Moses
Moses, a central figure in the Hebrew Bible, is traditionally regarded as a prophet and leader who played a pivotal role in the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Born to a Hebrew mother during a time of oppression, he was hidden as an infant to escape Pharaoh's decree and raised in the Egyptian palace. His early life was marked by privilege, but after witnessing the injustices faced by his people, he fled to Midian, where he married and tended sheep. Moses' life took a significant turn when he encountered God in the form of a burning bush, receiving a divine commission to lead the Israelites to freedom and to establish a covenant with them.
Under Moses' leadership, the Israelites experienced dramatic events, including the ten plagues that compelled Pharaoh to release them and the miraculous parting of the Red Sea. He received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, which outlined the laws and moral framework for the Israelite community. Despite his significant leadership, Moses faced constant challenges, including rebellion from his people. His journey ultimately led to the edge of the Promised Land; however, due to an act of disobedience, he was not permitted to enter it himself. Moses is remembered not only for his role in the Exodus but also for laying the foundational laws and teachings that continue to influence Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. His legacy remains significant in religious and cultural contexts worldwide.
Moses
- Born: c. 1300 b.c.e.
- Birthplace: Near Memphis, Egypt
- Died: c. 1200 b.c.e.
- Place of death: Unknown
Hebrew religious leader
As the leader of tribal Israel who brought his people to the brink of nationhood in the thirteenth century b.c.e., Moses may be seen as the father of many governmental, social, and religious ideals that continue to influence the contemporary world. The codification of religious and ethical laws in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, is traditionally attributed to him.
Area of Achievement Religion, government and politics
Early Life
According to the biblical narrative, Moses (MOH-zuhz) was born to Jochebed, a Hebrew woman, during a period in which the children of Israel were under slavery to Egypt. The people of Israel had come to Egypt at the invitation of Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, who had become a prominent Egyptian leader in friendship with the pharaoh. Then, as the biblical text relates, “there arose a Pharaoh who knew not Joseph.” As the Israelites grew in number and threatened the stability of Egyptian society, a more ruthless pharaoh began a policy of genocide toward newborn Hebrew boys (Ex. 1:22).
Immediately after Moses’ birth, to spare him this fate his mother hid him in an arklike cradle and floated it down the Nile River, where it was discovered by an Egyptian princess who was bathing (Ex. 2:5-10). This princess found that Moses, whose name means “one drawn out of water,” satisfied her longing for a son. Moses thus grew to manhood in the Egyptian palace, learning its language and culture, sheltered from his Hebrew heritage. Here he was exposed to the most sophisticated philosophies and science of the then known world, and he most likely learned how to write not only in the cuneiform and hieroglyphics of Egyptian textuality but also in the proto-Semitic alphabetic script known to have been used near Mount Sinai even before this historical period.
One day in his young adulthood, Moses was roused to justice on behalf of a Hebrew laborer who had been struck by an Egyptian (Ex. 2:11). In Moses’ defense of this Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian; he was then forced into exile in Midian. There Moses began a new life with a wife, Zipporah, and family and tended the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. It was evident that Moses’ destiny lay in a higher calling, however, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush and then God spoke to Moses. He heard God’s call to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage (Ex. 3:1-17). In this divine commission, Moses was promised for his people a “land of milk and honey.” It was during this encounter that God revealed his name to Moses as “Yahweh,” or “I am that I am,” the self-existing One who had chosen Israel to be his special people. Despite his initial hesitance, Moses accepted the call and was promised that his testimony would be corroborated with miracles.
Life’s Work
The first part of Moses’ life had been exhilarating, as he grew from infancy to adulthood in a pharaoh’s house. The remainder of his life, however, was spent in turmoil, verbal and physical warfare, and continuing challenges to his authority by his own people. On returning to Egypt, Moses called on his brother Aaron to accompany him and be his spokesman. In several bold and audacious audiences with the pharaoh, Moses demanded that the Egyptian leader free his people and allow them to worship Yahweh, who had called them to tabernacle at Mount Sinai. The pharaoh, amused by Moses’ claim to authority and power, rejected his repeated pleas.
There ensued a series of ten plagues that brought Egyptian society to its knees, including the final plague—the death of the firstborn. That plague killed many Egyptian children while sparing the Hebrews, who had spread animal blood over their doorposts to avert the angel of death, who “passed over” them. This event came to be celebrated on the Hebrew holy day of Passover, which commemorates the preservation of the Hebrews and their deliverance from bondage in Egypt (Ex. 12-14).
When the pharaoh finally relented, Moses led his people in a mighty throng into the Red Sea, whose waters were miraculously parted for them and then closed on their Egyptian pursuers (Ex. 14-15). From their mountain encampment, Moses went to Mount Sinai for a momentous encounter with Yahweh, who revealed himself so spectacularly that Moses returned from the mountain with his countenance shining. The thunder and lightning that accompanied these events caused great fear among the people, and they asked Moses to be their intercessor lest they be consumed by Yahweh’s omnipotence. Moses brought back to them the Covenant, a body of laws and relationships that was to bind Yahweh and the people of Israel together in a partnership (Ex. 19-20). Their task was to live in obedience to Yahweh’s precepts—attributes of his holy character (justice, righteousness, peace, joy, and love)—for which he would continue to bless and protect them from their enemies. They were called on to acknowledge him as the only God and the surrounding civilizations as pagan and idolatrous.
Almost as soon as the people agreed to the covenant, they plunged into turmoil and rebellion. While Moses went to the mountain to receive further instruction from Yahweh, the people, impatient with Moses’ absence, built a golden calf to worship, a reflection of their immaturity and naïveté and an action strictly forbidden by the covenant they had just ratified. Enraged at this apostasy, Moses returned from the mountain with vengeance, breaking the tablets on which the Ten Commandments had been written, destroying the idol, grinding it into powder, and forcing them to drink it. This lack of faith prefigured the continued disbelief and sin of the people, as the generation of Israelites who first left Egypt were destined to falter in their journey, never reaching the land promised them when Moses was called to God’s service in Midian. During this time, however, Moses continued to meet with Yahweh and continued to build a record of Israel’s experiences with this God who had brought them out of Egypt. Among the things that were presented to the people were the plans for building a tabernacle for worship, an elaborate ecclesiastical structure. Detailed specifications for its construction and use in the corporate life and worship of the Jewish people were supplied.
The other pivotal event in the history of this first generation who left Egypt is recounted in the Book of Numbers. Moses sent spies into the land of Canaan to determine when and how the Israelites might occupy the land promised to them by Yahweh. Of the twelve spies sent out, only two, Joshua and Caleb, brought a positive report. As a result, only Joshua and Caleb and their families were eventually permitted to enter Canaan. The other members of the first generation were refused entry by God as a result of their disbelief.
The Book of Deuteronomy records Moses’ farewell speeches to the generation of Israel who would enter the Promised Land—a reiteration of the first covenant and an exhortation to obey the God who had called them out of bondage. In recounting the blessings and cursings that were to accrue to the Israelites, depending on their behavior, Moses advised, “I have set before thee this day, both death and life. Choose life” (Deut. 30:19).
Moses’ egotism, briefly revealed in the biblical narrative, eventually prevented Aaron and Moses themselves from entering Canaan. During one trying episode, Moses became frustrated with the Israelites’ continual bickering about the availability of food and water. At one point, Moses exclaimed, “Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” (Num. 20:10), thus presumptuously attributing to himself the power to provide for Israel’s needs. This sin weighed heavily on Moses toward the end of his life. Psalm 90 in the Old Testament Book of Psalms is attributed to Moses; it contains this bittersweet comment on the brevity of life: “Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream, like grass which is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are consumed by thy anger; by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.”
Near the end of his days, Moses passed the mantle of leadership over to his aging comrade, Joshua, who would lead Israel into the land that had been promised. A heroic and dutiful life was then brought to rest with a series of blessings that Moses pronounced on the people of Israel. The concluding words of Deuteronomy offer this understated editorial judgment: “There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10).
Significance
The law of Moses, his written legacy to subsequent generations, is matched only by Greek and Roman poetics and rhetoric in its impact on Western culture. Whatever editorial interventions there may have been over the centuries, it is clear that the five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—were intended to be histories of the Jewish people, beginning with the creation of the heavens and the earth. As a slave people fresh from redemption, this fledgling nation had few common experiences and little religious identity to bind them. Consequently, the Mosaic account of God’s decision to choose the people of Israel as the blessed descendants of Abraham and to allow them to influence many civilizations can be seen as a primary attempt to solidify their nationhood during a precarious time. Moses’ narrative gives the people of Israel a historical and moral vantage point from which to interpret their past and present experiences and, most important, to give praise to Yahweh, who called them out of Egypt to worship Him.
The religious foundation begun in the codification of legal and moral teaching became the scaffolding for Christianity, as Jesus Christ and his followers directly traced their heritage not only to Abraham but also to Moses. During his ministry, Jesus claimed to have come to fulfill the law of Moses and to inaugurate a new covenant of grace that would subsume and complete the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Islam, whose sacred text is the Qur՚an, also owes much of its message to the framework established in the works attributed to Moses. Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, claimed Abraham and Moses as his forerunners, proclaiming that he and his message stood in the same historical and intellectual genealogy as theirs.
It is not difficult to understand the nearly universal recognition of Moses as a pivotal leader in history. He was holy and devout, a man of action and contemplation, a diplomat and military strategist, and a shrewd political adviser. In witnessing the ongoing direct and indirect influences of Mosaic thought in contemporary Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as the continuing political significance of the lands that he helped secure and develop for his people, one must conclude that, indeed, Moses was a man of remarkable gifts.
Further Reading
Alexander, David, and Pat Alexander, eds. Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987. A comprehensive handbook to biblical history and geography, with helpful interpretations that trace the history of Israel under Moses’ leadership and rise to power in the ancient Middle East. Particularly useful are maps and word studies that illuminate Israel’s relationships with Egypt and other Middle Eastern nations of 1400-1200 b.c.e.
Bright, John. A History of Israel. 4th ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster J. Knox Press, 2000. A thorough and compelling nontheological treatment of the history of Israel. Sections on the kingdoms and civilizations contemporary with Moses illuminate the story of his life and sustain the interest of both the common reader and the scholar.
Friedman, Richard Elliot. Who Wrote the Bible? San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997. Friedman is representative of the majority of modern biblical scholars in rejecting Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. In this book, Friedman draws on a synthesis of scholarship to present his own, controversial answer to the question of authorship. Includes notes and a bibliography; lightly illustrated.
Harrison, R. K. An Introduction to the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1972. An overview of the origin, message, and impact of each book in the Old Testament. The volume addresses directly and comprehensively the issues of the chronology, authenticity, and influence of the life of Moses on the people of Israel in ancient times and in the present. A massive, comprehensive scholarly work with extensive documentation.
Kitchen, K. A. The Bible in Its World. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1977. An insider’s look at the world of archaeology and how it functions in validating ancient records and narratives. Particularly helpful in its extensive examination of antiquity’s cultural artifacts and social conditions against the backdrop of the age of Moses and his people’s sojourns in Egypt and wanderings in the wilderness.
Schultz, Samuel J. The Old Testament Speaks. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Written for the lay reader, this volume presents an objective historical analysis of the lives of the patriarchs. Includes a major section on Moses and the Pentateuch and their role in the evolution of ancient and modern Israel.
Thompson, J. A. Handbook to Life in Bible Times. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986. A colorful, lavishly illustrated reference tool with key sections on the domestic life, travel, family customs, and cultural preoccupations of the biblical world. The work illuminates the birth of Israel and its development under Moses’ theological and political leadership.
Wenham, John. “Moses and the Pentateuch.” In New Bible Commentary: Revised, edited by Donald Guthrie, Alec Moyer, Alan Stibbs, and Donald Wiseman. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1970. A concise and singularly wise assessment of the career of Moses, his personality and leadership qualities, and his continuing impact on both Jewish and Christian thought.
Related articles in Great Lives from History: The Ancient World
c. 1280 b.c.e., Israelite Exodus from Egypt; c. 1000 b.c.e., Establishment of the United Kingdom of Israel; c. 922 b.c.e., Establishment of the Kingdom of Israel.