who appointed Moses as the Israelites’ leader, and who performed miracle after miracle to keep Moses in power. Defeat for Moses would be defeat for God. And Moses always had a prospective rival in the wings, his elder brother Aaron. Aaron is prominent in Moses’ leadership from the very beginning, and is also a leading figure in the Israelites’ rebellion against God, in the making of the golden calf. Just before God gave the Commandments to Moses his sympathetic father-in-law told Moses he was wearing himself out in deciding law suits. Moses has to keep his authority and God’s authority. Legislation is his solution. God is Moses’ authority, and the legislation must stress God’s authority for the Israelites. The control of legal relations between humans is of little concern. These can be dealt with by lower officials. Moses murdered an Egyptian and fled to Midian (.ff.). God appeared to Moses and told him He would send him to Pharaoh to deliver the Israelites from bondage (.f.). Moses protested, but God insisted (.ff.). God emphasized that the Egyptian king would not let them go, but that He would smite the Egyptians, and the Israelites would be allowed to leave (.ff.). Moses continued to protest and God showed him miracles (.ff.). Moses continued to protest, claiming that he lacked eloquence (.ff.). God was angered and replied that his brother Aaron (who was coming to meet Moses) had fluency and would act as his mouthpiece (.ff.). “He indeed shall speak for you to the people: he shall serve as a mouth for you, and you shall serve as God for him” (.).68 Moses left for Egypt with his wife and 68 At 4.10, Moses says literally that “he is not a man of words.” It has been suggested that his difficulty was not lack of fluency, but that he was a foreigner in Egypt. But: (1) apart from his VI
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