Or HaChaim on Numbers 27:15/אור החיים על במדבר כ״ז:ט״ו

1 וידבר משה אל השם, Moses spoke (sternly) to G'd, etc. In view of our always having said that the term וידבר reflects "tough" talk, it seems most unseemly for Moses to have addressed G'd in such a fashion. Moreover, how are we to explain the word לאמר? To whom was G'd supposed to relay Moses' words? Perhaps Moses argued that he did not see why he had to die at this time. He did not mean this egoistically, but felt that he should be allowed to go on living for the sake of the Jewish people. We will explain Moses' words in detail. This would account for the fact that the Torah describes his words as דבור. In view of the fact that Moses' entire speech reflected only his loving concern for his people the purpose of his words was not in consonance with our first impression when we read the word וידבר. To make sure we do not misunderstand, the Torah added the word לאמור, i.e. "watch the words and not the tone of voice."