7104. 'Why, O Moses and Aaron, do you draw the people away from their work?' means that their Divine Law and doctrinal teachings must not exempt them from hardship. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the Lord in respect of the Divine Law, dealt with in 6723, 6752; from the representation of 'Aaron' as the Lord in respect of teachings derived from that Law, dealt with in 6998, 7009; from the meaning of 'drawing away' as exempting; and from the meaning of 'work' as hardship, for that work was hard labour, also 'burdens', as Pharaoh went on to speak of it, and so was hardship because of conflicts, meant by work' and 'burdens' in the internal sense.

6985. 'For I am heavy in mouth and heavy in tongue' means that voice and speech from the Divine is not heard and not discerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'mouth' as voice, and from the meaning of 'tongue as speech. 'Mouth' means voice because it is the organ used by the voice, and 'tongue means speech because it is the organ used in speech. Anyone can see what the difference is between voice and speech, and that 'voice' is used in connection with being heard, but 'speech' with being discerned. In the literal sense written as history, where reference is made to Moses' being a person who could speak only with difficulty, there is no other way than 'heavy in mouth and heavy in tongue' to express the matter. But when this expression passes into the internal sense it is discerned by the angels in connection with the subject there; and when it is said of the Divine it is discerned to mean that the voice from the Divine cannot be heard directly, nor the speech from Him be discerned directly, only indirectly through spirits, as accords with what has been stated above in 6982.