Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (

Mishnaic Hebrew Mishnaic Hebrew is the Hebrew of Talmudic texts. Mishnaic Hebrew can be sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew proper (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew (also cal ...

: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most important

prophets in Christianity In Christianity, the figures widely recognised as prophets are those mentioned as such in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is believed that prophets are chosen and called by God. This article lists such prophets. The first list bel ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, the Druze faith, the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

and other Abrahamic religions. According to both the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

and the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

, Moses was the leader of the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

and lawgiver to whom the

authorship An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, or "acquisition from heaven", of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

(the first five books of the Bible) is attributed. According to the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through ...

, Moses was born in a time when his people, the Israelites, an enslaved minority, were increasing in population and, as a result, the

Egyptian Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the a ...

worried that they might ally themselves with Egypt's enemies. Moses'

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through Pharaoh's daughter (identified as Queen Bithia in the

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

), the child was adopted as a

foundling Foundling may refer to: * An abandoned child, see child abandonment * Foundling hospital, an institution where abandoned children were cared for ** Foundling Hospital, Dublin, founded 1704 ** Foundling Hospital, Cork, founded 1737 ** Foundling H ...

from the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master who was beating a Hebrew, Moses fled across the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

Midian Midian (; he, מִדְיָן ''Mīḏyān'' ; ar, مَدْيَن, Madyan; grc-gre, Μαδιάμ, ''Madiam'') is a geographical place mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and Quran. William G. Dever states that biblical Midian was in the "northwest Ar ...

, where he encountered the

Angel of the Lord The (or an) angel of the ( he, מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה '' mal’āḵ YHWH'' "messenger of Yahweh") is an entity appearing repeatedly in the Tanakh (Old Testament) on behalf of the God of Israel. The guessed term ''YHWH'', which occurs ...

, speaking to him from within a

burning bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the ...

Mount Horeb Mount Horeb (Hebrew: ''Har Ḥōrēḇ''; Greek in the Septuagint: ; Latin in the Vulgate: ') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by Yahweh, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. It is describe ...

, which he regarded as the Mountain of God.

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

sent Moses back to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak eloquently, so God allowed Aaron, his elder brother, to become his spokesperson. After the

Ten Plagues The Plagues of Egypt, in the account of the book of Exodus, are ten disasters inflicted on Biblical Egypt by the God of Israel in order to convince the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of them confronting Pharaoh and one of ...

, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...

, where Moses received the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died on

Mount Nebo Mount Nebo ( ar, جَبَل نِيبُو, Jabal Nībū; he, , Har Nəḇō) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses ...

at the age of 120, within sight of the

Promised Land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

. Generally, Moses is seen as a

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

ary figure, whilst retaining the possibility that Moses or a Moses-like figure existed in the 13th century BCE.

Rabbinical Judaism Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE;

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

suggested 1592 BCE, and

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ident ...

suggested 1571 BCE as his birth year.

Etymology of name

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

root ('child of') has been considered as a possible etymology, arguably an abbreviation of a

theophoric name A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that dei ...

, as for example in Egyptian names like

Thutmose Thutmose (also rendered Thutmoses, Thutmosis, Tuthmose, Tutmosis, Thothmes, Tuthmosis, Thutmes, Djhutmose, Djehutymes, etc.) is an Anglicization of the Ancient Egyptian personal name ''dhwty-ms'', usually translated as "Born of the god Thoth". Th ...

s ('child of

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

') and Ramesses ('child of Ra'),Hays, Christopher B. 2014
''Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East''
Presbyterian Publishing. p. 116. with the god's name omitted. However,

Kenneth Kitchen Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (born 1932) is a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Univ ...

argued that this – or any Egyptian origin for the name – was unlikely, as the sounds in the Hebrew do not correspond to the pronunciation of Egyptian in the relevant time period.

Abraham Yahuda Abraham Shalom Yahuda ( he, אברהם שלום יהודה; 1877–1951) was a Palestinian Jew, polymath, teacher, writer, researcher, linguist, and collector of rare documents. Biography Abraham Shalom Yahuda was born in Jerusalem to a Jewish f ...

, based on the spelling given in the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

" (). The biblical account of Moses' birth provides him with a

folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

to explain the ostensible meaning of his name. He is said to have received it from the Pharaoh's daughter: "he became her son. She named him Moses saying, 'I drew him out of the water'."Maciá, Lorena Miralles. 2014
"Judaizing a Gentile Biblical Character through Fictive Biographical Reports: The Case of Bityah, Pharaoh's Daughter, Moses' Mother, according to Rabbinic Interpretations"
pp. 145–175 in C. Cordoni and G. Langer (eds.), ''Narratology, Hermeneutics, and Midrash: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Narratives from Late Antiquity through to Modern Times''.

Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (V&R) is a scholarly publishing house based in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded in 1735 by (1700-1750) in connection with the establishment of the Georg-August-Universität in the same city. After Abraham Vandenhoec ...

. This explanation links it to the Semitic root , , meaning "to draw out". The eleventh-century

Tosafist The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

Isaac b. Asher haLevi noted that the princess names him the active participle 'drawer-out' (, ), not the passive participle 'drawn-out' (, ), in effect prophesying that Moses would draw others out (of Egypt); this has been accepted by some scholars. The

etymology in the Biblical story may reflect an attempt to cancel out traces of Moses' Egyptian origins. The Egyptian character of his name was recognized as such by ancient Jewish writers like

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's de ...

and

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

.Greifenhagen, Franz V. 2003
''Egypt on the Pentateuch's Ideological Map: Constructing Biblical Israel's Identity''
Bloomsbury. pp. 60ff 2n.65. 3 Philo linked Moses's name () to the Egyptian (

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

) word for 'water' (, ), in reference to his finding in the Nile and the biblical

. Josephus, in his '' Antiquities of the Jews'', claims that the second element, , meant 'those who are saved'. The problem of how an Egyptian princess, known to Josephus as Thermutis (identified as Tharmuth) and to 1 Chronicles 4:18 as

Bithiah The Pharaoh's daughter ( he, בַּת־פַּרְעֹה, lit=daughter of Pharaoh) in the story of the finding of Moses in the biblical Book of Exodus is an important, albeit minor, figure in Abrahamic religions. Though some variations of her stor ...

, could have known Hebrew puzzled medieval Jewish commentators like Abraham ibn Ezra and

Hezekiah ben Manoah Hezekiah ben Manoah, or Hezekiah bar Manoah, was a French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century. He is generally known by the title of his commentary, Chizkuni ( he, חזקוני). In memory of his father, who lost his right hand through ...

. Hezekiah suggested she either converted or took a tip from Jochebed.Salkin, Jeffrey K. (2008)
''Righteous Gentiles in the Hebrew Bible: Ancient Role Models for Sacred Relationships''
Jewish Lights. pp. 47ff 4 Ibn Ezra gave two possibilities for the name of Moses, he believed that it was either a translation of the Egyptian name instead of a transliteration, or that the Pharaoh's daughter was able to speak Hebrew.

Biblical narrative

SyriacBibleParisFolio8rrMosesBeforePharaoh

Prophet and deliverer of Israel

The

had settled in the

Land of Goshen The land of Goshen ( he, אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן, Modern: ''ʾEreẓ Gōšen'', Tiberian: ''ʾEreṣ Gōšen'') is named in the Hebrew Bible as the place in Egypt given to the Hebrews by the pharaoh of Joseph (Book of Genesis, ), and the ...

in the time of

Joseph Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

, but a new

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

arose who oppressed the children of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. At this time Moses was born to his father Amram, son (or descendant) of

Kehath According to the Torah, Kehath ( he, קְהָת, ''Qəhāṯ'') or Kohath was one of the sons of Levi and the patriarchal founder of the Kehathites, one of the four main divisions of the Levites in biblical times. In some apocryphal texts, such as ...

the

Levite Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...

, who entered Egypt with Jacob's household; his mother was Jochebed (also Yocheved), who was kin to Kehath. Moses had one older (by seven years) sister, Miriam, and one older (by three years) brother, Aaron. Pharaoh had commanded that all male Hebrew children born would be drowned in the river

, but Moses' mother placed him in an

ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

and concealed the ark in the

bulrush Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **'' Scirpus'' **''Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **'' Scirpoides'' **'' Isolepis'' **'' Schoenoplectus'' **'' Trichophorum'' * T ...

es by the riverbank, where the baby was discovered and adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, and raised as an Egyptian. One day, after Moses had reached adulthood, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. Moses, in order to escape Pharaoh's

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, fled to

(a desert country south of Judah), where he married

Zipporah Zipporah, or Tzipora (; he, צִפּוֹרָה, ''Ṣīppōrā'', "bird"),, ''Sepphōra''; ar, صفورة, ''Ṣaffūrah'' is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Reuel/Jethro, the priest and prince of Midi ...

. There, on

appeared to Moses as a

, revealed to Moses his name

YHWH The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

(probably pronounced

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he posse ...

) and commanded him to return to Egypt and bring his

chosen people Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of a "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term ( he, עם ס� ...

(Israel) out of bondage and into the

(

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

). During the journey, God tried to kill Moses, but Zipporah saved his life. Moses returned to carry out God's command, but God caused the Pharaoh to refuse, and only after God had subjected Egypt to

ten plagues The Plagues of Egypt, in the account of the book of Exodus, are ten disasters inflicted on Biblical Egypt by the God of Israel in order to convince the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of them confronting Pharaoh and one of ...

did Pharaoh relent. Moses led the Israelites to the border of Egypt, but there God hardened the Pharaoh's heart once more, so that he could destroy Pharaoh and his army at the Red Sea Crossing as a sign of his power to Israel and the nations. VictoryOLord

After defeating the

Amalekites Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or th ...

Rephidim Rephidim or Refidim ( he, רפידים) is one of the places visited by the Israelites in the biblical account of the Exodus from Egypt. Biblical account This episode is described in the Book of Exodus. The Israelites under Moses have come ...

, Moses led the Israelites to

, where he was given the

from God, written on stone tablets. However, since Moses remained a long time on the mountain, some of the people feared that he might be dead, so they made a statue of a golden calf and worshipped it, thus disobeying and angering God and Moses. Moses, out of anger, broke the tablets, and later ordered the elimination of those who had worshiped the golden statue, which was melted down and fed to the idolaters. He also wrote the ten commandments on a new set of tablets. Later at

, Moses and the elders entered into a covenant, by which Israel would become the people of YHWH, obeying his laws, and YHWH would be their god. Moses delivered the laws of God to Israel, instituted the priesthood under the sons of Moses' brother Aaron, and destroyed those Israelites who fell away from his worship. In his final act at Sinai, God gave Moses instructions for the

Tabernacle According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...

, the mobile shrine by which he would travel with Israel to the Promised Land. From Sinai, Moses led the Israelites to the

Desert of Paran The Desert of Paran or Wilderness of Paran (also sometimes spelled Pharan or Faran; he, מִדְבַּר פָּארָן, ''Midbar Pa'ran''), is a location mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. It is one of the places where the Israelites spent part of th ...

on the border of Canaan. From there he sent

twelve spies The Twelve Spies, as recorded in the Book of Numbers, were a group of Israelite chieftains, one from each of the Twelve Tribes, who were dispatched by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan for 40 days as a future home for the Israelite people, du ...

into the land. The spies returned with samples of the land's fertility, but warned that its inhabitants were

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

. The people were afraid and wanted to return to Egypt, and some rebelled against Moses and against God. Moses told the Israelites that they were not worthy to inherit the land, and would wander the wilderness for forty years until the generation who had refused to enter Canaan had died, so that it would be their children who would possess the land. Later on,

Korah Korah ( he, ''Qōraḥ''; ar, قارون ''Qārūn''), son of Izhar, is an individual who appears in the Book of Numbers of the Hebrew Bible and four different verses in the Quran, known for leading a rebellion against Moses. Some older Englis ...

was punished for leading a revolt against Moses. When the forty years had passed, Moses led the Israelites east around the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

to the territories of

Edom Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...

and Moab. There they escaped the temptation of idolatry, conquered the lands of Og and

Sihon Sihon was an Amorite king mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, who refused to let the Israelites pass through his country. Biblical accounts The Book of Numbers recounts that as the Israelites making their Exodus journey came to the country east of th ...

Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom of ...

, received God's blessing through

Balaam Balaam (; , Standard ''Bīlʿam'' Tiberian ''Bīlʿām'') is a diviner in the Torah ( Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers (). Ancient references to Balaam consider him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son o ...

the prophet, and massacred the

ites, who by the end of the Exodus journey had become the enemies of the Israelites due to their notorious role in enticing the Israelites to sin against God. Moses was twice given notice that he would die before entry to the Promised Land: in

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

27:13, once he had seen the Promised Land from a viewpoint on Mount Abarim, and again in Numbers 31:1 once battle with the Midianites had been won. On the banks of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

, in sight of the land, Moses assembled the

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

. After recalling their wanderings he delivered God's laws by which they must live in the land, sang a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

of praise and pronounced a

blessing In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will. Etymology and Germanic paganism The modern English language term ''bless'' likely ...

on the people, and passed his authority to

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, under whom they would possess the land. Moses then went up

, looked over the

spread out before him, and died, at the age of one hundred and twenty.

Lawgiver of Israel

Rembrandt - Moses Smashing the Tablets of the Law - WGA19132

Moses is honoured among

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

today as the "lawgiver of Israel", and he delivers several sets of laws in the course of the four books. The first is the Covenant Code, the terms of the

covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

which God offers to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Embedded in the covenant are the

Decalogue The Ten Commandments ( Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...

(the

, Exodus 20:1–17), and the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22–23:19). The entire

Book of Leviticus The book of Leviticus (, from grc, Λευιτικόν, ; he, וַיִּקְרָא, , "And He called") is the third book of the Torah (the Pentateuch) and of the Old Testament, also known as the Third Book of Moses. Scholars generally agree ...

constitutes a second body of law, the

Book of Numbers The book of Numbers (from Greek Ἀριθμοί, ''Arithmoi''; he, בְּמִדְבַּר, ''Bəmīḏbar'', "In the desert f) is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah. The book has a long and c ...

begins with yet another set, and the

Book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

another. Moses has traditionally been regarded as the author of those four books and the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

, which together comprise the

, the first section of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

Historicity

Scholars hold different opinions on the status of Moses in scholarship. For instance, according to

William G. Dever William Gwinn Dever (born November 27, 1933, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American archaeologist, Old Testament scholar, and historian, specialized in the history of the Ancient Near East and the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in biblical ...

, the modern scholarly consensus is that the biblical person of Moses is largely mythical while also holding that "a Moses-like figure may have existed somewhere in the southern

in the mid-late 13th century B.C." and that "archeology can do nothing" to prove or confirm either way. However, according to Solomon Nigosian, there are actually three prevailing views among biblical scholars: one is that Moses is not a historical figure, another view strives to anchor the decisive role he played in Israelite religion, and a third that argues there are elements of both history and legend from which "these issues are hotly debated unresolved matters among scholars". According to Brian Britt, there is divide amongst scholars when discussing matters on Moses that threatens gridlock.

Jan Assmann Jan Assmann (born Johann Christoph Assmann; born 7 July 1938) is a German Egyptologist. Life and works Assmann studied Egyptology and classical archaeology in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris, and Göttingen. In 1966–67, he was a fellow of the German ...

argues that it cannot be known if Moses ever lived because there are no traces of him outside tradition. Though the names of Moses and others in the biblical narratives are Egyptian and contain genuine Egyptian elements, no extrabiblical sources point clearly to Moses. No references to Moses appear in any Egyptian sources prior to the fourth century BCE, long after he is believed to have lived. No contemporary Egyptian sources mention Moses, or the events of Exodus–Deuteronomy, nor has any archaeological evidence been discovered in Egypt or the Sinai wilderness to support the story in which he is the central figure.

David Adams Leeming David Adams Leeming (born February 26, 1937) is an American Philology, philologist who is Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Connecticut, and a specialist in comparative literature of mythology. Biography ...

states that Moses is a mythic hero and the central figure in Hebrew mythology. The ''Oxford Companion to the Bible'' states that the historicity of Moses is the most reasonable (albeit not unbiased) assumption be made about him as his absence would leave a vacuum that cannot be explained away. ''Oxford Biblical Studies'' states that although few modern scholars are willing to support the traditional view that Moses himself wrote the five books of the

, there are certainly those who regard the leadership of Moses as too firmly based in Israel's corporate memory to be dismissed as pious fiction. The story of Moses's discovery picks up a familiar motif in

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran ( Elam, ...

ern mythological accounts of the ruler who rises from humble origins. Thus Sargon of Akkad's

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabi ...

account of his own origins runs: Moses's story, like those of the other patriarchs, most likely had a substantial oral prehistory (he is mentioned in the

Book of Jeremiah The Book of Jeremiah ( he, ספר יִרְמְיָהוּ) is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, and the second of the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. The superscription at chapter Jeremiah 1:1–3 identifies the boo ...

and the Book of Isaiah) and his name is apparently very ancient, as the tradition found in Exodus no longer understands its original meaning. Nevertheless, the completion of the Torah and its elevation to the centre of post-Exilic Judaism was as much or more about combining older texts as writing new ones – the final Pentateuch was based on existing traditions.

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

, written during the Exile (i.e., in the first half of the 6th century BCE), testifies to tension between the people of Judah and the returning post-Exilic Jews (the " gôlâ"), stating that God is the father of Israel and that Israel's history begins with the Exodus and not with

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

. The conclusion to be inferred from this and similar evidence (e.g., the

Book of Ezra The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible; which formerly included the Book of Nehemiah in a single book, commonly distinguished in scholarship as Ezra–Nehemiah. The two became separated with the first printed rabbinic bibles of the ear ...

and the Book of Nehemiah) is that the figure of Moses and the story of the Exodus must have been preeminent among the people of Judah at the time of the Exile and after, serving to support their claims to the land in opposition to those of the returning exiles. A theory developed by

Cornelis Tiele Cornelis Petrus Tiele (16 December 183011 January 1902) was a Dutch theologian and scholar of religions. Life Tiele was born at Leiden. He was educated at Amsterdam, first studying at the Athenaeum Illustre, as the communal high school of the ...

in 1872, which has proved influential, argued that

was a

ite god, introduced to the Israelites by Moses, whose father-in-law Jethro was a Midianite priest. It was to such a Moses that Yahweh reveals his real name, hidden from the

Patriarchs The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certa ...

who knew him only as El Shaddai. Against this view is the modern consensus that most of the Israelites were native to Palestine.

Martin Noth Martin Noth (3 August 1902 – 30 May 1968) was a German scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specialized in the pre-Exilic history of the Hebrews and promoted the hypothesis that the Israelite tribes in the immediate period after the settlement in Can ...

argued that the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

uses the figure of Moses, originally linked to legends of a Transjordan conquest, as a narrative bracket or late redactional device to weld together four of the five, originally independent, themes of that work. and , the latter in a somewhat

sensationalist In journalism and mass media, sensationalism is a type of editorial tactic. Events and topics in news stories are selected and worded to excite the greatest number of readers and viewers. This style of news reporting encourages biased or emo ...

manner, have suggested that the Moses story is a distortion or transmogrification of the historical pharaoh Amenmesse, Amenmose (), who was dismissed from office and whose name was later simplified to (Mose). Aidan Dodson regards this hypothesis as "intriguing, but beyond proof". Rudolf Smend argues that the two details about Moses that were most likely to be historical are his name, of Egyptian origin, and his marriage to a Midianite woman, details which seem unlikely to have been invented by the Israelites; in Smend's view, all other details given in the biblical narrative are too mythically charged to be seen as accurate data. The name Mesha, King Mesha of Moab has been linked to that of Moses. Mesha also is associated with narratives of an exodus and a conquest, and several motifs in stories about him are shared with the Exodus tale and that regarding Israel's war with Moab (2 Kings 3). Moab rebels against oppression, like Moses, leads his people out of Israel, as Moses does from Egypt, and his first-born son is slaughtered at the wall of Kir of Moab, Kir-hareseth as the firstborn of Israel are condemned to slaughter in the Exodus story, in what Calvinist theologian Peter Leithart described as "an infernal Passover that delivers Mesha while wrath burns against his enemies". An Egyptian version of the tale that crosses over with the Moses story is found in Manetho who, according to the summary in

, wrote that a certain Osarseph, a Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt), Heliopolitan priest, became overseer of a band of Leprosy, lepers, when Amenhotep III, Amenophis, following indications by Amenhotep, son of Hapu, had all the lepers in Egypt quarantined in order to cleanse the land so that he might see the gods. The lepers are bundled into Avaris, the former capital of the Hyksos, where Osarseph prescribes for them everything forbidden in Egypt, while proscribing everything permitted in Egypt. They invite the Hyksos to reinvade Egypt, rule with them for 13 years – Osarseph then assumes the name Moses – and are then driven out. Other Egyptian figures which have been postulated as candidates for a historical Moses-like figure include the princes Ahmose-ankh and Ramose (prince), Ramose, who were sons of pharaoh Ahmose I, or a figure associated with the family of pharaoh Thutmose III. Israel Knohl has proposed to identify Moses with Irsu, a Shasu who, according to Papyrus Harris I and the Elephantine Stele, took power in Egypt with the support of "Asiatics" (people from the Levant) after the death of Queen Twosret; after coming to power, Irsu and his supporters disrupted Egyptian rituals, "treating the gods like the people" and halting offerings to the Egyptian deities. They were eventually defeated and expelled by the new Pharaoh Setnakhte and, while fleeing, they abandoned large quantities of gold and silver they had stolen from the temples.

Hellenistic literature

Non-biblical writings about Jews, with references to the role of Moses, first appear at the beginning of the Hellenistic period, from 323 BCE to about 146 BCE. Shmuel notes that "a characteristic of this literature is the high honour in which it holds the peoples of the East in general and some specific groups among these peoples." In addition to the Judeo-Roman or Judeo-Hellenic historians Artapanus of Alexandria, Artapanus, Eupolemus,

, and

, a few non-Jewish historians including Hecataeus of Abdera (quoted by Diodorus Siculus), Alexander Polyhistor, Manetho, Apion, Chaeremon of Alexandria, Tacitus and Porphyry (philosopher), Porphyry also make reference to him. The extent to which any of these accounts rely on earlier sources is unknown. Moses also appears in other religious texts such as the Mishnah (c. 200 CE) and the

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

(200–1200 CE). The figure of Osarseph in Greek historiography, Hellenistic historiography is a renegade Egyptian priest who leads an army of lepers against the pharaoh and is finally expelled from Egypt, changing his name to Moses.

Hecataeus

The earliest existing reference to Moses in Greek literature occurs in the Egyptian history of Hecataeus of Abdera (4th century BCE). All that remains of his description of Moses are two references made by Diodorus Siculus, wherein, writes historian Arthur Droge, he "describes Moses as a wise and courageous leader who left Egypt and colonized Judea, Judaea". Among the many accomplishments described by Hecataeus, Moses had founded cities, established a temple and religious cult, and issued laws: Droge also points out that this statement by Hecataeus was similar to statements made subsequently by Eupolemus.

Artapanus

The Jewish historian Artapanus of Alexandria (2nd century BCE), portrayed Moses as a cultural hero, alien to the Pharaonic court. According to theologian John Barclay, the Moses of Artapanus "clearly bears the destiny of the Jews, and in his personal, cultural and military splendor, brings credit to the whole Jewish people". Artapanus goes on to relate how Moses returns to Egypt with Aaron, and is imprisoned, but miraculously escapes through the name of YHWH in order to lead the Exodus. This account further testifies that all Egyptian Egyptian temple, temples of Isis thereafter contained a rod, in remembrance of that used for Moses's miracles. He describes Moses as 80 years old, "tall and ruddy, with long white hair, and dignified". Some historians, however, point out the "Apologetics, apologetic nature of much of Artapanus' work", with his addition of extra-biblical details, such as his references to Jethro: the non-Jewish Jethro expresses admiration for Moses's gallantry in helping his daughters, and chooses to adopt Moses as his son.

Strabo

Rosso Fiorentino - Moses defending the Daughters of Jethro - Web Gallery of Art

Strabo, a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher, in his ''Geographica'' (c. 24 CE), wrote in detail about Moses, whom he considered to be an Egyptian who deplored the situation in his homeland, and thereby attracted many followers who respected the deity. He writes, for example, that Moses opposed the picturing of the deity in the form of man or animal, and was convinced that the deity was an entity which encompassed everything – land and sea: In Strabo's writings of the history of Judaism as he understood it, he describes various stages in its development: from the first stage, including Moses and his direct heirs; to the final stage where "the Temple of Jerusalem continued to be surrounded by an aura of sanctity". Strabo's "positive and unequivocal appreciation of Moses' personality is among the most sympathetic in all ancient literature." His portrayal of Moses is said to be similar to the writing of Hecataeus of Abdera, Hecataeus who "described Moses as a man who excelled in wisdom and courage". Egyptologist

concludes that Strabo was the historian "who came closest to a construction of Moses' religion as monotheism, monotheistic and as a pronounced counter-religion." It recognized "only one divine being whom no image can represent ... [and] the only way to approach this god is to live in virtue and in justice."

Tacitus

The Roman historian Tacitus (c. 56–120 CE) refers to Moses by noting that the Jewish religion was monotheistic and without a clear image. His primary work, wherein he describes Jewish philosophy, is his ''Histories (Tacitus), Histories'' (c. 100), where, according to 18th-century translator and Irish dramatist Arthur Murphy (writer), Arthur Murphy, as a result of the Jewish worship of one God, "paganism, pagan mythology fell into contempt". Tacitus states that, despite various opinions current in his day regarding the Jews' ethnicity, most of his sources are in agreement that there was an Exodus from Egypt. By his account, the Pharaoh Bakenranef, Bocchoris, suffering from a Plague (disease), plague, banished the Jews in response to an oracle of the god Zeus-Amun. In this version, Moses and the Jews wander through the desert for only six days, capturing the Holy Land on the seventh.Tacitus, Cornelius. ''Tacitus, The Histories, Volume 2'', Book V. Chapters 5, 6 p. 208.

Longinus

The Septuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, impressed the pagan author of the famous classical book of literary criticism, ''On the Sublime'', traditionally attributed to Longinus (literature), Longinus. The date of composition is unknown, but it is commonly assigned to the late 1st century C.E. The writer quotes Book of Genesis, Genesis in a "style which presents the nature of the deity in a manner suitable to his pure and great being", but he does not mention Moses by name, calling him 'no chance person' () but "the Lawgiver" (, Archon#Ancient Greece, thesmothete) of the Jews, a term that puts him on a par with Lycurgus of Sparta, Lycurgus and Minos. Aside from a reference to Cicero, Moses is the only non-Greek writer quoted in the work; contextually he is put on a par with Homer and he is described "with far more admiration than even Greek writers who treated Moses with respect, such as Hecataeus of Abdera, Hecataeus and Strabo".

Josephus

' (37 – c. 100 CE) ''Antiquities of the Jews'', Moses is mentioned throughout. For example Book VIII Ch. IV, describes Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, at the time the Ark of the Covenant was first moved into the newly built temple: According to Feldman, Josephus also attaches particular significance to Moses's possession of the "cardinal virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice". He also includes piety as an added fifth virtue. In addition, he "stresses Moses' willingness to undergo toil and his careful avoidance of bribery. Like Plato's Philosopher king, philosopher-king, Moses excels as an educator."

Numenius

Numenius of Apamea, Numenius, a Greek philosopher who was a native of Apamea, Syria, Apamea, in Syria, wrote during the latter half of the 2nd century CE. Historian Kennieth Guthrie writes that "Numenius is perhaps the only recognized Greek philosopher who explicitly studied Moses, the prophets, and the life of Jesus". He describes his background:

Justin Martyr

The Christian saint and religious philosopher Justin Martyr (103–165 CE) drew the same conclusion as Numenius of Apamea, Numenius, according to other experts. Theologian Paul Blackham notes that Justin considered Moses to be "more trustworthy, profound and truthful because he is ''older'' than the Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosophers." He quotes him:

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Most of what is known about Moses from the Bible comes from the books of book of Exodus, Exodus, Book of Leviticus, Leviticus, book of Numbers, Numbers, and Book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy. The majority of scholars consider the compilation of these books to go back to the Yehud Medinata, Persian period, 538–332 BCE, but based on earlier written and oral traditions. There is a wealth of stories and additional information about Moses in the Jewish apocrypha and in the genre of rabbinical exegesis known as

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

, as well as in the primary works of the Jewish oral law, the Mishnah and the Talmud. Moses is also given a number of bynames in Jewish tradition. The

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

identifies Moses as one of seven biblical personalities who were called by various names. Moses's other names were Jekuthiel (by his mother), Heber (by Amram, his father), Jered (by Miriam), Avi Zanoah (by Aaron), Avigdor (name), Avi Gedor (by Kohath), Avi Soco (by his wet-nurse), Shemaiah ben Nethanel (by people of Israel). Moses is also attributed the names Toviah (as a first name), and Levi (as a family name) (Vayikra Rabbah 1:3), Heman, Mechoqeiq (lawgiver), and Ehl Gav Ish (Numbers 12:3). In another exegesis, Moses had ascended to the first heaven until the Seven Heavens, seventh, even visited Paradise and Hell alive, after he saw the burning bush, divine vision in Mount Horeb. Jewish historians who lived at Alexandria, such as Eupolemus, attributed to Moses the feat of having taught the Phoenicians Phoenician alphabet, their alphabet, similar to legends of

. Artapanus of Alexandria explicitly identified Moses not only with Thoth/Hermes, but also with the Greek figure Musaeus of Athens, Musaeus (whom he called "the teacher of Orpheus"), and ascribed to him the division of Egypt into 36 districts, each with its own liturgy. He named the princess who adopted Moses as Merris, wife of Pharaoh Chenephres. Jewish tradition considers Moses to be the greatest prophet who ever lived. Despite his importance, Judaism stresses that Moses was a human being, and is therefore not to be worshipped. Only God is worthy of worship in Judaism. To Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jews, Moses is called ''Moshe Rabbenu, 'Eved HaShem, Avi haNeviim zya"a'': "Our Leader Moshe, Servant of God, Father of all the Prophets (may his merit shield us, amen)". In the orthodox view, Moses received not only the Torah, but also the revealed (written and oral) and the hidden (the ''hokhmat nistar'') teachings, which gave Judaism the Zohar of the Shimon bar Yochai, Rashbi, the Torah of the Isaac Luria, Ari haQadosh and all that is discussed in the Heavenly Yeshiva between the Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Ramhal and hismasters. Arising in part from his age of death (120 years, according to Deuteronomy 34:7) and that "his eye had not dimmed, and his vigor had not diminished", the phrase "Live until 120, may you live to 120" has become a common blessing among Jews (120 is stated as the maximum age for all of Noah's descendants in Genesis 6:3).

Christianity

The-Transfiguration-1480-xx-Giovanni-Bellini

Moses is mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament figure. For Christianity, Christians, Moses is often a symbol of Divine law, God's law, as reinforced and Expounding of the Law, expounded on in the teachings of Jesus. New Testament writers often compared Jesus's words and deeds with Moses's to explain Jesus's mission. In Acts of the Apostles, Acts 7:39–43, 51–53, for example, the rejection of Moses by the Jews who worshipped the golden calf is likened to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that continued in traditional Judaism. Moses also figures in several of Jesus's messages. When he met the Pharisees, Pharisee Nicodemus at night in the third chapter of the Gospel of John, he compared Moses's lifting up of the Nehushtan, 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 responded 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 Discourse, bread of life", Jesus stated that he was provided to feed God's people. Moses, along with Elijah, is presented as meeting with Jesus in all three Synoptic Gospels of the Transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, respectively. In Matthew 23, in what is the first attested use of a phrase referring to this rabbinical usage (the Graeco-Aramaic ), Jesus refers to the scribes and the Pharisees, in a passage critical of them, as having seated themselves "on the chair of Moses" ( gr, Ἐπὶ τῆς Μωϋσέως καθέδρας , ''epì tēs Mōüséōs kathédras'') His relevance to modern Christianity has not diminished. Moses is considered to be a saint by several churches; and is commemorated as a prophet in the respective Calendar of saints, Calendars of Saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church, and the Lutheranism, Lutheran churches on September 4. In September 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics), Eastern Orthodox liturgics for September 4, Moses is commemorated as the "Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses, on Mount Nebo". The Orthodox Church also commemorates him on the Nativity Fast#Sunday of the Forefathers, Sunday of the Forefathers, two Sundays before the Nativity of Jesus, Nativity. Moses is also commemorated on July 20 with Aaron, Elijah, Elias (Elijah) and Elisha, Eliseus (Elisha) and on April 14 with all saint Sinaia Monastery, Sinai monks. The Armenian Apostolic Church commemorates him as one of the Holy Forefathers in their Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church), Calendar of Saints on July 30.

Catholicism

In Catholicism Moses is seen as a type of Jesus Christ. Justus Knecht writes:

Mormonism

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (colloquially 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 Book of Moses, Selections from the Book of Moses as part of their scriptural canon. This book is believed to be the translated writings of Moses, and is included in the Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism), Pearl of Great Price. Latter-day Saints are also unique in believing that Moses was taken to heaven without having tasted death (Translation (LDS Church), translated). In addition, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery stated that on April 3, 1836, Moses appeared to them in the Kirtland Temple (located in Kirtland, Ohio) 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 Lost Tribes#Latter-day Saint Movement, ten tribes from the land of the north".

Islam

Moses is mentioned more in the

than any other individual and his life is narrated and recounted more than that of any other Prophets of Islam, Islamic prophet. Islamically, Moses is described in ways which parallel the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Like Muhammad, Moses is defined in the Quran as both prophet (''nabi'') and messenger (''Prophets and messengers in Islam, rasul''), the latter term indicating that he was one of those prophets who brought a scripture and law to his people. Nabi Musa jerico-Jerusalam

Moses is mentioned Moses in Islam#Quranic references, 502 times in the Quran. Most of the key events in Moses's life which are narrated in the Bible are to be found dispersed through the different chapters (''suwar'') of the Quran, with a story about meeting Khidr which is not found in the Bible. In the Moses story related by the Quran, Jochebed is commanded by God to place Moses in an ark and cast him on the waters of the Nile, thus abandoning him completely to God's protection. The Pharaoh's wife Asiya, not his daughter, found Moses floating in the waters of the Nile. She convinced the Pharaoh to keep him as their son because they were not blessed with any children. The Quran's account emphasizes Moses's mission to invite the Pharaoh to accept God's divine message as well as give salvation to the Israelites. According to the Quran, Moses encourages the Israelites to enter Canaan, but they are unwilling to fight the Canaanites, fearing certain defeat. Moses responds by pleading to Allah that he and his brother Aaron be separated from the rebellious Israelites, after which the Israelites are made to wander for 40 years. One of the hadith, or traditional narratives about Muhammad's life, describes a meeting in heaven between Moses and Muhammad, which resulted in Muslims observing Salah, 5 daily prayers. Huston Smith says this was "one of the crucial events in Muhammad's life". According to some Islamic tradition, Moses is believed to be buried at Nabi Musa, Maqam El-Nabi Musa, near Jericho.

Baháʼí Faith

Moses is one of the most important of God's messengers in the

, being designated a Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith), Manifestation of God. An epithet of Moses in Baháʼí scriptures is the "One Who Conversed with God". According to the Baháʼí Faith, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the faith, is the one who spoke to Moses from the

. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá has highlighted the fact that Moses, like

, had none of the makings of a Great Man theory, great man of history, but through God's assistance he was able to achieve many great things. He is described as having been "for a long time a shepherd in the wilderness", of having had a Stuttering, stammer, and of being "much hated and detested" by Pharaoh and the ancient Egyptians of his time. He is said to have been raised in an oppressive household, and to have been known, in Egypt, as a man who had committed murder – though he had done so in order to prevent an act of cruelty. Nevertheless, like Abraham, through the assistance of God, he achieved great things and gained renown even beyond the Levant. Chief among these achievements was the freeing of his people, the Hebrews, from bondage in Egypt and leading "them to the Holy Land". He is viewed as the one who bestowed on Israel "the religious and the civil law" which gave them "honour among all nations", and which spread their fame to different parts of the world. Furthermore, through the law, Moses is believed to have led the Hebrews "to the highest possible degree of civilization at that period". 'Abdul'l-Bahá asserts that the ancient Greek philosophers regarded "the illustrious men of Israel as models of perfection". Chief among these philosophers, he says, was Socrates who "visited Syria, and took from the children of Israel the teachings of the Unity of God and of the immortality of the soul". Moses is further seen as paving the way for Bahá'u'lláh and his ultimate revelation, and as a teacher of truth, whose teachings were in line with the customs of his time.

Druze faith

Moses is considered an important prophet of God in the Druze faith, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history.

Legacy in politics and law

In a metaphorical sense in the Christian tradition, a "Moses" has been referred to as the leader who delivers the people from a terrible situation. Among the List of Presidents of the United States, Presidents of the United States known to have used the symbolism of Moses were Harry S. Truman, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, who referred to his supporters as "the Moses generation". In subsequent years, theologians linked the Ten Commandments with the formation of early democracy. Scottish theologian William Barclay (theologian), William Barclay described them as "the universal foundation of all things ... the law without which nationhood is impossible. ... Our society is founded upon it." Pope Francis addressed the United States Congress in 2015 stating that all people need to "keep alive their sense of unity by means of just legislation ... [and] the figure of Moses leads us directly to God and thus to the transcendent dignity of the human being".

In United States history

Pilgrims

References to Moses were used by the Puritans, who relied on the story of Moses to give meaning and hope to the lives of Pilgrim Fathers, Pilgrims seeking Freedom of religion, religious and Civil liberties, personal freedom in North America. John Carver (Plymouth Colony governor), John Carver was the first governor of Plymouth colony and first signer of the Mayflower Compact, which he wrote in 1620 during the ship ''Mayflowers three-month voyage. He inspired the Pilgrims with a "sense of earthly grandeur and divine purpose", notes historian Jon Meacham, and was called the "Moses of the Pilgrims". Early American writer James Russell Lowell noted the similarity of the founding of America by the Pilgrims to that of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel by Moses: Following Carver's death the following year, William Bradford (Plymouth Colony governor), William Bradford was made governor. He feared that the remaining Pilgrims would not survive the hardships of the new land, with half their people having already died within months of arriving. Bradford evoked the symbol of Moses to the weakened and desperate Pilgrims to help calm them and give them hope: "Violence will break all. Where is the meek and humble spirit of Moses?"

explains the attitude of the Pilgrims: "We considered ourselves the 'New Israel', particularly we in America. And for that reason we knew who we were, what we believed in and valued, and what our 'manifest destiny' was."

Founding Fathers of the United States

FirstCommitteeGreatSealReverseLossingDrawing

On July 4, 1776, immediately after the United States Declaration of Independence, Declaration of Independence was officially passed, the Continental Congress asked John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin to design a seal that would clearly represent a symbol for the new United States. They chose the symbol of Moses leading the Israelites to freedom. After the death of George Washington in 1799, two thirds of his eulogies referred to him as "America's Moses", with one orator saying that "Washington has been the same to us as Moses was to the Children of Israel." Benjamin Franklin, in 1788, saw the difficulties that some of the newly independent U.S. state, American states were having in forming a government, and proposed that until a new code of laws could be agreed to, they should be governed by "the laws of Moses", as contained in the Old Testament. He justified his proposal by explaining that the laws had worked in biblical times: "The Supreme Being ... having rescued them from bondage by many miracles, performed by his servant Moses, he personally delivered to that chosen servant, in the presence of the whole nation, a constitution and code of laws for their observance." John Adams, 2nd List of Presidents of the United States, President of the United States, stated why he relied on the laws of Moses over Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosophy for establishing the United States Constitution: "As much as I love, esteem, and admire the Greeks, I believe the Hebrews have done more to enlighten and civilize the world. Moses did more than all their legislators and philosophers." Swedish historian Hugo Valentin credited Moses as the "first to proclaim the Human rights, rights of man"..

Slavery and civil rights

Underground Railroad conductor and American Civil War veteran Harriet Tubman was nicknamed "Moses" due to her various missions in freeing and ferrying escaped enslaved persons to freedom in the free states of the United States. Historian Gladys L. Knight describes how leaders who emerged during and after the period in which slavery in the United States, slavery was legal often personified the Moses symbol. "The symbol of Moses was empowering in that it served to amplify a need for freedom." Therefore, when Abraham Lincoln was Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated in 1865 after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, amendment to the Constitution outlawing slavery, African Americans, Black Americans said they had lost "their Moses". Lincoln biographer Charles Carleton Coffin writes, "The millions whom Abraham Lincoln delivered from slavery will ever liken him to Moses, the deliverer of Israel." In the 1960s, a leading figure in the civil rights movement was Martin Luther King Jr., who was called "a modern Moses", and often referred to Moses in his speeches: "The struggle of Moses, the struggle of his devoted followers as they sought to get out of Egypt. This is something of the story of every people struggling for freedom."

Cultural portrayals and references

Art

Moses often appears in Christian art, and the Pope's private chapel, the Sistine Chapel, has a Sistine Chapel#Southern wall, large sequence of six frescos of the ''life of Moses'' on the southern wall, opposite a set with the ''life of Christ''. They were painted in 1481–82 by a group of mostly Florentine artists including Sandro Botticelli and Pietro Perugino. Because of an ambiguity in

's Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible, where Moses's face is described as (meaning either "shining" or "horned") when descending from Mount Sinai with the tablets, Moses is usually shown in Western art until the Renaissance with small horns, which at least served as a convenient identifying attribute. With the prophet Elijah, he is a necessary figure in the Transfiguration of Jesus in Christian art, a subject with a long history in Eastern Orthodox art, and popular in Western art between about 1475 and 1535.

Michelangelo's statue

Michelangelo's Moses (Michelangelo), statue of Moses (1513–1515), in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, is one of the most familiar statues in the world. The horns the sculptor included on Moses's head are the result of a mistranslation of the Hebrew Bible into the Latin Vulgate, Vulgate Bible with which Michelangelo was familiar. The Hebrew word taken from ''Exodus'' means either a "horn" or an "irradiation". Experts at the Archaeological Institute of America show that the term was used when Moses "returned to his people after seeing as much of the Glory of the Lord as human eye could stand", and his face "reflected radiance". In early Jewish culture#Visual arts and architecture, Jewish art, moreover, Moses is often "shown with rays coming out of his head".

Depiction on U.S. government buildings

Moses is depicted in several U.S. government buildings because of his legacy as a lawgiver. In the Library of Congress stands a large statue of Moses alongside a statue of the Paul the Apostle. Moses is one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in marble bas-reliefs in the United States Capitol#House Chamber, chamber of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Capitol. The plaque's overview states: "Moses (c. 1350–1250 B.C.) Hebrew prophet and lawgiver; transformed a wandering people into a nation; received the Ten Commandments." The other 22 figures have their profiles turned to Moses, which is the only forward-facing bas-relief. Moses appears eight times in carvings that ring the United States Supreme Court Building, Supreme Court Great Hall ceiling. His face is presented along with other ancient figures such as Solomon, the Greek god Zeus, and the Roman goddess of wisdom, Minerva. The Supreme Court Building's east pediment depicts Moses holding two tablets. Tablets representing the Ten Commandments can be found carved in the oak courtroom doors, on the support frame of the courtroom's bronze gates, and in the library woodwork. A controversial image is one that sits directly above the Chief Justice of the United States' head. In the center of the 40-foot-long Spanish marble carving is a tablet displaying Roman numerals I through X, with some numbers partially hidden.

Literature

* Sigmund Freud, in his last book, ''Moses and Monotheism'' in 1939, postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to the monotheism of Akhenaten. Following a theory proposed by a contemporary Biblical criticism, biblical critic, Freud believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of Patricide, 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. Opponents of this view observe that the religion of the Torah seems different from Atenism in everything except the central feature of devotion to a single god, although this has been countered by a variety of arguments, e.g. pointing out the similarities between the Great Hymn to the Aten, Hymn to Aten and Psalm 104. Freud's interpretation of the historical Moses is not well accepted among historians, and is considered pseudohistory by many. * Thomas Mann's novella ''The Tables of the Law'' (1944) is a retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, with Moses as its main character. * W. G. Hardy's novel ''All the Trumpets Sounded'' (1942) tells a fictionalized life of Moses. *Orson Scott Card's novel ''Stone Tables'' (1997) is a novelization of the life of Moses.

Film and television

Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments film trailer

* Moses was portrayed by Theodore Roberts in Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 silent film ''The Ten Commandments (1923 film), The Ten Commandments''. Moses also appeared as the central character in the 1956 remake, also directed by DeMille and called ''The Ten Commandments (1956 film), The Ten Commandments'', in which he was portrayed by Charlton Heston, who had a noted resemblance to Michelangelo's statue. A The Ten Commandments (miniseries), television remake was produced in 2006. * Burt Lancaster played ''Moses'' in the 1975 television miniseries ''Moses the Lawgiver''. * In the 1981 comedy film ''History of the World, Part I'', Moses was portrayed by Mel Brooks. *In 1995, Sir Ben Kingsley portrayed Moses in the 1995 TV film Moses (miniseries), ''Moses'', produced by British and Italian production companies. * Moses appeared as the central character in the 1998 DreamWorks Pictures animated film ''The Prince of Egypt''. His speaking voice was provided by Val Kilmer, with American gospel singer and tenor Amick Byram providing his singing voice. * Ben Kingsley was the narrator of the 2007 animated film ''The Ten Commandments (2007 film), The Ten Commandments''. * In the 2009 miniseries ''Battles BC'', Moses was portrayed by Cazzey Louis Cereghino. * In the 2013 television miniseries ''The Bible (miniseries), The Bible'', Moses was portrayed by William Houston (actor), William Houston. * Christian Bale portrayed Moses in Ridley Scott's 2014 film ''Exodus: Gods and Kings'' which portrayed Moses and Rameses II as being raised by Seti I as cousins. * The 2016 Brazilian Biblical telenovela ''Os Dez Mandamentos'' features Brazilian actor Guilherme Winter portraying Moses.

Criticism of Moses

Tissot The Women of Midian Led Captive by the Hebrews

In the late eighteenth century, the deist Thomas Paine commented at length on Moses's Laws in ''The Age of Reason'' (1794, 1795, and 1807). Paine considered Moses to be a "detestable villain", and cited Numbers 31 as an example of his "unexampled atrocities". In the passage, after the Israelite army returned from Midian war, conquering Midian, Moses orders the killing of the Midianites with the exception of the virgin girls who were to be kept for the Israelites. Rabbi Joel Grossman argued that the story is a "powerful fable of lust and betrayal", and that Moses's execution of the women was a symbolic condemnation of those who seek to turn sex and desire to evil purposes. He says that the Middianite women "used their sexual attractiveness to turn the Israelite men away from [Yahweh] God and toward the worship of Baal Peor [another Canaanite god]".Grossman, Joel (2008)
"Matot"
. Temple Beth Am Library Minyan. Rabbi Grossman argues that the genocide of all the Middianite non-virgin women, including those that did not seduce Jewish men, was fair because some of them had sex for "improper reasons". Alan Levin, an educational specialist with the Reform Judaism, Reform movement, has similarly suggested that the story should be taken as a cautionary tale, to "warn successive generations of Jews to watch their own idolatrous behavior". Moses Sofer, Chasam Sofer emphasizes that this war was not fought at Moses's behest, but was commanded by God as an act of revenge against the Midianite women, who, according to the Biblical account, had seduced the Israelites and led them to sin. Keith Allan (linguist), Keith Allan (2019) remarked: "God's work or not, this is military behaviour that would be tabooed today and might lead to a war crimes trial." Moses has also been the subject of much feminist criticism. Womanist theology, Womanist Biblical scholar Nyasha Junior has argued that Moses can be the object of feminist inquiry.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Book XVI, Chapter II
in ''Geographica'' by Strabo, 1st century, 1932 translation. Moses is mentioned {{Authority control Moses, 15th-century BC biblical rulers 15th-century BC religious leaders Adoptees Ancient Egyptian Jews Angelic visionaries Biblical murderers Book of Deuteronomy Book of Exodus people Book of Numbers people Christian saints from the Old Testament Founders of religions Hebrew Bible people in Mandaeism Heroes in mythology and legend People in the canonical gospels People in the catholic epistles People whose existence is disputed Prophets in the Druze faith Tribe of Levi Miracle workers

Etymology of name

Biblical narrative

Prophet and deliverer of Israel

Lawgiver of Israel

Historicity

Hellenistic literature

Hecataeus

Artapanus

Strabo

Tacitus

Longinus

Josephus

Numenius

Justin Martyr

Abrahamic religions

Judaism

Christianity

Catholicism

Mormonism

Islam

Baháʼí Faith

Druze faith

Legacy in politics and law

In United States history

Pilgrims

Founding Fathers of the United States

Slavery and civil rights

Cultural portrayals and references

Art

Michelangelo's statue

Depiction on U.S. government buildings

Literature

Film and television

Criticism of Moses

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

External links