“And G-d said to Moshe in Midyan, ‘go return to Egypt, for all the men who seek to kill you have died” (Sh’mos 4:19). These instructions were given to Moshe “in Midyan,” after he returned to Yisro to ask for permission to go back to Egypt (4:18), which was after the long conversation at the burning bush when G-d told him to go Egypt and take the Children of Israel out of their bondage and lead them to the Promised Land (3:4-4:17). Why did G-d have this second communication with Moshe to tell him to go back to Egypt? He was already planning to go, as he had asked his father-in-law for permission to (which was granted), so this second command seems superfluous. Was Yisro’s “permission” facetious, doubting Moshe’s story about G-d appearing to him, with his response being a sarcastic “good luck,” as if to say “you’ll never succeed,” thereby necessitating another prophetic vision to assure Moshe that he shouldn’t be afraid of returning to the country from which he had fled?

Ibn Ezra, in his “short” commentary, says that this second communication occurred many days after Moshe had returned to Yisro, making it seem as if G-d needed to reissue His instructions because His first set hadn’t been followed yet. In his “long” commentary (the one that appears in most Chumashim), Ibn Ezra says that these verses were taught out of order, with 4:19 occurring chronologically before 4:18. First G-d spoke to Moshe at Sinai (where the burning bush was), then Moshe returned to Midyan where he experienced a second divine communication, then he asked his father-in-law for permission to return to Egypt. As far as why this second communication was needed, the implication embedded within Ibn Ezra’s words are that G-d wanted to assure Moshe that he shouldn’t be afraid of those who wanted him dead, but couldn’t do so during the first communication because they hadn’t died yet. By the time he returned to Midyan, though, they had, so G-d informed him of this. However, if the purpose of the second communication was to put Moshe’s mind at ease, which could not have been done yet while Moshe was still at Sinai, there would be no need to alter the chronological order of the verses; just as Moshe’s enemies hadn’t died until he returned to Midyan, they may not have died until after he had asked (and been granted) permission to return to Egypt. [Some (e.g. Rabbeinu Avraham ben HaRambam and Abarbanel) suggest that it was Yisro’s response that made Moshe uneasy about returning because of what might happen, which is why G-d told him now that those who wanted to kill him were dead, so there was no need to worry, but this can’t be what Ibn Ezra had in mind, as then the verses wouldn’t be out of chronological order.]

Ramban rejects Ibn Ezra’s chronological switch [although I don’t understand his (stated) reason for rejecting it, as Ibn Ezra himself acknowledges that the second communication was not in the same location as the first one]. Ramban suggests that after the first communication, Moshe’s plan was to make a quiet trip to Egypt, by himself, without attracting any attention, not to “return” to Egypt permanently. [Rather than reading 4:18 as “I will go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt,” he reads it as “I will go to my brothers who are in Egypt and then return to Midyan,” although this reading doesn’t fit with the musical notes.] G-d therefore spoke to Moshe a second time, in Midyan, to tell him to “return to Egypt,” not just go visit, and that he shouldn’t be concerned about attracting attention, as those who want to kill him were dead. After hearing this, Moshe took his wife and children too (since “returning” meant moving there permanently, at least until the entire nation leaves Egypt), which would show everyone that he was confident that the exodus was imminent (as if not, why bring them into slavery when they were living in freedom in Midyan). [S’fornu has a similar approach.]

There are several issues with Ramban’s approach. First of all, how could Moshe have considered going “quietly” if G-d had explicitly told him to go to Pharaoh (3:10) with the nation’s elders (3:18) and demand that he let the nation leave the country? Did Moshe think he only needed to keep things quiet initially, until he garnered enough support from the nation, after which he could go public? Although Ramban often disregards Midrashim that Rashi quotes [so quoting Midrashim that are inconsistent with Ramban’s approach cannot (from his standpoint) be used to disprove it], there are Midrashim (e.g. Bamidbar Rabbah 11:2) that have Moshe disappearing for months after his initial appearance in Egypt, which means he didn’t “return” to Egypt right away. Besides, Yisro brought Moshe’s wife and children back to Moshe at Mt. Sinai well after the exodus (18:2), so they must not have been in Egypt. Even if Ramban rejects the Midrash that Rashi quotes there, that Aharon convinced Moshe not to bring his family into Egypt, Ramban himself acknowledges that at some point before the exodus Moshe must have sent his family back to Yisro in Midyan. How could the purpose of G-d’s second communication with Moshe have been to tell him to “return” to Egypt with his family, if his family never really “returned” there? [It is possible that bringing the family was Moshe’s idea, not G-d’s, from which he later backtracked and sent them back to Midyan, but if the whole point of the second communication was for Moshe’s return to be permanent instead of temporary, how permanent could the move be without his family?]

Or Hachayim suggests that although G-d wanted to assure Moshe that he shouldn’t be afraid of those who want to kill him, He didn’t want to tell this to him until after Moshe had already committed to going. At Sinai, Moshe gave numerous reasons why G-d should send someone else instead of him, but concern for his own personal safety was not one of them. By waiting to tell Moshe until after he received permission from Yisro to go, when Moshe was all set to go despite such concerns, we know that Moshe’s protestations were not for personal reasons [but because Moshe genuinely thought he was not the right person for the job], and Moshe can be given credit for not including the concern he had about his own safety as a factor. (Although Or Hachayim is only addressing why the Torah tells us that the second communication was in Midyan, not why there needed to be a second communication, I extended his thought to address both issues.)

K’sav Sofer, quoting Ramban saying that had Moshe asked G-d to heal his speech deficiency He would have done so, suggests that if Moshe had been healed no one would have known that he was the same person who had fled all those years earlier. Therefore, it was only after the first communication had ended, and Moshe never asked to be healed, that it became relevant that those who wanted to kill him were dead. However, this information could have still been included at the very end of the first communication, at the point that it would have otherwise ended. Besides, since Dasan and Aviram were included in those who wanted Moshe dead, and they knew who Moshe’s family was, no longer having a speech impediment wouldn’t have prevented them from figuring out it was Moshe.

When Moshe asked Yisro for permission to return to Egypt, he didn’t tell him that G-d had commanded him to do so, or that the goal of his trip was to lead the Children of Israel out of Egypt; he only said that he wanted to “see his if his brothers were still alive.” Several reasons are given for this, including not having been given permission to share the real purpose of his trip (Or Hachayim), and not being confident that Yisro would let him go if he told him the real reason he was going (Midrash HaGadol) — especially since Yisro might not be happy that Egypt would be smitten (Alshich, see Rashi on 18:9). [The latter might be the reason for the former.]

Midrash HaGadol is among those who mention that Moshe had to get permission from Yisro because he had taken an oath that he wouldn’t leave Midyan without it (see Rashi on 2:21). Nevertheless, since Moshe didn’t tell Yisro that he was planning to leave for good (and not just a visit), the permission Yisro gave didn’t really fulfill the conditions of the oath. Midrash HaGadol therefore says that during the second communication, G-d negated the oath, by finding an “opening” that rendered it a mistake — had Moshe known that the Children of Israel needed him in order to be redeemed, he never would have made the oath in the first place. Once the oath was null and void, he was able to return to Egypt without Yisro’s permission. However, negating Moshe’s oath could have occurred before he asked Yisro for permission, so even if negating the oath was what the second communication accomplished, we still need to understand why this couldn’t have been done during the first communication. Because of this, Midrash HaGadol adds that when an oath is negated, it must be done in the presence of the person to whom the oath was made (as otherwise it will seem as if the oath was being violated). [As a matter of fact, the Talmud (N’darim 65a) says that G-d undoing Moshe’s oath to Yisro in Midyan is the source that an oath must be negated in the presence of the person to whom the oath was made.] However, this still could have been done before Moshe asked for Yisro’s permission, and, if the purpose of undoing the oath in Midyan was so that Yisro knew it was being undone, not telling him the full story wouldn’t suffice. We therefore still need to understand why G-d waited until after Moshe asked for permission to visit his brothers before undoing the oath, if Moshe was eventually going to have to tell Yisro the real purpose of his trip anyway.

One possibility is that G-d wanted to break it to Yisro gently, first allowing him to grant Moshe permission to go for a visit before being told that he was leaving permanently. Had Yisro been told right away that Moshe was leaving (or been asked permission for that), he likely would have been much less receptive to the idea. [If not for the Talmud, and the Midrash, saying that G-d negated the oath during that second communication, it could be suggested that after Moshe only asked for permission to visit his brothers in Egypt, G-d had to tell him to go back to Yisro to get permission to return to Egypt, not just to go for a visit.] It is also possible that, as Alshich suggests, Yisro’s response of “go in peace” meant that he was only giving him permission to go if it was “in peace,” i.e. if there was no concern that he would still be in danger. Rather than G-d communicating with Moshe a second time just to confirm that he would not be in danger (so he had Yisro’s permission to go), if the second communication was meant to negate the oath (because Yisro wouldn’t have been confident that Moshe wasn’t in danger no matter what Moshe told him), it had to happen after Yisro gave his conditional permission, so that he would be more accepting of G-d negating the oath (or, from Yisro’s perspective, of Moshe being convinced that G-d had negated the oath). G-d telling Moshe that he was no longer in danger may not have been enough for Yisro to let him go back, but it was enough for Yisro to accept that G-d had negated the oath, since he had already agreed that Moshe could go back if there was no longer any danger in doing so.