Moses, Hebrew prophet and lawgiver
and founder
of Israel, or the Jewish people. The story of his life is set forth
principally
in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. According to this
account, he was born in Goshen, a part of ancient Egypt. At that time
the
Hebrews lived in Egypt and were oppressed by the Egyptian ruler,
Pharaoh. Just
before the birth of Moses, Pharaoh had ordered that all Hebrew male
infants be
put to death. To save her child, Moses's mother placed him in a basket
made of
papyrus and set it floating on the Nile River in the view of his sister,
Miriam
(see Exodus 2:4; Numbers 26:59). He was rescued by the daughter of
Pharaoh, who
brought the infant up as her own child. When an adult, Moses killed an
Egyptian
who had murdered a Hebrew; he then fled from Egypt. Moses was a shepherd
until
he was 80 years of age. At this time the god of the Hebrews, Yahweh, or
Jehovah, appeared to him in a burning bush and commanded him to go back
to
Egypt and deliver his people from their bondage; he was to lead them out
of
Egypt to the land of Canaan, in what was later Palestine, where they
were to
settle permanently. To assist him in this project Yahweh gave Moses the
power
to perform miracles.
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II
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THE EXODUS
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Moses went to Pharaoh
with his brother Aaron, but
in spite of the miracles he worked, such as changing the water of the
Nile to
blood and bringing plagues upon the Egyptians, Pharaoh would not release
the
Hebrew people. At last, he consented, and Moses led the Hebrews out of
Egypt
toward Canaan. As they neared the Red Sea, a hostile Egyptian army,
dispatched
by Pharaoh, came upon them from the rear. Moses stretched out his arm,
whereupon the Red Sea rose up in two walls, leaving dry land between
them. The
Hebrews crossed on the land, but when the Egyptians tried to pursue
them, the
walls of water broke upon them, and they drowned. When the Hebrews
reached
Sinai, on the Sinai Peninsula, Moses ascended the mountain to speak with
Yahweh. He spent 40 days and nights with Yahweh, from whom he received
two tablets
of stone on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments, which thereafter
constituted the fundamental laws of the Hebrews. After 40 years of
wandering in
the wilderness and desert under Moses's leadership and the endurance of
many
hardships, such as earthquakes, plagues, fires, thirst, and wars with
the
native people of Palestine, the Hebrews at last came to Canaan. Moses
was
permitted by Yahweh to see Canaan, the Promised land, from the top of
Mount
Pisgah (now in Jordan), and then he died. Before he died, however, he
turned
the leadership of the people over to Joshua. Although the dates of
Moses's
birth and death are hard to establish, many contemporary authorities
believe
that the exodus took place in the 13th century bc.
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III
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THE PENTATEUCH
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Besides being one of the
most famous national
leaders and lawgivers in history, Moses was reputedly the author of the
first
five books of the Old Testament, known collectively as the Pentateuch,
and also
of other parts of the Old Testament, including possibly the Book of Job.
Scholars agree almost unanimously, however, that these books are the
interwoven
work of many authors.
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IV
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IN CHRISTIANITY
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Moses is also well known
to Christians; he is mentioned
frequently in the New Testament. At Christ's transfiguration, he
represents the
Law (see Matthew 17:3), and the role he plays in the Old Testament is
pointed
out in the Epistle to the Hebrews, so as to offer a comparison with that
of
Christ (see Hebrews 3:1-6). He is also mentioned in the Gospel of John,
again
to underscore the role of Christ as the fulfillment of the Scriptures
(see John
1:17).
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