Moses - Moses in the Bible, Moses in Jewish thought, Moses in Christian thought, Moses in Muslim Thought

Major character of Israelite history, portrayed in the Book of Exodus as the leader of the deliverance of Hebrew slaves from Egypt and the recipient of the Ten Commandments at Mt Sinai. In Exodus, stories about his early life depict his escape from death as an infant by being hidden in the bulrushes, his upbringing in the Egyptian court, his flight to Midian, and his divine call to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Stories of this deliverance describe Moses predicting a series of miraculous plagues designed to persuade the Pharaoh to release the Hebrews, the Passover narrative, and the miraculous escape led by Moses through the ‘sea of reeds’. Traditions then describe Moses' leadership of the Israelites during their 40 years of wilderness wandering, and his death E of the Jordan R before the Hebrews entered Canaan, the Promised Land. He was traditionally considered the author of the five books of the Law, the Pentateuch of the Hebrew Bible, but this is doubted by modern scholars.

For other uses, see Moses (disambiguation).

Moses (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Standard Mošə Tiberian Mōšeh; Moses is considered one of the greatest figures of the Bible.

Moses in the Bible

According to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, Moses was a son of Amram, a Levite, and his wife Jochebed. According to Genesis 46:11, Amram's father Kohath immigrated to Egypt with 70 of Jacob's household, making Moses part of the second generation of Israelites born during their time in Egypt.

In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses occurred at a time when the current Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all male children born to Hebrew slaves be killed by drowning in the river Nile.

Jochebed, the wife of the Levite Amram, bore a son, and kept him concealed for three months. The daughter of Pharaoh discovered the baby and adopted him as her son, and named him "Moses" (considered to mean "to draw out").

After Moses had reached adulthood, he went to see how his brethren who were enslaved to the Egyptians were faring. The next day, seeing two Hebrews quarreling, he endeavored to separate them, whereupon the Hebrew who was wronging the other taunted Moses for slaying the Egyptian. Moses soon discovered from a higher source that the affair was known, and that Pharaoh was likely to put him to death for it;

One day, as Moses led his flock to Mount Horeb, he saw a burning bush that would not be consumed. When he turned aside to look more closely at the marvel, God spoke to him from the bush revealing his name to Moses.

God commissioned him to go to Egypt and deliver his fellow Hebrews from bondage.

The Torah also leaves the identity of this Pharaoh of the Exodus unstated.

The long procession moved slowly and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier — some believe at the Great Bitter Lake, while others propose sites as far south as the northern tip of the Red Sea.

When the people arrived at Marah, the water was bitter causing the people to murmur against Moses. Moses cast a tree into the water, and the water became sweet. Later in the journey the people began running low on supplies and again murmured against Moses and Aaron and said they would have preferred to die in Egypt, but God's provision of manna from the sky in the morning and quail in the evening took care of the situation. When the people camped in Rephidim, there was no water, so the people complained again and said, "Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" Moses struck a rock with his staff, and water came forth.

Amalekite raiders arrived and attacked the Israelites. In response, Moses bid Joshua lead the men to fight while he stood on a hill with the rod of God in his hand. As long as Moses held the rod up, Israel dominated the fighting, but if Moses let down his hands, the tide of the battle turned in favor of the Amalekites. Because Moses was getting tired, Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a rock.

Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came to see Moses and brought Moses' wife and two sons with him. After Moses had told Jethro how the Israelites had been brought from Egypt, Jethro went to offer sacrifices to the Lord, and then ate bread with the elders. The next day Jethro observed how Moses sat from morning to night giving judgment for the people. Jethro suggested that Moses appoint judges for lesser matters, a suggestion Moses heeded.

When the Israelites came to Sinai, they pitched camp near the mountain. Moses commanded the people not to touch the mountain. Moses received the ten commandments orally (but not yet in tablet form) and other moral laws. Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders to see the God of Israel. Before Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets, he told the elders to direct any questions that arose to Aaron or Hur.

While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving instruction on the laws for the Israelite community, the Israelites went to Aaron and asked him to make gods for them. After Aaron had received golden earrings from the people, he made a calf of gold and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." After Moses had persuaded the Lord not to destroy the people of Israel, he went down from the mountain and was met by Joshua. Moses destroyed the calf and rebuked Aaron for the sin he had brought upon the people. Seeing that the people were uncontrollable, Moses went to the entrance of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord's side? All the sons of Levi rallied around Moses, who ordered them to go from gate to gate slaying the idolaters.

Following this, according to the last chapters of Exodus, the Tabernacle was constructed, the priestly law ordained, the plan of encampment arranged both for the Levites and the non-priestly tribes, and the Tabernacle consecrated. Moses was given eight prayer laws that were to be carried out in regards to the Tabernacle.

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of his previous marriage to an Ethiopian, and about him being the only one through whom the Lord spoke.

The people left Hazeroth and pitched camp in the wilderness of Paran. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan as scouts. Moses turned down the opportunity to have the Israelites completely destroyed and a great nation made from his own offspring, and instead told the people that they would wander the wilderness for forty years until all those twenty years or older that had refused to enter Canaan had died, and that their children would then enter and possess Canaan. Moses told them not to attempt it, but the Israelites chose to disobey Moses and invade Canaan, but were repulsed by the Amalekites and Canaanites.

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and two hundred fifty Israelite princes accused Moses and Aaron of raising themselves over the rest of the people. Moses told them to come the next morning with a censer for every man. Dathan and Abiram refused to come when summoned by Moses. Moses went to the place of Dathan and Abiram's tents. After Moses spoke the ground opened up and engulfed Dathan and Abiram's tents, after which it closed again. Moses had the censers taken and made into plates to cover the altar. The following day, the Israelites came and accused Moses and Aaron of having killed his fellow Israelites. The people were struck with a plague that killed fourteen thousand seven hundred persons, and was only ended when Aaron went with his censer into the midst of the people. To prevent further murmurings and settle the matter permanently, Moses had the chief prince of the non-Levitic tribes write his name on his staff and had them laid them in the sanctuary. The next day, when Moses went into the tabernacle, Aaron's staff had budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds.

After leaving Sinai, the Israelites camped in Kadesh. After more complaints from the Israelites, Moses struck the stone twice, and water gushed forth. However, because Moses and Aaron had not shown the Lord's holiness, they were not permitted to enter the land to be given to the Israelites. This was the second occasion Moses struck a rock to bring forth water;

While the Israelites were making their journey around Edom, they complained about the manna. After many of the people had been bitten by serpents and died, Moses made a brass serpent and mounted it on a pole, and if those who were bitten looked at it, they did not die.

When the Israelites encamped in the plains of Moab, Balak had Balaam come to curse the Israelites, but instead Balaam blessed them. Moses was then told that because Phinehas had averted the wrath of God from the Israelites, Phinehas and his descendents were given the pledge of an everlasting priesthood.

After Moses had taken a census of the people, he sent an army to avenge the evil brought upon the Israelites by the Midianites.

Moses appointed Joshua, son of Nun, to succeed him. Moses then died at the age of 120.

Moses in Jewish thought

There is a wealth of stories and additional information about Moses in the Jewish genre of rabbinical exegesis known as Midrash, as well as in the primary works of the Jewish oral law, the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Arising in part from his age, but also because 120 is elsewhere stated as the maximum age for Noah's descendants (one interpretation of Genesis 6:3), "may you live to 120" has become a common blessing among Jews.

Moses in Christian thought

For Christians, Moses -- mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament figure -- is often a symbol of the contrast between traditional Judaism and the teachings of Jesus. In Acts 7:39-43,51-53, for example, the rejection of Moses by the Jews that worshipped the golden calf is likened to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that continued in traditional Judaism.

Moses also figures into several of Jesus' messages. When he met the Pharisee Nicodemus at night in the third chapter of the Gospel of John, he compares Moses' lifting up of the bronze serpent in the wilderness, which any Israelite could look upon and be healed, to his own lifting up (by his death and resurrection) for the people to look upon and be healed. In the sixth chapter, Jesus responds to the people's claim that Moses provided them manna in the wilderness by saying that it was not Moses, but God, who provided.

Moses is also regarded as a symbol of the law.

Later Christians found numerous other parallels between the life of Moses and Jesus to the extent that Jesus was likened to a "second Moses."

Moses in Muslim Thought

In the Qur'an, the life of Prophet Moses (Arabic: Musa) is narrated and recounted more than any other prophet recognized in Islam. But one of the distinctive accounts which is found in the Qur'an but not the Bible, is the story of Moses and Al Khidr.

Moses in Mormon thought

The Book of Moses is a text published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons to be the translated writings of Moses.

The first chapter describes an encounter between Moses, God, and Satan. Moses is shown the entirety of the history of the world and all that will come to pass. After this vision God leaves Moses to himself, whereupon Satan comes tempting Moses to worship him. Moses recognizes the weakness of Satan, and drives him away with the knowledge of God. Afterwards, God returns to Moses and shows him the numberless worlds with numberless people that God has created.

Moses and Ancient Authors

Known extra-Biblical references to Moses date from many centuries after his supposed lifetime, and contain significant departures from the Biblical account. Moses also features prominently in later traditions such as the Midrash, Mishna and Qur'an;

Currently, no other surviving written records from Egypt, Assyria, etc., referring to the stories of the Bible or its main characters before ca.

Moses in Strabo

The following excerpt comes from the Roman historian Strabo (c. and those who live self-restrained and righteous lives should always expect some blessing or gift or sign from God, but no other should expect them. 36 Now Moses, saying things of this kind, persuaded not a few thoughtful men and led them away to this place where the settlement of Jerusalem now is; At the same time Moses, instead of using arms, put forward as defense his sacrifices and his Divine Being, being resolved to seek a seat of worship for Him and promising to deliver to the people a kind of worship and a kind of ritual which would not oppress those who adopted them either with expenses or with divine obsessions or with other absurd troubles. Now Moses enjoyed fair repute with these people, and organized no ordinary kind of government, since the peoples all round, one and all, came over to him, because of his dealings with them and of the prospects he held out to them.

Moses in Tacitus

The Roman historian Tacitus (ca.

Moses in The Antiquities of the Jews

Flavius Josephus relates several other incidents in connection with the Biblical account of Moses:

Before the incident in which Moses slew the Egyptian, Moses had led the Egyptians in a campaign against invading Ethiopians and routed them. While Moses was besieging one of the Ethiopians' cities, Tharbis, the daughter of the Ethiopian king, fell in love with Moses and wished to marry him. She did so immediately, and Moses promptly married her. The account of this expedition is possibly also mentioned by Irenaeus, and the event would explain why St. Stephen refers to Moses as "mighty in his words and in his deeds" before Moses slayed the Egyptian.

Flavius Josephus also gives significantly detailed accounts of the aftermath of Baalam's blessings and the events that lead to the slaying of Zimri.

Currently unverified to Wikipedia, it is possible that Moses has been identified with Osarseph, a figure from Josephus' Against Apion. Osarseph may have been identified with Joseph in Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers, and others might have suggested that historical Osarseph is the nucleus of both the story of Joseph and of Moses.

The Name "Moses"

Moses is an Egyptian name-element meaning "-gave birth to him" or "-formed him" and was usually combined with a theophoric element, as in "Ramose" which had the meaning "child of Ra" or "Ra formed him" "Moshe" is a Hebrew word (meaning "one who draws water"). The book of Exodus attributes the origin of "Moses" to his being "drawn out" of the water by the Egyptian princess.

Date of the Exodus

Historicity and date of the Exodus are uncertain. it occurred during the 13th century BCE, as the pharaoh during most of that time, Rameses II, is commonly considered to be a pharaoh with whom Moses squabbled - either as the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus' himself, or the preceding 'Pharaoh of the Oppression', who is said to have commissioned the Hebrews to "(build) for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." A remoter and unverified possibility is that the line "wasted, bare of seed" refers to the time when the infants of Israel are said to have been thrown into the Nile when Moses was born. An unverified theory places the birth and/or adoption of Moses during the reign of Amenhotep III with a minor oppression that was soon lifted, then the real oppression during the reign of Horemheb, and finally the Exodus during the reign of Ramses I. A more recent and non-Biblical view places Moses as a noble in the court of the Pharaoh Akhenaten (See below). A significant number of scholars from Sigmund Freud to Joseph Campbell suggest that Moses may have fled Egypt after Akhenaten's death (ca.

Moses and Egypt in history and psychoanalysis

There is also a psychoanalytical interpretation of Moses' life, put forward by Sigmund Freud in his last book, Moses and Monotheism, in 1937. Freud postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to the monotheism of Akhenaten. Freud also believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of patricidal guilt which has been at the heart of Judaism ever since. The possible Egyptian origin of Moses and of his message has received significant scholarly attention.

Horned Moses

Exodus 34:29-35 tells that after meeting with God the skin of Moses' face became radiant, frightening the Israelites and leading Moses to wear a veil.

This story has led to one longstanding tradition that Moses grew horns.

If interpreted correctly those two words form an expression which means that he was enlightened, and many rabbinical studies explain that the knowledge that was revealed to him made his face metaphorically shine with enlightenment, and not that it suddenly sported a pair of horns.

The Septuagint properly translates the Hebrew word קרן as δεδοξασται, 'was glorified', but Jerome translated it as cornuta, 'horned', and it was the latter image that became the more popular. Many artists, including Michelangelo in a famed sculpture, depicted Moses with horns.

Depictions

Moses is depicted in several U.S. government buildings of his legacy as a lawgiver. Moses in one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in marble bas-reliefs in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Capitol. An image of Moses holding two tablets written in Hebrew representing the Ten Commandments (and a partially-visible list of commandments six through ten, the more "secular" commandments, behind his beard) is depicted on the frieze on the south wall of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Moses in popular media

Moses appears as the central character in the 1956 Cecil B. Moses is the central character in the 1996 Turner Network Television Movie, "Moses". Moses appears as the central character in the 1998 Dreamworks Pictures animated movie, The Prince of Egypt. He is voiced by Val Kilmer. In the South Park episodes "Jewbilee" and "Super Best Friends," Moses is represented as a three-dimensional figure (a parody of the Master Control Program from Tron). Moses is the name of a song by the band Coldplay which was premiered while on the A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour (2002-2003). Moses is also the name of the second child of Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin and his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Moses is the name of Bernie and Roz Focker's dog in "Meet the Fockers". In the 1981 film History of the World, Part I, Moses is portrayed by Mel Brooks. Moses is shown coming down from Mount Sinai after receiving the Law from God. When announcing the giving of the reception of the Law to the people, Moses proclaims "I have given unto you Fifteen..." "Moses: Portrait of a Leader" in Messengers of God, 174-205. "Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism".

Persondata
NAME	Moses
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	موسى (Arabic);
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Christian prophet
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH	Egypt
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH