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A painting depicting Moses, 1638, by Jusepe de Ribera
This article is about the Biblical figure. For other uses, see Moses (disambiguation).
Moses (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Standard Moshe Tiberian Mōšeh; Greek μωυσης in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: موسىٰ, Mūsa; Ge\'ez: ሙሴ Musse; Bulgarian Мойсей) was a 13th century BCE "Moses." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Biblical Hebrew religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, and military leader, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. He is also an important prophet in Judaism,Deuteronomy 34:10 Christianity, Islam,Qur\'an 19:51-51 the Bahá\'í Faith, Mormonism, Rastafari, Raëlism,Rael (2005). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers (in English). Nova Distribution, 114. ISBN 2-940252-20-3. Rael (2005). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers (in English). Nova Distribution, 312. ISBN 2-940252-20-3. Rael (2005). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers (in English). Nova Distribution, 324. ISBN 2-940252-20-3. Chrislam and many other faiths. According to the book of Exodus, Moses was born to a Hebrew mother who hid him when a Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed, and ended up being adopted into the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave master, he fled and became a shepherd, and was later commanded by God to deliver the Hebrews from slavery. After the Ten Plagues were unleashed on Egypt, he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Despite living to 120, he did not enter the Land of Israel, as he disobeyed God when God instructed him on how to bring forth water from a rock in the desert.
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The Book of Exodus takes up the narrative many years after the close of the Book of Genesis, at the end of which the Israelites were dwelling in relative harmony with the native Egyptians in the Land of Goshen, the eastern part of the Nile Delta. Sometime during the interval, the Egyptians became hostile to the Israelites and enslaved them.
According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was a son of Amram, a member of the Levite tribe of Israel, having descended from Jacob, and his wife Jochebed.Easton, Matthew George (1897). Illustrated Bible Dictionary. London ; New York: T. Nelson. "Moses". Jochebed (also Yocheved) was also the sister of Amram\'s father Kohath.[citation needed] (Exodus vi 20) Aaron was Moses\' elder brother. 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 Hebrew children born be killed by drowning in the river Nile. The Torah and Flavius Josephus leave the identity of this Pharaoh unstated.see Reference Halley\'s Bible Handbook
The finding of Moses, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Jochebed, the wife of the Levite Amram, bore a son and kept him concealed for three months.Biblical data on Moses. "Moses". Catholic Encyclopedia. (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company. When she could keep him hidden no longer, rather than deliver him to be killed, she set him adrift on the Nile River in a small craft of bulrushes coated in pitch. In the Biblical account, Moses\' sister Miriam observed the progress of the tiny boat until it reached a place where Pharaoh\'s daughter ThermuthisAntiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 8, Paragraph 5. was bathing with her handmaidens. It is said that she spotted the baby in the basket and had her handmaiden fetch it for her. After several women had unsuccessfully attempted to nurse the child,Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 8, Paragraph 5. Miriam came forward and asked Pharaoh\'s daughter if she would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. Thereafter, Jochebed was employed as the child\'s nurse, and he grew and was brought to Pharaoh\'s daughter and became her son, as she had no other children at the time of her adoption of Moses.Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 8, Paragraph 7. Exodus and Flavius Josephus do not mention whether this daughter of Pharaoh was an only child or, if she was not an only child, whether she was an eldest child or an eldest daughter. Nor do they mention whether Thermuthis later had other natural or adopted children. If Ramesses II is the Pharaoh of the Oppression as is traditionally thought, identifying her would be extremely difficult as Rameses II is thought to have fathered over a hundred children. The daughter of Pharaoh named him Mosheh, similar to the Hebrew word mashah, "to draw out". In the Greek translation, Mosheh was Hellenized as Moses.
The finding of Moses, by Edwin Long
Moses with the Tablets, 1659, by Rembrandt
After Moses had reached adulthood, he went to see how his brethren who were enslaved to the Egyptians were faring. Seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian and buried the body in the sand, supposing that no one who knew about the incident would be disposed to talk about it. 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.Flavius Josephus does not mention this incident in his account, so it is uncertain as to its chronological relationship to Moses\' expedition against the Ethiopians. Moses soon discovered from a higher source that the affair was known, and that Pharaoh was likely to put him to death for it; he therefore made his escape over the Sinai Peninsula. He stopped at a well, where he protected seven shepherdesses from a band of rude shepherds. The shepherdesses\' father Hobab (also known as Raguel and JethroAntiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 12, Paragraph 1.), a priest of MidianA region just East of the gulf of Aqaba was immensely grateful for this assistance Moses had given his daughters, and adopted him as his son, gave his daughter Zipporah to him in marriage, and made him the superintendent of his herds.Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 11, Paragraph 2.No further mention is made of Moses\' first wife Tharbis in either Exodus or Flavius Josephus except in the case where Aaron and Miriam taunted Moses about it. There he sojourned forty years, following the occupation of a shepherd, during which time his son Gershom was born.Exodus 2:16–22. One day, Moses led his flock to Mount Horeb (Exodus 3), usually identified with Mount Sinai — a mountain that was thought in the Middle Ages to be located on the Sinai Peninsula, but that many scholars now believe was further east, towards Moses\' home of Midian. At 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.
Moses before the Pharaoh, a 6th century miniature from the Syriac Bible of Paris.
God commissioned Moses to go to Egypt and deliver his fellow Hebrews from bondage. God had Moses practice transforming his rod into a serpent and inflicting and healing leprosy, and told him that he could also pour river water on dry land to change the water to blood.Exodus 4:2–9.Flavius Josephus mentions that Moses also practiced the pouring of the river water in Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 12, Paragraph 3, but it appears that this might be a mistake on Josephus\' part Moses then set off for Egypt, was nearly killed by God because his son was not circumcised (The meaning of this latter obscure passage is debatable, because of the ambiguous nature of the Hebrew and its abrupt presence in the narrative. Several interpretations are therefore possible.), was met on the way by his elder brother, Aaron, and gained a hearing with his oppressed kindred after they returned to Egypt, who believed Moses and Aaron after they saw the signs that were performed in the midst of the Israelite assembly.Exodus 4:20–31. It is also revealed that during Moses\' absence, the Pharaoh of the Oppression (sometimes identified with Ramesses II) had died, and been replaced by a new Pharaoh, known as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. If Rameses II is the Pharaoh of the Oppression, then this new Pharaoh would be Merneptah. Because the story the book of Exodus describes is catastrophic for the Egyptians — involving horrible plagues, the loss of thousands of slaves, and many deaths (possibly including the death of Pharaoh himself, although that matter is unclear in Exodus) — it is conspicuous that no Egyptian records speaking of Israelites in Egypt have ever been found. However, Merneptah, is indeed, historically known to have been a mediocre ruler, and certainly one weaker than Rameses II. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him that the Lord God of Israel wanted Pharaoh to permit the Israelites to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. Pharaoh replied that he did not know their God and would not permit them to go celebrate the feast. Pharaoh upbraided Moses and Aaron and made the Israelites find their own straw besides meeting the same daily quota of bricks.Exodus 5:1–9. Moses and Aaron gained a second hearing with Pharaoh and changed Moses\' rod into a serpent, but Pharaoh\'s magicians did the same with their rods. Moses and Aaron had a third opportunity when they went to meet the Pharaoh at the Nile riverbank, and Moses had Aaron turn the river to blood, but Pharaoh\'s magicians could do the same. Moses obtained a fourth meeting, and had Aaron bring frogs from the Nile to overrun Egypt, but Pharaoh\'s magicians were able to do the same thing. Apparently Pharaoh eventually got annoyed by the frogs and asked Moses to remove the frogs and promised to let the Israelites go observe their feast in the wilderness in return. The next day all the frogs died leaving a horrible stench and an enormous mess, which angered Pharaoh and decide against letting the Israelites leave to observe the feast. Eventually Pharaoh let the Hebrews depart after Moses\'s God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians. The third was lice, gnats, and flies. The fourth was attacking of wild beasts. The fifth was the invasion of diseases on the Egyptians\' cattle, oxen, goats, sheep, camels, and horses. Sixth were boils on the skins of Egyptians. Seventh, fiery hail and thunder struck Egypt. The eighth plague was locusts encompassing Egypt. The ninth plague was total darkness. The tenth plague culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian male first-borns, whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they ordered the Hebrews to leave in the Exodus. The events are commemorated as Passover, referring to how the plague "passed over" the houses of the Israelites while smiting the Egyptians.
Moses strikes water from the stone, by Francesco Bacchiacca
And so Moses leads his people Eastward, beginning the long journey to Canaan. The 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. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had a change of heart, and was in pursuit of them with a large army. Shut in between this army and the sea, the Israelites despaired, but Exodus records that God divided the waters so that they passed safely across on dry ground. There is some contention about this passage, since an earlier incorrect translation of yam suph to Red Sea was later found to have meant Reed Sea[1]. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them. Whether Pharaoh himself drowns is unclear, although Egyptian records did not chronicle such an event.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.Exodus 15:23–25. 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.Ex. 16. 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.Ex. 17:1–7.
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 escaped 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 judgement for the people. Jethro suggested that Moses appoint judges for lesser matters, a suggestion Moses heeded.Ex. 18.
When the Israelites came to Sinai, they pitched camp near the mountain.Ex. 19:1–2. Moses commanded the people not to touch the mountain.Exodus 19:10–25. Moses received the Ten Commandments orally (but not yet in tablet form) and other moral laws.Ex. 20–23. Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders to see the God of Israel.Exodus 24:9–10. Before Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets, he told the elders to direct any questions that arose to Aaron or Hur.Exodus 24:14.
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 golden calf and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." A "solemnity of the Lord" was proclaimed for the following day, which began in the morning with sacrifices and was followed by revelry. 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 entry of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord\'s side? Let him come unto me." All the sons of Levi rallied around Moses, who ordered them to go from gate to gate slaying the idolators.Exodus 32.
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. These laws included light, incense and sacrifice.
Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of his marriage to an Ethiopian, Josephus explains the marriage of Moses to this Ethiopian in the Antiquities of the Jews and about him being the only one through whom the Lord spoke. Miriam was punished with leprosy for seven days.Numbers 12:1–15.
The people left Hazeroth and pitched camp in the wilderness of Paran.Numbers 12:16. (Paran is a vaguely defined region in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula, just south of Canaan) Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan as scouts, including most famously Caleb and Joshua. After forty days, they returned to the Israelite camp, bringing back grapes and other produce as samples of the regions fertility. Although all the spies agreed that the land\'s resources were spectacular, only two of the twelve spies (Joshua and Caleb) were willing to try to conquer it, and are nearly stoned for their unpopular opinion. The people began weeping and wanted to return to Egypt. Moses turned down the opportunity to have the Israelites completely destroyed and a great nation made from his own offspring, and instead he told the people that they would wander the wilderness for forty years until all those twenty years or older who had refused to enter Canaan had died, and that their children would then enter and possess Canaan. Early the next morning, the Israelites said they had sinned and now wanted to take possession of 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.Numbers 13–14.
The Tribe of Reuben, led by 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. Fire consumed the two hundred fifty men with the censers. 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.Numbers 16. 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 lay them in the sanctuary. He also had Aaron write his name on his staff and had it placed in the tabernacle. The next day, when Moses went into the tabernacle, Aaron\'s staff had budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds.Numbers 17:1–8.
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.Num. 20:1–13. This was the second occasion Moses struck a rock to bring forth water; however, it appears that both sites were named Meribah after these two incidents.
Moses lifts up the brass serpent, curing the Israelites from poisonous snake bites.
Now ready to enter Canaan, the Israelites abandon the idea of attacking the Canaanites head-on in Hebron, a city in the southern part of Canaan, having been informed by spies that they were too strong, it is decided that they will flank Hebron by going further East, around the Dead Sea. This requires that they pass through Edom, Moab, and Ammon. These three tribes are considered Hebrews by the Israelites as descendants of Lot, and therefore cannot be attacked. However they are also rivals, and are therefore not permissive in allowing the Israelites to openly pass through their territory. So Moses leads his people carefully along the eastern border of Edom, the southernmost of these territories. 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 the brass serpent and mounted it on a pole, and if those who were bitten looked at it, they did not die.Num. 21:4–9. This brass serpent remained in existence until the days of King Hezekiah, who destroyed it after persons began treating it as an idol.2 Kings 18:1–4. When they reach Moab, it is revealed that Moab has been attacked and defeated by the Amorites led by a king named Sihon. The Amorites were a non-Hebrew Canannic people that once held power in the Fertile Crescent. When Moses asks the Amorites for passage and it is refused, Moses attacks the Amorites (as non-Hebrews, the Israelites have no reservations in attacking them), presumably weakened by conflict with the Moabites, and defeats them.
The Israelites now holding the territory of the Amorites just north of Moab, desire to expand their holdings by acquiring Bashan, a fertile territory north of Ammon famous for its oak trees and cattle. It is led by a king named Og. Later rabbinical legends made Og a survivor of the flood, suggesting the he had sat on the ark and was fed by Noah. The Israelites fight with Og\'s forces at Edrei, on the southern border of Bashan, where the Israelites are victorious and slay every man, woman, and child of his cities and take the spoil for their bounty.
Balak, king of Moab, having heard of the Israelites conquests, fears that his territory might be next. Therefore he sends elders of Moab, and of Midian, to Balaam (apparently a powerful and respected prophet), son of Beor (Bible), to induce him to come and curse the Israelites. Balaam\'s location is unclear. Balaam sends back word that he can only do what God commands, and God has, via a dream, told him not to go. Moab consequently sends higher ranking priests and offers Balaam honours, and so God tells Balaam to go with them. Balaam thus sets out with two servants to go to Balak, but an Angel tries to prevent him. At first the Angel is seen only by the ass Balaam is riding. After Balaam starts punishing the ass for refusing to move, it is miraculously given the power to speak to Balaam, and it complains about Balaam\'s treatment. At this point, Balaam is allowed to see the angel, who informs him that the ass is the only reason the Angel did not kill Balaam. Balaam immediately repents, but is told to go on.
Balak meets with Balaam at Kirjath-huzoth, and they go to the high places of Baal, and offer sacrifices at seven altars, leading to Balaam being given a prophecy by God, which Balaam relates to Balak. However, the prophecy blesses Israel; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him that he can only speak the words put in his mouth, so Balak takes him to another high place at Pisgah, to try again. Building another seven altars here, and making sacrifices on each, Balaam provides another prophecy blessing Israel. Balaam finally gets taken by a now very frustrated Balak to Peor 
, and, after the seven sacrifices there, decides not to seek enchantments but instead looks on the Israelites from the peak. The spirit of God comes upon Balaam and he delivers a third positive prophecy concerning Israel. Balak\'s anger rises to the point where he threatens Balaam, but Balaam merely offers a prediction of fate. Balaam then looks on the Kenites, and Amalekites and offers two more predictions of fate. Balak and Balaam then simply go to their respective homes. Later, Balaam informed Balak and the Midianites that, if they wished to overcome the Israelites for a short interval, they needed to seduce the Israelites to engage in idolatry.Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraph 6. The Midianites sent beautiful women to the Israelite camp to seduce the young men to partake in idolatry, and the attempt proved successful.Deuteronomy 23:3–6 summarises these incidents, and further states that the Ammonites were associated with the Moabites. Joshua, in his farewell speech, also makes reference to it. Nehemiah, Micah, and Joshua continue in the historical account of Balaam, who next advises the Midianites how to bring disaster on the Israelites by seducing the people with idols and beautiful women, which proves partly successful.
Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, put an end to the matter of the Midianite seduction by slaying two of the prominent offenders, but by that time a plague inflicted on the Israelites had already killed about twenty-four thousand persons. 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.Num. 25:1–13.
After Moses had taken a census of the people, he sent an army to avenge the perceived evil brought on the Israelites by the Midianites. Numbers 31 says Moses instructed the Israelite soldiers to kill every Midianite woman, boy and the non-virgin girl, although virgin girls were shared amongst the soldiers.Num. 31:17-18. The Israelites killed Balaam, and the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba.Num. 31:8.
Moses appointed Joshua, son of Nun, to succeed him as the leader of the Israelites.Num. 27:15–23. Moses then died at the age of 120.Deuteronomy 34 7
After all this was accomplished Moses was warned that he would not be permitted to lead Israel across the Jordan, but would die on the eastern side (Num. xx. 12). He therefore assembled the tribes and delivered to them a parting address, which forms the Book of Deuteronomy. In this address it is commonly supposed that he recapitulated the Law, reminding them of its most important features. When this was finished, and he had pronounced a blessing on the people, he went up Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, looked over the country spread out before him, and died, at the age of one hundred and twenty. God Himself buried him in an unknown grave (Deut. xxxiv.). Moses was thus the human instrument in the creation of the Israelitish nation; he communicated to it all its laws. More meek than any other man (Num. xii. 3), he enjoyed unique privileges, for "there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face" (Deut. xxxiv. 10).Death of Moses.
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.
Jewish historians who lived at Alexandria, such as Eupolemus, attributed to Moses the feat of having taught the Phoenicians their alphabet,Eusebius, Præparatio Evangelica ix. 26 similar to legends of Thoth. Artapanus of Alexandria explicitly identified Moses not only with Thoth / Hermes, but also with the Greek figure Musaeus (whom he calls "the teacher of Orpheus"), and ascribed to him the division of Egypt into 36 districts, each with its own liturgy. He names the princess who adopted Moses as Merris, wife of Pharaoh Chenephres.Eusebius, l.c. ix. 27
To Orthodox Jews, Moses is really Moshe Rabbenu, `Eved HaShem, Avi haNeviim zya"a. He is called "Our Leader Moshe", "Servant of God", and "Father of all the Prophets". In their view, Moses not only received the Torah, but also the revealed (written and oral) and the hidden (the `hokhmat nistar teachings, which gave Judaism the Zohar of the Rashbi, the Torah of the Ari haQadosh and all that is discussed in the Heavenly Yeshiva between the Ramhal and his masters). He is also considered the greatest prophet.Judaism 101: Moses, Aaron and Miriam.
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.Religious views of Moses.
| Moses | |
|---|---|
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An 11th century AD depiction of Moses receiving the Law before the Burning bush | |
| Prophet, Seer, Lawgiver | |
| Born | Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt[citation needed], Goshen, Egypt |
| Died | Mount Nebo, Moab, in modern Jordan |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy |
| Feast | September 4 |
| Attributes | Tablets of the Law |
 Saints Portal
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Moses also figures in several of Jesus\' messages. When he met the Pharisees 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 at and be healed, to his own lifting up (by his death and resurrection) for the people to look at 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. Calling himself the "bread of life", Jesus states that he is now provided to feed God\'s people.
He, along with Elijah, is presented as meeting with Jesus in all three Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, respectively. Later Christians found numerous other parallels between the life of Moses and Jesus to the extent that Jesus was likened to a "second Moses." For instance, Jesus\' escape from the slaughter by Herod in Bethlehem is compared to Moses\' escape from Pharaoh\'s designs to kill Hebrew infants. Such parallels, unlike those mentioned above, are not pointed out in Scripture. See the article on typology.
His relevance to modern Christianity has not diminished. He is considered to be a saint by several churches; and is commemorated as a prophet in the respective Calendars of Saints of the Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox Churches on September 4. He is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30.
Members of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also called Mormons) generally view Moses in the same way that other Christians do. However, in addition to accepting the Biblical account of Moses, Mormons include the Book of Moses as part of their scriptural canon.About Mormons. This book is believed to be the translated writings of Moses, and is included in the LDS Church\'s Pearl of Great Price.The Book of Moses. Latter-day Saints are also unique in believing that Moses was taken to heaven without having tasted death (translated). In addition, Joseph Smith, Jr. and Oliver Cowdery stated that on April 3, 1836, Moses appeared to them in the Kirtland Temple in a glorified, immortal, physical form and bestowed upon them the "keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north."the Doctrine and Covenants 110:11
In the Qur\'an, the life of Moses (Arabic: Musa) is narrated and recounted more than any other prophet recognized in Islam. The Qur\'an narrates much of Moses\' life in relation to God. The Qur\'an and the Bible are similar on the basic outline of Moses\' life. But some distinctive accounts, such as the story of Moses and Al-Khidr, are found only in the Qur\'an.
In Mandaeism, Moses is regarded as a false prophet. The God of Moses (YHWH) is said in Mandaeism to be an evil god or demon (whom they also identify with the sun). While it has been asserted that Mandaeanism is of Judaic origin, this has been disputed as they may also have had a common origin; at any rate, there are vehement polemics against Jews in Mandaean literature.See Book.
The German scholar Martin Noth:
But on the other hand, Noth holds that:
Other scholars such as William Foxwell Albright have a more favorable view towards the traditional views regarding Moses and accept the essence of the biblical story, as narrated between Exodus 1:8 and Deuteronomy 34:12, but recognize that impact the centuries of oral and written transmission had on the account causing it to acquire layers of accretions.
No other surviving written records from Egypt, Assyria, etc., indisputably referring to the stories of the Bible or its main characters before ca. 850s BC have been found,Who Were the Early Israelites? by William G. Dever (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2003The Bible Unearthed by Neil Asher Silberman and Israel Finkelstein (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001 and there is no known physical evidence (such as pottery shards or stone tablets) to corroborate Moses\' existence.False Testamentby [[Daniel Lazare (Harper\'s Magazine, New York, May 2002)]Archaeology and the Hebrew Scriptures. Destruction of unfavorable records by unsympathetic Pharaohs, and even mass obliteration of cartouches from monuments, is known to have occurred at several epochs in Ancient Egyptian history.Two of the more famous examples being the attempted obliteration of all occurrences of the names of Hatshepsut and Akhenaten following their respective reigns, a sort of damnatio memoriae.
This account is excerpted from the Hellenistic Jewish historian Artapanus of Alexandria (2nd century BC), as reproduced by Eusebius of Caesarea.
Template:Cquote2|JewishEncyclopedia.com - MOSES.
The following excerpt comes from the Roman historian Strabo (c. 24 AD): Template:Cquote2
The Roman historian Tacitus (ca. 100 AD) mentions several possible origins of the Jews that were taught by those of his time.
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. He agreed to do so if she would procure the deliverance of the city into his power. She did so immediately, and Moses promptly married her.Antiquities of the Jews page 61. This marriage is also mentioned in Numbers 12:1 (Cushite meant Ethiopian; Zipporah was Midianite, definitely not Ethiopian). The account of this expedition is also mentioned by Irenaeus,Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XXXII. 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.Acts 7:22The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus.
Flavius Josephus also gives significantly detailed accounts of the aftermath of Baalam\'s blessings and the events that lead to the slaying of Zimri.Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraphs 6–12.
There is considerable uncertainty as to what date the Bible implies for the Exodus taking place. Suggestions include:
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, a committed atheist, also believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of patricidal guilt that has been at the heart of Judaism ever since. "Judaism had been a religion of the father, Christianity became a religion of the son", he wrote. The possible Egyptian origin of Moses and of his message has received significant scholarly attention. Jan Assmann. "Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism". Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-674-58738-3 Opponents of this view observe that the religion of the Torah seems different to Atenism in everything except the central feature of devotion to a single god,Order of the Aten Temple. although this has been countered by a variety of arguments, e.g. pointing out the similarities between the Hymn to Aten and Psalm 104. Jan Assmann, op. cit. James E. Atwell, "An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1" , The Journal of Theological Studies 2000 51(2), 441–477. Freud\'s interpretation of the historical Moses is not a prominent theory among historians, and is considered pseudohistory by most.[citation needed]
Bas-relief of Moses in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.
Moses is depicted in several U.S. government buildings because of his legacy as a lawgiver. Moses is 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."Relief Portraits of Lawgivers: Moses." Architect of the Capitol. [3] 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."Courtroom Friezes: North and South Walls: Information Sheet." Supreme Court of the United States. [4]
Moses with horns, by Michelangelo
Moses on 1518 baptismal font by Christoph von Urach
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. Jonathan Kirsch, in his book Moses: A Life, thought that, since he subsequently had to wear a veil to hide it, Moses\' face was disfigured by a sort of "divine radiation burn".
This passage has led to one longstanding tradition that Moses grew horns. This is derived from a misinterpretation of the Hebrew phrase karan `ohr panav (קָרַן עֹור פָּנָיו). The root קרן Q-R-N (qoph, resh, nun) may be read as either "horn" or "ray of light", depending on vocalization. `Ohr panahv (עֹור פָּנָיו) translates to "the skin of his face".Moses horns.
Interpreted correctly, these two words form an expression meaning that Moses was enlightened, that "the skin of his face shone" (as with a gloriole), as the KJV has it.
The Septuagint properly translates the Hebrew phrase as δεδόξασται ἡ ὄψις, "his face was glorified"; but Jerome translated the phrase into Latin as cornuta esset facies sua "his face was horned".
With apparent Biblical authority, and the added convenience of giving Moses a unique and easily identifiable visual attribute (something the other Old Testament prophets notably lacked), it remained standard in Western art to depict Moses with small horns until well after the mistranslation was realized by the Renaissance. Michelangelo\'s Moses, is probably the best-known example.
Not all the Renaissance Italian painters gave horns to Moses. The Venetian artist Tintoretto depicts Moses\' face as radiating light, in his series about the life of the prophet in the San Rocco, Venice.
Among the most popular and widely-recognized portrayals are:
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