also, what did the two other hebrews witness him doing?
did the see him utter something under his breath as he walked away, and then the dude just fell over or something?
also the thing about wanting to know the name of G-d so the Israelites would accept him is not mutually exclusive from wanting to know because he did not already know.
MakaB,
Can you bring a single Sage who found the meaning you are saying. There is much to back up what I am saying... All the stories about Moses as a baby and his prophetic abilities precede the event at the burning bush.
The whole story about the two hebrews who witnessed this is very well known... I have quoted this before, maybe even in this thread, that these were Dasan and Aviram, the two who ended up caught up in Korachs wicked plan. They witnessed him burying the dead egyptian in the dirt.
http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5761/korach.html
SEUDAH SHLISHI:
Moshe called for Dasan and Aviram, sons of Eliav, but they told him, "We will not come to you. Does it mean nothing that you have brought out of the land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the desert, just to make yourself prince over us?" (Bamidbar 16:12-13)
Does chutzpah know no bounds? Not when it came to Dasan and Aviram, who went back a long way with Moshe Rabbeinu.
In fact, remember this:
After some time, when Moshe was grown, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian beating a Jew, one of his brothers. He looked both ways, and when he saw that no one was around, he killed the Egyptian, and buried him in the sand. The next day when he went out, he saw two Jews fighting with each an-other, and said to the evil one, "Why do you hit your fellow?" He answered, "Who made you a noble, an officer, or a judge over us? Do you in-tend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" (Shemos 2:11-14)
The 'evil one' was none other than Dasan, who was trying to hit his brother-in-law, Aviram (Devarim Rabbah 2:12), with whom he had been quarreling. And yet, it was just yesterday that the young Moshe had saved Dasan's life, who had been in the process of being beaten to death by the Egyptian taskmaster Moshe had killed in Dasan's defense. That's gratitude for you!
And what had Dasan and Aviram been arguing about? Dasan's wife, and Aviram's sister, Shlomis bas Divri (mentioned later in Vayikra 24:11)-- whom had been defiled by the Egyptian who had been trying to kill Dasan the day before, and whom Moshe had killed instead. Dasan, knowing the facts, wanted to divorce his wife, while Aviram, knowing that she had not been violated willingly, insisted that they remain married.
Moshe had walked in just as Dasan was about to express his will in physical terms, and this time, saved Aviram from blows.
What was their response to Moshe's interference? BOTH of them turned on Moshe together, and even reported to Paroah that he had killed the Egyptian (Yalkut Shimoni 1:167), forcing him to flee Egypt. Nice guys, this Dasan and Aviram, no?
Then of course there was the episode of the manna. Moshe Rabbeinu had taught the Jewish nation what G-d had told him:
Moshe said, "Eat [the remainder] today, because today is G-d's [day]; today you will not find it in the field. Six days you will collect it, but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none." However, some of the people tried on the sev-enth day to collect some, but found none. (Shemos 16:25)
So what did Dasan and Aviram do? In advance of Shabbos, they even went out and spread some manna over the ground to make sure those lacking faith could find some the next day, and make Moshe look like a liar! That's why G-d sent the birds in to eat it all up, leaving the manna in THEIR mouths and the egg on Dasan's and Aviram's faces.
However, before we shake our heads in disgust at Dasan and Aviram, we should recall the warning of the Talmud:
Had the Torah not been given to Israel, no nation or people could stand before them, and this is like what Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: Three are brazen: Israel amongst the nations, a dog amongst wild animals, and, a rooster amongst the birds ... (Beitzah 25b)
What a group to be numbered amongst! However, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish wasn't simply heaping a burning insult onto his own people, but offering a warning to the Jews of history: Without Torah, there is a Dasan and Aviram in just about all of us. This week's parshah completes the warning, reminding us of the final fate of two of the greatest of instigators the Jewish people have ever produced.
More Info:
http://www.ou.org/torah/frankel/5760/shemot60.htmI am not going to continue arguing about this... I guess everyone is entitled to interpret things as they wish but I am one who studies what the sages and the Rabbis of the generations have said about the Torah... I believe their abilities, and the abilities of my forefathers, are greater than my own and I shape my interpretation based on the scripture and teachings of the Jewish sages.
PS: Moshe was powerful because of his power of speech... This is one reason that Bilaam, the evil prophet of the other nations was a gifted speaker... They believed that Moses power came from his ability to speak. There is much written about this too...
http://www.613.org/smiles/sources/pdf/151-%20TazriaMetzora%20The%20Power%20of%20%20Speech.pdfhttp://www.aish.com/tp/b/app/48944531.htmlhttp://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/137089/jewish/Pei-Communication.htm