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all his greatness, chose a man like Moses, who was weak, inferior and a sinner. Moses’
weakness lay in the fact that he was unable to communicate in public, which made him afraid to accept God’s mission. Chapter 3, 11 where Moses says to God “who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt” (NIV) is linked to chapter 4 v. 1 where he asks “what if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘the Lord did not appear to you’”
(NIV). Both show Moses’ lack of confidence in himself. He fears failure. In the responses of Bible study participants a “disability insight” into God’s character and attitude towards man (Moses) emerges: God does not call only upon the wise or powerful. He likes to use “what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (2 Corinthians 1, 22). Therefore, the relationship between God and Moses was an intimate one in the sense that they were in dialogue with each other, and simultaneously they were redeemer and saved one.
Moses’ disability
Verse 10, Exodus 4 contains Moses’ final complaint to God: he is “slow of speech and tongue”, in other words lacking fluent speech. Meyers, argues that this phrase means, “I am not eloquent” and considers the expression “slow of speech and slow of tongue” as metaphorical, and not as the description of a speech impediment.271. The authors of an on-line commentary conclude that “Moses laboured under a natural defect of utterance or had a difficulty in the free and fluent expression of his ideas in the Egyptian language, which he had long disused…”272 Donald T. Williams, on the other hand, in his sermon, on the same text (Exodus 4, 1-17) and relies on Acts 7, 22, and states that Moses was mighty in words: he was
“obviously eloquent as a writer, indeed the greatest writer of his generation”.273
Moses’ disability has been viewed in various ways by different scholars. Some note that Moses protests to the Lord in Exodus 4, 10: “I slow of speech, and of a slow tongue”, are linked to what he says in Exodus 6, 12,30: “I am of uncircumcised lips”. A legend concerning the childhood of Moses explains that he was subjected to a test which involved a hot coal being applied to his lips, Hence his subsequent vocal disability. This use of a hot coal reappears in the prophet Isaiah’s account of how his “unclean lips” are made clean by a Seraph who touches them with a hot coal (Isaiah 6, 5-7)”.274 The examination of v. 10-11,
271 Meyers, ‘Exodus’, 2005, 61.
272 A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testament. Libronix Digital Library System;
273 <http://doulomen.tripod.com/sermons/Ex4_1-17.html> [2009/12/07].
274The Dumb Devil of stammer,<http://mhtml:file://G:\New Folder\PhonophobiaThe Dumb Devil of Stammering.mht.> [ 2009/12/07]
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suggests to me that one of Moses’ complaints concerned a lack of eloquence and of
“oratorical skills”.275
This verse elicited controversial opinions among the participants of the Bible study. Most persons with disabilities quickly concluded that Moses’ disability could have been
“stuttering” or “speech impairment”. Some able-bodied participants did not accept that
“stuttering” could be seen as a disability. They argued that “stuttering” or “stammering” is not a permanent affliction and is not apparent or prevalent all the time.
In my view, being slow of speech and tongue indicates a lack of fluent speech. Acts 7, 12 however, shows Moses as being “mighty in words”, but not verbally eloquent. This allows for an understanding of Moses’ disability as a “speaking disability”, meaning “stuttering” or
“stammering”. These two terms are synonyms, the “former implied a difficulty in initiating speech sounds, whereas the latter term was used to identify speech marked by a compulsive repetition of sounds”. Stuttering/stammering is a “unique” disability, differing from other disabilities in part because it is not always apparent: “people who are deaf don’t have sudden burst of good hearing, and paraplegics don’t have the periodic ability to rise out of their wheelchair and dance. But, people who stutter aren’t perceived as stutterers until they actually stutter, and no stutterer stutters all the time”.276
In the light of Moses’ childhood and his early, and referring to possible causes of stuttering, Moses’ lack of eloquence could well have been a disability, in our understanding of the word.
On the one hand, the events before and after Moses’ birth (1, 15 – 22; 2, 1-8) indicate that his speech difficulty could be caused by anatomical factors, related to “birth injuries resulting in definite neurological disturbances…”277 On the other hand, the story of Moses’ life could explain his speech impairment. The book of Exodus describes how Moses became aware of his origins and discovered his real identity, which, in turn, drove him to kill an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew man where after he was forced to flee from Egypt to Midian (2, 11-15).
Therefore I argue that fear and a lack of identity could have caused Moses’ speech difficulty.
275 Muddiman, The Oxford Bible, 2001, 72.
276 James F. Bender, The Personality Structure of Stuttering (New York: Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1939), 11; Roger J. Ingham & David Prins, Treatment of Stuttering in Early Childhood: Methods & Issues (San Diego:
College – Hill Press, 1983), 2.
277 Bender, The Personality Structure of Stuttering, 1939, 109; Robert Logan, The Three Dimensions of Stuttering: Neurology, Behavior and Emotion. 2nd Edition (London: Whurr Publishers Ltd, 1999), 91.
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From a psychological perspective, fear and lack of self-esteem are among the probable causes of stuttering. The text of Exodus 4, 1-17 indicates that Moses suffered from fear, caused by past experiences, and from low self-esteem. Stuttering could thus be considered as a disability, depending on the stutterer’s circumstances. In the context of this study, stuttering is a disability because it is perceived as an obstacle to the accomplishment of God’s mission and an excuse for Moses to refuse to obey.278
How God deals with disability
Verse 11 breaks with the stereotypes that able-bodied people entertain about people with disabilities. Scholars (Weiss, Bruce, Avalos and Kabue) demonstrate that most biblical texts, related to disability, have a negative view thereof. These texts reflect a stance which “has a long history in both the Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament”.279 Verse 11 is among the rare positive texts as regards disability in the Bible.280
Referring back to verse 11, the text raises problems like those posed by sub-group MW3 of the Bible study in their reaction to question 5: “Does it mean that God created disability?”
Other problems that could be posed are for example: how does verse 11 understand a God powerful enough to use miraculous signs in order to convince Moses that it is indeed God who is sending him on a mission, while at same time God is unable to change Moses’
affliction? Does it make sense that a God of power and might who controls everything fails to make Moses speak fluently? In answer to this problem Weiss reasons that “Disability is a dramatic reminder that God’s ways are not our ways. God is not what we expect”.281
278 In writing this I am aware that stuttering may or may not be classified as a disability. According to the disability rights movements, “it is the right of the individual to decide whether he/she is disabled or not”
(Disabled People South Africa (DPSA), Pocket Guide on Disability Equity, An Empowerment Tool. (Pretoria:
DPSA, 1999), 4). Thus, my conclusion is that in this context, Moses’ speech difficulty, or stuttering, was a disability, because Moses himself saw his speech difficulty as an obstacle, a barrier to daily activity. Moses wanted to exclude himself from mainstream activity and he considered himself unfit to undertake God’s mission due to what he saw as a disability.
279 Weiss, Copious Hosting, 2002, 111; Bruce, ‘A Daughter of Abraham’, 2005, 3; Avalos et al, This Abled Body, 2007, 3; Kabue, A Church of All and for All, 2003, 3.
280 A scholar of the liberation theology of disability, Kerry H. Wynn, in his article, ‘The Normate Hermeneutic and Interpretations of Disability Within the Yahwistic Narratives’, draws on the biblical understanding of disability from Yahwistic narratives, rather than from the Priestly inspired materials on disability. Wynn attempts to interpret some narratives from a disability perspective, for example the “Blindness of Isaac” and the
“ Disabling of Jacob”, in order to reconstruct the “modern Normate hermeneutic” (Wynn, ‘The Normate Hermeneutic and Interpretations of Disability Within the Yahwistic Narratives’, This Abled Body 2007, 91).
281 Weiss, Copious Hosting, 2002, 111.
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However, many biblical commentaries on vv. 11-19 have not dealt with the text in any depth at all, at least from a disability perspective, while others avoid the issue altogether.282 Donald T. William interprets vv. 11 -19 as follows. “…At any rate, by balking, Moses loses the opportunity to become eloquent, but he does not get out of the assignment. The third principle is that God is going to accomplish his purposes with or without you, but you will lose a blessing if you are not obedient. It is always better to obey God”.283 In other words, William says that Moses’ continued speech impairment is the result of disobeying God.
In my reading of biblical commentaries focusing on this text, I have found that, with regard to v. 10 and especially v. 11, many writers neglect to study the verse from a disability perspective. Some comments I came across read as follows. “Yahweh’s reply focuses on divine omnipotence”, “the author of this text takes for granted that YHWH is the creator”,
“…That the Lord determines man’s abilities or disabilities…” The focus is solely on God’s all-powerful nature and not on the experience from the viewpoint of the person with a disability.
The interpretative thinking of these scholars is associated with the perception of disability in biblical times, which attributes disability to sin. Bruce states,
This strand is known as ‘contractual theology” and is found, for example, in Deuteronomy 28 where many disasters are listed and attributed to a failure to obey the commandments of God. These disasters include crop failure, war, siege, starvation, captivity, drought, adultery, disease and disability. There is a contract between God and his people, and the ideas that a person’s behaviour results in blessings or curses is a major strand in OT theology…In the OT God usually only punished his people after repeated warnings and attempts to get them to repent. However, it is not easy to apply this contextual theology in today’s world. Pain or suffering or disability usually comes without warning. Wrong behaviour has consequences and sin certainly can lead to disaster – a drunk driver might have an accident and be disabled as result – but equally that driver may crash into an innocent person who is subsequently disabled. Our world is
282 Muddiman, ‘Exodus 4,1-9’ in The International Bible Commentary, ,1998, 409
283 Donald T. William, ‘Sermon on Exodus 4, 1-19’ in 2 <http://doulomen.Tripod.com>.[2009/12/07].
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so shot through with evil that is often not a simple thing to pin the blame on any given individual.284
Bruce thus highlights that “contractual theology” condemns people with disabilities as sinners. As Weiss argues, “This [aberration theology] cause[s] suffering, alienation, isolation, and shame in the lives of people with disabilities and their families. A challenge and [re-]
interpretation is needed”.285.
The re-reading of the text makes God’s intention clear, namely to work through Moses’
weakness. God challenges Moses, showing that everything is in his control (v. 12). God says:
“Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say”. This is not an instantaneous event with God speaking and immediately acting, as mentioned in v. 1-2, but it is rather a progressive action of God through Moses’ weakness. God repeats the same words: “I will help both of you speak and teach you what to do” (v.15b), even after Moses’ objections. This indicates that God in his providence planned to work through Moses’ weakness.
In responding to question 6, “How does God deal with Moses’ disability”, the participants of Bible study (both groups MP and MW) made the following statements: “God sees what is inside of Moses instead of his handicap”; “God sees what is inside of Moses instead of his handicap”; “God does not see Moses’ disability, God does not care about disability”.
These remarks almost seem to imply that God ignores Moses’ speech impairment. They were made by people who are themselves living with disabilities. The comments indicate that they are self–oppressed and alienated from their condition. The remarks reflect a strand of thought that “emphasizes the absence of disability in an eschatological future”,286 where spirit triumphs over body. However, this thinking tends to encourage an integration of body and spirit, because the (disabled) body is viewed negatively and it is, as it were, “side-lined”
while the “spiritual” is pushed to the forefront.
Participants of the MW group expressed their responses in what I found to reflect positive thinking: God considered Moses’ potential through his weaknesses; ‘God wanted to show that disability is not an obstacle to serving him. These remarks confirm God's address to Moses in v. 16, namely “…He [Moses' brother] will speak to people for you and it will be as
284 Patricia F. Bruce, ‘The Bible and Disability: Historical perceptions’. Unpublished paper presented at African Enterprise on Disability and Theology, Pietermaritzburg, 2010, 5.
285 Weiss, Copious Hosting, 2002, 111.
286 Bruce, ‘The Bible and Disability’, 2010, 2.
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if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him”, indicating that Moses, in his weakness, could play God’s position (4, 16; 7, 1). The interesting point is that God makes a number of suggestions to deal with Moses’ fear of rejection – these take Moses’ disability into account (i.e. God does not ignore it) but intends to use Moses with his disability. In other words, through Moses’ weakness strength could emerge.