AnEgyptian rootmsy ('child of') has been considered as a possible etymology, arguably an abbreviation of atheophoric name, as for example in Egyptian names likeThutmose ('child ofThoth') andRamesses ('child ofRa'),[1] with the god's name omitted. However, the biblical scholarKenneth Kitchen argued that this – or any Egyptian origin for the name – was unlikely, as the sounds in the Hebrewm-š-h do not correspond to the pronunciation of Egyptianmsy in the relevant time period.[2] The 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).[3]
TheHebrew etymology in the Biblical story may reflect an attempt to cancel out traces of Moses'Egyptian origins.[4] The Egyptian character of his name was recognized as such by ancient Jewish writers likePhilo andJosephus.[4] Philo linked Moses's name (renderedΜωυσῆςMōusês in theSeptuagint, then laterΜωσῆςMōsês andΜωϋσῆςMōüsês in theNew Testament) to the Egyptian (Coptic) word for 'water' (möu,μῶυ), in reference to his finding in the Nile and the biblicalfolk etymology.[NB 6] Josephus, in hisAntiquities of the Jews, claims that the second element,-esês, meant 'those who are saved'. The problem of how an Egyptian princess, known to Josephus as Thermutis (identified as Tharmuth)[5] and to1 Chronicles 4:18 asBithiah,[6] could have known Hebrew puzzled medieval Jewish commentators likeAbraham ibn Ezra andHezekiah ben Manoah. Hezekiah suggested she either converted or took a tip fromJochebed.[7][8]
According to theTorah, the name "Moses" comes from theHebrew verb, meaning "to pull out/draw out" [of water], and the infant Moses was given this name by thePharaoh's daughter after she rescued him from theNile (Exodus 2:10)[9] Since the rise ofEgyptology anddecipherment of hieroglyphs, it was postulated that the name of Moses, with a similar pronunciation as the Hebrew Moshe, is the Egyptian word for son, with Pharaoh names such as Thutmose and Ramesses roughly translating to "son ofThoth" and "son ofRa," respectively.[10]
There are various ways of pronouncing the Hebrew name of Moses, for example in Ashkenazi western European it would be pronounced Mausheh, in Eastern Europe Moysheh, in northern Islamic countries Moussa, and in Yemen Mesha. The nicknames are accordingly Moishe, Moysh, Maish, Moeez, Mo, Moyshee, Musie (pronounced Mooziyeh).
Jews named with the Hebrew name of Moses, commonly held a similar name in the language of the countries where they were born or lived. In Europe they were named Maurici, Maurice, Morris, Mauricio. In Arabic speaking countries, along with Musa or Moussa - the Arabic name for Moses, they were also named Mustafa.[11]
Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522–1570; Hebrew:משה קורדובירו,Moshe Kordovero), a central figure in the historical development of Kabbalah, also known as Ramak (רמ״ק)
"Since he had been taken up from the water, the princess gave him a name derived from this, and called him Moses, for Möu is the Egyptian word for water."
^Kenneth A. Kitchen,On the Reliability of the Old Testament (2003), pp. 296–97: "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."
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