TheStaff of Moses, also known as theRod of Moses orStaff of God, is mentioned in theBible andQuran as awalking stick used byMoses. According to theBook of Exodus, the staff (Hebrew:מַטֶּה,romanized: maṭṭe, translated "rod" in theKing James Bible) was used to produce water from a rock, was transformed into a snake and back, and was used at theparting of the Red Sea.[1] Whether the staff of Moses was the same asthe staff used by his brother Aaron has been debated by rabbinical scholars.
The staff is first mentioned in theExodus 4:2, whenGod appears to Moses in theburning bush. God asks what Moses has in his hand, and Moses answers, "a staff" ("a rod" in theKing James Version). The staff is miraculously transformed into a snake and then back into a staff. The staff is thereafter referred to as the "rod of God" or "staff of God" (depending on the translation).
Moses and Aaron appear before the pharaoh, andAaron's rod is transformed into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers are also able to transform their rods into serpents, but Aaron's rod swallows their rods (Exodus 7:10–12). Aaron's rod is again used to turn theNile blood-red. It is used several times on God's command to initiate theplagues of Egypt.
During the Exodus, Moses stretches his hand with the staff to part theRed Sea. While in the "wilderness" after leaving Egypt, Moses follows God's command to strike a rock with the rod to create a spring for the Israelites to drink from (Exodus 17:5–7). Moses does so, and water springs forth from the rock in the presence of the Elders of Israel.
Moses also uses the staff in the battle atRephidim between the Israelites and theAmalekites (Exodus 17:8–16).[2] When he holds up his arms holding the "rod of God" the Israelites "prevail", when he drops his arms, their enemies gain the upper hand. Aaron andHur help him to keep the staff raised until victory is achieved.
Finally, in Numbers 20:8, God tells Moses to get water for the Israelites from a rock by speaking to it. Moses, vexed by the Israelites' complaining, strikes the rock twice with the staff instead of speaking to it as God commanded. Because Moses did not obey God's command, implying a lack of faith, God punished him by not letting him enter the Promised Land, according to Numbers 20:12.
The staff is referred to inin Islam as anʿaṣā (Arabic:عصا), a stick or staff, with various applications and miraculous uses in ten different Quranicverses. It is narrated inKitab al-Kafi thatJa'far al-Sadiq claims that the "Tablets of Moses and the Staff of Moses are with us. We are the heirs of the Prophets".[3]
The rod is said to have been created on the sixth day of creation and passed through the hands of the biblical patriarchs before being inherited by Moses.[4] AMidrash similar to the Arthurian legend of thesword in the stone recounts that the staff was planted in the garden of Moses’ father-in-lawJethro, and it was known that whoever could draw it from the ground would lead Israel out of Egypt. This legend also describes the staff as carved from sapphire and engraved with God's name and themnemonic for theTen Plagues.[5]
BecauseAaron's rod and Moses' rod had seemingly interchangeable powers, Rabbinical scholars debated whether the two were the same. According to theMidrashYelammedenu (Yalḳ. on Ps. ex. § 869):
[T]he staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Gen. xxxii. 10, xxxviii. 18). It is likewise the holy rod with which Moses worked (Ex. iv. 20, 21), with which Aaron performed wonders before Pharaoh (Ex. vii. 10), and with which, finally, David slew the giant Goliath (I Sam. xvii. 40). David left it to his descendants, and the Davidic kings used it as a scepter until the destruction of the Temple, when it miraculously disappeared. When the Messiah comes it will be given to him for a scepter in token of his authority over the heathen.[4]
TheMidrash states that the staff was in the possession of the Judean kings untilSolomon's Temple was destroyed in 587 BCE, after which its whereabouts became unknown.
There is mention of the rod of Moses in a deposition of Nicolas, abbot of theÞingeyraklaustur inÞingeyrar, who had seen it guarded in a chapel of a palace inConstantinople in c. 1150. According to this source, thearchbishop of Novgorod, Anthony, stated that it was in the church of St Michael in theBoukoleon Palace, among other precious relics. After thesack of Constantinople in 1204, it was transported to France, whereNivelon de Quierzy, Bishop of Soissons, placed it inSoissons Cathedral and it then passed to thetreasury of the Sainte-Chapelle.[6]
What was perhaps a different relic is recorded by the 7th-centuryChronicon Paschale as kept in the Church of St Mary of Rhabdos, next to the Gate of Saint Aemilianus in thewalls of Constantinople.
According to an identifying document at theHagia Sophia inIstanbul, Moses' staff is on display today within theSacred Relics collection at theTopkapı Palace, Istanbul,Turkey.[7] The Topkapı Palace holds other reputedly holy relics, most notablythose attributed to the Islamic prophetMuhammad (such as his bow, his sword, his footprint, and a tooth). Topkapı Palace was officially designated a museum in 1924, and the holy relics were placed on public view on 31 August 1962. It is said thatSultanSelim I (1512–1520) brought the holy relics to Topkapı Palace after conqueringEgypt in 1517.