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Moses strikes water from the stone, by Bacchiacca
This article is about the Biblical figure. For other uses, see Moses (disambiguation).

Moses or Moshe (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁ, Standard Mošə Tiberian Mōšeh; Arabic: موسى, Mūsa; Ge'ez: ሙሴ Musse) is a legendary Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian. Moses is considered one of the greatest figures of the Bible.

Moses in the Bible

According to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, Moses was a son of Amram and his wife, Jochebed, a Levite. Jochebed (Moses' mother) is also the sister of Amram's father Kohath. (Exodus vi 20) Aaron is Moses' elder brother. According to Genesis 46:11, Amram's father Kohath immigrates to Egypt with the 70 of Jacob's household. This makes Moses part of the second generation of Israelites born during their time in Egypt.

Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the desert, and received the Torah from God on Mount Sinai. There are various conjectures and calculations for when this event might have occurred, ranging from the 13th to the 16th centuries BCE (see History section below). Arising in part from his age, but also because 120 is elsewhere stated as the maximum age for Noah's descendants (one interpretation of Genesis 6:3), "may you live to 120" has become a common blessing among Jews. Jewish extrabiblical tradition holds that his original name was Yekutiel.[citation needed]

Moses' legacy was probably expounding the doctrine of monotheism, which was not widely accepted at the time, codifying it in Jewish religion with the 1st Commandment and punishing polytheists. He is considered a prophet in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.

In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses occurred at a time when the current Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all male children born to Hebrew slaves should be killed by drowning in the Nile. The Torah leaves the identity of this Pharaoh unstated, but he is believed by some to be Thutmose III. Other, earlier pharaohs have also been suggested, including a Hyksos pharaoh or one who reigned shortly after the Hyksos had been expelled. Apepi II is one such example.[1]

The finding of Moses, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
The finding of Moses, by Edwin Long

Jochebed, the wife of the Levite Amram, bore a son, and kept him concealed for three months. When she could keep him hidden no longer, rather than deliver him to be killed, she set him adrift on the Nile river in a small craft of bulrushes coated in pitch. The daughter of Pharaoh discovered the baby and adopted him as her son, and named him "Moses" (considered to mean "to draw out"). By Biblical account, Moses' sister Miriam observed the progress of the tiny boat. Miriam then asked Pharaoh's daughter if she would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby. Thereafter, Jochebed was employed as the child's nurse, and he grew and was brought to Pharaoh's daughter and became her son.

After Moses had reached adulthood, he went to see how his brethren who were enslaved to the Egyptians were faring. Seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand, supposing that no one who would be disposed to reveal the matter knew of it. The next day, seeing two Hebrews quarreling, he endeavored to separate them, whereupon the Hebrew who was wronging the other taunted Moses for slaying the Egyptian. Moses soon discovered from a higher source that the affair was known, and that Pharaoh was likely to put him to death for it; he therefore made his escape to the Sinai peninsula and settled with Hobab, or Jethro, priest of Midian, whose daughter Zipporah he in due time married. There he sojourned forty years, following the occupation of a shepherd, during which time his son Gershom was born. In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron taunt Moses for marrying a "Cushite" (literally an Ethiopian). Josephus explains the marriage of Moses to this Ethiopian in the Antiquities of the Jews (see Moses in History in the later part of this article).

One day, as Moses led his flock to Mount Horeb, he saw a burning bush that would not be consumed. When he turned aside to look more closely at the marvel, God spoke to him from the bush revealing his name to Moses. [2]

God also commissioned him to go to Egypt and deliver his fellow Hebrews from their bondage. He then returned to Egypt. Moses was met on his arrival in Egypt by his elder brother, Aaron, and gained a hearing with his oppressed brethren. It was a more difficult matter, however, to persuade Pharaoh to let the Hebrews depart. This was not accomplished until God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians. These plagues culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian first-borns whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they ordered the Hebrews to leave in the Exodus. The role of Aaron as a spokesman for Moses has led some to think that Moses was either a stutterer (as suggested by some translations of Ex. 4:10), or else an Egyptian who did not speak native Hebrew.

The Torah leaves the identity of this Pharaoh of the Exodus unstated, but some believe him to be Amenhotep II or Rameses II.

The long procession moved slowly and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier — some believe at the Great Bitter Lake, while others propose sites as far south as the northern tip of the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Pharaoh had a change of heart, and was in pursuit of them with a large army. Shut in between this army and the sea, the Israelites despaired, but God divided the waters so that they passed safely across on dry ground. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them.

When the people arrived at Marah, the water was bitter, so the people murmured against Moses. Moses cast a tree into the water, and the water became sweet.[3] Later in the journey the people began running low on supplies and murmured against Moses and Aaron and said they would have preferred to die in Egypt, but God's provision of manna from the sky in the morning and quail in the evening took care of the situation.[4] When the people camped in Rephidim, there was no water, so the people complained again and said, "Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?" Moses struck a rock with his staff, and water came forth.[5]

Amalekite raiders arrived and attacked the Israelites. In response, Moses bid Joshua lead the men to fight while he stood on a hill with the rod of God in his hand. As long as Moses held the rod up, Israel dominated the fighting, but if Moses let down his hands, the tide of the battle turned in favor of the Amalekites. Because Moses was getting tired, Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a rock. Aaron held up one arm, Hur held up the other arm, and the Israelites routed the Amalekites.[6]

Jethro, Moses's father-in-law, came to see Moses and brought Moses's wife and two sons with him. After Moses had told Jethro how the Israelites had been brought from Egypt, Jethro went to offer sacrifices to the Lord, and then ate bread with the elders. The next day Jethro observed how Moses sat from morning to night giving judgement for the people. Jethro suggested that Moses appoint judges for lesser matters, a suggestion Moses heeded.[7]

When the Israelites came to Sinai, they pitched camp near the mountain.[8] Moses commanded the people not to touch the mountain.[9] Moses received the ten commandments orally (but not yet in tablet form) and other moral laws.[10] Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders to see the God of Israel.[11] Before Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets, he told the elders to direct any questions that arose to Aaron or Hur.[12]

Moses with the Tablets, by Rembrandt

While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving instruction on the laws for the Israelite community, the Israelites went to Aaron and asked him to make gods for them. After Aaron had received the golden earrings from the people, he made a calf of gold and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." A "solemnity of the Lord" was proclaimed for the following day, which began in the morning with sacrifices and was followed by revelry. After Moses had persuaded the Lord not to destroy the people of Israel, he went down from the mountain and was met by Joshua. Moses destroyed the calf and rebuked Aaron for the sin he had brought upon the people. Seeing that the people were uncontrollable, Moses went to the entrance of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me." All the sons of Levi rallied around Moses, who ordered them to go from gate to gate slaying the idolaters.[13]

Following this, according to the last chapters of Exodus, the Tabernacle was constructed, the priestly law ordained, the plan of encampment arranged both for the Levites and the non-priestly tribes, and the Tabernacle consecrated. Moses was given eight prayer laws that were to be carried out in regards to the Tabernacle. These laws included light, incense and sacrifice.

After leaving Sinai, the Israelites camped in Kadesh. After more complaints from the Israelites, Moses struck the stone twice, and water gushed forth. However, because Moses and Aaron had not shown the Lord's holiness, they were not permitted to enter the land to be given to the Israelites.[14] This was the second occasion Moses struck a rock to bring forth water; however, it appears that both sites were named Meribah after these two incidents.

While the Israelites were making their journey around Edom, they complained about the manna. After many of the people had been bitten by serpents and died, Moses made a brass serpent and mounted it on a pole, and if those who were bitten looked at it, they did not die.[15] This brass serpent remained in existence until the days of King Hezekiah.[16]

When the Israelites encamped in the plains of Moab, Balak had Balaam come to curse the Israelites, but instead Balaam blessed them.[17] It appears, however, that Balaam later informed Balak and the Midianites that, if they wished to overcome the Israelites for a short interval, they needed to seduce the Israelites to engage in idolatry.[18] The Midianites sent beautiful women to the Israelite camp to seduce the young men to partake in idolatry, and the attempt proved successful. Phinehas put an end to the matter by slaying two of the prominent offenders, but by that time a plague inflicted upon the Israelites had already killed about twenty-four thousand persons. Moses was then told that because Phinehas had averted the wrath of God from the Israelites, Phinehas and his descendents were given the pledge of an everlasting priesthood.[19]

After Moses had taken a census of the people, he sent an army to avenge the evil brought upon the Israelites by the Midianites. The expedition was very successful, and among the slain were five Midianite kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. The Israelites also slew Balaam, the son of Beor, who had apparently been the instigator of the matter.[20]

Moses appointed Joshua, son of Nun, to succeed him.[21] Moses then died at the age of 120.[22]

Moses in Jewish thought

There is a wealth of stories and additional information about Moses in the Jewish genre of rabbinical exegesis known as Midrash, as well as in the primary works of the Jewish oral law, the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Moses in Christian thought

For Christians, Moses -- mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament figure -- is often a symbol of the contrast between traditional Judaism and the teachings of Jesus. New Testament writers often made comparison of Jesus' words and deeds with Moses' in order to explain Jesus' mission. In Acts 7:39-43,51-53, for example, the rejection of Moses by the Jews that worshipped the golden calf is likened to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that continued in traditional Judaism.

Moses also figures into several of Jesus' messages. When he met the Pharisee Nicodemus at night in the third chapter of John, he compares Moses' lifting up of the bronze serpent in the wilderness, which any Israelite could look upon and be healed, to his own lifting up (by his death and resurrection) for the people to look upon and be healed. In the sixth chapter, Jesus responds to the people's claim that Moses provided them manna in the wilderness by saying that it was not Moses, but God, who provided. Calling himself the "bread of life", Jesus states that he is now provided to feed God's people.

Moses is also regarded as a symbol of the law. He is presented in all three Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17, Mark 9, and Luke 9, respectively.

Later Christians found numerous other parallels between the life of Moses and Jesus to the extent that Jesus was likened to a "second Moses." For instance, Jesus' escape from the slaughter by Herod in Bethlehem is compared to Moses' escape from Pharaoh's designs to kill Hebrew infants. Such parallels, unlike those mentioned above, are not pointed out within Scripture. See the article on typology.

Moses in Muslim Thought

Main article: Islamic view of Moses

In the Qur'an, the life of Prophet Moses (Arabic: Musa) is narrated and recounted more than any other prophet recognized in Islam. The Qur'an narrates much of Moses' life in relation to God. The Qur'an and the Bible are similar on the basic outline of Moses' life. But one of the distinctive accounts which is found in the Qur'an but not the Bible, is the story of Moses and Khidr.

Moses in Mormon thought

The Book of Moses is a text published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a sect of Christianity) and believed by many within Mormonism (a secular "nickname" for the above named religion) to be the translated writings of Moses. It is published today as part of the Pearl of Great Price.

The first chapter describes an encounter between Moses, God, and Satan. This chapter was supposedly prepended to the Bible but lost through translation and omission. The encounter describes the magnificence of deity, and Moses' understanding of man's insignificance in comparison. Moses is shown the entirety of the history of the world and all that will come to pass. After this vision God leaves Moses to himself, whereupon Satan comes tempting Moses to worship him. Moses recognizes the weakness of Satan, and drives him away in the name of Jesus. Afterwards, God returns to Moses and shows him the numberless worlds with numberless people that God has created. A prophecy alluding to Joseph Smith is given in the final verses.

Moses in history

Moses is an Egyptian name-element meaning "-gave birth to him" or "-formed him" and was usually combined with a theophoric element, as in "Ramose" which had the meaning "child of Ra" or "Ra formed him" or as in "Djehutymos" (Thutmose) meaning "Thoth's child."[23] "Moshe" is a Hebrew word (meaning "one who draws water"). The Bible asserts that this is the origin of the name because Moses was "drawn out" of the water by the Egyptian princess. It could also be a reference to his role in leading the Israelites out of Egypt.

It has been traditionally assumed that Moses received from God and subsequently transcribed all, or almost all, of the Torah, and this is still the view of most fundamentalist Christians and most of Orthodox Judaism. However, many liberal scholars, following the practice of higher criticism have become convinced that this work was edited together from several earlier sources.

Some skeptical historians, generally called "Biblical minimalists", suggest that Moses never actually existed, and that the Exodus is not historical. On the other hand, historical records are so fragmentary that extra-Biblical records of Moses may have been long lost (or perhaps vaguely referenced, such as many cases that seem to be a sort of example, but are apparently covered up). For example, if the Exodus occurred during the end of the Hyksos-era in Egypt (16th century BCE), as some scholars believe, then any Hyksos records of Moses would have been deliberately destroyed by victorious Egyptians as they drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. Destruction of unfavorable records by unsympathetic Pharaohs, and even mass obliteration of cartouches from monuments, is known to have occurred at several epochs in Ancient Egyptian history.

Several professors of archaeology claim that many stories in the Old Testament, including important chronicles about Moses, Solomon, and others, were actually made up for the first time by scribes hired by King Josiah (7th century BCE) in order to rationalize monotheistic belief in Yahweh.[24]

Conflicting with the sources cited in Halley, others claim there is no such surviving written records from Egypt, Assyria, etc., referring to the stories of the Bible or its main characters before ca. 850 BCE.[25][26]

Traditionalists point out that many of the details of the Pentateuch are consistent with the time period, such as the price of a slave (30 shekels as opposed to around 60 at the time of the Babylonian captivity), the practice of blood covenants and the discovery of what some claim are 'chariot wheels' on the bottom of the Red Sea.[27] Skeptics view most of these as inconclusive or otherwise inconsequential and point out that the depth of the Red Sea exceeds that of Arizona's Grand Canyon.

Known extra-Biblical references to Moses date from many centuries after his supposed lifetime, and contain significant departures from the Biblical account. In addition to the Judeo-Roman historians Flavius Josephus and Philo, a number of gentile historians including Polyhistor, Manetho and Tacitus make reference to him. The extent to which any of these accounts rely on earlier sources is unknown.

According to the historian Flavius Josephus, Moses led the Egyptians in a campaign against invading Ethiopians and routed them. While Moses was besieging the city, Tharbis, the daughter of the Ethiopian king, fell in love with Moses and wished to marry him. He agreed to do so if she would procure the deliverance of the city into his power. She did so immediately, and Moses promptly married her.[28] This marriage is also mentioned in Numbers 12:1 (Cushite meant Ethiopian; Zipporah was Midianite, definitely not Ethiopian). The account of this expedition is possibly also mentioned by Irenaeus[29], and the event would explain why St. Stephen refers to Moses as "mighty in his words and in his deeds" before Moses slayed the Egyptian.[30]

Moses also features prominently in later traditions such as the Midrash, Mishna and Qur'an; these texts draw on and diverge from Biblical accounts. See the article on The Bible and history.

Moses in Strabo

The following excerpt comes from the Roman historian Strabo (c. 24 CE):

34 As for Judaea, its western extremities towards Casius are occupied by the Idumaeans and by the lake. The Idumaeans are Nabataeans, but owing to a sedition they were banished from there, joined the Judaeans, and shared in the same customs with them. The greater part of the region near the sea is occupied by Lake Sirbonis and by the country continuous with the lake as far as Jerusalem; for this city is also near the sea; for, as I have already said, it is visible from the seaport of Iopê. This region lies towards the north; and it is inhabited in general, as is each place in particular, by mixed stocks of people from Aegyptian and Arabian and Phoenician tribes; for such are those who occupy Galilee and Hiericus and Philadelphia and Samaria, which last Herod surnamed Sebastê. But though the inhabitants mixed up thus, the most prevalent of the accredited reports in regard to the temple at Jerusalem represents the ancestors of the present Judaeans, as they are called, as Aegyptians.
35 Moses, namely, was one of the Aegyptian priests, and held a part of Lower Aegypt, as it is called, but he went away from there to Judaea, since he was displeased with the state of affairs there, and was accompanied by many people who worshipped the Divine Being. For he says, and taught, that the Aegyptians were mistaken in representing the Divine Being by the images of beasts and cattle, as were also the Libyans; and that the Greeks were also wrong in modelling gods in human form; for, according to him, God is this one thing alone that encompasses us all and encompasses land and sea — the thing which we call heaven, or universe, or the nature of all that exists. What man, then, if he has sense, could be bold enough to fabricate an image of God resembling any creature amongst us? Nay, people should leave off all image-carving, and, setting apart a sacred precinct and a worthy sanctuary, should worship God without an image; and people who have good dreams should sleep in the sanctuary, not only themselves on their own behalf, but also others for the rest of the people; and those who live self-restrained and righteous lives should always expect some blessing or gift or sign from God, but no other should expect them.
36 Now Moses, saying things of this kind, persuaded not a few thoughtful men and led them away to this place where the settlement of Jerusalem now is; and he easily took possession of the place, since it was not a place that would be looked on with envy, nor yet one for which anyone would make a serious fight; for it is rocky, and, although it itself is well supplied with water, its surrounding territory is barren and waterless, and the part of the territory within a radius of sixty stadia is also rocky beneath the surface. At the same time Moses, instead of using arms, put forward as defence his sacrifices and his Divine Being, being resolved to seek a seat of worship for Him and promising to deliver to the people a kind of worship and a kind of ritual which would not oppress those who adopted them either with expenses or with divine obsessions or with other absurd troubles. Now Moses enjoyed fair repute with these people, and organised no ordinary kind of government, since the peoples all round, one and all, came over to him, because of his dealings with them and of the prospects he held out to them.[31]

Moses in Tacitus

The Roman historian Tacitus (ca. 100 CE) mentions several possible origins of the Jews that were taught by those of his time.

As I am about to relate the last days of a famous city, it seems appropriate to throw some light on its origin. Some say that the Jews were fugitives from the island of Crete, who settled on the nearest coast of Africa about the time when Saturn was driven from his throne by the power of Jupiter. Evidence of this is sought in the name. There is a famous mountain in Crete called Ida; the neighbouring tribe, the Idaei, came to be called Judaei by a barbarous lengthening of the national name. Others assert that in the reign of Isis the overflowing population of Egypt, led by Hierosolymus and Judas, discharged itself into the neighbouring countries. Many, again, say that they were a race of Ethiopian origin, who in the time of king Cepheus were driven by fear and hatred of their neighbours to seek a new dwelling-place. Others describe them as an Assyrian horde who, not having sufficient territory, took possession of part of Egypt, and founded cities of their own in what is called the Hebrew country, lying on the borders of Syria. Others, again, assign a very distinguished origin to the Jews, alleging that they were the Solymi, a nation celebrated in the poems of Homer, who called the city which they founded Hierosolyma after their own name.
Most writers, however, agree in stating that once a disease, which horribly disfigured the body, broke out over Egypt; that king Bocchoris, seeking a remedy, consulted the oracle of Hammon, and was bidden to cleanse his realm, and to convey into some foreign land this race detested by the gods. The people, who had been collected after diligent search, finding themselves left in a desert, sat for the most part in a stupor of grief, till one of the exiles, Moyses by name, warned them not to look for any relief from God or man, forsaken as they were of both, but to trust to themselves, taking for their heaven-sent leader that man who should first help them to be quit of their present misery. They agreed, and in utter ignorance began to advance at random. Nothing, however, distressed them so much as the scarcity of water, and they had sunk ready to perish in all directions over the plain, when a herd of wild asses was seen to retire from their pasture to a rock shaded by trees. Moyses followed them, and, guided by the appearance of a grassy spot, discovered an abundant spring of water. This furnished relief. After a continuous journey for six days, on the seventh they possessed themselves of a country, from which they expelled the inhabitants, and in which they founded a city and a temple.[32]

Date of the Exodus

Dating the Exodus has also proved challenging. Views include:

  • it occurred around the end of the Hyksos era (1674 - 1548 BCE), as expressed above;
  • it occurred about 1420 BCE, since the Amarna letters, written ca. forty years later to Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) indicate that Canaan was being invaded by the "Habiru" — whom some scholars take to mean "Hebrews". However, the Hebrews Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also recorded to have conducted military activities in Canaan some centuries before the Exodus.
  • it occurred during the 13th century BCE, as the pharaoh during most of that time, Rameses II, is commonly considered to be a pharaoh with whom Moses squabbled - either as the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus' himself, or the preceding 'Pharaoh of the Oppression', who is said to have commissioned the Hebrews to "(build) for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." These cities were originally thought have been built under both Seti I and Rameses II, possibly making his successor Merneptah 'Pharaoh of the Exodus.' This is considered plausible by those who view the famed stele of Merneptah's 5th year (ca. 1208 BCE), claiming that "Israel is wasted, bare of seed", as propaganda covering up his own loss of an army in the sea. However, the cities were later shown to have been built during the reign of Horemheb[citation needed], under supervision of Paramessu, later Ramses I, and while a major renovation of Raamses took place in the reign of Ramses II, only a minor took place for Pithom.
  • A more recent and controversial view places Moses as a noble in the court of the Pharaoh Akhenaten (See below). Many scholars from Sigmund Freud to Joseph Campbell suggest that Moses may have fled Egypt after Akhenaten's death (ca. 1358 BCE) when much of the pharaoh's monotheistic reforms were being violently reversed. The principal ideas behind this theory are: the monotheistic religion of Akhenaten being a possible predecessor to Moses' monotheism, and a contemporaneous collection of "Amarna Letters" written by nobles to Akhenaten (Amarna was Akhenaten's capital city) which describe raiding bands of "Habiru" attacking the Egyptian territories in Mesopotamia.[33]
  • Another theory places the birth and/or adoption of Moses during the reign of Amenhotep III with a minor oppression that was soon lifted, then the real oppression during the reign of Horemheb, and finally the Exodus during the reign of Ramses I. This is supported by the Haggada, which suggests that they were oppressed and then re-oppressed quite a few years later by Pharaoh. There is also an inscription from the very beginning of Seti I's reign[citation needed] that says upon the death of Ramses I, many of the Shasu (a word as a collective for many of the nomadic groups of the time) left Egypt, traveled through Sinai, into northern Arabia, and, as recorded in other inscriptions, after about forty years, entered Canaan. The Bible, Koran, and Haggada all suggest that the Pharaoh of the Exodus died in year 2 of his reign, matching Ramses I. Also, as Horemheb and Ramses I were builders of Pi-Tum and Raamses, more probability is lended to this view. Seti I records that during his reign, the Shasu wared with each other, matching the Midyan and Moabite wars. Seti's campaigns with the Shasu are also slightly similar to Balaam's exploits. Despite this evidence, mainstream Egyptologists reject this view.

Finally, there is the challenge of interpreting the many miracles in the Moses story. Most of them are simply dismissed by scholars as legends, but some can be explained. For example, some of the plagues strongly resemble exaggerated versions of actual pestilences common in the ancient world (see The Ten Plagues), the famous Red Sea crossing may have been a marsh (the "Reed Sea") through which the Egyptian chariots could not penetrate, the manna which God bestowed on the hungry Israelites may have been the secretion of the hammada shrub, and the swallowing of Korah (Numbers 16) could have been an earthquake.[citation needed]

There is also a psychoanalytical interpretation of Moses' life, put forward by Sigmund Freud in his last book, Moses and Monotheism, in 1937. Freud postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to the monotheism of Akhenaten. Freud also believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of patricidal guilt which 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. A recent alternative suggestion resulting from interpreting Biblical and Egyptian history (by Egyptologist Ahmed Osman) proposes that Moses and Akhenaten are the same person (Moses and Akhenaten, Dec. 2002). Opponents of this view point to the fact that the religion of the Torah seems very different to Atenism in everything except the central feature of devotion to a single god.[citation needed]

Horned Moses

Moses with horns, by Michaelangelo

Exodus 34:29-35 tells that after meeting with God the skin of Moses' face became radiant, frightening the Israelites and leading Moses to wear a veil. Jonathan Kirsch, in his book Moses: A Life, thought that, since he subsequently had to wear a veil to hide it, Moses' face was disfigured by a sort of "divine radiation burn".

This story has led to one longstanding tradition that Moses grew horns. This is derived from a mistranslation of the Hebrew phrase "karnu panav" קרנו פניו. The root קרן may be read as either "horn" or "ray", as in "ray of light". "Panav" פניו translates as "his face".

If interpreted correctly those two words form an expression which means that he was enlightened, and many rabbinical studies explain that the knowledge that was revealed to him made his face metaphorically shine with enlightenment, and not that it suddenly sported a pair of horns.

The Septuagint properly translates the Hebrew word קרן as δεδοξασται, 'was glorified', but Jerome translated it as cornuta, 'horned', and it was the latter image that became the more popular. This tradition survived from the first centuries well into the Renaissance. Many artists, including Michelangelo in a famed sculpture, depicted Moses with horns.

Moses as depicted on South Park.
Preceded by Leader of the Children of Israel Succeeded by

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moses.

Notes

  1. ^ Reference Halley's Bible Handbook
  2. ^ In the time of Emperor Constantine I, Mount Horeb was identified with Mount Sinai, but scholars think it was located much farther north.
  3. ^ Ex. 15:23-25
  4. ^ [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2016;&version=9; Ex. 16
  5. ^ Ex. 17:1-7
  6. ^ Ex. 17:8-13
  7. ^ Ex. 18
  8. ^ Ex. 19:1-2
  9. ^ Exodus 19:10-25
  10. ^ Ex. 20-23
  11. ^ Exodus 24:9-10
  12. ^ Exodus 24:14
  13. ^ Exodus 32
  14. ^ Num. 20:1-13
  15. ^ Num. 21:4-9
  16. ^ 2 Kings 18:1-4
  17. ^ Num. 22-24
  18. ^ Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraph 6
  19. ^ Num. 25:1-13
  20. ^ Num. 31:1-11
  21. ^ Num. 27:15-23
  22. ^ Deut. 34:7
  23. ^ http://www.edofolks.com/html/pub119.htm
  24. ^ Anderson, K. (2006). The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions. NY: Knopf. pp. 157-166, see esp. p. 163.
  25. ^ Who Were the Early Israelites? by William G. Dever (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2003
  26. ^ The Bible Unearthed by Neil A. Silberman and Israel Finkelstein (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001
  27. ^ See WorldNetDaily article, 'Pharaoh's Chariots Found in Red Sea?' for a history of the 'chariot wheel' finds.
  28. ^ http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?pageno=61&fk_files=2359
  29. ^ http://custance.org/old/hidden/4ch2.html
  30. ^ Acts 7:22
  31. ^ The Geography, Book XVI, Chapter 2, Paragraphs 34-36
  32. ^ Histories, Book 5, Paragraphs 2 & 3
  33. ^ Transformations of Myth Through Time, Joseph Campbell, p. 87-90, Harper & Row

Further reading

  • Asch, Sholem. Moses. New York: Putnam, 1951. ISBN 999740629X
  • Buber, Martin. Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant. New York: Harper, 1958.
  • Daiches, David. Moses: The Man and his Vision. New York: Praeger, 1975.
  • Freud, Sigmund. Moses and Monotheism. New York: Vintage, 1967. ISBN 0-394-70014-7
  • Kirsch, Jonathan. Moses: A Life. New York: Ballantine, 1998.
  • Mann, Thomas. "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" in The Ten Commandments, 3-70. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943.
  • Osman, Ahmed. Moses and Akhenaten. The Secret History of Egypt at the Time of the Exodus. Bear & Co., 2002. ISBN 1-59143-004-6
  • Werding, Hans. Moses war Tutenchamun ISBN 3-9803892-1-9
  • Wiesel, Elie. "Moses: Portrait of a Leader" in Messengers of God, 174-205. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-671-54134-X
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