וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יהוה אֵלָ֗יו מִ֣י שָׂ֣ם פֶּה֮ לָֽאָדָם֒ א֚וֹ מִֽי־יָשׂ֣וּם אִלֵּ֔ם א֣וֹ חֵרֵ֔שׁ א֥וֹ פִקֵּ֖חַ א֣וֹ עִוֵּ֑ר הֲלֹ֥א אָנֹכִ֖י יהוה׃ וְעַתָּ֖ה לֵ֑ךְ וְאָנֹכִי֙ אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה עִם־פִּ֔יךָ וְהוֹרֵיתִ֖יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּֽר׃ וַיֹּ֖אמֶר בִּ֣י אדני שְֽׁלַֽח־נָ֖א בְּיַד־תִּשְׁלָֽח׃ וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֨ף יהוה בְּמֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הֲלֹ֨א אַהֲרֹ֤ן אָחִ֙יךָ֙ הַלֵּוִ֔י יָדַ֕עְתִּי כִּֽי־דַבֵּ֥ר יְדַבֵּ֖ר ה֑וּא וְגַ֤ם הִנֵּה־הוּא֙ יֹצֵ֣א לִקְרָאתֶ֔ךָ וְרָאֲךָ֖ וְשָׂמַ֥ח בְּלִבּֽוֹ׃
And the LORD said to him, “Who gives man speech? Who makes him dumb or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go, and I will be with you as you speak and will instruct you what to say.” But he said, “Please, O Lord, make someone else Your agent.” The LORD became angry with Moses, and He said, “There is your brother Aaron the Levite. He, I know, speaks readily. Even now he is setting out to meet you, and he will be happy to see you.
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵ֥י יהוה לֵאמֹ֑ר הֵ֤ן בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹֽא־שָׁמְע֣וּ אֵלַ֔י וְאֵיךְ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֣נִי פַרְעֹ֔ה וַאֲנִ֖י עֲרַ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽיִם׃ {פ}
But Moses appealed to the LORD, saying, “The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, a man of impeded speech!”
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֖ה לִפְנֵ֣י יהוה הֵ֤ן אֲנִי֙ עֲרַ֣ל שְׂפָתַ֔יִם וְאֵ֕יךְ יִשְׁמַ֥ע אֵלַ֖י פַּרְעֹֽה׃ {פ}
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹהִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ׃
Moses appealed to the LORD, saying, “See, I am of impeded speech; how then should Pharaoh heed me!” The LORD replied to Moses, “See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your prophet.
וְעַל דֶּרֶךְ הַפְּשָׁט יֹאמַר כִּי אֲנִי כְּבַד פֶּה גַּם מִתְּמוֹל גַּם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁם, כִּי מִנְּעוּרַי הָיִיתִי כְּבַד פֶּה, אַף כִּי עַתָּה כִּי אֲנִי זָקֵן. וְגַם מֵאָז דַּבֶּרְךָ הַיּוֹם אֶל עַבְדֶּךָ, כִּי לֹא הֲסִירוֹתָ כְּבֵדוּת פִּי בְּצַוּוֹתְךָ אוֹתִי לָלֶכֶת אֶל פַּרְעֹה לְדַבֵּר בִּשְׁמֶךָ, וְאִם כֵּן אֵיךְ אֵלֵךְ לְפָנָיו. וְהִנֵּה מֹשֶׁה מֵרֹב חֶפְצוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יֵלֵךְ לֹא הִתְפַּלֵּל לְפָנָיו יִתְבָּרַךְ שֶׁיָּסִיר כְּבֵדוּת פִּיו. אֲבָל טָעַן אַחֲרֵי שֶׁלֹּא הֲסִירוֹתָ כְּבֵדוּת פִּי מֵעֵת שֶׁדִּבַּרְתָּ לִי לָלֶכֶת, אַל תְּצַוֵּנִי שֶׁאֵלֵךְ, כִּי לֹא יִתָּכֵן לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל לִשְׁלֹחַ שָׁלִיחַ עֲרַל שְׂפָתַיִם לְמֶלֶךְ עַמִּים. וְהקב"ה כֵּיוָן שֶׁלֹּא הִתְפַּלֵּל בְּכָךְ לֹא רָצָה לְרַפּאוֹתוֹ, אֲבָל אָמַר לוֹ "אָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה עִם פִּיךָ וְהֹרֵתִיךָ אֲשֶׁר תְּדַבֵּר" (פסוק י"ב), שֶׁיִּהְיוּ דְּבָרַי אֲשֶׁר אָשִׂים בְּפִיךָ בְּמִלּוֹת נְכוֹנוֹת שֶׁתּוּכַל לְבַטֵּא בָּהֶן יָפֶה: וּבְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת רַבָּה (ג':ט"ו) אָמְרוּ, אָמַר לוֹ אִם אַתָּה אֵינְךָ אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אַל תָּחוּשׁ, הֲלֹא אֲנִי בָּרָאתִי כָּל פִּיּוֹת שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם וַאֲנִי עָשִׂיתִי אִלֵּם מִי שֶׁחָפַצְתִּי וְחֵרֵשׁ וְעִוֵּר וּפִקֵּחַ לִרְאִיָּה וּפִקֵּחַ לִשְׁמִיעָה, וְאִם חָפַצְתִּי שֶׁתִּהְיֶה אִישׁ דְּבָרִים, הָיִיתָ, אֶלָּא לַעֲשׂוֹת כָּךְ אֲנִי חָפֵץ וּבְעֵת שֶׁתְּדַבֵּר יִהְיוּ דְּבָרֶיךָ נְכוֹנִים שֶׁאֲנִי אֶהְיֶה עִם פִּיךָ. הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (שמות ד':י"ב) "וְעַתָּה לֵךְ וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה עִם פִּיךָ"... וְהַנָּכוֹן בְּעֵינַי שֶׁאָמַר יהוה לְמֹשֶׁה מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם אוֹ מִי יָשׂוּם אִלֵּם הֲלֹא אָנֹכִי יהוה עֹשֶׂה כֹּל, וּבְיָדִי לְרַפּאוֹת אוֹתְךָ, וְעַתָּה כֵּיוָן שֶׁלֹּא תִּרְצֶה בִּרְפוּאָתְךָ וְלֹא הִתְפַּלַּלְתָּ לְפָנַי עַל זֶה, לֵךְ אֶל אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מְצַוֶּה לְךָ, וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה עִם פִּיךָ וְאַצְלִיחַ שְׁלִיחוּתִי. גַּם אֶפְשָׁר שֶׁיִּהְיֶה רֶמֶז מִ"וַיִּחַר אַף יהוה בְּמֹשֶׁה" (פסוק י"ב) שֶׁלֹּא רָצָה לְרַפּאוֹתוֹ וּשְׁלָחוֹ עַל כָּרְחוֹ:
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, the purport of the verse is as follows: [Moses said,] “For I am slow of speech from heretofore and from time past, for I have been slow of speech from my youth on and all the more now that I am old, and also now since Thou hast spoken unto Thy servant, for Thou hast not removed the defect in my speech when Thou didst command me to go to Pharaoh to speak in Thy name. How then can I go before him?” Now Moses out of his great desire not to go [on the mission] did not pray before G-d, blessed be He, that He remove his defective speech from him, but he argued: “Since You have not removed my slowness of speech from me from the time You spoke to me to undertake this mission, do not command me to go, for it is inconceivable that the Master of everything should send a man of uncircumcised lips to a king of the nations.” And since Moses did not pray [for the removal of his defect], the Holy One, blessed be He, did not desire to heal him. Instead, He said to him, I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak, meaning that “you will be able to correctly express the words which I will put in your mouth.”
And in V’eileh Shemoth Rabbah, the Rabbis said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘Do not mind it that you are not a man of words. Have I not made the mouth of all that speak, and him that I desire I made dumb? And have I not made the deaf and the blind, and opened their eyes to see and ears to hear? Now had I wanted that you be a man of words, you would have been so. But it is my desire that you continue to be so, and when you will speak [to Pharaoh] your utterance will be correct, for I will be with thy mouth.’ This is the sense of the verse, Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth.”...
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that G-d said to Moses, “Who hath made man’s mouth? or Who maketh a man dumb? … Is it not I the Eternal Who does all this? I could heal you. But now since you did not want to be healed, nor have you prayed to me about it, go and I will be with thy mouth, and I will cause you success in My mission.” It is also possible that there is a hint in the verse, And the anger of the Eternal was kindled against Moses, that He did not want to heal him, and that He sent him against his will.
Moshe cannot seem to get over the limitations that his impediment creates for him. He seems to be obsessed with it. The difficulty in understanding Moshe’s seeming obstinacy about this point makes us believe that the speech impediment represents something much deeper than a specific physical limitation. It seems to be – at least from Moshe’s perspective – part of his core identity, and therefore would not be subject to change. It would be part of Moshe’s essence even if God were to take away the actual physical defect. To put it differently, Moshe didn’t merely think that he had a speech impediment: on some level, he felt that he was a speech impediment. He internalized its implications so deeply that it took on essential personal meaning. What we need to know now is why Moshe felt so intimately connected with his defect.
יהיה נביאך. כְּתַרְגּוּמוֹ – "מְתֻרְגְּמָנָךְ". וְכֵן כָּל לְשׁוֹן נְבוּאָה אָדָם הַמַּכְרִיז וּמַשְׁמִיעַ לָעָם דִּבְרֵי תוֹכָחוֹת...:
יהיה נביאך [AARON] SHALL BE THY PROPHET — This must be understood as the Targum takes it: thy interpreter. Similarly, wherever this term of נבואה is mentioned it refers to a man who publicly proclaims and utters to the people words of reproof...
merely reflects or describes it... Here the raw experience, the kaleidoscopic flux of impressions, would correspond to the Kantian Ding-an-sich, and the language to the forms of the sensibility and the categories of the understanding...
Now in this sense of translation [requiring that poetic connotation, nuance, emotive value, distinctive flavor, etc. all be carried over from the translated language into the one translated into], of course, the thesis of linguistic relativity is unassailable.
-- J. W. Swanson, "Linguistic Relativity and Translation"
אתה תדבר. פַּעַם אַחַת כָּל שְׁלִיחוּת וּשְׁלִיחוּת כְּפִי שֶׁשְּׁמַעְתּוֹ מִפִּי, וְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ יַמְלִיצֶנּוּ וְיַטְעִימֶנּוּ בְּאָזְנֵי פַרְעֹה:
אתה תדבר THOU SHALT SPEAK once, every separate message just as you have heard it from My mouth, and your brother Aaron shall express it in eloquent language and explain it in Pharaoh’s hearing.