Discovery BoxExodus 6:12-13 
Context6:12 But Moses replied to 1 the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then 2 how will Pharaoh listen to me, since 3 I speak with difficulty?” 4
6:13 The Lord spoke 5 to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge 6 for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
1 tn Heb “And Moses spoke before.”
2 sn This analogy is an example of a qal wahomer comparison. It is an argument by inference from the light (qal) to the heavy (homer), from the simple to the more difficult. If the Israelites, who are Yahwists, would not listen to him, it is highly unlikely Pharaoh would.
3 tn The final clause begins with a disjunctive vav (ו), a vav on a nonverb form – here a pronoun. It introduces a circumstantial causal clause.
4 tn Heb “and [since] I am of uncircumcised lips.” The “lips” represent his speech (metonymy of cause). The term “uncircumcised” makes a comparison between his speech and that which Israel perceived as unacceptable, unprepared, foreign, and of no use to God. The heart is described this way when it is impervious to good impressions (Lev 26:41; Jer 9:26) and the ear when it hears imperfectly (Jer 6:10). Moses has here returned to his earlier claim – he does not speak well enough to be doing this.
5 tn Heb “And Yahweh spoke.”
6 tn The term וַיְצַוֵּם (vayÿtsavvem) is a Piel preterite with a pronominal suffix on it. The verb צָוָה (tsavah) means “to command” but can also have a much wider range of meanings. In this short summary statement, the idea of giving Moses and Aaron a commission to Israel and to Pharaoh indicates that come what may they have their duty to perform.
