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| '''Moses''' (]: ''Moyses'', {{Hebrew Name|מֹשֶׁה|Moshe|Mōšeh}}; ]: {{lang|grc|Mωυσής}} in both the ] and the ]; ]: '''{{lang|ar|موسىٰ}}''', ''{{unicode|Mūsa}}''; ]: {{lang|gez|ሙሴ}}, ''Musse'') is a ] ] religious leader, lawgiver, ], and military leader, to whom the ] of the ] is traditionally attributed. He is also an important prophet in ],<ref name=aaa>{{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|34:10|KJV}}</ref> ],<ref name=aaa/> ],<ref name=aab>{{cite quran|19|51|end=51|style=ref}}</ref> the ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/bhjesu.htm |title=Baha'u'llah on the Life of Jesus |accessdate=2008-08-11 |author=Juan R.I. Cole |date=7/10/98}}</ref> ],<ref name=aaa/> ],<ref name=aaa/> ],<ref>{{cite book |last=Rael|authorlink=Claude Vorilhon|title=Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers|year=2005|publisher=Nova Distribution|location=|language=English |isbn= 2-940252-20-3|pages=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rael|authorlink=Claude Vorilhon|title=Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers|year=2005|publisher=Nova Distribution|location= |language=English |isbn= 2-940252-20-3|pages=312}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rael|authorlink=Claude Vorilhon|title=Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers|year=2005|publisher=Nova Distribution|location= |language=English |isbn= 2-940252-20-3|pages=324}}</ref> ]<ref name=aab/><ref name=aaa/> and many other faiths. | '''Moses''' (]: ''Moyses'', {{Hebrew Name|מֹשֶׁה|Moshe|Mōšeh}}; ]: {{lang|grc|Mωυσής}} in both the ] and the ]; ]: '''{{lang|ar|موسىٰ}}''', ''{{unicode|Mūsa}}''; ]: {{lang|gez|ሙሴ}}, ''Musse'') is a ] ] religious leader, lawgiver, ], and military leader, to whom the ] of the ] is traditionally attributed. He is also an important prophet in ],<ref name=aaa>{{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|34:10|KJV}}</ref> ],<ref name=aaa/> ],<ref name=aab>{{cite quran|19|51|end=51|style=ref}}</ref> the ],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/bahai/bhjesu.htm |title=Baha'u'llah on the Life of Jesus |accessdate=2008-08-11 |author=Juan R.I. Cole |date=7/10/98}}</ref> ],<ref name=aaa/> ],<ref name=aaa/> ],<ref>{{cite book |last=Rael|authorlink=Claude Vorilhon|title=Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers|year=2005|publisher=Nova Distribution|location=|language=English |isbn= 2-940252-20-3|pages=114}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rael|authorlink=Claude Vorilhon|title=Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers|year=2005|publisher=Nova Distribution|location= |language=English |isbn= 2-940252-20-3|pages=312}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rael|authorlink=Claude Vorilhon|title=Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers|year=2005|publisher=Nova Distribution|location= |language=English |isbn= 2-940252-20-3|pages=324}}</ref> ]<ref name=aab/><ref name=aaa/> and many other faiths. | ||
| According to the book of ], Moses was born to a ] mother, ], who hid him when a ] (Feraun, as mentioned in the ]), ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed, and he ended up being adopted into the ] royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master, Moses fled and became a shepherd, and was later commanded by ]/ ] to deliver the Hebrews from slavery. After the ] were unleashed on ], he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, through the ], where they wandered in the desert for 40 years, during which time, according to the Bible, Moses received the |
According to the book of ], Moses was born to a ] mother, ], who hid him when a ] (Feraun, as mentioned in the ]), ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed, and he ended up being adopted into the ] royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master, Moses fled and became a shepherd, and was later commanded by ]/ ] to deliver the Hebrews from slavery. After the ] were unleashed on ], he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, through the ], where they wandered in the desert for 40 years, during which time, according to the Bible, Moses received the | ||
| hjrgvjlgfyjgfjhwegfuwehfgwyfyjwvfggwkhfvhjsgfhw fhwjvfdjw dukhw ecw c we d db eh fe fh ef fjwhe fhj fhjwf bhewbdhwbhbwhebhewbehwbeh ehwb h wen jb hj bwh e h wwe jibj.rbjebkjfbqwjwqbrjqbqbwjbe wq eqw ebrjnjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjqerhn[ougbhruigvhreukqghjeqrbfiughwu | |||
| According to the Qu'ran the reason for the wandering in the desert was the disobedience of his ] followers during the Exodus. In Islamic perspective, Moses and the obedient Israelites weren't punished, but got rewards for their patience during the wandering years. <ref>{{Cite quran|5|26|end=51|style=ref}}</ref> | |||
| ==Religious texts== | |||
| {{Primarysources|date=July 2008}} | |||
| The main source of Moses' life is the ]. In the Torah, the narratives of Moses are in ], ], ], and ]. | |||
| ===Life=== | |||
| The Book of ] takes up the narrative many years after the close of the ], at the end of which the ] were dwelling in relative harmony with the native ] in the ], the eastern part of the ]. After Joseph died, a new pharaoh came to power who was hostile to the Israelites and enslaved them.<ref name="Teaching Torah">{{cite book |title=Teaching Torah: A Treasury of Insights and Activities|last=Leob|first= Sorel Goldburg et al |authorlink=Sorel Goldburgh Leob|year=1990 |publisher= Behrman House, Inc}}</ref> | |||
| According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was a son of ], a member of the ] tribe of ], having descended from ], and his wife ].<ref name="eb">{{cite book |title=Illustrated Bible Dictionary|last=Easton|first= Matthew George |authorlink=Matthew George Easton|year=1897 |publisher= T. Nelson|location=London ; New York|id="Moses"}} </ref> Jochebed (also Yocheved) was kin to Amram's father ] (Exodus 6:20). Moses had one older (by seven years) sister, ], and one older (by three years) brother, ].<ref name="eb"/> According to Genesis 46:11, Amram's father Kohath immigrated to Egypt with 70 of Jacob's household, making Moses part of the second generation of Israelites born during their time in Egypt.<ref>{{bibleverse||Genesis|46||HE}}</ref> | |||
| ], ] Artist.]] | |||
| In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses (dated by the ] to 7 Adar 2368, or 1393 BCE)<ref>Talmud, in b.Sotah 12b</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} occurred at a time when the current Egyptian ] had commanded that all male Hebrew children born be killed by drowning in the river ]. The Torah and Flavius Josephus leave the identity of this Pharaoh unstated.<ref>see Reference Halley's Bible Handbook</ref> | |||
| Jochebed, the wife of the Levite Amram, bore a son and kept him concealed for three months.<ref name="j4">{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=830&letter=M&search=moses#0|title=Biblical data on Moses}}</ref><ref name="ce">{{CathEncy|title=Moses|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10596a.htm}}</ref><ref name="eb"/> 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.<ref name="j4"/> According to Quran, she is commanded by God to place him in an ark and cast him on the waters of the Nile, thus abandoning him completely to God's protection and demonstrating her total trust in God.<ref>{{Cite quran|28|7|style=ref}}</ref><ref name="Keeler56"/> In the Biblical account, Moses' sister ] observed the progress of the tiny boat until it reached a place where Pharaoh's daughter Thermuthis (Bithiah)<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=2359&pageno=60|title=Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 8, Paragraph 5}}</ref><ref name="eb"/> was bathing with her handmaidens. It is said that she spotted the baby in the basket and had her handmaiden fetch it for her. After several women had unsuccessfully attempted to nurse the child,<ref name=autogenerated1 />{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} Miriam came forward and asked Pharaoh's daughter if she would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.<ref name="eb"/> Thereafter, Jochebed was employed as the child's nurse, and he grew and was brought to Pharaoh's daughter and became her son, as she had no other children at the time of her adoption of Moses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=2359&pageno=61|title=Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 8, Paragraph 7}}</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} | |||
| This birth legend is in many respects similar<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/moses_3.shtml|title=BBC: Moses' Beginnings}}</ref> to the ] Neo-Assyrian version of the birth of the king ] in the 24th century BCE<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history-world.org/sargon_the_great.htm|title=Akkad and Sargon the Great}}</ref> who, being born of modest means, was set in the Euphrates river in a basket of bulrushes and discovered by a member of the Akkadian royalty who reared him as their own. Professor ] refers to the story of the birth of Moses as a 'foundation myth', similar to those of Sargon, ] and ].<ref> ] (2007), ''From Eden to Exile: Unravelling Mysteries of the Bible'', National Geographic Society, ISBN 978-1426200847 p.71</ref> | |||
| Exodus and Flavius Josephus do not mention whether this daughter of Pharaoh was an only child or, if she was not an only child, whether she was an eldest child or an eldest daughter. Nor do they mention whether Thermuthis later had other natural or adopted children. If ] is the Pharaoh of the Oppression as is traditionally thought, identifying her would be extremely difficult as Rameses II is thought to have fathered over a hundred children. The ] named him ''Mosheh'', similar to the Hebrew word ''mashah'', "to draw out". In the Greek translation, ''Mosheh'' was Hellenized as ''Moses''. <ref name="abarim">{{cite web|url=http://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Moses.html|title=Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Moses}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edofolks.com/html/pub119.htm|title=Moses' Egyptian Name}}</ref> | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ====Names==== | |||
| * The Classical Rabbis in the ] identify Moses as one of seven biblical characters who were called by various names.<ref>Midrash Rabbah, Ki Thissa, XL. 3-3, Lehrman, P.463</ref> Moses' other names were: Jekuthiel (by his mother), Heber (by his father), Jered (by Miriam), Avi Zanoah (by Aaron), Kehath, Avi Soco (his wet-nurse), Shemaiah ben Nethanel (by people of Israel).<ref>Yalkut Shimoni, Shemot 166 to Chrinicles I 4:18, 24:6; also see Vayikra Rabbah 1:3; Chasidah p.345</ref> Moses is also attributed the names Toviah (as a first name), and Levi (as a family name) (Vayikra Rabbah 1:3), Heman <ref>Rashi to Bava Batra 15s, Chasidah p.345</ref>, Mechoqeiq (lawgiver)<ref>Bava Batra 15a on Deuteronomy 33:21, Chasidah p.345</ref> and Ehl Gav Ish (Numbers 12:3)<ref>Rashi to Berachot 54a), Chasidah p.345</ref> | |||
| * According to the Torah, the name "Moses" comes from the (Hebrew) verb meaning "to pull/draw out" , so named by Pharaoh's daughter (identified by the Midrash as ] from I Chr; or (Thermuthis)<!-- --> ) after she had pulled the infant from the banks of the river.<ref>Shemot Rabbah 1:26, Chasidah p.345</ref> Further, Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea, which would also shows deliverance out of water. Josephus <!-- --> also cites this etymology. | |||
| * Some medieval Jewish scholars had suggested that Moses' actual name was the Egyptian translation of "to draw out", and that it was translated into Hebrew, either by the Bible, or by Moses himself later in his lifetime.<ref name="abarim" /> | |||
| * Some modern scholars had suggested that the daughter of the pharaoh might have derived his name from the Egyptian word ''moses'', which means "son" or "formed of" or "has provided"; for example, "Thutmose" means "son of ]", and Rameses means "] has provided (a son)".<ref name="m.e.n.">{{cite web|url=|title=Moses' Egyptian Name}}</ref> | |||
| * According to Islamic tradition, his name, Mūsā, is derived from two Egyptian words: ''Mū'' which means water and ''shā'' meaning tree (or reeds), in reference to the fact that the basket in which the infant Moses floated came to rest by trees close to Pharaoh's residence.<ref name="Keeler55">Keeler (2006) </ref> | |||
| * A growing number of critical scholars believe that Moses actually had a full Egyptian name, consisting of the root word ''moses'' and the name of a god (similar to Rameses), but the name of the god was later dropped, either when he assimilated into Hebrew culture or by later scribes who were dismayed that their greatest prophet had such an Egyptian name.<ref name="m.e.n.">{{cite web|url=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/920412/posts|title=Moses' Egyptian Name}}</ref> | |||
| * Amongst the ] and ]s of the northern ] ] state there is mention of an ancestral culture hero Moschos, linked to the Greek hero ] (whose name means "calf"), who has certain similarities to parts of the Moses<ref> story.http://www.bibleorigins.net/MopsusMoxusExodus.html</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} these similarities are only being in a similar location and having a similar name. | |||
| ===Shepherd in Midian=== | |||
| After Moses had reached adulthood, he went to see how his brethren who were enslaved to the ] were faring.<ref name="j4"/> Seeing an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian and buried the body in the sand, supposing that no one who knew about the incident would be disposed to talk about it.<ref name="j4"/> The next day, seeing two ] quarreling, he endeavored to separate them, whereupon the Hebrew who was wronging the other taunted Moses for slaying the Egyptian.<ref>Flavius Josephus does not mention this incident in his account, so it is uncertain as to its chronological relationship to Moses' expedition against the Ethiopians.</ref> 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 over the ].<ref name="j4"/> He stopped at a well, where he protected seven shepherdesses from a band of rude shepherds. The shepherdesses' father ] (also known as Raguel and ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=2359&pageno=64|title=Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 12, Paragraph 1}}</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}}, and ] according to Qur'an<ref>Mukarram Ahmed (2005), </ref>), a priest of ]<ref>A region just ] of the ]</ref> was immensely grateful for this assistance Moses had given his daughters, and adopted him as his son, gave his daughter ] to him in marriage, and made him the superintendent of his herds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=2359&pageno=63|title=Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 11, Paragraph 2}}</ref><ref name="j4"/><ref>No further mention is made of Moses' first wife Tharbis in either Exodus or Flavius Josephus except in the case where Aaron and Miriam taunted Moses about it.</ref> There he sojourned forty years, following the occupation of a shepherd, during which time his son ] was born.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%202:16-22;&version=9;|title=Exodus 2:16–22}}</ref><ref name="j4"/> | |||
| One day, Moses led his flock to ] ({{bibleverse||Exodus|3|HE}}), usually identified with ] — a mountain that was thought in the ] to be located on the ], but that many scholars now believe was further east, towards Moses' home of Midian. At Mount Horeb, he saw a ] that would not be consumed.<ref name="j4"/> When he turned aside to look more closely at the marvel, ] spoke to him from the bush, revealing ] to Moses.<ref name="j4"/> | |||
| === Egypt: the Plagues and the Exodus === | |||
| ].]] | |||
| God commissioned Moses to go to Egypt and deliver his fellow Hebrews from bondage. God had Moses practice transforming his rod into a serpent and inflicting and healing leprosy, and told him that he could also pour river water on dry land to change the water to blood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204:2-9;&version=9;|title=Exodus 4:2–9}}</ref><ref>Flavius Josephus mentions that Moses also practiced the pouring of the river water in , but it appears that this might be a mistake on Josephus' part</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Mordechai Kamenetzky |title =Project Genesis: Parshas Shemos - Pushing the Envelope | url=http://www.torah.org/learning/drasha/5759/shemos.html | accessdate = 16 July 2008}}</ref> Quran's account has emphasized Moses' mission to invite the Pharaoh to accept God's divine message<!--- ??mEssage??? --><ref>{{cite quran|79|17|end=19|style=ref}}</ref> as well as give salvation to the Israelites.<ref>{{cite quran|20|47|end=48|style=ref}}</ref><ref name="Keeler56-57"/> | |||
| Moses then set off for Egypt, was nearly killed by God because his son was not circumcised (The meaning of this latter obscure passage is debatable, because of the ambiguous nature of the Hebrew and its abrupt presence in the narrative. Several interpretations are therefore possible.), was met on the way by his elder brother, Aaron, and gained a hearing with his oppressed kindred after they returned to Egypt, who believed Moses and Aaron after they saw the signs that were performed in the midst of the Israelite assembly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204:20-31;&version=9;|title=Exodus 4:20–31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Mordechai Kamenetzky |title =Project Genesis: Parshas Shemos - Balance of Power | url=http://www.torah.org/learning/drasha/5757/shemos.html | accessdate = 16 July 2008}}</ref> It is also revealed that during Moses' absence, the Pharaoh of the Oppression (sometimes identified with ]) had died, and been replaced by a new Pharaoh, known as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. If Rameses II is the Pharaoh of the Oppression, then this new Pharaoh would be ]. Because the story the book of Exodus describes is catastrophic for the Egyptians — involving horrible plagues, the loss of thousands of slaves, and many deaths (possibly including the death of Pharaoh himself, although that matter is unclear in Exodus) — it is conspicuous that no Egyptian records speaking of Israelites in Egypt have ever been found. However, Merneptah, is indeed, historically known to have been a mediocre ruler, and certainly one weaker than Rameses II. Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him that the Lord God of Israel wanted Pharaoh to permit the Israelites to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. Pharaoh replied that he did not know their God and would not permit them to go celebrate the feast. Pharaoh upbraided Moses and Aaron and made the Israelites find their own straw besides meeting the same daily quota of bricks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%205:1-9;&version=9;|title=Exodus 5:1–9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Mordechai Kamenetzky |title =Project Genesis: Parshas Vaera - Guts and Glory | url=http://www.torah.org/learning/drasha/5759/vaera.html | accessdate = 16 July 2008}}</ref> Moses and Aaron gained a second hearing with Pharaoh and changed Moses' rod into a serpent, but Pharaoh's magicians did the same with their rods. Moses and Aaron had a third opportunity when they went to meet the Pharaoh at the Nile riverbank, and Moses had Aaron turn the river to blood, but Pharaoh's magicians could do the same. Moses obtained a fourth meeting, and had Aaron bring frogs from the Nile to overrun Egypt, but Pharaoh's magicians were able to do the same thing. Apparently Pharaoh eventually got annoyed by the frogs and asked Moses to remove the frogs and promised to let the Israelites go observe their feast in the wilderness in return. The next day all the frogs died leaving a horrible stench and an enormous mess, which angered Pharaoh and decide against letting the Israelites leave to observe the feast. Eventually Pharaoh let the Hebrews depart after Moses's God sent ] upon the Egyptians. The third was ], ]s, and ]. The fourth was attacking of wild beasts. The fifth was the invasion of diseases on the Egyptians' cattle, oxen, goats, sheep, camels, and horses. Sixth were boils on the skins of Egyptians. Seventh, fiery ] and ] struck Egypt. The eighth plague was ]s encompassing Egypt. The ninth plague was total darkness. The tenth plague culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian male first-borns, whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they ordered the Hebrews to leave in ]. The events are commemorated as ], referring to how the plague "passed over" the houses of the Israelites while smiting the Egyptians.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm|title=Judaism 101: Pesach; Passover}}</ref> | |||
| === The crossing of the Sea of Reeds === | |||
| ]]]And so Moses lead his people Eastward, beginning the long journey to ]. The procession moved slowly, and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier — some believe at the ], while others propose sites as far south as the northern tip of the ]. 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 Exodus records that God ] so that they passed safely across on dry ground. There is some contention about this passage, since an earlier incorrect translation of '']'' to ] was later found to have meant ]<ref></ref>. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them. | |||
| According to the Quran the Pharaoh was leading the Egyptian army himself, and drowned along with his army, and in his last words before drowning he asks God for forgiveness - (قَالَ آمَنتُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلِـهَ إِلاَّ الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرَائِيلَ وَأَنَاْ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ) - , however God made him die with his body in perfect shape, so he would be an example for every tyrant who defies the prophets - surat Yunis:92 (يونس:92) -. | |||
| === The years in the wilderness === | |||
| When the people arrived at ], the water was bitter, causing the people to murmur against Moses. Moses cast a tree into the water, and the water became sweet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2015:23-25;&version=9;|title=Exodus 15:23–25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Chaim Dovid Green |title =Project Genesis: Parshas B'Shalach - Rough Beginnings | url=http://www.torah.org/learning/dvartorah/5761/beshalach.html | accessdate = 16 July 2008}}</ref> Later in the journey the people began running low on supplies and again murmured against Moses and Aaron and said they would have preferred to die in Egypt, but God's provision of ] from the sky in the morning and quail in the evening took care of the situation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2016;&version=9;|title=Ex. 16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Eliyahu Hoffmann |title =Project Genesis: Parshas Beshalach - Man or Mon? | url=http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5766/beshalach.html | accessdate = 16 July 2008}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2017:1-7;&version=9;|title=Ex. 17:1–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Pinchas Avruch |title =Project Genesis: Parshas Beshalach - Never Forget| url=http://www.torah.org/learning/kolhakollel/5765/beshalach.html | accessdate = 16 July 2008}}</ref> | |||
| ]]]Amalekite raiders arrived and attacked the Israelites. In response, Moses bid ] 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 ]ites. 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2017:8-13;&version=9;|title=Ex. 17:8–13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Dovid Rosenfeld |title= Project Genesis: Pirkei Avos – Exhilarating Fear |url= http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter6-65-8.html |accessdate= 16 July 2008}}</ref> | |||
| Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came to see Moses and brought Moses' wife and two sons with him. After Moses had told Jethro how the Israelites had escaped 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=2&chapter=18&version=9|title=Ex. 18}}</ref> | |||
| When the ] came to Sinai, they pitched camp near the mountain. Moses commanded the people not to touch the mountain. Moses received the ] orally (but not yet in tablet form) and other moral laws. Moses then went up with ], ], and seventy of the elders to see the God of Israel. Before Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets, he told the elders to direct any questions that arose to Aaron or ]. 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 golden earrings from the people, he made a ] 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 entry of the camp and said, "Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me." All the sons of ] rallied around Moses, who ordered them to go from gate to gate slaying the idolators.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2032%20;&version=9;|title=Exodus 32}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author= Mordechai Kamenetzky|title= Project Genesis: Parshas Ki Sisa - Masked Emotions |url= http://www.torah.org/learning/drasha/5758/kisisa.html |accessdate= 16 July 2008}}</ref> | |||
| Following this, according to the last chapters of ''Exodus'', the ] 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glencairnmuseum.org/tabernacle/court.htm|title=The Tabernacle of Israel; Court}}</ref> | |||
| Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of his marriage to an ]n, Josephus explains the marriage of Moses to this Ethiopian in the ''Antiquities of the Jews''<ref name="j3"/>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} and about him being the only one through whom the Lord spoke. Miriam was punished with leprosy for seven days.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2012:1-15;&version=9;|title=Numbers 12:1–15}}</ref> | |||
| The people left ] and pitched camp in the wilderness of ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2012:16;&version=9;|title=Numbers 12:16}}</ref> (Paran is a vaguely defined region in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula, just south of Canaan) Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan as scouts, including most famously Caleb and Joshua. After forty days, they returned to the Israelite camp, bringing back grapes and other produce as samples of the regions fertility. Although all the spies agreed that the land's resources were spectacular, only two of the twelve spies (Joshua and ]) were willing to try to conquer it, and are nearly stoned for their unpopular opinion. The people began weeping and wanted to return to Egypt. Moses turned down the opportunity to have the Israelites completely destroyed and a great nation made from his own offspring, and instead he told the people that they would wander the wilderness for forty years until all those twenty years or older who had refused to enter Canaan had died, and that their children would then enter and possess Canaan. Early the next morning, the Israelites said they had sinned and now wanted to take possession of Canaan. Moses told them not to attempt it, but the Israelites chose to disobey Moses and invade Canaan, but were repulsed by the Amalekites and Canaanites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2013-14;&version=9;|title=Numbers 13–14}}</ref> 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.<ref name="">{{Cite quran|5|20|style=ref}}</ref> | |||
| The ], led by ], ], ], and two hundred fifty Israelite princes accused Moses and Aaron of raising themselves over the rest of the people. Moses told them to come the next morning with a censer for every man. Dathan and Abiram refused to come when summoned by Moses. Moses went to the place of Dathan and Abiram's tents. After Moses spoke the ground opened up and engulfed Dathan and Abiram's tents, after which it closed again. Fire consumed the two hundred fifty men with the censers. Moses had the censers taken and made into plates to cover the altar. The following day, the Israelites came and accused Moses and Aaron of having killed his fellow Israelites. The people were struck with a plague that killed fourteen thousand seven hundred persons, and was only ended when Aaron went with his censer into the midst of the people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=4&chapter=16&version=9|title=Numbers 16}}</ref> To prevent further murmurings and settle the matter permanently, Moses had the chief prince of the non-Levitic tribes write his name on his staff and had them lay them in the sanctuary. He also had Aaron write his name on his staff and had it placed in the tabernacle. The next day, when Moses went into the tabernacle, Aaron's staff had budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2017:1-8;&version=9;|title=Numbers 17:1–8}}</ref> | |||
| 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2020:1-13;&version=9;|title=Num. 20:1–13}}</ref> 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. | |||
| ], curing the Israelites from poisonous snake bites.]] | |||
| Now ready to enter Canaan, the Israelites abandon the idea of attacking the Canaanites head-on in ], a city in the southern part of Canaan, having been informed by spies that they were too strong, it is decided that they will flank Hebron by going further East, around the ]. This requires that they pass through ], ], and ]. These three tribes are considered Hebrews by the Israelites as descendants of ], and therefore cannot be attacked. However they are also rivals, and are therefore not permissive in allowing the Israelites to openly pass through their territory. So Moses leads his people carefully along the eastern border of Edom, the southernmost of these territories. 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 the ] and mounted it on a pole, and if those who were bitten looked at it, they did not die.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2021:4-9;&version=31;|title=Num. 21:4–9}}</ref> According to the Biblical ] this brass serpent remained in existence until the days of King ], who destroyed it after persons began treating it as an idol.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%2018:1-4;&version=31;|title=2 Kings 18:1–4}}</ref> When they reach Moab, it is revealed that Moab has been attacked and defeated by the ]s led by a king named ]. The Amorites were a non-Hebrew Canannic people that once held power in the ]. When Moses asks the Amorites for passage and it is refused, Moses attacks the Amorites (as non-Hebrews, the Israelites have no reservations in attacking them), presumably weakened by conflict with the Moabites, and defeats them.<ref name="am">{{cite book| last =Tromp | first =Johnannes | title =The Assumption of Moses: A Critical Edition with Commentary| publisher =Brill | date =1993}}</ref> | |||
| The Israelites now holding the territory of the Amorites just north of Moab, desire to expand their holdings by acquiring ], a fertile territory north of Ammon famous for its oak trees and cattle. It is led by a king named ]. Later ]nical legends made Og a survivor of the flood, suggesting the he had sat on the ark and was fed by Noah. The Israelites fight with Og's forces at ], on the southern border of Bashan, where the Israelites are victorious and slay every man, woman, and child of his cities and take the spoil for their bounty.<ref name="am" /> | |||
| ], king of Moab, having heard of the Israelites conquests, fears that his territory might be next. Therefore he sends elders of Moab, and of ], to ] (apparently a powerful and respected prophet), son of ], to induce him to come and curse the Israelites. Balaam's location is unclear. Balaam sends back word that he can only do what God commands, and God has, ''via'' a dream, told him not to go. Moab consequently sends higher ranking priests and offers Balaam honours, and so God tells Balaam to go with them. Balaam thus sets out with two servants to go to Balak, but an ] tries to prevent him. At first the Angel is seen only by the ass Balaam is riding. After Balaam starts punishing the ass for refusing to move, it is miraculously given the power to speak to Balaam, and it complains about Balaam's treatment. At this point, Balaam is allowed to see the angel, who informs him that the ass is the only reason the Angel did not kill Balaam. Balaam immediately repents, but is told to go on.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenazareneway.com/story_of_balaam.htm|title=The Story of Balaam}}</ref> | |||
| ] ] of the prophet Moses, gesturing towards the ]. 18th century (] of ] ], ] ], ], ]).]] | |||
| Balak meets with Balaam at ], and they go to the high places of ], and offer sacrifices at seven altars, leading to Balaam being given a prophecy by God, which Balaam relates to Balak. However, the prophecy blesses Israel; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him that he can only speak the words put in his mouth, so Balak takes him to another high place at ], to try again. Building another seven altars here, and making sacrifices on each, Balaam provides another prophecy blessing Israel. Balaam finally gets taken by a now very frustrated Balak to ], and, after the seven sacrifices there, decides not to seek enchantments but instead looks on the Israelites from the peak. The spirit of God comes upon Balaam and he delivers a third positive prophecy concerning Israel. Balak's anger rises to the point where he threatens Balaam, but Balaam merely offers a prediction of fate. Balaam then looks on the ]s, and Amalekites and offers two more predictions of fate. Balak and Balaam then simply go to their respective homes. Later, Balaam 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=2359&pageno=114|title=Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraph 6}}</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} The Midianites sent beautiful women to the Israelite camp to seduce the young men to partake in idolatry, and the attempt proved successful.<ref>Deuteronomy 23:3–6 summarises these incidents, and further states that the Ammonites were associated with the Moabites. ], in his farewell speech, also makes reference to it. Nehemiah, Micah, and Joshua continue in the historical account of Balaam, who next advises the Midianites how to bring disaster on the Israelites by seducing the people with idols and beautiful women, which proves partly successful.</ref> | |||
| ], the grandson of Aaron, put an end to the matter of the Midianite seduction by slaying two of the prominent offenders, but by that time a plague inflicted on the Israelites had already killed about twenty-four thousand persons. Moses was then told that because ] had averted the wrath of God from the Israelites, ] and his descendents were given the pledge of an everlasting priesthood.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2025:1-13;&version=9;|title=Num. 25:1–13}}</ref> | |||
| After Moses had taken a census of the people, he sent an army to avenge the perceived evil brought on the Israelites by the Midianites. Numbers 31 says Moses instructed the Israelite soldiers to kill every Midianite woman, boy and the non-virgin girl, although virgin girls were shared amongst the soldiers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%2031;&version=50;|title=Num. 31:17-18}}</ref> The Israelites killed Balaam, and the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2031:8;&version=9;|title=Num. 31:8}}</ref> | |||
| Moses appointed ], son of ], to succeed him as the leader of the Israelites.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2027:15-23;&version=9;|title=Num. 27:15–23}}</ref> Moses then died at the age of 120.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|34|7}}</ref> | |||
| ===Death=== | |||
| After all this was accomplished, Moses was warned that he would not be permitted to lead the nation of Israel across the ], but would die on its eastern shores (Num. 20:12).<ref name="j1"/> | |||
| He therefore assembled the ], and delivered to them a parting address, which forms the Book of Deuteronomy.<ref name="j1"/> In this address it is commonly accepted that he recapitulated the ], reminding them of its most important features.<ref name="j1"/> When Moses finished, and he had pronounced a blessing on the people (Deut. 28:1-14), he went up Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, looked over the promised land of Israel spread out before him, and died, at the age of one hundred and twenty (dated by the Talmud to 7th of Adar 2488, or 1273 BCE).<ref name="j1"/><ref>Talmud Bavli Megillah 13b; Kiddushin 38a; Sotah 12b</ref> God Himself buried him in an unknown grave (Deut. 34:6).<ref name="j1"/><ref name="ce"/> Moses was thus the human instrument in the creation of the nation of Israel by communicating to it the ].<ref name="j1"/> More humble than any other man (Num. 12:3), he enjoyed unique privileges, for "there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the ] knew face to face" (Deut. 34:10).<ref name="j1">{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=830&letter=M&search=moses#2846|title=Death of Moses}}</ref> | |||
| ==Religious views== | |||
| ===Judaism=== | |||
| {{main|Moses in Hellenistic literature}} | |||
| {{main|Moses in Rabbinic Literature}} | |||
| There is a wealth of stories and additional information about Moses in the ] and in the genre of ]nical exegesis known as ], as well as in the primary works of the Jewish ], the ] and the ].<ref name="j2"/> | |||
| Jewish historians who lived at ], such as ], attributed to Moses the feat of having taught the ]ns their alphabet,<ref>Eusebius, ''Præparatio Evangelica'' ix. 26</ref> similar to legends of ]. ] explicitly identified Moses not only with Thoth / Hermes, but also with the Greek figure ] (whom he calls "the teacher of ]"), and ascribed to him the division of Egypt into 36 districts, each with its own liturgy. He names the princess who adopted Moses as Merris, wife of Pharaoh Chenephres.<ref>Eusebius, l.c. ix. 27</ref> | |||
| Ancient sources mention an Assumption of Moses and a Testimony of Moses. A Latin text was found in ] in the 19th century by ] who called it the ], even though it does not refer to an assumption of Moses or contain portions of the Assumption which are cited by ancient authors, and it is apparently actually the Testimony. The incident which the ancient authors cite is also mentioned in the ]. | |||
| To Orthodox Jews, Moses is really ''Moshe Rabbenu, `Eved HaShem, Avi haNeviim zya"a''.<ref name="j2"/> He is called "Our Leader Moshe", "Servant of God", and "Father of all the Prophets".<ref name="j2"/> In their view, Moses not only received the ], but also the revealed (written and oral) and the hidden (the ''`hokhmat nistar'' teachings, which gave Judaism the Zohar of the ], the Torah of the ] and all that is discussed in the Heavenly Yeshiva between the ] and his masters).<ref name="j2"/> He is also considered the greatest prophet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/moshe.htm|title=Judaism 101: Moses, Aaron and Miriam<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> | |||
| Arising in part from his age, but also because 120 is elsewhere stated as the maximum age for Noah's descendants (one interpretation of {{bibleverse||Genesis|6:3|JP}}), "may you live to 120" has become a common blessing among Jews.<ref name="j2">{{cite web|url=http://www.religioninsight.com/2007/03/02/religious-views-of-moses.html|title=Religious views of Moses}}</ref> | |||
| ===Christianity=== | |||
| {{Infobox Saint|name=Moses|birth_date= ]{{Fact|date=October 2007}}|death_date= |feast_day= September 4|venerated_in=], ]|image=MosesMosaic.jpg|imagesize=156px|caption= ] of Moses at the ]|birth_place= ], ]|death_place= ], ], in modern ]|titles=Prophet, Seer, Lawgiver|attributes= Tablets of the Law}}For ], Moses — mentioned more often in the ] than any other ] figure — is often a symbol of God's law, as reinforced and ] in the teachings of ].<ref name="j2"/> New Testament writers often compared Jesus' words and deeds with Moses' to explain Jesus' mission.<ref name="j2"/> In ] 7:39–43, 51–53, for example, the rejection of Moses by the Jews that worshiped the golden calf is likened to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that continued in traditional Judaism.<ref name="j2"/> | |||
| Moses also figures in several of Jesus' messages.<ref name="j2"/> When he met the ] ] at night in the third chapter of the ], he compares Moses' lifting up of the bronze serpent in the wilderness, which any Israelite could look at and be healed, to his own lifting up (by his death and ]) for the people to look at and be healed.<ref name="j2"/> In the sixth chapter, Jesus responds to the people's claim that Moses provided them '']'' in the wilderness by saying that it was not Moses, but God, who provided.<ref name="j2"/> Calling himself the "bread of life", Jesus states that he is now provided to feed God's people.<ref name="j2"/> | |||
| He, along with ], is presented as meeting with Jesus in all three Gospel accounts of the ] in ] 17, ] 9, and ] 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 ] is compared to Moses' escape from Pharaoh's designs to kill Hebrew infants.<ref name="j2"/> Such parallels, unlike those mentioned above, are not pointed out in Scripture. See the article on ].<ref name="j2"/> | |||
| His relevance to modern Christianity has not diminished. He is considered to be a saint by several churches;<ref name="j2"/> and is commemorated as a prophet in the respective Calendars of Saints of the ]<ref name="j2"/> and ] Churches on September 4. He is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the ] of the ] on ]. | |||
| ===Islam=== | |||
| {{main|Islamic view of Moses}} | |||
| {{seealso|Biblical narratives and the Qur'an#Moses (Mūsā موسى)}} | |||
| In the ], the life of Moses (Arabic: Musa) is narrated and recounted more than any other ].<ref name="j2"/> Moses is defined in Quran as both prophet('']'') and messenger('']''), which means he was one the prophets who brought a scripture and law to his people. He has the status of being one of the ] apostles, that is those apostles who were endowed with special determination, constancy and forbearance in obeying the commands of God. 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 ].<ref name="Keeler55"/> | |||
| In the Qur'an, Moses is included in the following passages: ].49-61, ].103-160, ].75-93, ].101-104, ].9-97, ].10-66, ].7-14, ].3-46, ].23-30, ].46-55, ].17-31, and ].15-25. | |||
| Most of the key events in Moses' life which are narrated in the Bible are to be found dispersed through the different ] of Quran, with a mystic story about meeting ] which is not found in the Bible.<ref name="Keeler56">Keeler (2006), </ref> The Bible and Qur'an have different angles of view. The Bible has focused on Moses and the rescue of ], while the Qur'an emphasized on the relation between Moses and God.<ref name="j2"/><ref name="Keeler56-57">Keeler (2006), </ref> | |||
| ====Mormonism==== | |||
| {{main|Book of Moses}} | |||
| Members of the ] (also called ]s) generally view Moses in the same way that other Christians do. However, in addition to accepting the Biblical account of Moses, Mormons include the '']'' as part of their scriptural canon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aboutmormons.com/bom.php|title=About Mormons<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> This book is believed to be the translated writings of Moses, and is included in the LDS Church's '']''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/basic/scripture/moses.html|title=The Book of Moses<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> Latter-day Saints are also unique in believing that Moses was taken to heaven without having tasted death (]). In addition, ] and ] stated that on April 3, 1836, Moses appeared to them in the ] 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 the ten tribes from the land of the north."<ref>the ] </ref> | |||
| ===Islam=== | |||
| {{main|Islamic view of Moses}} | |||
| {{seealso|Biblical narratives and the Qur'an#Moses (Mūsā موسى)}} | |||
| In the ], the life of Moses (Arabic: Musa) is narrated and recounted more than any other ].<ref name="j2"/> Moses is defined in Quran as both prophet('']'') and messenger('']''), which means he was one the prophets who brought a scripture and law to his people. He has the status of being one of the ] apostles, that is those apostles who were endowed with special determination, constancy and forbearance in obeying the commands of God. 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 ].<ref name="Keeler55"/> | |||
| In the Qur'an, Moses is included in the following passages: ].49-61, ].103-160, ].75-93, ].101-104, ].9-97, ].10-66, ].7-14, ].3-46, ].23-30, ].46-55, ].17-31, and ].15-25. | |||
| Most of the key events in Moses' life which are narrated in the Bible are to be found dispersed through the different ] of Quran, with a mystic story about meeting ] which is not found in the Bible.<ref name="Keeler56">Keeler (2006), </ref> The Bible and Qur'an have different angles of view. The Bible has focused on Moses and the rescue of ], while the Qur'an emphasized on the relation between Moses and God.<ref name="j2"/><ref name="Keeler56-57">Keeler (2006), </ref> | |||
| ===Mandaeism=== | |||
| In ], Moses is regarded as a false prophet. The God of Moses (YHWH) is said in Mandaeism to be an evil god or demon (whom they also identify with the sun). While it has been asserted that Mandaeanism is of Judaic origin, this has been disputed as they may also have had a common origin; at any rate, there are vehement polemics against Jews in Mandaean literature.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=M1kWzSxecUQC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=mandaeism+moses+as+a+false+prophet&source=web&ots=9j6HGL3y-e&sig=EwF4NYS8rENPOehsWq9p7n0lG20|title=See Book}}</ref> | |||
| ===Scientology=== | |||
| ], the founder of ], maintained that ] was "a battleground between two space groups" who infiltrated humanity and become integral to Egyptian culture. (What is Knowable to the PC, 1961) In ''Responsibility and the State of OT'', he claimed that Moses had a "disintegrator pistol". | |||
| ==Academic view== | |||
| The German scholar ]: | |||
| *Accepts that Moses may have had some connection with the preparations for the conquest of Canaan | |||
| *Recognizes a historical core "beneath" the Exodus and Sinai traditions | |||
| But on the other hand, Noth holds that: | |||
| *Two different groups experienced the Exodus and Sinai events and each group transmitted its own stories independently of the other one. | |||
| *"The biblical story tracing the Hebrews from Egypt to Canaan resulted from an editor's weaving separate themes and traditions around a main character Moses, actually an obscure person from Moab."<ref name="Britannica"> "Moses." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref> | |||
| Other scholars such as William Foxwell Albright have a more favorable view towards the traditional views regarding Moses and accept the essence of the biblical story, as narrated between Exodus 1:8 and Deuteronomy 34:12, but recognize that impact the centuries of oral and written transmission had on the account causing it to acquire layers of accretions.<ref name="Britannica"/> | |||
| ==Historiography== | |||
| ] depicts the three stages in Moses' life.]]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 or Judeo-Hellenic historians ], ], ], and ], a few gentile historians including ], ], ], ], ] and ] make reference to him. The extent to which any of these accounts rely on earlier sources is unknown. Moses also appears in other religious texts such as the ], ] and ] | |||
| No other surviving written records from Egypt, ], etc., indisputably referring to the stories of the Bible or its main characters before ca. 850s BCE have been found,<ref>''Who Were the Early Israelites?'' by ] (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2003</ref><ref>''The Bible Unearthed'' by ] and ] (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001</ref> and there is no known physical evidence (such as pottery shards or stone tablets) to corroborate Moses' existence.<ref>] (Harper's Magazine, New York, May 2002)]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_arhs.htm|title=Archaeology and the Hebrew Scriptures}}</ref> | |||
| ===Artapanus of Alexandria=== | |||
| This account is excerpted from the Hellenistic Jewish historian ] (2nd century BCE), as reproduced by ]. | |||
| {{cquote2|''Jealousy of Moses' excellent qualities induced Chenephres to send him with unskilled troops on a military expedition to ], where he won great victories. After having built the city of ], he taught the people the value of the ] as a protection against the serpents, making the bird the sacred guardian spirit of the city; then he introduced circumcision. After his return to ], Moses taught the people the value of oxen for agriculture, and the consecration of the same by Moses gave rise to the cult of Apis. Finally, after having escaped another plot by killing the assailant sent by the king, Moses fled to ], where he married the daughter of ], the ruler of the district. Chenephres in the meantime died from ] — a disease with which he was the first to be afflicted — because he had ordered that the Jews should wear garments that would distinguish them from the Egyptians and thereby expose them to maltreatment. The sufferings of Israel then caused God to appear to Moses in a flame bursting forth from the earth, and to tell him to march against Egypt for the rescue of his people. Accordingly he went to Egypt to deliberate with his brother Aaron about the plan of warfare, but was put into prison. At night, however, the doors of the prison opened of their own accord, while the guards died or fell asleep. Going to the royal palace and finding the doors open there and the guards sunk in sleep, he went straight to the king, and when scoffingly asked by the latter for the name of the God who sent him, he whispered the Ineffable Name into his ear, whereupon the king became speechless and as one dead. Then Moses wrote the name upon a tablet and sealed it up, and a priest who made sport of it died in convulsions. After this Moses performed all the wonders, striking land and people with plagues until the king let the Jews go. In remembrance of the rod with which Moses performed his miracles every ] temple in Egypt has preserved a rod — Isis symbolizing the earth which Moses struck with his rod... He was eighty-nine years old when he delivered the Jews; tall and ruddy, with long white hair, and dignified.''}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=830&letter=M&search=moses#3|title=JewishEncyclopedia.com - MOSES<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> | |||
| ===In Strabo=== | |||
| The following excerpt comes from the Roman historian ] (c. 24 AD): | |||
| {{cquote2|'''34''' ''As for Judaea, its western extremities towards Casius are occupied by the '']'' and by the lake. The Idumaeans are ], but owing to a sedition they were banished from there, joined the Judeans, 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 ] and Hiericus and Philadelphia and ], which last ] 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 ]ns; and that the Greeks were also wrong in modeling 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 defense 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 organized 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.''}}<ref>, Paragraphs 34–36</ref> | |||
| ===In Tacitus=== | |||
| The Roman historian ] (ca. 100 AD) mentions several possible origins of the Jews that were taught by those of his time. | |||
| {{cquote2|''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 ], 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 ] 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 ]n origin, who in the time of king ] were driven by fear and hatred of their neighbours to seek a new dwelling-place. Others describe them as an ]n 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 '']'', a nation celebrated in the poems of ], 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 '']'', seeking a remedy, consulted the oracle of ], 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.''|<ref>, Paragraphs 2 & 3</ref>}} | |||
| ===''The Antiquities of the Jews''=== | |||
| {{main|Osarseph}} | |||
| ] relates several other incidents in connection with the Biblical account of Moses: | |||
| Before the incident in which Moses slew the Egyptian, Moses had led the Egyptians in a campaign against invading Ethiopians and routed them. While Moses was besieging one of the Ethiopians' cities, 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.<ref name="j3">{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?pageno=61&fk_files=2359|title=Antiquities of the Jews page 61}}</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} This marriage is also mentioned in Numbers 12:1. The account of this expedition is also mentioned by ],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/anf01-64.htm#P9585_2796749|title=''Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus'', XXXII}}</ref> and the event would explain why ] refers to Moses as "mighty in his words and in his deeds" ''before'' Moses slayed the Egyptian.<ref>Acts 7:22</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-01/footnote/fn95.htm#P9588_2797128|title=The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus}}</ref> | |||
| Flavius Josephus also gives significantly detailed accounts of the aftermath of Baalam's blessings and the events that lead to the slaying of Zimri.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=2359&pageno=114|title=Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraphs 6–12}}</ref>{{Primary source claim|date=July 2008}} | |||
| ===Date of the Exodus=== | |||
| {{main|the Exodus}} | |||
| There is considerable uncertainty as to what date the Bible implies for the Exodus taking place. Suggestions include: | |||
| *It may have occurred around the end of the ] era (1648–1540 BCE), as mentioned above;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bibleandscience.com/archaeology/exodus.htm|title=Bible and Science: Dating the Exodus}}</ref> | |||
| *It may have occurred around 1400s BCE, since the ], written ca. forty years later to Pharaohs ] and Amenhotep IV (]) indicate that ] was being invaded by the "]" — whom some scholars in the 1950s to 1970s interpret to mean "Hebrews". However, the Hebrew patriarchs ], ] and ] are also recorded as having conducted military activities in Canaan some centuries before the Exodus. Note also that "forty years" is a common expression in the Old Testament for "a long period of time", and that many scholars today view the ] as members of a social underclass of people present throughout the Ancient Near East at this time, rather than a tribal group confined to Egypt.{{fact|date=July 2008}} | |||
| *It may have occurred during the ], as the pharaoh of that time, ], is commonly considered to be the 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, ] and ]." These cities are known to have been built under both ] and Rameses II, thus possibly making his successor ] the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus.' This is considered plausible by those who view the famous claim of the Year 5 ] (ca. 1208 BCE) that "Israel is wasted, bare of seed," as propaganda to cover up this king's own loss of an army in the Red Sea. Taken at face value, however, the primary intent of the stela was clearly to commemorate Merneptah's victory over the Libyans and their Sea People allies. The reference to Canaan occurs only in the final lines of the document where Israel is mentioned after the city states of Ashkelon, Gezer and Yanoam perhaps to signal Merneptah's disdain or contempt for this new entity. In Exodus, the Pharaoh of the Exodus did not cross into Canaan since his Army was destroyed at the Red Sea. Hence, the traditional view that Ramesses II was the Pharaoh of either the Oppression or the Exodus is affirmed by the basic contents of the ]. Under this scenario, the Israelites would have been a nation without a state of their own who existed on the fringes of Canaan in Year 5 of Merneptah. This is suggested by the determinative sign written in the stela for Israel — "a throw stick plus a man and a woman over the three vertical plural lines" — which was "typically used by the Egyptians to signify nomadic groups or peoples without a fixed city-state,"<ref>Carol Redmount, 'Bitter Lives: Israel in and out of Egypt' in "The Oxford History of the Biblical World", ed: Michael D. Coogan, (Oxford University Press: 1999), paperback, p.97</ref> such as the Hebrew's previous life in ]. | |||
| *An unverified theory places the birth and/or adoption of Moses during a minor oppression in the reign of Amenhotep III, which was soon lifted, and claims that the more well-known oppression occurred during the reign of ], followed by the Exodus itself during the reign of ]. This is supported by the ], which suggests that they were oppressed and then re-oppressed quite a few years later by Pharaoh. The Bible and Haggada suggest that the Pharaoh of the Exodus died in year 2 of his reign, matching Ramses I. The fact that ] and ] were built during the reign of Ramses I also supports this view. Seti I records that during his reign the ] warred with each other, which some see as a reference to the ] and ] wars. Seti's campaigns with the Shasu have also been compared with Balaam's exploits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://custance.org/old/hidden/4ch2.html|title=Hidden Things of God's Revelation chapter 2}}</ref> However, many Egyptologists reject these comparisons as spurious.{{fact|date=July 2008}} | |||
| *A more recent and non-Biblical view places Moses as a noble in the court of the Pharaoh ] (See below). A significant number of scholars, from ] to ], suggest that Moses may have fled Egypt after Akhenaten's death (ca. 1334 BCE) when many 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 the "]", written by nobles to Akhenaten, which describe raiding bands of "]" attacking the Egyptian territories in ].<ref>''Transformations of Myth Through Time'', ], p. 87–90, Harper & Row</ref> | |||
| *David Rohl, a British historian and archaeologist, author of the book "A Test of Time", places the birth of Moses during the reign of Pharaoh Khaneferre Sobekhotep IV of the 13th Egyptian Dynasty, and the Exodus during the reign of Pharaoh Dudimose (accession to the throne around 1457–1444), when according to Manetho "a blast from God smote the Egyptians".<ref>{{cite book| last = Rohl| first = David| title = A Test of Time| publisher = Arrow| date = 1995, 2001| location = London| isbn = 0099416565}}</ref> | |||
| ==Challenges to his historicity== | |||
| *There is also the suggestion that Moses was not a real historical figure and that the Exodus did not occur at all. Some archaeologists have claimed that surveys of ancient settlements in Sinai do not appear to show a great influx of people around the time of the Exodus (given variously as between 1500–1200 BCE), as would be expected from the arrival of Joshua and the Israelites in Canaan. This suggests that the biblical Exodus may not be a literal depiction;<ref>See by </ref>. Archaeologists such as ], ] and ], regard the Exodus as non-historical, at best containing a small germ of truth. According to Prof. ], Director of the Institute of Archaeology at ] "This is what archaeologists have learned from their excavations in the Land of Israel: the Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel.... The many Egyptian documents that we have make no mention of the Israelites' presence in Egypt and are also silent about the events of the exodus. <ref></ref> | |||
| *In his book, '']'', Finkelstein points to the appearance of settlements in the central hill country around 1200, recognized by most archaeologists as the earliest settlements of the Israelites.<ref>I Finkelstein and N. Na'aman, eds., From Nomadism to Monarchy (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1994)</ref> Using evidence from earlier periods, he shows a cyclical pattern to these highland settlements, corresponding to the state of the surrounding cultures. Finkelstein suggests that the local Canaanites would adapt their way of living from an agricultural lifestyle to a nomadic one and vice versa. When Egyptian rule collapsed after the invasion of the ], the central hill country could no longer sustain a large nomadic population, so they went from nomadism to ].<ref>{{cite book | author=Finkelstein, Israel and Silberman, Neil Asher | title=The Bible Unearthed | publisher=New York: Free Press | year=2001 | id=ISBN 0-684-86912-8}}</ref> Dever agrees with the Canaanite origin of the Israelites but allows for the possibility of a Semitic tribe coming from Egyptian servitude among the early hilltop settlers and that Moses or a Moses-like figure may have existed in Transjordan ca 1250-1200.<ref>{{cite book | author=Dever, William G. | title=What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? | publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company | year=2002 | id=ISBN 0-8028-2126-X}}</ref> | |||
| *], such as Philip Davies, Niels Peter Lemche and ], regard the Exodus as ahistorical. Hector Avalos, in "The End of Biblical Studies," states that the Exodus, as depicted in the Bible, is an idea that most biblical historians no longer support.<ref>{{cite book| last = Avalos| first = Hector| title = The End of Biblical Studies| publisher = Prometheus Books| date =2007|isbn = 1591025362}}</ref> | |||
| ==In Freud's historical psychoanalysis== | |||
| There is also a ] interpretation of Moses' life, put forward by ] in his last book, ''],'' in 1937. Freud postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to the monotheism of ]. Following a theory proposed by a contemporary biblical critic, Freud, a committed ], believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of patricidal 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.<ref> Jan Assmann. "Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism". Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-674-58738-3 See also Y. Yerushalmi's monograph on Freud's Moses. The biblical critic had recanted his original theory around the same time as Freud's book, but either the latter was unaware of this or decided to uphold it nevertheless. </ref> Opponents of this view observe that the religion of the Torah seems different to ] in everything except the central feature of devotion to a single god,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atenism.org/|title=Order of the Aten Temple}}</ref> although this has been countered by a variety of arguments, e.g. pointing out the similarities between the ] and ].<ref> Jan Assmann, op. cit. </ref><ref>James E. Atwell, "An Egyptian Source for Genesis 1" , The Journal of Theological Studies 2000 51(2), 441–477.</ref> Freud's interpretation of the historical Moses is not a prominent theory among ]s, and is considered ] by most.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} | |||
| ==Criticism== | |||
| {{main|Criticism of Moses}} | |||
| According to the ], Moses prescribed the death penalty for a huge range of offences, and for defeated enemies. As he is considered a holy figure, however, by ]s, ]s and ]s, most criticism of his life and teachings has been left to others. | |||
| In the late eighteenth century, for example, the ] ] commented at length on Moses' Laws in '']'', and gave his view that "the character of Moses, as stated in the Bible, is the most horrid that can be imagined". <ref>], '']'' part II, 1796</ref> giving the story at {{bibleverse||Numbers|31:13-18}} as an example. | |||
| In the nineteenth century the ] ] wrote " ...that all the ignorant, infamous, heartless, hideous things recorded in the 'inspired' Pentateuch are not the words of God, but simply 'Some Mistakes of Moses'".<ref>], ''Some Mistakes of Moses'' chapter XXIX</ref> | |||
| More recently the ] ] referring, like Paine, to the incident at {{bibleverse||Numbers|31:13-18}}, concluded drily "No, Moses was not a great role model for modern moralists.<ref>], '']'', 2006, chapter 7</ref> | |||
| ==Depictions== | |||
| ] | |||
| Moses is depicted in several U.S. government buildings because of his legacy as a lawgiver. Moses is one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in ] ]s in the ] of the ] in the ].<ref>"Relief Portraits of Lawgivers: Moses." Architect of the Capitol. </ref> An image of Moses holding two tablets written in Hebrew representing the Ten Commandments (and a partially visible list of commandments six through ten, the more "secular" commandments, behind his beard) is depicted on the ] on the south wall of the ].<ref>"Courtroom Friezes: North and South Walls: Information Sheet." Supreme Court of the United States. </ref> | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ] | |||
| === Horned Moses === | |||
| {{bibleverse||Exodus|34:29-35|HE}} tells that after meeting with God the skin of Moses' face became radiant, frightening the Israelites and leading Moses to wear a veil. ], 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 passage has led to one longstanding tradition that Moses grew ]. This is derived from a misinterpretation of the Hebrew phrase ''{{transl|sem|karan `ohr panav}}'' ({{lang|he|קָרַן עֹור פָּנָיו}}). The ] {{lang|he|קרן}} ''{{transl|sem|Q-R-N}}'' (], ], ]) may be read as either "horn" or "ray ]", depending on vocalization. ''{{transl|sem|`Ohr panahv}}'' ({{lang|he|עֹור פָּנָיו}}) translates to "the skin of his face".<ref name="rrr">{{cite web|url=http://www.moseshand.com/studies/moses.htm|title=Moses horns<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> | |||
| Interpreted correctly, these two words form an expression meaning that Moses was enlightened, that "the skin of his face shone" (as with a ]), as the ] has it.<ref name="rrr"/> | |||
| The ] properly translates the Hebrew phrase as {{lang|gr|δεδόξασται ἡ ὄψις}}, "his face was glorified"; but ] translated the phrase into ] as ''cornuta esset facies sua'' "his face was horned".<ref name="rrr"/> | |||
| With apparent Biblical authority, and the added convenience of giving Moses a unique and easily identifiable visual ] (something the other Old Testament prophets notably lacked), it remained standard in Western art to depict Moses with small horns until well after the mistranslation was realized by the ]. ], is probably the best-known example. | |||
| Not all the Renaissance Italian painters gave horns to Moses. The Venetian artist Tintoretto depicts Moses' face as radiating light, in his series about the life of the prophet in the ]. | |||
| Popular artist renditions of saints include radiant light behind the head, ], or over the crown of the head. Other traditions outside of religion include an ] to show an element of the supernatural, or possible energy field of the body. | |||
| === Portrayals in popular culture === | |||
| ====Dramatic portrayals==== | |||
| * Moses appears as the central character in the 1956 ] movie, '']''. He is portrayed by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://christiannewsreport.com/film2004-5.htm|title=Christian News Report for May 2004}}</ref> A ] was produced in 2006. ]. ]] | |||
| * Moses appears as the central character in the 1998 ] Pictures animated movie, '']''. He is voiced by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0120794/|title=Prince of Egypt}}</ref> | |||
| ====Parodies==== | |||
| * In the 1981 ] '']'', Moses is portrayed by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082517/|title=History of the World: Part I}}</ref> | |||
| * ] portrayed Moses in the 1995 TV movie ]. | |||
| * The ] ] occasionally features a character called Moses. | |||
| * Moses appears in the form of the ] from ] in Season 3 Episode 9 of the cartoon series ], which first aired on 07/28/1999 in the ]. | |||
| ====Literature==== | |||
| In late David Gemmell's Troy series, Moses is exiled Egyptian (Gyppto) prince Ahmose. He joins Helikaon's crew under the name Gershom and becomes one of his closest friends after the death of Zidantas/Ox. He considers his grandfather, the pharaoh, a very wise man. Priam's daughter Kassandra shows him the truth: He was taken from his parents to replace pharaoh's stillborn son. He then goes to Egypt to free his people. When Thera volcano erupts, the sun is blotted out and because it happens right after Ramesses refuses to let them go, Jews believe that Moses did that. | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| {{commonscat|Moses}} | |||
| *] | |||
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| *Articles on Biblical books involving Moses: ], ], ], ] | |||
| *Articles on ]s involving Moses: ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| *]. ''Moses''. New York: Putnam, 1958. ISBN 0742691373 | |||
| *]. ''Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism''. Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-674-58738-3. | |||
| *Barzel, Hillel. "Moses: Tragedy and Sublimity." In ''Literary Interpretations of Biblical Narratives''. Edited by Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, with James S. Ackerman & Thayer S. Warshaw, 120–40. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974. ISBN 0-687-22131-5. | |||
| *]. ''Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant.'' New York: Harper, 1958. | |||
| *]. ''Stone Tables''. Deseret Book Co., 1998. ISBN 1-57345-115-0. | |||
| *Chasidah, Yishai, ''Encyclopaedia of Biblical personalities: anthologized from the Talmud, Midrash and rabbinic writings'', Shaar Press, Brooklyn, 2000 | |||
| *Cohen, Joel. ''Moses: A Memoir''. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8091-0558-6. | |||
| *]. ''Moses: The Man and his Vision.'' New York: Praeger, 1975. ISBN 0-275-33740-5. | |||
| *]. ''Moses, Prince of Egypt''. New York: Crown Pubs., 1958. | |||
| *]. ''Moses and Monotheism.'' New York: Vintage, 1967. ISBN 0-394-70014-7. | |||
| *Gjerman, Corey. ''Moses: The Father I Never Knew''. Portland: Biblical Fantasticals, 2007. ISBN 978-1424171132. | |||
| *]. ''Zipporah, Wife of Moses''. New York: Crown, 2005. ISBN 1400052793. | |||
| *]. ''The Pillar of Fire: Or Israel in Bondage''. New York: A.L. Burt, 1859. Reprinted Ann Arbor, Mich.: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library, 2006. ISBN 1425564917. | |||
| *]. ''Moses: A Life.'' New York: Ballantine, 1998. ISBN 0-345-41269-9. | |||
| *Kohn, Rebecca. ''Seven Days to the Sea: An Epic Novel of the Exodus''. New York: Rugged Land, 2006. ISBN 1-59071-049-5. | |||
| *Lehman, S.M., rabbi Dr., (translator), Freedman, H., rabbi Dr., (ed.), ''Midrash Rabbah'', 10 volumes, The Soncino Press, London, 1983 | |||
| *]. "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me." In ''The Ten Commandments'', 3–70. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943. | |||
| *Sandmel, Samuel. ''Alone Atop the Mountain''. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973. ISBN 0-385-03877-1. | |||
| *Southon, Arthur E. ''On Eagles' Wings''. London: Cassell and Co., 1937. Reprinted New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954. | |||
| *]. “Moses: Portrait of a Leader.” In ''Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits & Legends'', 174–210. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-49740-6. | |||
| *]. ''Moses as Political Leader''. Jerusalem: Shalem Press, 2005. ISBN 965-7052-31-9. | |||
| *]. ''Prince of Egypt''. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1949 | |||
| <!-- Metadata: see ] --> | |||
| Hans Werding "Moses war Tutenchamun" ISBN 978-3-9803892-2-8 | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| * The entire context of the cited chapter of Strabo's work | |||
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| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME=Moses | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES=موسى (Arabic); מֹשֶׁה (Hebrew); | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION= prophet | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH= | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH=Egypt | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH= | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH=Mount Nebo | |||
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Revision as of 21:57, 11 September 2008
Moses (Latin: Moyses, Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Modern: Moshe, Tiberian: Mōšeh; Greek: Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: موسىٰ, Mūsa; Ge'ez: ሙሴ, Musse) is a Biblical Hebrew religious leader, lawgiver, prophet, and military leader, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. He is also an important prophet in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, Mormonism, Rastafari, Raëlism, Chrislam and many other faiths.
According to the book of Exodus, Moses was born to a Hebrew mother, Jochebed, who hid him when a Pharaoh (Feraun, as mentioned in the Qu'ran), ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed, and he ended up being adopted into the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master, Moses fled and became a shepherd, and was later commanded by God/ Allah to deliver the Hebrews from slavery. After the Ten Plagues were unleashed on Egypt, he led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, where they wandered in the desert for 40 years, during which time, according to the Bible, Moses received the
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- ^ Deuteronomy 34:10
- ^ Quran 19:51–51
- Juan R.I. Cole (7/10/98). "Baha'u'llah on the Life of Jesus". Retrieved 2008-08-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Rael (2005). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution. p. 114. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
- Rael (2005). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution. p. 312. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
- Rael (2005). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution. p. 324. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.