were under no obligation to offer sacrifices to G'd. The Israelites also did not lie when they asked for the silver trinkets as the Torah says: "they asked for, etc." Initially, they borrowed these trinkets. When the Egyptians did not pay them the wages owed, they kept the trinkets as partial payment. They planned to present the Egyptians wih a bill for the balance at a future date.

One problem has bothered me for a long time; why did G'd not simply drown the Egyptians who deserved drowning by letting the river Nile spill over? This would have been the appropriate punishment for the people who had drowned the Jewish babies in the Nile. Why did G'd wait till the Egyptians had pursued the Jewish people and He had to perform a major miracle by splitting the sea and allowing the Jews to cross on dry land? Also, why the devious method of the Jews borrowing the silver instead of their helping themselves to it during the days of darkness? After all, according to the interpretation of the Midrash the meaning of Exodus 11,23 that the Jews "had light in their dwellings" is that they had light "even in the Egyptians' dwellings?" Perhaps G'd was motivated by two considerations. 1) The splitting of the sea and everything connected with it aggrandised His name amongst mankind in a way that could not have been achieved by any other means. 2) G'd applies the yardstick of "measure for measure." Sotah 11 states that the Egyptians had cleverly inveigled the Israelites into slave labour by sweet-talking them into such patriotic service, whereas gradually they became more and more cruel and demanding. G'd orchestrated the steps leading to redemption in a similar fashion. First He had Moses speak about a three day religious holiday for Pharaoh's labourers as well as borrowings of the Egyptians' silver and of their fancy garments. G'd gradually upped the ante, just as the Egyptians had done in their treatment of the Jews. At the same time G'd was still careful so that even the Jews themselves did not utter a lie. The prophet Micha was quite correct (Micha 7,20) when he characterised one of the greatest Jewish virtues with the words: "You give truth to Jacob."

לא תלכו ריקם, "You will not leave empty-handed." At this point the Torah already foreshadowed the legislation applicable when a Jewish servant is to be released by his master. The Torah commands in Deut. 15,13-15 that you must not set him free empty-handed but that you have to provide him with a stake so that he can establish an economic base for himself. Presumably, this is also measure for measure. What G'd did for you, you in turn are to do for the servant you set free.

ונצלתם את מצרים, "you will empty Egypt." Here the Torah alludes to the fact that a person may rescue his possessions from someone who robbed him by force. Alternatively, our verse may be a preview of what caused the Egyptians to drown in the sea, i.e. the combination of the Israelites' demand to borrow their silver trinkets and their declared intention to travel a distance of three days into the desert. The two demands eventually prompted the Egyptians to pursue the Jews believing their leader Moses had overstepped his authority. As a result G'd drowned them in the sea.

ויען משה ויאמר והן לא יאמינו לי, Moses replied saying: "But they will not believe me, etc." What could have prompted Moses to claim that the Jewish people would not believe him when G'd Himself had told him "they will listen to your voice?" Furthermore, why did Moses even add the almost unbelievable: "and they will not listen to my voice?" One might be tempted to say that inasmuch as a person is free to do what he wants to do and to believe what he wants to believe in, G'd's assurance on that score could not be absolute seeing He is not in control of our feelings. This is why Moses did not believe in the righteousness of their faith. He said: "and they will not listen to my voice," as if to say "they will not even want to listen to my voice." However, such an explanation would not do justice to Moses who certainly did not want to question G'd's attributes, nor to slander Israel by uttering such a gross suspicion. Besides, we must consider that Moses did not even say "suppose they will not believe me," but he made a flat statement והן לא יאמינו לי, "they will definitely not believe me."

The correct answer to our problem is that outlined by Maimonides in chapter seven of his treatise Yesodey Ha-Torah where he writes that the gift of prophecy is given only to people of outstanding intellectual capacity, people who are whole in body and spirit. The author of כסף משנה, a major commentator on Maimonides' works, comments as follows: "We must analyse why Maimonides did not add some more qualifications such as that the prophet has to be wealthy, humble, of physical prowess, etc." He concludes that Maimonides certainly feels that the prophet must possess these attributes as well. However, inasmuch as someone who practices prophecy on a regular basis must possess these attributes as a matter of course, Maimonides did not bother to mention this in that paragraph. In the chapter mentioned, Maimonides was concerned only with people who prophesy only on occasion. Even if we were to consider Moses as someone who practiced prophecy only on occasion-something we cannot accept,- he argued what he did as a result of his extreme humility, out of a conviction that he personally lacked the qualities needed for someone to be accepted as such by the Israelites. When Moses said והן לא יאמינו לי, he meant that "as the result of my many shortcomings they will have no reason to believe me, etc." This was all the more true, Moses said, since I have not been accredited as a regular prophet, but am only making an occasional appearance as a prophet. When a person who has not yet established his credentials as a prophet appears and claims to be a prophet he has to be able to demonstrate all the attributes the people expect of a prophet; these attributes include wealth, physical prowess, a body without blemish, etc. If the people needed proof that Moses lacked the attribute of personal wealth, all they had to find out was that he Moses, had been a mere shepherd in the employ of his father-in-law Yitro. (He had attained personal wealth only by being allowed to pocket the splinters of the tablets of the Covennant as per a comment in Nedarim 38). In view of all this, as soon as the Israelites would consult with their elders if Moses was believable, the elders would tell the people, quite correctly, that Moses had failed to legitimise himself adequately.

When Moses had added ולא ישמעו בקולי he alluded to yet another argument, namely his stutter. His voice would give him away as someone who was not fit to be a prophet. Later on he indeed spelled out his concern on that score. At any rate, the absence of a speech impediment is an absolute necessity even for prophets who appear as such only on occasion. If someone suffered from such an impediment it is equivalent to a physical blemish. When Moses said the Israelites would argue that G'd had never communicated with him, they would be quite justified in their assumption as they would base their rejection of his claim on his physical blemish, saying G'd would not appear to such a person even on a temporary basis. The reason Moses had not advanced this argument at once but had asked G'd what he should say when the Israelites would ask him in what capacity G'd had appeared to him- something which appears to show that he was not concerned about the people rejecting him personally- was because G'd had interrupted him by saying: "this is My name, etc."

It is also possible that Moses wanted G'd to reveal more of the mystical aspects of His name, and that in order for G'd to do so he made what sounded like a provocative statement. Moses hoped, that if successful, G'd would equip him with all the visible and invisible attributes that he felt he lacked in order to qualify as a regular prophet. We find this concept in Psalms 91,14 אשגבהו כי ידע שמי, "I will raise it (the Jewish people) high since it has become aware of My name." Moreover, if they would appreciate the qualities G'd had equipped Moses with their regard for G'd Himself would be appreciably enhanced.

Still another reason why Moses was not perturbed at saying what he did, i.e. that the Jewish people would not believe him, was that G'd Himself had told him after He had said that the Jewish people would hearken to his voice (3,18) that He knew that Pharaoh would not respond to Moses' entreaties and would not let the Israelites depart (3,19). Moses reasoned that if Pharaoh would not take his mission seriously then the Israelites would surely lose faith in his leadership in short order. If Moses would have repeated audiences with Pharaoh all of which did not produce results, the people would eventually even stop listening to him altogether. They would claim that the reason he failed was that לא נראה אליך השם, "G'd never appeared to you in the first place." They would argue that if indeed Moses' mission had been authorised by G'd, who would have the effrontery to refuse to carry out G'd's orders? Do we not know from Kings I 14,10 that if someone contravenes G'd's commands deliberately he will be utterly destroyed by G'd?

?זיאמר ה׳ מזה בידך "G'd said: "what is this in your hand?" This question cannot be compared to when G'd asked Bileam (Numbers 22,9) "who are these men?" Our sages in Bamidbar Rabbah 19 state that Bileam should have answered G'd that He was well aware of even a chamber-pot Bileam had in his bedroom, how much more so would He be aware of who the messengers were who had come to him that evening? However, the two situations cannot be compared. When G'd asked Bileam who the men were who had come to him, Bileam had some excuse to assume that G'd really was not aware of their identity; When He asked Moses what the latter held in his hand, it was daylight and G'd had obviously seen it. The question therefore could only be a rhetorical one. G'd only wanted Moses to confirm what it was he held in his hand. Moses complied and said "it is a staff."

ויהי לנחש, it had turned into a snake. G'd hinted to Moses that the forces of the קליפה are characterised by the symbol snake. We know from the original serpent that it represents סם, i.e. something potentially poisonous. G'd wanted to teach Moses that his hands possessed the power to neutralise the power of that serpent and to turn it into a harmless piece of wood. If, however, Moses would not keep firm control and allow it to escape from his hands, he would unleash all the latent powers of evil which are controlled by the serpent. This would become so threatening that Moses would flee from it [although he stood on consecrated ground, Ed.]. When G'd asked Moses: "what is this in your hand?" He wanted Moses to understand that the staff was biologically analogous to a certain kind of desert-mouse. If Moses were to even loosen his grip on his staff it was liable to develop into a serpent just as earth can turn into a certain species of mouse. [In Talmudic times there was a widespread belief that this specimen of mouse was half flesh and half earth, and developed out of the earth. This belief has halachic implications regarding the laws of ritual impurity, compare Chulin 9,6, Ed.] Moses replied to G'd's question that he was certain that what he held in his hand was a staff, i.e. one hundred per cent wood, without potential to develop into a living organism. When G'd made him throw the staff down to earth, He demonstrated that not only did the staff contain the potential to develop into a living creature, but it did not do so only very gradually, such as the desert-mouse, but it did so in a single moment.

The reason G'd had said: "throw it to the ground," was that in the eyes of the serpent the earth assumes great significance since it derives all its needs for survival from the earth, and earth (dust) is its exclusive habitat (Genesis 3,14). G'd taught Moses many lessons by means of this small demonstration. Amongst other things Moses was to demonstrate this very miracle before the eyes of the Israelites.

When G'd instructed Moses: "stretch out your hand," He wanted Moses to realise that though he thought that he had already lost control over what had been his staff, he still possessed the power to master what had become a serpent and to turn it into a harmless piece of wood again.

G'd instructed Moses ואחוז בזנבו, instead of ואחוז בו. This was to teach him an additional lesson. Normally, people are afraid of the poisonous head of the snake and when they try to grab it they try to get hold of its head and crush it in order to neutralise its poisonous bite. G'd told Moses that it would suffice to grasp the tail of the snake and he would not have anything to fear. When the Torah nevertheless describes Moses as ויחזק בו "he took hold of it," and not as ויחזק בזנבו, "he took hold of its tail," this does not mean that Moses did not obey G'd's instructions but that he took hold of the nearest part of the snake without fear. When the Torah goes on to describe that ויהי למטה בכפו, "it turned into a staff in his palm," this means that it ceased being a living organism as soon as Moses' palm touched it i.e. ויהי, "it remained as a staff only."

למען יאמינו כי נראה אליך השם. "So that they will believe that G'd has appeared to you." The reason that G'd kept repeating "the G'd of their fathers," may have been to hint to the people present that unless one believed in the G'd who had been the G'd of the patriarchs one could not hope to achieve control over the serpent, i.e. the forces of evil in this universe. A demonstration of such control would therefore imply that one was on intimate terms with G'd.

והיה אם לא יאמינו גם לשני האותות, "In the event that they will not believe even both these two signs, etc.," This sounds strange. Does G'd then entertain any doubts so that He has to phrase this verse in such a way? Besides, G'd had already told Moses that the people would listen to his voice! Perhaps the thrust of the message is addressed to Moses' concerns, and G'd is saying to him: "In the event you are afraid that even these two miracles will not be sufficient to convince the Israelites of your authenticity and the authenticity of the message of the imminent redemption, I will let you perform another miracle which will be the clincher and as a result of which they will certainly believe you."

G'd may also have wanted to tell Moses not to worry about aspects of the people's faith which could not be discerned on their faces. In the event that Moses worried that though externally the people would appear to believe both in him and in the success of his mission, they might harbour reservations which Moses could not detect. G'd reassured him on that score and told him that as a result of all three miracles they would believe him without reservations.

והיו המים….לדם ביבשת. "The waters…will turn into blood on the ground." Rashi has enlightened us by remarking that the repeated use of the word והיו in this verse indicates that the waters will not turn into blood until they touch the dry land. I only wish to add one more comment concerning the statement of our sages in Shemot Rabbah 9,10 that G'd eventually commanded Aaron and not Moses to perform this miracle in front of Pharaoh because the Nile had saved Moses' life at the time his mother placed him amongst the reeds and it would have been gross ingratitude to strike at the part of nature which had saved his life. In this case where G'd commanded Moses to strike the waters personally, He did so with the proviso that the waters would become blood only after they had already ceased to perform their life-giving and life-preserving function, i.e. after they had been spilled on the ground.

ויאמר משה בי א־ד־ו־נ־י לא איש דברים אנכי, Moses said: "Please my Lord, I am not a man of words, etc." After Moses' previous arguments had been silenced, Moses now appealed to the attribute of Mercy. This is why the Torah emphasises the name of G'd Moses used here. Moses had not used that name of G'd previously. The word בי is a word of entreaty.

Alternatively, we can understand the word בי as a pronoun in which case Moses would have answered G'd that he considered his own unsuitability for the mission as due to בי, his own shortcomings. As soon as the people would become aware of him stammering they would realise that even after he pronounced the words he had no command of language. They would reject him. Moses added the words גם מתמול גם משלשום, to point out that despite his repeated conversations with G'd, G'd had not cured him of his deformity. It appeared therefore that he was meant to suffer from this deformity also in the future. If so, the people would surely reject him because they would think that if G'd had spoken to him He would first have cured him of that blemish. (He left the last part of the sentence unspoken).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

בי אדני שלח נא ביד תשלח. "Please my Lord, send the one whom You usually send on missions." Moses meant that he did not hold G'd responsible for his stammer; he was well aware that G'd could cure it. If He had not done so it was clear to him that the fault must be his; therefore he recommended that G'd send someone better qualified than himself on that mission.

ויתר אף ה׳ במשה, G'd became angry at Moses, etc. I believe that as a result of G'd's anger Moses did indeed remain afflicted with his stammer even after he undertook the mission in the end. The Torah says that G'd became angry במשה, at Moses; I understand that to be a reference to his body, i.e. it had an effect on his deformity. Our sages in Zevachim 102 who suggested that Moses referred to his older brother Aaron when he made the comment G'd found objectionable, believed that Moses who had been meant to also fulfil the function of High Priest was deprived of this function as a result of G'd's anger. The Talmud's comment is perfectly compatible with my own, as the words ויחר אף hinted at two things.

כי דבר ידבר, "for he will certainly speak," etc. The reason that G'd repeated the word דבר is that G'd indicated that though Aaron was able to speak fluently now, i.e. דבר, he would also speak in the future, ידבר, though he would also become afflicted with a handicap similar to that of Moses. On the other hand, in line with our explanation of the consequences of G'd's anger (which had not been spelled out in detail as yet), the word דבר may refer to G'd's instruction to Moses, whereas the words ידבר הוא have to be read together and tell us that Aaron would do what Moses had refused to do. The emphasis on הוא implies also that whereas he, Aaron would display fluency of speech, Moses would not be cured.

וגם הנה הוא יוצא לקראתך, "and he is also on the way to meet you, etc." If this is a continuation of G'd's praise of Aaron that he would be willing to speak although he too would stammer, this is additional praise for Aaron; the word וגם, "and also," is in place then. G'd is saying then that Aaron not only does not mind his handicap but he is glad to be able to perform a task G'd assigns to him. [I believe the reason the author says that Aaron suffered from a speech handicap is that he reads the words דבר־־ידבר as graphically describing the stutter. Ed.]

The word וגם may also be understood in conjunction with Shabbat 139 where we are told that Aaron was granted the position of High Priest in recognition of his being happy that his younger brother had been appointed as the redeemer. When we consider that G'd had decided not to cure Moses of his speech defect because he had declined the request by G'd to assume leadership of the people, the word וגם would refer to the additional result of that refusal by Moses.

The Torah may also have wanted to underline the virtues of Aaron and his humility. Normally, one could have expected him to be slighted for being appointed to be merely his younger brother's mouthpiece, but the Torah testified that far from feeling slighted, Aaron actually rejoiced over Moses' promotion. One of the lessons to be learned from this is that humility should not be carried to the point where one endeavours to escape fulfilling the will of the king (G'd). G'd had to tell Moses that Aaron would rejoice as the latter was not displaying this joy openly. The Torah could also have wanted to tell us that Aaron did display this joy on his face, but that G'd wanted Moses to know in addition that Aaron was equally joyful about Moses' appointment in his heart.

ואת המטה הזה תקח בידך, "and take this staff in your hand, etc." According to the Zohar section 3 page 28 there were two staffs. The Torah then spoke about "this one" to tell Moses that he should not take the other staff.

The expression "take in your hand" means "permanently;" The reason was that this staff should be a mark of distinction, something not unlike present-day rulers who carry a mace with them as a sign of their constitutional right to legislate. Moses took the "staff of G'd" with him as mentioned in verse 20 as a memento of this conversation and as a sign of his authority. G'd had said: "take it in your hand" so that we should not interpret that Moses took his staff like ordinary people take a walking-cane.

אשר תעשה בו את האותות, "the one with which you will perform the miracles." This may be a reference to the staff with which Aaron performed such miracles as turning it into a snake (7,10). According to the Zohar we have just quoted that staff became known as "the staff of Aaron;" G'd had commanded Aaron also to have his staff ready at all times. According to Targum Yonathan 2,21 the staff was made of sapphire and no one was able to even move it except Moses. Accordingly, the very fact that Moses could "take" it was a miracle in itself. The words וזה לך האות therefore meant that no one but Moses would be able to handle the staff.