Why does the Pasuk employ the double exclusion "ha'Rak Ach"?
Rashi: Miriam and Aharon were saying 'Did Hashem speak only to Moshe (and not to anybody else)?' 1
R. Bachye: Because it is a nice way of speaking. 2
Moshav Zekenim: 'Did Hashem not speak also with the Avos, and they did not separate from P'ru u'Revu?' Moshe separated for his own [desire, without necessity].
What exactly was their criticism of Moshe?
Rashi, R. Bachye and Targum Yonasan: They complained that Hashem spoke with them too, yet they did not separate from their spouses. 1
R. Bachye: They claimed that Moshe cannot have separated from his wife on account of Kedushas Hashem (because, as a Navi Hashem, he was obligated to), since the Torah issues no such obligation.
Rashbam: What made Moshe think that he was superior to them, seeing as Hashem spoke to Yisrael through them just as He spoke to them through him! 2
Hadar Zekenim, Da'as Zekenim (in Pasuk 1): They thought that when he was crowned king, he became haughty, and therefore did not want to marry an ordinary Bas Yisrael.
Moshav Zekenim: With reference to 12:1:3:2*- If Hashem permitted him [to marry a Nochris, this is unreasonable, for] Hashem spoke also with us [and did not permit this]!
R. Yehudah ha'Chasid: If he separated from Tziporah because her lineage is not good, then he should divorce her!
Malbim (on Devarim 24:7): Miriam said that Moshe bought a Kushis from slave traders; Aharon answered that surely Hashem permitted this to Moshe - Refer to 12:1:3:3. She countered, did Hashem speak only to Moshe? If Hashem permitted him, he would have told also us!
According to Targum Yonasan - See previous question - this was a second bone of contention on the part of Miriam and Aharon. See Rashbam.
Why does the Torah add a 'Beis' to the word "be'Moshe"?
Rashi (in Shmuel 2, 23:2): Because when a Navi prophesies, a spirit enters into him and speaks inside him. 1
R. Bachye: Because a Navi is a receptacle for Ru'ach ha'Kodesh. 2
Rashi: As in that Pasuk and here in Pasuk 8.
See R. Bachye here and on "Lo Yadon Ruchi ba'Adam Le'olam' - Bereishis 6:3 - where he explains it in more detail.
What is the significance of the phrase "Vayishma Hashem"?
R. Bachye (citing the Sifri): The Torah juxtaposes "Vayishma Hashem to "ve'ha'Ish Moshe" to teach us that they actually spoke in front of Moshe and that Moshe ignored it. 1
Seforno: It teaches us that Hashem will always take the side of a Talmid-Chacham. 2
Oznayim la'Torah #1: It implies that they spoke quietly, so that nobody other than Hashem heard them. 3
Oznayim la'Torah #2: It means that Hashem heard and punished them immediately.
Seforno: As the Gemara states in B'rachos, 19a 'A Talmid-Chacham is different, inasmuch as Hashem defends his Kavod!' See also Ba'al ha'Turim.
Refer to 11:1:3.1:1*.
Rashi (in Devarim 5:28) writes that "Amod Imadi" obligated Moshe to separate from his wife, Shabbos 87a says that Moshe decided to separate from his wife due to a Kal va'Chomer (from B'nei Yisrael, who needed to separate)!
Riva (Sh'mos 19:15): Once Hashem commanded Yisrael to separate, Moshe divorced his wife. Aharon and Miriam said that had he not done so, Hashem would not have commanded him, for Moshe had prophecy a long time before this, and Hashem did not make him separate! 1
Riva: Even though Tziporah said 'from when Hashem spoke to him, he separated from me', that was a temporary separation. He separated from her permanently only after B'nei Yisrael were instructed to separate from their wives.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes that they complained that Moshe should not have separated from his wife. But Hashem told him to! "Emor lahem Shuvu lachem le'Ohaleichem ve'Atah Po Amod Imadi" (Devarim 5:27-28)?
Moshav Zekenim (Sh'mos 19:15): They understood that Moshe separated before Hashem told him; and they maintained that later, Hashem told him to do so, since the way a person wants to go, Hashem leads him (Makos 10b). He did not tell Aharon to separate! 1
Riva (in Sh'mos 19:15): Since Moshe separated before Yisrael were commanded to separate, that command was not said to him, so "Shuvu lachem" does not imply that he may not return.
When Moshe told them his Kal va'Chomer (B'nei Yisrael had to separate before Hashem spoke to them) and made a separate tent for himself, or he gave a Get, they rejected it on the grounds that if Hashem said to refrain from P'ru u'Revu once, would He say so permanently?
Rashi writes that they complained that Moshe should not have separated from his wife. Why did they complain only now?
