How could it be that Moshe would wish to cause Yisrael to be considered wicked by his reproval?

(1,1) These are the words which Moshe spoke to all Yisrael on that side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel, and Lavan and Chatzeros and Di Zahav.

Whenever the Torah writes ‘these’, it is coming to exclude something. What is it coming to exclude here?

One answer to this question will resolve a difficulty that we have here, which is how could it be that Moshe would wish to cause Yisrael to be considered wicked by his reproval? This difficulty seems to be what the Midrash on our parsha appears to be coming to answer, when it brings a seemingly unrelated posuk in Mishlei (28,23) “He that rebukes man after Me will find favour ” - this is Moshe. Hashem said: He rebuked Me after Yisrael, and rebuked Yisrael after Me. To Yisrael he said “You have sinned a great sin”, but to Hashem he said “Why are You so angry at Your people”. We see from this that he accused Yisrael of wickedness and spoke to them harshly only when he spoke to Yisrael, but when he spoke to Hashem he defended them and said the opposite, that they are not sinners at all.

This then is the intention of the posuk - “these are the words which Moshe said”, that is, all the harsh words and rebukes which Moshe said, mentioning their sin, was only to “all Yisrael”, but when he spoke to Hashem he said the opposite, saying good things about them. And this was in fact the intention of the Midrash that brought the seemingly unrelated posuk from Mishlei.

What did Yisrael think about Moshe’s teachings before forty years had passed?

(1,1) These are the words which Moshe spoke to all Yisrael on that side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel, and Lavan and Chatzeros and Di Zahav. Eleven days from Chorev by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. And it was in the fortieth year…that Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael according to all that Hashem had commanded him concerning them. After he had smitten Sichon…

The explanation of the flow of these posukim is according to what Chazal said on the posuk (Devarim 4,5) “Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances…As Hashem, my G-d, has commanded me” - just as I am for free, so too are you for free. Also, Chazal said that a person does not fully understand his teacher until forty years later, as it says (Devarim 29,3) “Hashem did not give you a heart to know…until this day”, after forty years in the wilderness.

According to this we can explain that until forty years passed, whatever Moshe said and taught to Yisrael, they suspected him that it was all for his own glory and benefit. But this was before they understood their teacher. But after forty years, when they now understood him, they realised that he had not intended for his own glory, but rather it was all for their benefit. Especially when they saw what he had done to Sichon and Og after it had already been revealed that Moshe would die and would not personally benefit, and nevertheless he still carried it out. From this they realised retroactively that he had not intended for himself.

This is explanation of the posuk “These are the words which Moshe spoke to all Yisrael”, that is, according to what they initially thought, that Moshe intended for his own glory, that which he said in those places on that side of the Jordan are called the words of Moshe, because they were for himself. But this came only from their lack of understanding, since it was only “eleven days from Chorev…to Kadesh Barnea” - it was only eleven days since Moshe had become their teacher, and they could not understand him in such a short time, and therefore thought that it was for his own glory that he taught them.

But “in the fortieth year”, when a person already understands his teacher, then “Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael according to all that Hashem had commanded him concerning them”, that is, they understood that just as Hashem commanded Moshe for free, without receiving any reward, so too Moshe commanded them, and did not intend, G-d forbid, for his personal benefit.

And the Torah brings a further proof that the words of Moshe was only because of his love for them, and not for his personal glory, because it was “after he had smitten Sichon…”, and at that point he already knew that he would die in the wilderness would not gain from conquering Sichon, yet nevertheless he strived on their behalf. From this it was clear that his intention was only for the benefit of Yisrael, and not for his personal benefit.

How was Moshe’s speaking until now not his own?

(1,1) These are the words which Moshe spoke to all Yisrael…

In the Midrash on our posuk it writes that Hashem said, “See how beloved is the language of the Torah, that it heals the tongue.” The Midrash continues by bringing several sources as to how we know this, but R. Levi challenged them and asked why should we learn from the Prophets and the Writngs, let us learn from the Torah itself - behold, it is written about Moshe that before he acquired the Torah he said (Shemos 4,10) “I am not a man of words”, but once he had acquired the Torah his tongue was healed and he began to speak. From where do we know this? From the posuk, “These are the words which Moshe spoke…”. This Midrash is puzzling, because before the receiving the Torah we find that Moshe spoke many things, and also after the receiving the Torah it says many times “And Moshe spoke”, and yet the Midrash has not commented on it until now. But it seems that the Midrash is coming to answer the same question that we raised earlier - what is being excluded by the word ’these’, which Chazal said always comes to exclude.

Now, the posuk “I am not a man of words, neither yesterday, nor the day before, nor from when You spoke to Your servant” is difficult to understand, because if he was not able to speak, then he had never been a man of words, so why did he specify that it was only “from when You spoke to Your servant”. Also, the phrase “I am not a man of words” requires explanation, because he should have said “I am not able to speak”.

But we know from the Midrash, that at a very young age his tongue was burned, in such a way that normally he would no longer have been able to speak. But Chazal taught that the Shechinah (Divine Presence) spoke from the throat of Moshe, and therefore whatever Moshe needed to speak, the Shechinah spoke for him, but it seemed as if Moshe himself was speaking. However, before Moshe had reached the great level when Hashem spoke with him face to face, he did not realise that the words that he spoke were not his, but rather it was the Shechinah speaking from his throat.

But now, at the burning bush, Moshe was saying to Hashem that the reason why Hashem Himself does not tell Pharaoh to send out Yisrael is because it is beneath Hashem’s dignity that He should speak Himself to Pharaoh, and so He wanted that it should be done through an emissary. But this only makes sense if the emissary was someone who himself could talk, so then Hashem would speak with him, and he would tell Pharaoh what Hashem had told him. But since I am not able to speak by myself, but rather my speaking is the Shechinah speaking from my throat, if I go to Pharaoh to speak with him it will really be the Shechinah speaking with him, and so I will not be like an emissary. This what he meant when he said “I am not a man of words”, that even though I am speaking, I am not the man of the words, because really I am not speaking but rather the Shechinah is speaking for me. But all this I didn’t realise until two days ago, from when You spoke to Your servant, but before then I did not know this.

And this is also the meaning of the Midrash on parshas Shemos - “Moshe said to Hashem: I beseech You, Hashem”. He said to Hashem: You are the master of the world, and me You want to be an emissary. But surely I am not a man of words. The logic of this Midrash is difficult to understand - because He is master of the world, He should not want that Moshe will be an emissary? But the meaning is like we just explained, that since You are master of the world it is beneath Your dignity to speak Yourself to Pharaoh. But even so, how could You want that I should be the emissary, because if so, You will in any case be speaking to Pharaoh, because I am not a man of words, but rather You speak from my throat, and so how does my being an emissary help? In response to this argument, Hashem promised him that Aharon would speak to Pharaoh.

And thus did Moshe point out in all this speeches, that he was only needed because the Shechinah spoke from his throat. But now, at sefer Devarim, he was healed completely, and he could speak everything by himself without the need for the Shechinah to speak from his throat. And this was for two reasons - firstly, because he needed to repeat the Torah to Yisrael, and secondly, through having received all the Torah and mitzvos completely he was now completely healed. But as long as he did not yet know the whole Torah and was missing some of the mitzvos which he had not yet heard, he was not healed.

Therefore now, at the beginning of sefer Devarim when he had already acquired all of the Torah and he could speak by himself, he said “These are the words which Moshe spoke” - these are the words that he spoke by himself, coming to exclude the earlier words which Moshe did not speak by himself. And now how sweet are the words of the Midrash above - that before Moshe acquired the Torah it says about him “I am not a man of words”, but once he had acquired the Torah his tongue was healed, and he started to speak words. From where do we know this? From the posuk “These are the words which Moshe spoke”.