What right did Moshe have to kill the Egyptian? There is a machlokes in the Midrash how did Moshe kill the Egypitan man, either by uttering the shem hameforash or his fist or a rake used for cement. What difference does it make how Moshe killed the Egyptian?
The the Gemarah Sanhedrin (58b) derives from this possuk that a gentile that hits a yisrael is obligated death. In other words, Moshe had the right to kill the gentile since he hit the Jew. However, the Rambam (Melachim 10:6) says that although he is deserving of the death penalty, the death penalty is not actually carried out. Based upon this idea, Rav Moshe Soloveitchik (in Igros HaGrid) and his nephew, Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, suggest that is why there is an opinion that Moshe used the shem hameforash for Moshe did have the right to actively kill the Egyptian man as the death penalty is not meted out but he was able to kill him through a manner that is not considered an act of killing. (They assume that killing through the shem hameforash is not considered a technical act of killing. However, The Halachos Ketanos volume 2 #98 [cited in Steipler Bava Kammah siman 45] says that killing through a shem or sorcery is an act of killing. [Rav Itzeleh Blazer in Nesivos Ohr cites Rav Yisrael Salanter says damaging someone through heavenly aided words is considered a mazik.]) The Briskor Rav says that the Rambam means there is an obligation of death by Heavenly punishment and Moshe used the shem hameforash to fulfill that law. However, it is not clear the Rambam means that there is Heavenly punishment and it is hard to hear that killing someone by evoking the shem mefurash is considered fulfilling the Heavenly death penalty.
However, the other opinions in the Midrash hold there are other reasons that the Egyptian was eligible for the death penalty and therefore Moshe had the right to kill him directly. One possibility raised in the Midrash is that he was a rodaf as his act of hitting the Jew may have led to a deathblow. Another option is that Moshe saw through reach hakodesh that this Egyptian has illicit relations with a married woman as the Midrash says elsewhere. But how can Moshe administer a death penalty based upon ruach hakodesh? Since a gentile does not require a formal Beis Din to rule on the death penalty for a gentile it suffices with a mere ascertaining of the facts which may be obtained through ruach hakodesh as well (Rav Yosef Engel.) Alternatively, Rav Dovid Somevetchik suggests since it was pre Matan Torah, when the dominion of pesak was still in hands of heaven, one may administer death based upon a pesak from heaven. This may explain the Midrash stating that Moshe consulted the angels to determine whether the Egyptian was deserving of death for Moshe was inquiring about a pesak from heaven. [See also Zohar Yisro 78b, וצ"ע.] Rashi says Moshe knew through ruach hakodesh the episode of the illicit relations but also says that Moshe did not kill the Egyptian outright but through the shem hameforash. Why not kill the Egyptian directly if Moshe was aware of his guilt? Rashi holds that ruach hakodesh does not grant an obligation to adjudicate justice, it merely determines the person is deservant of the death penalty but not a license to kill directly and therefore he used the shem hameforash.
Rashi says that Moshe saw through ruach hakodesh that no righteous descendants would emerge from this Egyptian, and only then did he kill him. The Mizrachi asks, if the Egyptian was already liable to death, why should the merit of potential descendants matter at all? According to the approach that Moshe killed via the shem hameforash, the killing was extrajudicial rather than a formal execution. In such a case, it is reasonable to consider additional factors before acting (Brisker Rav). The Mizrachi, as explained by the Maharal, advances this further, even if Moshe acted because of the Egyptian man’s illicit relations, since this information was obtained only through ruach hakodesh, when acting on Divine revelation rather than judicial process, supplementary considerations such as future descendants may be weighed. The approach of the Mizrachi indicates that a Divine revelation does not create an absolute obligation to execute but rather grants Moshe a license to act based upon his knowledge. According to the view that the Egyptian was a rodef, however, the Mizrachi’s question remains difficult.
There is another approach advanced by some Midrashim cited in Torah Shelamah that indicate that there was some element of wrongdoing by Moshe killing the Egyptian. The Torah Shelamah cites the Ariza"l who says that that's why Moshe had to run away since he was obligated golus like one who kills by accident. This seems to be reflected in the Ramban who says that Moshe's may be the intent of the Ramban that indicates it was a spontaneous act of Moshe seeing another Jew in pain he jumped to kill the attacker. However, it is not the mainline approach to assume Moshe did something wrong by killing the Egyptian.
The halacha aside, what is the message of the different forms of how Moshe possibly killed the Egyptian and what is the debate in the Midrash if he used his fist or a cement rake? Rabbi Y.Y. Jacobson explains the message of the Midrash is that there are three approaches to dealing with mortal threats to outsiders. One approach is to fight back, that is killing with the fist. Another method is to kill by using the cement rake, a building tool, which represents the approach of building connections with the outside world, which will give importance to the Jew and thereby stave off his enemies. The third method is shem hameforash, by a deep connection to Hashem, the enemy will fall by the wayside. At different times, different methods are needed and sometimes all three methods must be employed.
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