Moses

Moses strikes water from the stone, by Bacchiacca

This article is about the Biblical figure. For other uses, see Moses (disambiguation).

Moses (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה, Standard Mošə Tiberian Mōšeh; Arabic: موسى, Mūsa; Ge'ez: ሙሴ Musse) is a Biblical Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian. Moses is considered one of the greatest figures of the Bible. He is considered a prophet in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.

Moses in the Bible

According to the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible, Moses was a son of Amram, a Levite, and his wife Jochebed. Jochebed was also the sister of Amram's father Kohath. (Exodus vi 20) Aaron was Moses' elder brother. 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.

In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses occurred at a time when the current Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all male children born to Hebrew slaves be killed by drowning in the river Nile. The Torah leaves the identity of this Pharaoh unstated.

The finding of Moses, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

The finding of Moses, by Edwin Long

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

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

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

God commissioned him to go to Egypt and deliver his fellow Hebrews from bondage. He then returned to Egypt and was met upon his arrival by his elder brother, Aaron, and gained a hearing with his oppressed brethren. It was a more difficult matter, however, to persuade Pharaoh to let the Hebrews depart. This was not accomplished until God sent ten plagues upon the Egyptians. These plagues culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian first-borns whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they ordered the Hebrews to leave in the Exodus.

The Torah also leaves the identity of this Pharaoh of the Exodus unstated.

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

When the people arrived at Marah, the water was bitter causing the people to murmur against Moses. Moses cast a tree into the water, and the water became sweet. 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 manna from the sky in the morning and quail in the evening took care of the situation. 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.

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

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

When the Israelites came to Sinai, they pitched camp near the mountain. Moses commanded the people not to touch the mountain. Moses received the ten commandments orally (but not yet in tablet form) and other moral laws. Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, 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 Hur.

Moses with the Tablets, by Rembrandt

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

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

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses on account of his previous marriage to an Ethiopian, and about him being the only one through whom the Lord spoke. Miriam was punished with leprosy for seven days.

The people left Hazeroth and pitched camp in the wilderness of Paran. Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan as scouts. After forty days, they returned to the Israelite camp. Although all the spies agreed that the land's resources were spectacular, only two of the twelve spies were willing to try to conquer it. 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 told the people that they would wander the wilderness for forty years until all those twenty years or older that 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.

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, 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. 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 laid 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.

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. This was the second occasion Moses struck a rock to bring forth water; however, it appears that both sites were named Meribah after these two incidents.

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

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

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

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

Moses in Jewish thought

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

Arising in part from his age, but also because 120 is elsewhere stated as the maximum age for Noah's descendants (one interpretation of Genesis 6:3), "may you live to 120" has become a common blessing among Jews.

Moses in Christian thought

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

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

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

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

Moses in Muslim Thought

Main article: Islamic view of Moses

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

Moses in Mormon thought

The Book of Moses is a text published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormons to be the translated writings of Moses. It is published today as part of the Pearl of Great Price.

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

Moses was known as the crushinator in the Muslim world. He was feared as the slayer of the Allah praying peoples.

Moses and Ancient Authors

Known extra-Biblical references to Moses date from many centuries after his supposed lifetime, and contain significant departures from the Biblical account. In addition to the Judeo-Roman historians Flavius Josephus and Philo, a number of gentile historians including Polyhistor, Manetho and Tacitus make reference to him. The extent to which any of these accounts rely on earlier sources is unknown. Moses also features prominently in later traditions such as the Midrash, Mishna and Qur'an; these texts draw on and diverge from Biblical accounts. See the article on The Bible and history.

Currently, no other surviving written records from Egypt, Assyria, etc., referring to the stories of the Bible or its main characters before ca. 850 BCE have been found. Destruction of unfavorable records by unsympathetic Pharaohs, and even mass obliteration of cartouches from monuments, is known to have occurred at several epochs in Ancient Egyptian history.

Moses in Strabo

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

34 As for Judaea, its western extremities towards Casius are occupied by the Idumaeans and by the lake. The Idumaeans are Nabataeans, but owing to a sedition they were banished from there, joined the Judaeans, and shared in the same customs with them. The greater part of the region near the sea is occupied by Lake Sirbonis and by the country continuous with the lake as far as Jerusalem; for this city is also near the sea; for, as I have already said, it is visible from the seaport of Iopê. This region lies towards the north; and it is inhabited in general, as is each place in particular, by mixed stocks of people from Aegyptian and Arabian and Phoenician tribes; for such are those who occupy Galilee and Hiericus and Philadelphia and Samaria, which last Herod surnamed Sebastê. But though the inhabitants mixed up thus, the most prevalent of the accredited reports in regard to the temple at Jerusalem represents the ancestors of the present Judaeans, as they are called, as Aegyptians.

35 Moses, namely, was one of the Aegyptian priests, and held a part of Lower Aegypt, as it is called, but he went away from there to Judaea, since he was displeased with the state of affairs there, and was accompanied by many people who worshipped the Divine Being. For he says, and taught, that the Aegyptians were mistaken in representing the Divine Being by the images of beasts and cattle, as were also the Libyans; and that the Greeks were also wrong in modelling gods in human form; for, according to him, God is this one thing alone that encompasses us all and encompasses land and sea — the thing which we call heaven, or universe, or the nature of all that exists. What man, then, if he has sense, could be bold enough to fabricate an image of God resembling any creature amongst us? Nay, people should leave off all image-carving, and, setting apart a sacred precinct and a worthy sanctuary, should worship God without an image; and people who have good dreams should sleep in the sanctuary, not only themselves on their own behalf, but also others for the rest of the people; and those who live self-restrained and righteous lives should always expect some blessing or gift or sign from God, but no other should expect them.

36 Now Moses, saying things of this kind, persuaded not a few thoughtful men and led them away to this place where the settlement of Jerusalem now is; and he easily took possession of the place, since it was not a place that would be looked on with envy, nor yet one for which anyone would make a serious fight; for it is rocky, and, although it itself is well supplied with water, its surrounding territory is barren and waterless, and the part of the territory within a radius of sixty stadia is also rocky beneath the surface. At the same time Moses, instead of using arms, put forward as defence his sacrifices and his Divine Being, being resolved to seek a seat of worship for Him and promising to deliver to the people a kind of worship and a kind of ritual which would not oppress those who adopted them either with expenses or with divine obsessions or with other absurd troubles. Now Moses enjoyed fair repute with these people, and organised no ordinary kind of government, since the peoples all round, one and all, came over to him, because of his dealings with them and of the prospects he held out to them.

Moses in Tacitus

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

As I am about to relate the last days of a famous city, it seems appropriate to throw some light on its origin. Some say that the Jews were fugitives from the island of Crete, who settled on the nearest coast of Africa about the time when Saturn was driven from his throne by the power of Jupiter. Evidence of this is sought in the name. There is a famous mountain in Crete called Ida; the neighbouring tribe, the Idaei, came to be called Judaei by a barbarous lengthening of the national name. Others assert that in the reign of Isis the overflowing population of Egypt, led by Hierosolymus and Judas, discharged itself into the neighbouring countries. Many, again, say that they were a race of Ethiopian origin, who in the time of king Cepheus were driven by fear and hatred of their neighbours to seek a new dwelling-place. Others describe them as an Assyrian horde who, not having sufficient territory, took possession of part of Egypt, and founded cities of their own in what is called the Hebrew country, lying on the borders of Syria. Others, again, assign a very distinguished origin to the Jews, alleging that they were the Solymi, a nation celebrated in the poems of Homer, who called the city which they founded Hierosolyma after their own name.

Most writers, however, agree in stating that once a disease, which horribly disfigured the body, broke out over Egypt; that king Bocchoris, seeking a remedy, consulted the oracle of Hammon, and was bidden to cleanse his realm, and to convey into some foreign land this race detested by the gods. The people, who had been collected after diligent search, finding themselves left in a desert, sat for the most part in a stupor of grief, till one of the exiles, Moyses by name, warned them not to look for any relief from God or man, forsaken as they were of both, but to trust to themselves, taking for their heaven-sent leader that man who should first help them to be quit of their present misery. They agreed, and in utter ignorance began to advance at random. Nothing, however, distressed them so much as the scarcity of water, and they had sunk ready to perish in all directions over the plain, when a herd of wild asses was seen to retire from their pasture to a rock shaded by trees. Moyses followed them, and, guided by the appearance of a grassy spot, discovered an abundant spring of water. This furnished relief. After a continuous journey for six days, on the seventh they possessed themselves of a country, from which they expelled the inhabitants, and in which they founded a city and a temple.

Moses in The Antiquities of the Jews

Flavius Josephus 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. This marriage is also mentioned in Numbers 12:1 (Cushite meant Ethiopian; Zipporah was Midianite, definitely not Ethiopian). The account of this expedition is possibly also mentioned by Irenaeus, and the event would explain why St. Stephen refers to Moses as "mighty in his words and in his deeds" before Moses slayed the Egyptian.

Flavius Josephus also gives significantly detailed accounts of the aftermath of Baalam's blessings and the events that lead to the slaying of Zimri.

Currently unverified to Wikipedia, it is possible that Moses has been identified with Osarseph, a figure from Josephus' Against Apion. Josephus may have attributed the identification to Manetho but may have vigorously denied it himself. Osarseph may have been identified with Joseph in Thomas Mann's Joseph and His Brothers, and others might have suggested that historical Osarseph is the nucleus of both the story of Joseph and of Moses.

The Name "Moses"

Moses is an Egyptian name-element meaning "-gave birth to him" or "-formed him" and was usually combined with a theophoric element, as in "Ramose" which had the meaning "child of Ra" or "Ra formed him" "Moshe" is a Hebrew word (meaning "one who draws water"). The book of Exodus attributes the origin of "Moses" to his being "drawn out" of the water by the Egyptian princess.

Date of the Exodus

Main article: the Exodus

Historicity and date of the Exodus are uncertain. Suggestions include:

• it occurred around the end of the Hyksos era (1648 - 1540 BCE), as expressed above;
• it occurred about 1400 BCE, since the Amarna letters, written ca. forty years later to Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) indicate that Canaan was being invaded by the "Habiru" — whom some scholars in the 1950's to 1970's interpret to mean "Hebrews". However, the Hebrews Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also recorded to have conducted military activities in Canaan some centuries before the Exodus. Many scholars today view the Hapiru as members of a social, rather than a tribal, underclass of people who existed throughout the Ancient Near East, not just Egypt.
• it occurred during the 13th century BCE, as the pharaoh during most of that time, Rameses II, is commonly considered to be a pharaoh with whom Moses squabbled - either as the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus' himself, or the preceding 'Pharaoh of the Oppression', who is said to have commissioned the Hebrews to "(build) for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." These cities are known to have been built under both Seti I and Rameses II, thus possibly making his successor Merneptah the 'Pharaoh of the Exodus.' This is considered plausible by those who view the famed Year 5 (ca. 1208 BCE), Merneptah Stele's claim that "Israel is wasted, bare of seed", as pure 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 Merneptah Stele. 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," such as the Hebrew's previous life in Goshen. A remoter and unverified possibility is that the line "wasted, bare of seed" refers to the time when the infants of Israel are said to have been thrown into the Nile when Moses was born.
• An unverified theory places the birth and/or adoption of Moses during the reign of Amenhotep III with a minor oppression that was soon lifted, then the real oppression during the reign of Horemheb, and finally the Exodus during the reign of Ramses I. This is supported by the Haggada, which suggests that they were oppressed and then re-oppressed quite a few years later by Pharaoh. There is also an inscription from the very beginning of Seti I's reign that says upon the death of Ramses I, many of the Shasu (a word as a collective for many of the nomadic groups of the time) left Egypt, traveled through Sinai, into northern Arabia, and, as recorded in other inscriptions, after about forty years, entered Canaan. The Bible, Koran, and Haggada all suggest that the Pharaoh of the Exodus died in year 2 of his reign, matching Ramses I. Also, as Horemheb and Ramses I were builders of Pi-Tum and Raamses, more probability is lended to this view. Seti I records that during his reign, the Shasu wared with each other, matching the Midyan and Moabite wars. Seti's campaigns with the Shasu are also slightly similar to Balaam's exploits.{{fact} Mainstream Egyptologists reject this view.
• A more recent and non-Biblical view places Moses as a noble in the court of the Pharaoh Akhenaten (See below). A significant number of scholars from Sigmund Freud to Joseph Campbell suggest that Moses may have fled Egypt after Akhenaten's death (ca. 1334 BCE) when much of the pharaoh's monotheistic reforms were being violently reversed. The principal ideas behind this theory are: the monotheistic religion of Akhenaten being a possible predecessor to Moses' monotheism, and a contemporaneous collection of "Amarna Letters" written by nobles to Akhenaten (Amarna was Akhenaten's capital city) which describe raiding bands of "Habiru" attacking the Egyptian territories in Mesopotamia.

Moses in Freud

There is also a psychoanalytical interpretation of Moses' life, put forward by Sigmund Freud in his last book, Moses and Monotheism, in 1937. Freud postulated that Moses was an Egyptian nobleman who adhered to the monotheism of Akhenaten. Freud also believed that Moses was murdered in the wilderness, producing a collective sense of patricidal guilt which has been at the heart of Judaism ever since. "Judaism had been a religion of the father, Christianity became a religion of the son," he wrote. Opponents of this view point to the fact that the religion of the Torah seems very different to Atenism in everything except the central feature of devotion to a single god.[3]

Horned Moses

Moses with horns, by Michaelangelo

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

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

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

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

Depictions

Bas-relief of Moses in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.

Moses is depicted in several U.S. government buildings of his legacy as a lawgiver. Moses in one of the 23 lawgivers depicted in marble bas-reliefs in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives in the United States Capitol. 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 frieze on the south wall of the U.S. Supreme Court building.

Moses in popular media

Moses as depicted on South Park.

• Moses appears as the central character in the 1956 Cecil B. DeMille movie , The Ten Commandments. He is played by Charlton Heston. A Ten Commandments television remake was shown in 2006.
• Moses is the central character in the 1996 Turner Network Television Movie, "Moses". He is played by Ben Kingsley.
• Moses appears as the central character in the 1998 Dreamworks Pictures animated movie, The Prince of Egypt. He is voiced by Val Kilmer.
• In the Metallica song "Creeping Death", The Exodus and Moses' decrees are detailed. The song title refers directly to the "black death" that comes in the night to kill first born males. Clear influence from the Cecil B. DeMille movie is indicated.
• In the South Park episodes "Jewbilee" and "Super Best Friends," Moses is represented as a three-dimensional figure (a parody of the Master Control Program from Tron). He also rather resembles a dreidel. He demands necklaces made of macaroni and other pre-school style crafts.
• Moses is the name of a song by the band Coldplay which was premiered while on the A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour (2002-2003). The song was included on the band's DVD, "Live 2003". Moses is also the name of the second child of Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin and his wife, actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
• Moses is the name of Bernie and Roz Focker's dog in "Meet the Fockers". This name is supposed to symbolize the differences between the Gentile Burnses and the Jewish Fockers, as this is a running theme in the film.
• In the 1981 film History of the World, Part I, Moses is portrayed by Mel Brooks. Moses is shown coming down from Mount Sinai after receiving the Law from God. When announcing the giving of the reception of the Law to the people, Moses proclaims "I have given unto you Fifteen..." (his proclamation is interrupted by his dropping of one of three tablets) "Oy!... Ten! Ten Commandments! For all to obey!"

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See also

• The Exodus
• Aaron
• Joshua
• Biblical figures
• List of founders of major religions
• Passage of Red Sea
• Code of Hammurabi
• Manu Smriti
• Ipuwer Papyrus

External links

• Prof. E.Anati: Archaeological discoveries at Har Karkom
• by Richard Darlow, puts forward the idea that Moses was Prince Ramose
• BBC: Presents a theory of a volcanic eruption causing phenomena similar to those described in Exodus
• Ahmed Osman: Providing evidence that Akhenaten and Moses are the same person
• The Geography, Book XVI, Chapter II The entire context of the cited chapter of Strabo's work

Further reading

• Asch, Sholem. Moses. New York: Putnam, 1951. ISBN 999740629X
• Buber, Martin. Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant. New York: Harper, 1958.
• Card, Orson Scott. Stone Tables. Deseret Book Co., 1998. ISBN 1573451150.
• Daiches, David. Moses: The Man and his Vision. New York: Praeger, 1975. ISBN 0275337405.
• Freud, Sigmund. Moses and Monotheism. New York: Vintage, 1967. ISBN 0-394-70014-7
• Kirsch, Jonathan. Moses: A Life. New York: Ballantine, 1998. ISBN 0345412699.
• Mann, Thomas. "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me" in The Ten Commandments, 3-70. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943.
• Wiesel, Elie. "Moses: Portrait of a Leader" in Messengers of God, 174-205. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-671-54134-X.