God appears to Moshe at the burning bush and commands him to take Bnai Yisrael out of Egypt. After a lengthy negotiation (Shemot 3:10-4:17), it seems clear that Moshe accepts the assignment. He then returns to Midyan to ask for permission from his father-in-law:

וילך משה וישב אל יתר חתנו ויאמר לו אלכה נא ואשובה אל אחי אשר במצרים ואראה העודם חיים ויאמר יתרו למשה לך לשלום. (שמות ד:יח)

And Moshe went and returned to Yeter his father-in-law, and said to him: ‘Let me please go and return to my brothers in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.’ And Yitro said to Moshe: ‘Go in peace’. (Shemot 4:18)

Immediately after having received his father-in-law’s permission to return to Egypt, God appears to him:

ויאמר ה' אל משה במדין לך שוב מצרים כי מתו כל האנשים המבקשים את נפשך. (שמות ד:יט)

And God said to Moshe in Midyan: ‘Go return to Egypt, for all of the men who sought to kill you are dead’. (Shemot 4:19)

This revelation seems to be redundant and unnecessary. After all, God had already told Moshe that he should go to Egypt, and Moshe had accepted the mission and made the necessary preparations. Why, then, does God reappear to Moshe to tell him to return to Egypt ?

One Continuous Revelation

Ibn Ezra characteristically uses the concept of אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, that there is no chronological order in the Torah, to suggest that verse 19 is actually not in its proper place.

אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה … הנה עתה בהשיבו את צאן יתרו אליו הבטיחו ה' שילך בלי פחד למצרים, כי מת פרעה ועבדיו שהיו יודעים דבר המצרי. וזהו (ב:כג) "וימת מלך מצרים", שכל הימים שהיה חי לא היה נכון להיות משה שליח אל פרעה.

There is no chronological order in the Torah …Behold, now, when he returned Yitro’s sheep to him, God assured him that he could go to Egypt without fear, because Pharoah and his servants who knew of the matter of (the killing of) the Egyptian died. And this is (2:23) “And the king of Egypt died”, for as long as he was alive, it would have been inappropriate for Moshe to be a messenger to Pharoah.

Thus, according to Ibn Ezra, the events in verse 19 actually occurred before those in verse 18, as a continuation of the revelation that took place at the burning bush.

A Second Revelation

Other commentators, however, do not change the order of the text. Rather, they see verse 19 as an additional revelation to Moshe:

רמב"ן: כאשר קבל משה ללכת בדברי ה' וחזר למדין ליטול רשות מחותנו היה סבור ללכת יחידי מתנכר. ולכן אמר אליו (ד:יח): אלכה נא ואשובה אל אחי אשר במצרים ואראה העודם חיים. כלומר: אראה את אחי העודם חיים ואשוב כי הוא כדרך בחור הנכסף לראות את אחיו. ואז אמר לו ה' במדין: לך שוב מצרים. כלומר: קום צא מן הארץ הזאת ושוב אל ארץ מצרים ואל תפחד שם, כי מתו כל מבקשי רעתך ותהיה שם עם העם עד שתוציאם משם. ולכן לקח אשתו ובניו כי היה זה עצה נכונה להוליכם עמו כי בעבור זה יבטחו בו ישראל יותר.

Ramban: When Moshe accepted to follow the word of God and returned to Midyan to get permission, he thought that he would go by himself as an alien. Therefore, he said: “Let me please go and return to my brothers in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” That is to say: I will see if my brothers are still alive and then I will return as any young man who longs to see his brothers. And then God said to him in Midyan: “Go, return to Egypt.” That is to say: Get up and exit this land and return to Egypt, and don’t be afraid there because all of those who sought to harm you have died. And you will be there with the people until you bring them out of there. And therefore he took his wife and sons, for it was appropriate advice to have them go with him in order that Yisrael would have greater confidence in him.

According to Ramban, the second revelation comes to correct a misconception on the part of Moshe, that he would leave his family in Midyan while carrying out his mission in Egypt. Ramban’s interpretation explains the flow of verses 18-20. In verse 18, Moshe speaks in the first person singular – “אלכה נא ואשובה אל אחי במצרים”, “Let me please go and return to my brothers in Egypt”. In verse 19, God appears to Moshe and tells him to go to Egypt on a more permanent basis. Verse 20 subsequently records: “ויקח משה את אשתו ואת בניו...” – “And Moshe took his wife and his sons…”. Ramban’s explanation also provides a political motivation to God’s second revelation – that by returning to Egypt with his family, Moshe would be sending a strong message to Bnai Yisrael of his confidence in the success of his mission.

Or Hachayim provides an alternative interpretation of God’s second revelation to Moshe:

כוונת הכתוב בהודעה כי הדיבור היה במדין להגיד שבחו של משה שלא חש על שונאיו שהיו במצרים בעת שטען טענותיו הרבים כי לא היה חושש בכל טענותיו אלא לצד הורעת כח השליחות לא לרעת עצמו. והראיה שלא טען כי ירא ממבקשי נפשו. ואם לא היה אומר הכתוב "במדין" תבוא הסברה כי לא החליט משה בדעתו ללכת עד כי הובטח מפי אל כי מתו מבקשי נפשו. לזה אמר הכתוב "במדין" לומר שאחר שגמר בדעתו והסכים עם ה' ללכת הוא שנתבשר ולא היה דבר זה מעכבו.

The intention of the Torah in mentioning that this statement took place in Midyan is to express the praise of Moshe who did not worry about his enemies who were in Egypt when he made his many arguments – for in all of his arguments he was only concerned about the negative impact on the mission, but not on himself. The proof is that he did not claim that he was afraid of those who sought to kill him. And if the Torah did not say “in Midyan”, one would deduce that Moshe did not come to a final decision to go until he was assured by God that those who sought to kill him had died. For this reason the verse says “in Midian”, to say that after he decided conclusively and agreed to God to go, then this was stated. And this matter would not have impeded him.

According to Or Hachayim, God’s second revelation to Moshe was not to command him to go to Egypt, but to give Moshe a guarantee that he would fulfill his mission by assuring him that his fears were unfounded. The verse indicates that the revelation took place in Midian in order to emphasize that Moshe had agreed to undertake the mission in spite any fears that he might have had for his personal safety. Or Hachayim claims that Moshe’s concerns throughout are not for his personal needs, but for the success of the mission.

In contrast to Or Hachayim, Avraham ben Harambam explains that after Moshe had accepted the mission and received the permission of his father-in-law, he began to have second thoughts as a result of fear for his personal safety because of those who intended to harm him:

לפי הבנתי נסע משה ע"ה ממעמדו לשוב למדין … וכשבקש רשות מאת יתרו להפטר ונתן לו יתרו רשות, הטרידה את מחשבתו דאגת ומצב האנשים שמיראתם יצא ממצרים. לכן בא אליו הדיבור להודיע לו מה שיניח דעתו מדאגה זו…

As I understand it, Moshe traveled from his position to return to Midian … And after he asked for permission from Yitro to be released, and Yitro gave him permission, his thoughts troubled him with worry about the situation of the people for fear of whom he had left Egypt. Therefore, the revelation came to him to inform him of information that would set his mind at ease from this worry.

Thus, according to Avraham ben Harambam, God’s second message was designed to assure Moshe that he would not be harmed in the fulfillment of his mission..

The Men Who Sought Your Life

Who are the people in Egypt who wished to kill Moshe. According to Ibn Ezra, God is referring to Pharoah and his servants, who wanted to kill Moshe for having killed the Egyptian overseer who was smiting the Jewish worker. As indicated in Shemot 2:23, that Pharoah had died after Moshe fled to Midyan. Ibn Ezra includes the servants of Pharoah in order to explain the plural form – “all of the men who sought to kill you”. His opinion is supported, as well, by Shadal:

ואל תתעכב מפחד המלך ושריו שהיו מבקשים את נפשך על דבר הריגת המצרי כי כבר מתו.

Do not be restrained by fear of the king and his servants who sought your life because of the killing of the Egyptian, for they have already died.

Rashi, however, diverges from the common interpretation of the verse, and indicates that the men who sought to kill Moshe are Datan and Aviram:

כי מתו כל האנשים: מי הם, דתן ואבירם. חיים היו אלא שירדו מנכסיהם והעניחשוב כמת.

For all of the men have died: Who are they ? Datan and Aviram. They were alive, but they lost their property, and a poor person is considered as dead.

Rashi’s interpretation is based on the gemara (Nedarim 64b) which states that there are four types of individuals who are living, but are considered as dead – a poor person, a leper, a blind person, and one who has no children. Rashi indicates that Moshe need not fear Datan and Aviram because their poverty had decreased their influence in the community and, thus, reduced their ability to harm him.

But, what compelled Rashi to identify Datan and Aviram as the enemies that Moshe feared, rather than accept the common identification of Pharoah and his servants ? Rashi’s interpretation is based on linguistic peculiarities in the verse. The Torah refers to “האנשים המבקשים את נפשך”, which in most translations appears as “those who sought to kill you”. This translation is based on the context. In reality, the word “מבקשים” is in the present form, meaning “seeking”. The appropriate form of the verb in the past tense is “ביקשו”. Thus, the proper translation of the phrase would be “the men who are seeking your life”. Rashi concludes that the verse must be referring to men who are still alive and would still like to harm Moshe, but are unable to do so because of a change in their status that renders them as dead[1].

But how does Rashi determine that the verse is referring specifically to Datan and Aviram ? This is based on the fact that the word “האנשים” (“the men”) is written with the definitive article “ה” (“the”) which Rashi always takes to refer to someone whom we have met elsewhere in the Biblical text.[2] In this instance, he claims that it refers to the two Jews who were fighting and who objected when Moshe intervened:

ויצא ביום השני והנה שני אנשים עברים נצים ויאמר לרשע למה תכה רעך. ויאמר מי שמך לאיש שר ושפט עלינו הלהרגני אתה אומר כאשר הרגת את המצרי ויירא משה ויאמר אכן נודע הדבר. (שמות ב:יג-יד)

And he went out on the second day and behold two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said: ‘Why are you striking your friend ?’ And he said: ‘Who made you a prince and a judge over us ? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian ?” And Moshe was afraid and said: “Surely the thing is known.” (Shemot 2:13-14)

The two Hebrews, referred to as “אנשים” (“men”), play a major role in Moshe’s flight from Egypt. The Midrash identifies them as Datan and Aviram. This identification itself seems to be based on the use of the term “אנשים” to describe the two men. We find that Datan and Aviram are referred to in Bemidbar as “האנשים הרעים האלה” (“these evil men”):

ויקם משה וילך אל דתן ואבירם וילכו אחריו זקני ישראל. וידבר אל העדה לאמר סורו נא מעל אהלי האנשים הרעים האלה … (במדבר טז:כה-כו)

And Moshe rose and went to Datan and Aviram, and the elders of Israel went after him. And he spoke to the congregation, saying: ‘Move away from the tents of these evil men …(Bamidbar 16: 25-26)

It is based on these textual nuances that Rashi identifies Datan and Aviram as the people whom Moshe fears. Rashi’s interpretation also reflects an astute understanding of Moshe’s political situation. As he prepared to set out on his mission to take Bnai Yisrael out of Egypt, Moshe realized that he would have to contend with opposition not only from the Egyptians, but from Bnai Yisrael as well. This concern is realized soon after Moshe’s arrival in Egypt, as we will see in our iyun on Parshat Va’era.

[1] Siftei Chachamim notes that Rashi was compelled to conclude that Datan and Aviram had become poor, because the other three categories that are compared to death in the gemara do not apply to Datan and Aviram. It is clear that they did not become blind, because in their argument against Moshe in the Korach rebellion, they state: “would you put out the eyes of these men, we would not go up” (Bamidbar 16:14). They could not have been lepers because the Torah refers to the in Devarim 11:6 as being “in the midst of all Israel”. Lepers were excluded from the camp. Furthermore, they must have had children, or they would not have had influence earlier in Egypt (even if their children died, this would not render them as dead since they had children at one point).

[2] For two other examples of this phenomenon, see Rashi on Breishit 14:13 and on Bamidbar 11:27.