Exodus 4:24

On the way to the inn: on Moshe’s way to the inn.

He sought to put him to death: [the angel] sought to kill Moshe since he had not circumcised his son Eliezer, and because he had been negligent he was worthy of the death penalty. It was taught: Rabbi Yosse said – Heaven forbid! Moshe was not [simply being] negligent; rather, he [had a thoughtful consideration] ‘if I circumcise my son and head out on the road the baby will be at risk for [the next]three days. [On the other hand] if I circumcise him and stay [in Midyan] for three days [I will be going against that which] the Holy One has commanded me to do [when G-d said] “Go, return to Egypt!” If so (if his considerations were plausible) why was he punished?! Because [when they reached the place] he dealt first with the issue of lodging [and not circumcision]. The angel became like a kind of a serpent and was swallowing him [Moshe] from his head down to his hips, then back, then swallowing him from his feet up to that same place. Tziporah understood that [the attack] was due to milah circumcision.

But it was on the way, in the place of lodging that the angel of the Lord met him, and sought to kill him, because Gershom his son had not been circumcised, inasmuch as Jethro his father-in-law had not permitted him to circumcise him: but Eliezer had been circumcised, by an agreement between them two.

And it happened in the way - They had a tradition that an eight-day son should not be circumcised if he was sick or traveling since there wasn't a possibility for delaying the travel. And this was because Moses could not be delayed in his Divine mission. He saw by his own counsel not to circumcise, since the youngster would be in danger if he was put to travel. And behold, HaShem sent an angel to remind Moses to pause himself and circumcise the child and go on his way on his own. And the youngster would stay with his mother until he healed, and behold the reason of "he met him" is that sickness from HaShem came to Moses that he didn't think of it. And this is "he sought to kill him" if he didn't circumcise his son. And due to the trembling that seized him he wasn't able to circumcise his son, and Tzipporah circumcised him, because he revealed to her the secret. And do not be surprise to read "HaShem met him" because it was an angel/messenger of HaShem. And like [this verse, we have] "And HaShem walks in front of them during the day" (Exodus 13:21) and there it is written "And God's angel traveled" (Exodus 14:19). And Rav Shmuel ben Chofni says God forbid that God would want to kill Moses, who goes in a Divine mission to save his people! He just wanted to kill Eliezer. And the sign is that "he met him" and "he wanted to kill him", and after "him" is explained to be Eliezer, because it is written "the foreskin of her son", and this is not explicit in the beginning, since his name had not been given yet. And like [this verse, we have] "And it was on her giving birth, and he put his hand" (Genesis 38:28)

ויפגשהו ה', in this instance a reference to the Lord’s angel. Moses’ sin consisted of needlessly slowing down the carrying out of his mission by taking his wife and children along.

ויהי בדרך במלון, when he was on the way from the desert to Midian with his wife and children. The Torah tells of this incident after concluding the report of how G’d appointed Moses as the leader of the Jewish people.

ויפגשהו ה', the 8th day on which he should have circumcised his son occurred [the word is derived from פגש, occurred, happened. Ed.] When the baby is circumcised the presence of the Lord, שכינה is perceived as being present waiting to induct the new member of the Jewish faith. Perhaps this is even the source of the practice to place a chair for the prophet Elijah at the circumcision ceremony.

When the time passed without Eliezer being circumcised, the Shechinah or the angel in charge of circumcision was ready to kill Moses for having been so remiss in fulfilling this commandment.

ויהי בדרך במלון, “It was on the way, at the inn;” Rashi, explaining why the location was necessary to be given here, explains that the word מלון was chosen for what an inn represents. It represents the comfort it can offer the traveler in an otherwise hostile environment. Moses is criticised for not having his priorities right, and in paying attention first to the comforts offered instead of dealing with the law to circumcise his son at the earliest opportunity, i.e. the eighth day. This seems questionable, seeing that immediately after leaving the inn the baby would be exposed to the dangers of traveling in the desert. We must therefore assume that this took place after the meeting of Moses and Aaron, when the latter had already told Moses not to expose both his wife and his family to these dangers but to let them go back to Midian. He did so although members of the tribe of Levi such as Moses and Aaron were not required to perform menial labour in Egypt. Therefore, seeing that they intended to turn back home, there was no excuse for not performing the circumcision at once. Tzipporah would have stayed on at the inn until the infant had recovered from the circumcision. This is why Moses was punished.