I explain why Moses couldn’t speak Hebrew to the Israelite slaves

Chapter 3 and 4 of Exodus contain some odd remarks by Moses. He declines Hashem’s request to be Hashem’s messenger to the Egyptians and the enslaved Hebrews. He says: “…for I am not a man of words neither heretofore nor since” and “…. for I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue” (some translate this as a speech “impediment”).  Hashem then tells Moses, in a fit of exasperation, “Is there not Aaron thy brother the Levite?? I know that he can speak well”. Hashem also says: “And he (Aaron) shall be thy spokesman unto the people”.

Commentators on the Torah give various reasons for why Moses said that he had a “slow tongue” or speech “impediment”.  I will add my reason.. Moses grew up as an Egyptian prince, but the Torah says he was raised, at least until he was weened by his mother, in the palace. As a prince, Moses was educated by his teachers in the Egyptian language. He might have learned some smattering of Hebrew as a consequence of being raised with the Hebrew servants in the palace,  but nothing more. This is confirmed after Moses slays an Egyptian taskmaster and flees to Midian.  Jethro’s daughters tell Jethro about what Moses did to drive the shepherds away from the disputed well. The daughters say: “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds…..”. The daughters surely  called Moses an Egyptian because he was dressed as an Egyptian and spoke the Egyptian language. Had Moses spoken in Hebrew, or dressed like a Hebrew slave, the daughters surely would not have called him an Egyptian.

The Rabbis and sages say that Moses was in Midian for 40 years. During that time he either spoke Egyptian or the Midianite language,(if there was one) that Jethro’s family spoke. After not speaking Hebrew for 40 years, Moses either forgot any Hebrew that he had learned from dealing with the servants, or never learned any Hebrew because the servants had been told to speak to royal Egyptians only in the Egyptian language. So when Hashem tells Moses that his brother Aaron”…can speak well” that is because Aaron has grown up speaking Hebrew with his family, and fellow slaves, all his life. If it is true that Moses had an “impediment” to speaking why is it only in Exodus that he reports having this problem?? The reason is because when Moses returns to Egypt, to liberate the Hebrews, he starts learning, or relearning, Hebrew from Aaron and all the other slaves.  Want more proof?? When the Hebrew slaves leave Egypt and wander in the desert for 40 years,  there is no further mention of any “slow tongue” or “impediment” in Moses, in Exodus, or any of the other Books of the Torah. That is because Moses has learned, or relearned, enough Hebrew, in his return to Egypt, that he became fluent in Hebrew.

The dispute among scholars of the Torah concerning Moses’ speech problem has lasted for 3,000 years. I contend that I have solved the dispute, whether anyone else believes me or not. I am interested in any comments that any readers make. Positive or negative.