According to theBook of Exodus, Moses was born in a period when his people, the Israelites, who were anenslaved minority, were increasing in population; consequently, theEgyptian Pharaoh was worried that they might ally themselves withEgypt's enemies. When Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites, Moses' Hebrew mother,Jochebed, secretly hid him in thebulrushes along theNile river. ThePharaoh's daughter discovered the infant there and adopted him as afoundling. Thus, he grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master who was beating a Hebrew, Moses fled across theRed Sea toMidian, where he encountered theAngel of the Lord, speaking to him from within aburning bush onMount Horeb.
God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak eloquently,[7] so God allowedAaron, his elder brother,[8] to become his spokesperson. After theTen Plagues, Moses led theExodus of the Israelites out of Egypt andacross the Red Sea, after which they based themselves atMount Sinai, where Moses received theTen Commandments. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died onMount Nebo at the age of 120, within sight of thePromised Land.[9]
The majority of scholars see the biblical Moses as alegendary figure, while retaining the possibility that Moses or a Moses-like figure existed in the 13th century BCE.[10][11][12][13][14]Rabbinic Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE;[15]Jerome suggested 1592 BCE,[16] andJames Ussher suggested 1571 BCE as his birth year.[17][c] Moses has often been portrayed in art, literature, music and film, and he is the subject of works at a number of U.S. government buildings.
TheEgyptian rootmsy ('child of') ormose has been considered as a possible etymology,[20] arguably an abbreviation of atheophoric name with the god’s name omitted. The suffix mose appears in Egyptian pharaohs’ names likeThutmose ('born ofThoth') andRamose ('born ofRa').[21] One of the Egyptian names ofRamesses wasRa-mesesu mari-Amon, meaning 'born of Ra, beloved of Amon'. Ms by itself also has multiple attestations as an Egyptian personal name in the New Kingdom.[22] LinguistAbraham Yahuda, based on the spelling given in theTanakh, argues that it combines "water" or "seed" and "pond, expanse of water," thus yielding the sense of "child of theNile" (mw-š).[23]
The biblical account of Moses' birth provides him with afolk etymology to explain the ostensible meaning of his name.[21][24] He is said to have received it from thePharaoh's daughter: "he became her son. She named him Moses [מֹשֶׁה,Mōše], saying, 'I drew him out [מְשִׁיתִֽהוּ,mǝšīṯīhū] of the water'."[25][26] This explanation links it to theSemitic rootמשׁה,m-š-h, meaning "to draw out".[26][27] The eleventh-centuryTosafistIsaac b. Asher haLevi noted that the princess names him the active participle 'drawer-out' (מֹשֶׁה,mōše), not the passive participle 'drawn-out' (נִמְשֶׁה,nīmše), in effect prophesying that Moses would draw others out (of Egypt); this has been accepted by some scholars.[28][29]
TheHebrew etymology in the Biblical story may reflect an attempt to cancel out traces of Moses'Egyptian origins.[29] The Egyptian character of his name was recognized as such by ancient Jewish writers likePhilo andJosephus.[29] Philo linked Moses' name (Ancient Greek:Μωϋσῆς,romanized: Mōysēs,lit. 'Mōusês') to the Egyptian (Coptic) word for 'water' (môu,μῶυ), in reference to his finding in the Nile and the biblicalfolk etymology.[d] Josephus, in hisAntiquities of the Jews, claims that the second element,-esês, meant 'those who are saved'. The problem of how an Egyptian princess (who, according to the Biblical account found in the book ofExodus, gave him the name "Moses") could have known Hebrew puzzled medieval Jewish commentators likeAbraham ibn Ezra andHezekiah ben Manoah. Hezekiah suggested she either converted to theJewish religion or took a tip fromJochebed (Moses' mother).[30][31][32] The Egyptian princess who named Moses is not named in the book of Exodus. However, she was known to Josephus as Thermutis (identified as Tharmuth),[26] and some within Jewish tradition have tried to identify her with a "daughter of Pharaoh" in1 Chronicles 4:17 namedBithiah,[33] but others note that this is unlikely since there is no textual indication that this daughter of Pharaoh is the same one who named Moses.[33]
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.[34][35]
Kenneth Kitchen argues that the Hebrew etymology is most likely correct, as the sounds in the Hebrewm-š-h do not correspond to the pronunciation of Egyptianmsy in the relevant time period.[36]
TheIsraelites had settled in theLand of Goshen in the time ofJoseph andJacob, but a newPharaoh arose who oppressed the children of Israel. At this time, Moses was born to his fatherAmram, son (or descendant) ofKehath theLevite, who entered Egypt with Jacob's household; his mother wasJochebed (also Yocheved), who was kin to Kehath. Moses had one older (by seven years) sister,Miriam, and one older (by three years) brother,Aaron.[38] Pharaoh had commanded that all male Hebrew children born would be drowned in the riverNile, but Moses's mother placed him in anark and concealed the ark in thebulrushes by the riverbank.He was discovered and adopted byPharaoh's daughter and raised as an Egyptian. One day, after Moses had reached adulthood, he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew. To escape Pharaoh'sdeath penalty, Moses fled toMidian (a desert country south of Judah), where he marriedZipporah.[39]
There, onMount Horeb,God appeared to Moses as aburning bush, revealed his name asYHWH (probably pronouncedYahweh),[40] and commanded him to return to Egypt and bring hischosen people (Israel) out of bondage and into thePromised Land (Canaan).[41][42] During the journey, God tried to kill Moses for failing to circumcise his son,[43] butZipporah saved his life. Moses returned to carry out God's command, but God enabled Pharaoh to refuse, and only after God had subjected Egypt toten plagues did Pharaoh relent. Moses led the Israelites to the border of Egypt, but God hardened Pharaoh's heart once more so that he could destroy Pharaoh and his army at theRed Sea Crossing as a sign of his power to Israel and the nations.[44]
After defeating theAmalekites inRephidim,[45] Mosesled the Israelites toMount Sinai, where he was given theTen Commandments from God, written onstone 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 agolden calf and worshipped it as an idol of God, 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 theidolaters.[46] God again wrote the Ten Commandments on a new set of tablets. Later atMount Sinai, Moses and the elders entered into acovenant 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, institutedthe priesthood under the sons of Moses's brotherAaron, and destroyed those Israelites who fell away from his worship. In his final act at Sinai, God gave Moses instructions for theTabernacle, the mobile shrine by which he would travel with Israel to the Promised Land.[47]
From Sinai, Moses led the Israelites to theDesert of Paran on the border of Canaan. From there, he senttwelve spies into the land (Numbers 13–14). The spies returned with samples of the land's fertility but warned that its inhabitants weregiants. The people were afraid and wanted to return to Egypt, and some rebelled against Moses and against God. Moses told the Israelites they were not worthy to inherit the land and would wander the wilderness for forty years until the generation who refused to enter Canaan died so their children would possess the land.[48] Later on,Korah was punished for leading a revolt against Moses.
When the forty years had passed, Moses led the Israelites east around theDead Sea to the territories ofEdom andMoab. There they escaped the temptation of idolatry, conquered the lands ofOg andSihon inTransjordan, received God's blessing throughBalaam the prophet, and massacred theMidianites, who by the end of the Exodus journey had become the enemies of the Israelites due to their notorious role inenticing the Israelites to sin against God. Moses was twice given notice that he would die before entry to the Promised Land: inNumbers 27:13,[49] once he had seen the Promised Land from a viewpoint onMount Abarim, and again in Numbers 31:1,[50] once battle with the Midianites had been won.
On the banks of theJordan River, in sight of the land, Moses assembled thetribes. After recalling their wanderings, he delivered God's laws by which they must live in the land, sang asong of praise and pronounced ablessing on the people, and passed his authority toJoshua, under whom they would possess the land. Moses then went upMount Nebo, looked over thePromised Land spread out before him, and died at the age of 120:
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the LORD. And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Peor, but no man knows his burial place to this day. (Deuteronomy 34:5–6,Amplified Bible)
Moses with the Tables of the Law byGuido Reni, 1624
Moses is honored amongJews today as the "lawgiver of Israel": he delivered several sets of laws in the course of the Torah. The first is theCovenant Code,[51] the terms of thecovenant which God offers to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. Embedded in the covenant are theDecalogue (theTen Commandments, Exodus 20:1–17),[52] as well as the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22–23:19).[53][54] The entireBook of Leviticus constitutes a second body of law, theBook of Numbers begins with yet another set, and theBook of Deuteronomy another.[citation needed]
Moses has traditionally been regarded as the author of theTorah, the first section of theHebrew Bible.[55]
Scholars hold different opinions on the historicity of Moses.[56][57] For instance, according toWilliam G. Dever, 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 southernTransjordan" in the mid-to-late thirteenth century BCE, and that "archeology can do nothing" to prove or confirm either way.[57][11] Some scholars, such asKonrad Schmid and Jens Schröter, consider Moses a historical figure.[58] According to Solomon Nigosian, there are 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".[56] According to Brian Britt, there is divide among scholars when discussing matters on Moses that threatens gridlock.[59] According to the officialTorah commentary forConservative Judaism, it is irrelevant if the historical Moses existed, calling him "the folkloristic, national hero".[60][61]
Jan Assmann argues that it cannot be known if Moses ever lived because there are no traces of him outside tradition.[62] Although the names of Moses and others in the biblical narratives are Egyptian and contain genuine Egyptian elements, no extra-biblical sources point clearly to Moses.[63][64][13] 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.[65]David Adams Leeming states that Moses is a mythic hero and the central figure in Hebrew mythology.[66]TheOxford Companion to the Bible states that the historicity of Moses is the most reasonable (albeit not unbiased) assumption to be made about him, as his absence would leave a vacuum that cannot be explained away.[67]Oxford Biblical Studies states that although few modern scholars are willing to support the traditional view that Moses himself wrote the five books of theTorah, there are certainly those who regard the leadership of Moses as too firmly based in Israel's corporate memory to be dismissed aspious fiction.[13]
My mother, the high priestess, conceived; in secret she bore me She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid She cast me into the river which rose over me.[70]
Moses' story, like those of the otherpatriarchs, most likely had a substantial oral prehistory[71][failed verification] (he is mentioned in theBook of Jeremiah[72] and theBook of Isaiah[73]). The earliest mention of him is vague, in theBook of Hosea[74] and his name is apparently ancient, as the tradition found in Exodus gives it a folk etymology.[21][27] Nevertheless, the Torah was completed by combining older traditional texts with newly-written ones.[75]
Jean-Louis Ska argues that texts such asIsaiah 63:16 andEzekiel 33:23–29, written during the Exile (i.e., in the first half of the sixth century BCE), testify to tension between the people of Judah and the returning post-Exilic Jews (the "gôlâ"). Whereas the Jews who had continuously lived in the land based their claim to the land on their descent from Abraham, the texts written by the exiles call God the true father of Israel and regard the Exodus under Moses as the true starting point of Israel's history.[76]
Moses Killing an Egyptian, early fifteenth-century depiction
A theory developed byCornelis Tiele in 1872, which has proved influential, argued thatYahweh was aMidianite god, introduced to the Israelites by Moses, whose father-in-lawJethro was a Midianite priest.[77] It was to such a Moses that Yahweh reveals his real name, hidden from thePatriarchs who knew him only asEl Shaddai.[78] Against this view is the modern consensus that most of the Israelites were native toPalestine.[79][80][81][82]Martin Noth argued that thePentateuch 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.[83][84]Manfred Görg [de][85] andRolf Krauss [de],[86] the latter in a somewhatsensationalist manner,[87] have suggested that the Moses story is a distortion or transmogrification of the historical pharaohAmenmose (c. 1200 BCE), who was dismissed from office and whose name was later simplified tomsy (Mose).Aidan Dodson regards this hypothesis as "intriguing, but beyond proof".[88] 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.[89]
The nameKing Mesha ofMoab 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 ofKir-hareseth as the firstborn of Israel are condemned to slaughter in the Exodus story, in what Calvinist theologianPeter Leithart described as "an infernal Passover that delivers Mesha while wrath burns against his enemies".[90]
Other Egyptian figures which have been postulated as candidates for a historical Moses-like figure include the princesAhmose-ankh andRamose, who were sons of pharaohAhmose I, or a figure associated with the family of pharaohThutmose III.[91][92] Israel Knohl has proposed to identify Moses withIrsu, aShasu who, according toPapyrus Harris I and the Elephantine Stele, took power in Egypt with the support of "Asiatics" (people from theLevant) after the death of QueenTwosret; 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 PharaohSetnakhte and, while fleeing, they abandoned large quantities of gold and silver they had stolen from the temples.[93]
An Egyptian version of the tale that crosses over with the Moses story is found inManetho who, according to the summary inJosephus, wrote that a certainOsarseph, aHeliopolitan priest, became overseer of a band oflepers, whenAmenophis, following indications byAmenhotep, 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 intoAvaris, the former capital of theHyksos, 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.[94]
Non-biblical writings about Jews, with references to the role of Moses, first appear at the beginning of theHellenistic 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".[95]
The figure ofOsarseph inHellenistic historiography is a renegade Egyptian priest who leads an army oflepers against the pharaoh and is finally expelled from Egypt, changing his name to Moses.[98]
Hecataeus
The earliest reference to Moses in Greek literature occurs in the Egyptian history of Hecataeus of Abdera (fourth 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 colonizedJudaea".[99] Among the many accomplishments described by Hecataeus, Moses had founded cities, established a temple and religious cult, and issued laws:
After the establishment of settled life in Egypt in early times, which took place, according to the mythical account, in the period of the gods and heroes, the first ... to persuade the multitudes to use written laws was Mneves, a man not only great of soul but also in his life the most public-spirited of all lawgivers whose names are recorded.[99]
Droge also points out that this statement by Hecataeus was similar to statements made subsequently by Eupolemus.[99]
Artapanus
Depiction of Moses on theKnesset Menorah raising his arms during the battle against the Amalekites
The Jewish historianArtapanus of Alexandria (second 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".[100]
Jealousy of Moses' excellent qualities induced Chenephres to send him with unskilled troops on a military expedition toEthiopia, where he won great victories. After having built the city ofHermopolis, he taught the people the value of theibis as a protection against the serpents, making the bird the sacred guardian spirit of the city; then he introducedcircumcision. After his return toMemphis, Moses taught the people the value of oxen for agriculture, and the consecration of the same by Moses gave rise to the cult ofApis. Finally, after having escaped another plot by killing the assailant sent by the king, Moses fled toArabia, where he married the daughter ofRaguel [Jethro], the ruler of the district.[101]
Artapanus relates how Moses returns to Egypt with Aaron and is imprisoned but miraculously escapes through the name ofYHWH to lead the Exodus. This account further testifies that all Egyptiantemples ofIsis thereafter contained a rod, in remembrance of that used for Moses' miracles. He describes Moses as 80 years old, "tall and ruddy, with long white hair, and dignified".[102]
Some historians, however, point out the "apologetic nature of much of Artapanus' work",[103] with his addition of extra-biblical details, such as his references to Jethro: the non-Jewish Jethro expresses admiration for Moses' gallantry in helping his daughters and chooses to adopt Moses as his son.[104]
Strabo, a Greek historian, geographer, and philosopher, in hisGeographica (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 that encompassed everything – land and sea:[105]
35. An Egyptian priest named Moses, who possessed a portion of the country called theLower Egypt, being dissatisfied with the established institutions there, left it and came to Judaea with a large body of people who worshipped the Divinity. He declared and taught that the Egyptians and Africans entertained erroneous sentiments, in representing the Divinity under the likeness of wild beasts and cattle of the field; that the Greeks also were in error in making images of their gods after the human form. For God [said he] may be this one thing which encompasses us all, land and sea, which we call heaven, or the universe, or the nature of things....
36. By such doctrine Moses persuaded a large body of right-minded persons to accompany him to the place whereJerusalem now stands.[106]
In Strabo's writings of the history ofJudaism 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 "theTemple 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."[107] His portrayal of Moses is said to be similar to the writing ofHecataeus who "described Moses as a man who excelled in wisdom and courage".[107]
EgyptologistJan Assmann concludes that Strabo was the historian "who came closest to a construction of Moses' religion asmonotheistic 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."[108]
Tacitus
The Roman historianTacitus (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 describesJewish philosophy, is hisHistories (c. 100), where, according to the eighteenth-century translator and Irish dramatistArthur Murphy, as a result of the Jewish worship of one God, "pagan mythology fell into contempt".[109] 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 PharaohBocchoris, suffering from aplague, banished the Jews in response to an oracle of the godZeus-Amun.
A motley crowd was thus collected and abandoned in the desert. While all the other outcasts lay idly lamenting, one of them, named Moses, advised them not to look for help to gods or men, since both had deserted them, but to trust rather in themselves, and accept as divine the guidance of the first being, by whose aid they should get out of their present plight.[110]
In this version, Moses and the Jews wander through the desert for only six days, capturing theHoly Land on the seventh.[110]
Longinus
Moses lifts up thebrass serpent, curing the Israelites from poisonous snake bites inThe Brazen Sepent, a 1790 painting byBenjamin West.
TheSeptuagint, the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, impressed the pagan author of the famous classical book of literary criticism,On the Sublime, traditionally attributed toLonginus. The date of composition is unknown, but it is commonly assigned to the late first century CE.[111]
The writer quotesGenesis 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' (οὐχ ὁ τυχὼν ἀνήρ) but "the Lawgiver" (θεσμοθέτης,thesmothete) of the Jews, a term that puts him on a par withLycurgus andMinos.[112] Aside from a reference toCicero, Moses is the only non-Greek writer quoted in the work; contextually he is put on a par withHomer,[104] and he is described "with far more admiration than even Greek writers who treated Moses with respect, such asHecataeus andStrabo".[113]
Josephus
InJosephus' (37 – c. 100 CE)Antiquities of the Jews, Moses is mentioned throughout. For example, Book VIII Ch. IV describesSolomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, at the time theArk of the Covenant was first moved into the newly built temple:
WhenKing Solomon had finished these works, these large and beautiful buildings, and had laid up his donations in the temple, and all this in the interval of seven years, and had given a demonstration of his riches and alacrity therein; ... he also wrote to the rulers and elders of the Hebrews, and ordered all the people to gather themselves together to Jerusalem, both to see the temple which he had built, and to remove the ark of God into it; and when this invitation of the whole body of the people to come to Jerusalem was everywhere carried abroad, ... TheFeast of Tabernacles happened to fall at the same time, which was kept by the Hebrews as a most holy and most eminent feast. So they carried the ark and the tabernacle which Moses had pitched, and all the vessels that were for ministration to the sacrifices of God, and removed them to the temple. ... Now the ark contained nothing else but those two tables of stone that preserved the ten commandments, which God spake to Moses in Mount Sinai, and which were engraved upon them ...[114]
According to Feldman, Josephus also attaches particular significance to Moses' 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. LikePlato'sphilosopher-king, Moses excels as an educator."[115]
Numenius
Numenius of Apamea, a Greek philosopher who was a native ofApamea, in Syria, wrote during the latter half of the second century CE. Historian Kenneth Guthrie writes that "Numenius is perhaps the only recognized Greek philosopher who explicitly studied Moses, the prophets, and the life of Jesus".[116] He describes his background:
Numenius was a man of the world; he was not limited toGreek and Egyptian mysteries, but talked familiarly of the myths ofBrahmins andMagi. It is however his knowledge and use of the Hebrew scriptures which distinguished him from other Greek philosophers. He refers to Moses simply as "the prophet", exactly as for him Homer is the poet. Plato is described as a Greek Moses.[117]
Justin Martyr
The Christian saint and religious philosopherJustin Martyr (103–165 CE) drew the same conclusion asNumenius, according to other experts. Theologian Paul Blackham notes that Justin considered Moses to be "more trustworthy, profound and truthful because he isolder than theGreek philosophers."[118] He quotes him:
I will begin, then, with our first prophet and lawgiver, Moses ... that you may know that, of all your teachers, whether sages, poets, historians, philosophers, or lawgivers, by far the oldest, as the Greek histories show us, was Moses, who was our first religious teacher.[118]
Most of what is known about Moses from the Bible comes from the books ofExodus,Leviticus,Numbers, andDeuteronomy.[119] The majority of scholars consider the compilation of these books to go back to thePersian period, 538–332 BCE, but based on earlier written and oral traditions.[120][121] There is a wealth of stories and additional information about Moses in theJewish apocrypha and in the genre ofrabbinicalexegesis known asMidrash, as well as in the primary works of the Jewishoral law, theMishnah and theTalmud. Moses is also given a number of bynames in Jewish tradition. TheMidrash identifies Moses as one of seven biblical personalities who were called by various names.[122][clarification needed] Moses' other names were Jekuthiel (by his mother), Heber (byhis father), Jered (byMiriam), Avi Zanoah (by Aaron),Avi Gedor (byKohath), Avi Soco (by his wet-nurse), Shemaiah ben Nethanel (by people of Israel).[123] Moses is also attributed the names Toviah (as a first name), and Levi (as a family name) (Vayikra Rabbah 1:3), Heman,[124] Mechoqeiq (lawgiver),[125] and Ehl Gav Ish (Numbers 12:3).[126] In anotherexegesis, Moses had ascended to the first heaven until theseventh, even visitedParadise andHell alive, after he saw thedivine vision in Mount Horeb.[127]
Jewish historians who lived atAlexandria, such asEupolemus, attributed to Moses the feat of having taught thePhoenicianstheir alphabet,[128] similar to legends ofThoth.Artapanus of Alexandria explicitly identified Moses not only with Thoth/Hermes, but also with the Greek figureMusaeus (whom he called "the teacher ofOrpheus") 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.[129]
Jewish tradition considers Moses to be the greatest prophet who ever lived.[127] Despite his importance, Judaism stresses that Moses was a human being, and is therefore not to be worshipped.[citation needed] Only God is worthy of worship in Judaism.[citation needed]
ToOrthodox Jews, Moses is calledMoshe 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 theZohar of theRashbi, the Torah of theAri haQadosh and all that is discussed in the Heavenly Yeshiva between theRamhal and his masters.[citation needed]
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 "may you live to 120" has become a common blessing among Jews (120 is stated as the maximum age for all ofNoah's descendants in Genesis 6:3).
Moses is mentioned more often in theNew Testament than any otherOld Testament figure. ForChristians, Moses is often a symbol ofGod's law, as reinforced andexpounded on in the teachings ofJesus. New Testament writers often compared Jesus' words and deeds with Moses' to explain Jesus' mission. InActs 7:39–43, 51–53, for example, the rejection of Moses by the Jews who worshipped thegolden calf is likened to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that continued in traditional Judaism.[130][131] Comparisons such as these are examples of the interpretive method known astypology, which holds that early biblical figures can be seen as anticipatory prefigures of Jesus Christ. This method is influential in the theology of many branches of Christianity, including Catholicism and Protestantism.[132][133]
Moses also figures in several of Jesus' messages. When he met the PhariseeNicodemus at night inJohn 3, he compared Moses' lifting up of thebronze 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. InJohn 6, Jesus responded to the people's claim that Moses provided themmanna in the wilderness by saying that it was not Moses, but God, who provided. Calling himself the "bread of life", Jesus stated that he was provided to feed God's people.[134]
Moses, along withElijah, is presented as meeting with Jesus in all threeSynoptic Gospels of theTransfiguration of Jesus inMatthew 17,Mark 9, andLuke 9. InMatthew 23, in what is the first attested use of a phrase referring to this rabbinic usage (the Graeco-Aramaicקתדרא דמשה), Jesus refers to the scribes and the Pharisees, in a passage critical of them, as having seated themselves "on the chair of Moses" (Greek:Ἐπὶ τῆς Μωϋσέως καθέδρας,epì tēs Mōüséōs kathédras)[135][136]
Latter-day Saints are also unique in believing that Moses was taken to heaven without having tasted death (translated). In addition,Joseph Smith andOliver Cowdery stated that on April 3, 1836, Moses appeared to them in theKirtland Temple (located inKirtland, 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 theten tribes from the land of the north".[146]
Moses is mentioned more in theQuran than any other individual and his life is narrated and recounted more than that of any otherIslamic prophet.[6] In Islam, Moses is characterized in ways which parallelMuhammad.[147] Like Muhammad, Moses is defined in the Quran as both prophet (nabi) and messenger (rasul), the latter term indicating that he was one of those prophets who brought a book and law to his people.[148][149]
Most of the key events in Moses' 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 the Quranic figureKhidr which is not found in the Bible.[6]
In the Moses' story narrated by the Quran, Jochebed is commanded by God to place Moses in a coffin[150] and cast him on the waters of the Nile, thus abandoning him completely to God's protection.[6][151] The Pharaoh's wifeAsiya, 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.[152][153][154]
Islamicminiature of Musa winning his battle against the Pharao's magicians, casting divine light with his hand and turning his staff into a dragon.
The Quran's account emphasizes Moses' mission to invite the Pharaoh to accept God's divine message[155] as well as give salvation to the Israelites.[6][156] 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.[157]
One of thehadith, or traditional narratives about Muhammad's life, describes a meeting in heaven between Moses and Muhammad, which resulted in Muslims observingfive daily prayers.[158]Huston Smith says this was "one of the crucial events in Muhammad's life".[159]
Moses is one of the most important of God's messengers in theBaháʼí Faith, being designated aManifestation of God.[161] An epithet of Moses in Baháʼí scriptures is the "One Who Conversed with God".[162]
According to the Baháʼí Faith,Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the faith, is the one who spoke to Moses from theburning bush.[163]
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá has highlighted the fact that Moses, likeAbraham, had none of the makings of agreat 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 astammer, 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.[164]
Nevertheless, like Abraham, through the assistance of God, he achieved great things and gained renown even beyond theLevant. 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.[164]
Furthermore, through the law, Moses is believed to have led the Hebrews "to the highest possible degree ofcivilization 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, wasSocrates who "visited Syria, and took from the children of Israel the teachings of the Unity of God and of the immortality of the soul".[164]
Moses is further seen as paving the way forBahá'u'lláh and his ultimate revelation, and as a teacher of truth, whose teachings were in line with the customs of his time.[165]
Druze faith
Moses is considered an important prophet of God in theDruze faith, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history.[166][167]
In subsequent years, theologians linked the Ten Commandments with the formation of earlydemocracy. Scottish theologianWilliam Barclay described them as "the universal foundation of all things ... the law without which nationhood is impossible. ... Our society is founded upon it."[169]Pope Francis addressed theUnited 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".[170]
References to Moses were used by thePuritans, who relied on the story of Moses to give meaning and hope to the lives ofPilgrims seekingreligious andpersonal freedom in North America.John Carver was the first governor ofPlymouth colony and first signer of theMayflower Compact, which he wrote in 1620 during the shipMayflower's three-month voyage. He inspired the Pilgrims with a "sense of earthly grandeur and divine purpose", notes historianJon Meacham,[171] and was called the "Moses of the Pilgrims".[172] Early American writerJames Russell Lowell noted the similarity of the founding of America by the Pilgrims to that ofancient Israel by Moses:
Next to the fugitives whom Moses led out of Egypt, the little shipload of outcasts who landed at Plymouth are destined to influence the future of the world. The spiritual thirst of mankind has for ages been quenched at Hebrew fountains; but the embodiment in human institutions of truths uttered by theSon of Man eighteen centuries ago was to be mainly the work of Puritan thought and Puritan self-devotion. ... If their municipal regulations smack somewhat of Judaism, yet there can be no nobler aim or more practical wisdom than theirs; for it was to make the law of man a living counterpart of the law of God, in their highest conception of it.[173]
Following Carver's death the following year,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?"[174]William G. Dever 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."[175][176]
After the death ofGeorge 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."[178]
Benjamin Franklin, in 1788, saw the difficulties that some of the newly independentAmerican 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.[179] He justified his proposal by explaining that the laws had worked in biblical times: "TheSupreme 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."[180]
John Adams, the second president of the United States, stated why he relied on the laws of Moses overGreek philosophy for establishing theUnited 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."[171] Swedish historianHugo Valentin credited Moses as the "first to proclaim therights of man".[181]
Historian Gladys L. Knight describes how leaders who emerged during and after the period in whichslavery was legal often personified the Moses symbol. "The symbol of Moses was empowering in that it served to amplify a need for freedom."[184] Therefore, whenAbraham Lincoln wasassassinated in 1865 after the passage of theamendment to the Constitution outlawing slavery,Black Americans said they had lost "their Moses".[185] Lincoln biographerCharles Carleton Coffin writes, "The millions whom Abraham Lincoln delivered from slavery will ever liken him to Moses, the deliverer of Israel."[186]
Martin Luther King Jr., a leader of thecivil rights movement during the 1960s, 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."[187]
Because of an ambiguity in the Hebrew word קֶרֶן (keren) meaning both horn and ray or beam, inJerome'sLatin Vulgate translation of the Bible Moses' face is described ascornutam ("horned") when descending from Mount Sinai with the tablets, Moses is usually shown in Western art until the Renaissancewith small horns, which at least served as a convenient identifying attribute.[188] In at least some of these depictions, an antisemitic meaning is likely to have been intended,[189] for example on theHereford Mappa Mundi.[190]
With the prophetElijah, he is a necessary figure in theTransfiguration of Jesus in Christian art, a subject with a long history in Eastern Orthodox art. It appears in the art of the Western Church from the tenth century, and was especially popular between about 1475 and 1535.[191]
Michelangelo'sstatue of Moses (1513–1515), in the Church ofSan Pietro in Vincoli,Rome, is one of the most familiar statues in the world. The horns the sculptor included on Moses' head are the result of a mistranslation of the Hebrew Bible into the LatinVulgate Bible with which Michelangelo was familiar. The Hebrew word taken fromExodus means either a "horn" or an "irradiation". Experts at theArchaeological 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".[192] In earlyJewish art, moreover, Moses is often "shown with rays coming out of his head".[193]
Moses is depicted in several U.S. government buildings because of his legacy as a lawgiver. In theLibrary of Congress stands a large statue of Moses alongside a statue ofPaul the Apostle. Moses is one of the twenty-three lawgivers depicted inmarblebas-reliefs in thechamber of theU.S. House of Representatives in theUnited 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."[194]
The other 22 figures have their profiles turned to Moses, which is the only forward-facing bas-relief.[195][196]
Moses appears eight times in carvings that ring theSupreme Court Great Hall ceiling. His face is presented along with other ancient figures such asSolomon, the Greek godZeus, 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 theChief Justice of the United States' head. In the center of the 40-foot-long (12 m) Spanish marble carving is a tablet displayingRoman numerals I through X, with some numbers partially hidden.[197]
Literature
Sigmund Freud, in his last book,Moses and Monotheism in 1939, postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to themonotheism ofAkhenaten. Following a theory proposed by a contemporarybiblical critic, Freud believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense ofpatricidal 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.[198][page needed][199][full citation needed] Opponents of this view observe that the religion of the Torah seems different fromAtenism in everything except the central feature of devotion to a single god,[200] although this has been countered by a variety of arguments, e.g. pointing out the similarities between theHymn to Aten andPsalm 104.[198][page needed][201] Freud's interpretation of the historical Moses is not well accepted amonghistorians, and is consideredpseudohistory by many.[202][page needed]
In the late eighteenth century, the deistThomas Paine commented at length on Moses' Laws inThe Age of Reason (1794, 1795, and 1807). Paine considered Moses to be a "detestablevillain", and citedNumbers 31 as an example of his "unexampled atrocities".[208] In the passage, after the Israelite army returned fromconquering Midian, Moses orders the killing of the Midianites with the exception of the virgin girls who were to be kept for the Israelites.
Have ye saved all the women alive? behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel ofBalaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter ofPeor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord. Now, therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known a man by lying with him; but all the women-children, thathave not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
Rabbi Joel Grossman argued that the story is a "powerfulfable oflust andbetrayal", and that Moses' execution of the women was a symbolic condemnation of those who seek to turn sex and desire to evil purposes.[210] He says that the Midianite women "used their sexual attractiveness to turn the Israelite men away from [Yahweh] God and toward the worship of Baal Peor [another Canaanite god]".[210] Rabbi Grossman argues that the genocide of all the Midianite non-virgin women, including those that did not seduce Jewish men, was fair because some of them had sex for "improper reasons".[210] Alan Levin, an educational specialist with theReform movement, has similarly suggested that the story should be taken as acautionary tale, to "warn successive generations of Jews to watch their own idolatrous behavior".[211]Chasam Sofer emphasizes that this war was not fought at Moses' behest, but was commanded by God as an act of revenge against the Midianite women,[212] who, according to the Biblical account, had seduced the Israelites and led them to sin. LinguistKeith Allan remarked: "God's work or not, this is military behaviour that would be tabooed today and might lead to awar crimes trial."[213]
"primary leader of the Israelites in their Exodus from Egypt"[5]
^SaintAugustine records the names of the kings when Moses was born in theCity of God:
When Saphrus reigned as the fourteenth king ofAssyria, and Orthopolis as the twelfth ofSicyon, andCriasus as the fifth ofArgos, Moses was born in Egypt,...
Orthopolis reigned as the 12th King of Sicyon for 63 years, from 1596 to 1533 BCE; and Criasus reigned as the 5th King of Argos for 54 years, from 1637 to 1583 BCE.[19]
"Since he had been taken up from the water, the princess gave him a name derived from this, and called him Moses, for Môu is the Egyptian word for water."
^Nigosian, S. A. (1993), "Moses as They Saw Him",Vetus Testamentum,43 (3):339–350,doi:10.1163/156853393X00160,ISSN0042-4935,Three views, based on source analysis or historical-critical method, seem to prevail among biblical scholars. First, a number of scholars, such as Meyer and Holscher, aim to deprive Moses all the prerogatives attributed to him by denying anything historical value about his person or the role he played in Israelite religion. Second, other scholars,.... diametrically oppose the first view and strive to anchor Moses the decisive role he played in Israelite religion in a firm setting. And third, those who take the middle position... delineate the solidly historical identification of Moses from the superstructure of later legendary accretions. ...Needless to say, these issues are hotly debated unresolved matters among scholars. Thus, the attempt to separate the historical from unhistorical elements in the Torah has yielded few, if any, positive results regarding the figure of Moses or the role he played on Israelite religion. No wonder J. Van Seters concluded that "the quest for the historical Moses is a futile exercise. He now belongs only to legend
^Miller II, Robert D. (25 November 2013),Illuminating Moses: A History of Reception from Exodus to the Renaissance, Brill, pp. 21, 24,ISBN978-90-04-25854-9,Van Seters concluded, 'The quest for the historical Moses is a futile exercise. He now belongs only to legend.' ... "None of this means that there is not a historical Moses and that the tales do not include historical information. But in the Pentateuch, history has become memorial. Memorial revises history, reifies memory, and makes myth out of history.
^Kenneth A. Kitchen,On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003), pp. 296–297: "His name is widely held to be Egyptian, and its form is too often misinterpreted by biblical scholars. It is frequently equated with the Egyptian word 'ms' (Mose) meaning 'child', and stated to be an abbreviation of a name compounded with that of a deity whose name has been omitted. And indeed we have many Egyptians called Amen-mose, Ptah-mose, Ra-mose, Hor-mose, and so on. But this explanation is wrong. We also have very many Egyptians who were actually called just 'Mose', without omission of any particular deity. Most famous because of his family's long lawsuit in the middle-class scribe Mose (of the temple of Ptah at Memphis), under Ramesses II; but he had many homonyms. So, the omission-of-deity explanation is to be dismissed as wrong ... There is worse. The name of Moses is most likely not Egyptian in the first place! The sibilants do not match as they should, and this cannot be explained away. Overwhelmingly, Egyptian 's' appears as 's' (samekh) in Hebrew and West Semitic, while Hebrew and West Semitic 's' (samekh) appears as 'tj' in Egyptian. Conversely, Egyptian 'sh' = Hebrew 'sh', and vice versa. It is better to admit that the child was named (Exod 2:10b) by his own mother, in a form originally vocalized 'Mashu', 'one drawn out' (which became 'Moshe', 'he who draws out', i.e., his people from slavery, when he led them forth). In fourteenth/thirteenth-century Egypt, 'Mose' was actually pronounced 'Masu', and so it is perfectly possible that a young Hebrew Mashu was nicknamed Masu by his Egyptian companions; but this is a verbal pun, not a borrowing either way."
^Schmidt, Nathaniel (February 1896), "Moses: His Age and His Work. II",The Biblical World,7 (2): 105–119 [108],doi:10.1086/471808,S2CID222445896,It was the prophet's call. It was a real ecstatic experience, like that of David under the baka-tree, Elijah on the mountain, Isaiah in the temple, Ezekiel on the Khebar, Jesus in the Jordan, Paul on the Damascus road. It was the perpetual mystery of the divine touching the human.
^Rad, Gerhard von; Hanson, K. C.; Neill, Stephen (2012),Moses, Cambridge: James Clarke,ISBN978-0-227-17379-4
^Ginzberg, Louis (1909),The Legends of the Jews(PDF), Vol. III: The Symbolical Significance of the Tabernacle, translated by Szold, Henrietta, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society
^Ginzberg, Louis (1909),The Legends of the Jews(PDF), vol. III: Ingratitude Punished, translated by Szold, Henrietta, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society
^abNigosian, S. A. (1993), "Moses as They Saw Him",Vetus Testamentum,43 (3):339–350,doi:10.1163/156853393X00160,Three views, based on source analysis or historical-critical method, seem to prevail among biblical scholars. First, a number of scholars, such as Meyer and Holscher, aim to deprive Moses all the prerogatives attributed to him by denying anything historical value about his person or the role he played in Israelite religion. Second, other scholars, ... diametrically oppose the first view and strive to anchor Moses the decisive role he played in Israelite religion in a firm setting. And third, those who take the middle position ... delineate the solidly historical identification of Moses from the superstructure of later legendary accretions ... Needless to say, these issues are hotly debated unresolved matters among scholars. Thus, the attempt to separate the historical from unhistorical elements in the Torah has yielded few, if any, positive results regarding the figure of Moses or the role he played on Israelite religion. No wonder J. Van Seters concluded that 'the quest for the historical Moses is a futile exercise. He now belongs only to legend.'
^abDever, William G. (1993), "What Remains of the House That Albright Built?",The Biblical Archaeologist,56 (1), University of Chicago Press:25–35,doi:10.2307/3210358,ISSN0006-0895,JSTOR3210358,S2CID166003641,the overwhelming scholarly consensus today is that Moses is a mythical figure
^Garfinkel, Stephen (2001),"Moses: Man of Israel, Man of God", in Lieber, David L.; Dorff, Elliot N.; Harlow, Jules; Dorff, R.P.P.E.N.; Fishbane, Michael A.; Jewish Publication Society; United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; Rabbinical Assembly; Grossman, Susan; Kushner, Harold S.; Potok, Chaim (eds.),עץ חיים: Torah and Commentary, The JPS Bible Commentary Series (in Hebrew), Jewish Publication Society, p. 1414,ISBN978-0-8276-0712-5, retrieved13 January 2022,So the question to ask in understanding the Torah on its own terms is not when, or even if, Moses lived, but what his life conveys in Israel's saga. ... Typical of the folkloristic, national hero, Moses successfully withstands ...
^Massing, Michael (9 March 2002),"New Torah For Modern Minds",The New York Times,archived from the original on 27 March 2010, retrieved1 September 2022
^Assmann, Jan (1998-10-15),Moses the Egyptian, Harvard University Press, pp. 2, 11,ISBN978-0-674-58739-7,We cannot be sure Moses ever lived because there are not traces of his existence outside the tradition [p. 2] ... I shall not even ask the question—let alone, answer it—whether Moses was an Egyptian, or a Hebrew, or a Midianite. This question concerns the historical Moses and thus pertains to history. I am concerned with Moses as a figure of memory. As a figure of memory, Moses the Egyptian is radically different from Moses the Hebrew or the Biblical Moses.
^Dever, William (November 17, 2008),"Archeology of the Hebrew Bible",Nova, PBS,"Moses" is an Egyptian name. Some of the other names in the narratives are Egyptian, and there are genuine Egyptian elements. But no one has found a text or an artifact in Egypt itself or even in the Sinai that has any direct connection. That doesn't mean it didn't happen. But I think it does mean what happened was rather more modest. And the biblical writers have enlarged the story.
^"Exodus, the",Exodus, The Book of(Online), Oxford University Press, 2004,ISBN978-0-19-504645-8 – via www.oxfordreference.com,The historicity of Moses is the most reasonable assumption to be made about him. There is no viable argument why Moses should be regarded as a fiction of pious necessity. His removal from the scene of Israel's beginnings as a theocratic community would leave a vacuum that simply could not be explained away.
^Coogan, Michael David; Coogan, Michael D. (2001),The Oxford History of the Biblical World, Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-513937-2,Many of these forms are not, and should not be considered, historically based; Moses' birth narrative, for example, is built on folkloric motifs found throughout the ancient world.
^Rendsburg, Gary A. (2006),"Moses as Equal to Pharaoh", in Beckman, Gary M.; Lewis, Theodore J. (eds.),Text, Artifact, and Image: Revealing Ancient Israelite Religion, Brown Judaic Studies, p. 204,ISBN978-1-930675-28-5
^Grabbe, Lester L. (23 February 2017),Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?: Revised Edition, Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 36,ISBN978-0-567-67044-1,The impression one has now is that the debate has settled down. Although they do not seem to admit it, the minimalists have triumphed in many ways. That is, most scholars reject the historicity of the 'patriarchal period', see the settlement as mostly made up of indigenous inhabitants of Canaan and are cautious about the early monarchy. The exodus is rejected or assumed to be based on an event much different from the biblical account. On the other hand, there is not the widespread rejection of the biblical text as a historical source that one finds among the main minimalists. There are few, if any, maximalists (defined as those who accept the biblical text unless it can be absolutely disproved) in mainstream scholarship, only on the more fundamentalist fringes.
^Faust, Avraham (2023),"The Birth of Israel", in Hoyland, Robert G.; Williamson, H. G. M. (eds.),The Oxford History of the Holy Land, Oxford University Press, p. 28,ISBN978-0-19-288687-3
^Görg, Manfred (2000), "Mose – Name und Namensträger. Versuch einer historischen Annäherung", in Otto, E. (ed.),Mose. Ägypten und das Alte Testament (in German), Stuttgart: Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk
^Krauss, Rolf (2001),Das Moses-Rätsel: Auf den Spuren einer biblischen Erfindung (in German), Munich: Ullstein
^Barclay, John M. G. (1996),Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE – 117 CE), University of California Press, p. 130,ISBN0-520-21843-4
^Eusebius of Caesarea (1903),"Praeparatio Evangelica" [Preparation for the Gospel], translated by Gifford, E. H., Book 9, retrieved30 April 2021 – via tertullian.org
^abGinzberg, Louis (1909),The Legends of the Jews(PDF), vol. II: The Ascension of Moses, Moses Visits Paradise and Hell, translated by Szold, Henrietta, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society
^"September 4: The Holy God-seer Moses the Prophet and Aaron His Brother". In:The Menaion, Volume 1, The Month of September. Translated from the Greek by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Boston, Massachusetts, 2005. p. 67.
^Keeler 2005, pp. 55–56, describes Moses from the Muslim perspective:
Among prophets, Moses has been described as the one "whose career as a messenger of God, lawgiver and leader of his community most closely parallels and foreshadows that of Muhammad", and as "the figure that in the Koran was presented to Muhammad above all others as the supreme model of saviour and ruler of a community, the man chosen to present both knowledge of the one God, and a divinely revealed system of law". We find him clearly in this role of Muhammad's forebear in a well-known tradition of the miraculous ascension of the Prophet, where Moses advises Muhammad from his own experience as messenger and lawgiver.
^Azadpur, M. (2009), "Charity and the Good Life: On Islamic Prophetic Ethics",Crisis, Call, and Leadership in the Abrahamic Traditions, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 153–167
^Universal House of Justice: Department of the Secretariat (15 October 1992),"Issues raised within letter", Letter to [An Individual], retrieved10 June 2019
^McMullen, Michael (2000),The Baháʼí: The Religious Construction of a Global Identity, p. 246
^Hitti, Philip K. (1928),The Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred Writings, Library of Alexandria, p. 37,ISBN978-1-4655-4662-3{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Dana, Nissim (2008),The Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and Status, Michigan University Press, p. 17,ISBN978-1-903900-36-9
^Ifil, Gwen (2009),The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, Random House, p. 58
^Barclay, William (1998) [1973],The Ten Commandments, Westminster John Knox Press, p. 4
^Moses, Adolph (1903),Yahvism and Other Discourses, Louisville Council of Jewish Women, p. 93,[The pilgrims were clearly] animated by the true spirit of the Hebrew prophets and law-givers. They walked by the light of theScriptures, and were resolved to form a Commonwealth in accordance with the social laws and ideas of the Bible. ... they were themselves the true descendants of Israel, spiritual children of the prophets.
^Coffin, Charles Carleton (2012) [1893],Abraham Lincoln (reprint), Ulan Press, p. 534
^King, Martin Luther Jr. (2000) [1957, 1968],The Papers, University of California Press, p. 155,I want to preach this morning from the subject, 'The Birth of a New Nation' And I would like to use as a basis for our thinking together, a story that has long since been stenciled on the mental sheets of succeeding generations. It is the story of the Exodus, the story of the flight of the Hebrew people from the bondage of Egypt, through the wilderness and finally, to the Promised Land. ... The struggle of Moses, the struggle of his devoted followers as they sought to get out of Egypt.
And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.
^Hall, James (1996),Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (2nd ed.), John Murray, p. 213,ISBN0-7195-4147-6
^Allan, Keith (2019).The Oxford Handbook of Taboo Words and Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 15.ISBN9780198808190. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
^Sherwood, Yvonne (2017),The Bible and Feminism: Remapping the Field, Oxford University Press, p. 228,ISBN978-0-19-103419-0
Blackham, Paul (2005), "The Trinity in the Hebrew Scriptures", in Metzger, Paul Louis (ed.),Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology (essay), Continuum International
Barzel, Hillel (1974), "Moses: Tragedy and Sublimity", in Gros Louis, Kenneth R. R.; Ackerman, James S.; Warshaw, Thayer S. (eds.),Literary Interpretations of Biblical Narratives, Nashville: Abingdon Press, pp. 120–140,ISBN978-0-687-22131-8
Buber, Martin (1958),Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant, New York: Harper
Chasidah, Yishai (1994), "Moses",Encyclopedia of Biblical Personalities: Anthologized from the Talmud, Midrash and Rabbinic Writings, Brooklyn: Shaar Press, pp. 340–399
Hoffmeier, James K. (1996), "Moses and theExodus",Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 135–163.
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