Moses Maligned by Biblical Interpreters

By Andrew Lee

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ne of the most significant experiences in Moses’s life occurs when he encounters the Lord at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3–4). God commissions him to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses initially hesitates. He offers a series of excuses, all of which are unacceptable to God. His final defense is that he is far from being an eloquent speaker. “But Moses said to the Lord, ‘Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue’” (Exod 4:10, ESV used in all biblical references).

The Prevailing Interpretation

Most biblical interpreters malign Moses by concluding that he had a stammering or stuttering problem. However, I believe this to be incorrect as there is no indication of his speech impediment anywhere else in Scripture. The New Testament even describes his speaking ability in this way: “And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22).

Commentators must grapple with reconciling this description of Moses in Acts with his presumed speech impediment in Exod 4. His mighty words could refer to his writings, or to how Moses is revered as a great prophet and teacher in Jewish tradition. However, this seeming contradiction stems from the prevailing interpretation of Moses’s last excuse. Contemporary biblical interpreters misunderstand Moses’s plea to God, resulting in his stigmatization.

In the original context of the encounter with the burning bush, the entire narrative emphasizes speech. Moses initially asks the Lord how he is to respond to the Israelites when they ask him for the name of this God. “What shall I say to them?” (Exod 3:13). Two Hebrew words often translated as to say or to speak, 'āmar and dāḇar, are consistently used to describe speech in Exod 3 and 4. While there is a distinction between them, the difference is not critical to this discussion. Rather, it is the conversations between Moses and the Lord, centered around his commission to speak to his fellow Israelites, that are of significance and summarized by the following table: 

Verse	Speaker	What is said
Exod 3:13	Moses	If I say to the people of Israel
14	God	Say this to the people of Israel
15	God	Say this to the people of Israel
16	God	Say to the elders of Israel
18	God	They (the Israelites) will listen to your voice
Exod 4:10	Moses	I am slow of speech and of tongue
12	God	I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak
14	God	Aaron can speak well
15	God	You shall speak to Aaron
16	God	Aaron shall speak for you to the people and he shall be your mouth

The Lord clearly directs Moses to communicate with both the elders and the people of Israel. Nevertheless, he hesitates. God finally erupts in anger and assigns his brother Aaron to assist him by speaking on his behalf. Interpreters cite various reasons for Moses’s continued reluctance.

He has a speech defect leading to stammering and stuttering, a popular view that is also represented in Jewish tradition. One writer even identifies Moses as having the medical condition of a cleft lip. Others suggest that Moses is displaying cultural humility in turning down his call, or that he doubts he is equal to the task of freeing Israel from slavery, so he presents excuses to evade his mission.

An Asian American Interpretation

Japanese American Stan Inouye advocates a viewpoint overlooked by others. Moses is full of excuses because he is not fluent in Hebrew, not because of a stuttering issue. When he says that he is “slow of speech and of tongue” (Exod 4:10), Inouye interprets Moses to mean, “It takes me so long to translate, I speak slowly, and then the words don’t come out too well.” (In both verses 5 and 6 in Ezekiel 3, the same Hebrew phrase used in Exod 4:10, kāḇēḏ lāšôn, describes foreign speech rather than a physical malady.)

Asian Americans who are not fully bilingual understand Moses’s dilemma and can identify with his situation. As they are unable to speak fluently in the language of their homeland, they end up stammering and stuttering when they try. They speak hesitantly as they translate from one language to the other in their heads, and when words eventually emerge, they are tainted by an accent. On occasion, native speakers make fun of their feeble attempts, thus shaming and further discouraging them, causing them to shut down.

For an Asian American, making an announcement in the native language of the immigrant congregation in their worship service, or in a public meeting, provokes much anxiety, as many do stammer and stutter. When their words tumble out, their American inflection is noticeable. Those born in Asia who come to America later in life encounter a similar situation. With an incomplete understanding of American idioms, and unable to utter a word without their accent betraying their foreign origin, many are reluctant when it comes to public speaking.

Moses learned Hebrew for the few brief years that he was nursed by his mother. She impressed this identity upon him during that time. “One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people” (Exod 2:11, emphasis added). The phrase, his people, is repeated twice for emphasis. While Moses continued to harbor his Jewish identity as he grew up in Pharaoh’s court, his Hebrew language skills were equivalent to those of an unschooled two- or three-year-old child. Therefore, he needs Aaron to speak to his fellow Israelites for him as he cannot communicate effectively in Hebrew. Unlike Aaron, who “can speak well” in Hebrew (Exod 4:14), Moses is unable to express himself smoothly, and his vocabulary is severely limited.

God states that Aaron’s assignment is to speak to the Hebrew people for him. “He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth” (Exod 4:16). The phrase, the people in Hebrew, hāʿām, is frequently used in the Old Testament to refer to the Hebrew people (see Exod 2.). The context of chapter 4 is primarily about speaking to Israel, not Egypt, and addressing Moses’s concern that they will reject him.

Still lingering in the back of his mind even after the passage of decades, Moses remembers how his leadership was rejected once before when he intervened in an argument between two Israelites. “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exod 2:14). Moses was apprehensive he would be rebuffed once more so the Lord established a chain of communication to support him.

God will speak to Moses, Moses will speak to Aaron, and Aaron will then be Moses’s spokesperson to the Israelites. In addition, Aaron will accompany Moses and represent him to the Egyptian court in the manner of a herald for a ruling leader. “…he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him” (Exod 4:16).

Conclusion

The overall focus in this narrative noticeably centers on Moses’s fear of rejection from his fellow Hebrews. Asian Americans may well identify with his emotional feelings of linguistic inadequacy in light of the enormous task God presented to him at the burning bush. Moses’s trepidation concerning his deficient Hebrew language skills was the driving force behind his final excuse to the Lord, rather than the physical speech impediment presumed by the majority of Western-educated biblical interpreters. The social location of the reader, one’s background and personal context, shapes how one views, interprets, and applies the teachings of Scripture. As Asian Americans lean into their lived experiences, they are able to utilize their bi-cultural perspective to foster a deeper understanding of the biblical text.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

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Andrew Lee is the Associate Director of the Global Diaspora Institute at the Billy Graham Center. He has extensive experience serving in large Chinese churches and is the retired Sr. Pastor of the Chinese Christian Union Church in Chicago. He previously served in New York City as lead pastor of English Ministries and Interim Senior Pastor at Oversea Chinese Mission, Main Church. He was a recipient of the 2017-2018 John Stott Award for Pastoral Engagement from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

His academic experience includes being Director of Theological Education for the Northeastern Baptist School of Ministry and serving on the faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has taught as an Adjunct at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He has written for both the academic and church worlds.

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