Moses

Mûsâ ibn 'Imran (Arabic: ٰمُوسَى , translit. Mūsā) known as Moses in the Hebrew Bible, considered a prophet, Moses is also very important in Islam for having been given the revelation of.
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The Israelites protected their households by putting lamb's blood on their doorway, so that the Angel of Death would know to pass over their homes. This last plague broke the Pharaoh's resistance and moved him to grant the Hebrews permission to leave immediately. Moses thus found himself the leader of an undisciplined collection of slaves, Hebrew as well as non-Hebrew, escaping from Egyptian territory toward freedom.

Moses' immediate goal was Mt. Sinai, where God had first revealed Himself to Moses. The Hebrews came to the sacred mountain encouraged by the power they sensed in Moses. Summoned by God, Moses ascended the mountain and received the tablets of stone while the children of Israel heard the thundering forth of the Ten Commandments. Inspired, the people agreed to the conditions of the Covenant agreement made between people and God. Through forty years in the wilderness of Sinai, overcoming many obstacles, Moses led the horde of former slaves, shaping them into a nation.

Many miracles happened along the way. When the Israelites stopped in front of the Red Sea with the Egyptian soldiers at their heels, it was Moses' raised staff that parted the Red Sea so that they could cross. Once they had safely crossed, the sea crashed down, drowning many of their pursuers. When food supplies ran out, God sent down what was called "manna" spiritual food everyday for the nourishment of the Israelites. Moses had to hear the Israelites complain about the food, the climate, and the slowness of their progress.

The historical problem

Moses even had to hear the Israelites claim that Egypt had been better than this wilderness trip. When the people were in need of water, God told Moses to speak to a rock and water would spring from it. Moses' character was apparently worn down because, instead of following directions, he struck the rock with his staff. That was to have lasting impact on Moses's final days. With the help of his brother Aaron, Moses was able to hold together his ragtag band of exslaves for forty years.

Only a man with tremendous will, patience, compassion, humility, and great faith could have forged the bickering and scheming groups who constantly challenged his wisdom and authority into a nation. Throughout the forty years Moses was in constant communication with his Lord, the God of Israel. This God added to the Ten Commandments through Moses by giving a code of law regulating the social and religious lives of the people. This collection of instructions, read to and confirmed by the people, was called the Book of the Covenant.

These were protected in a specially designed box called the Ark of the Covenant. All of the specific details were spoken through Moses by the God of the Israelites. Under Moses's leadership, most of the land east of the Jordan was conquered and given to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to half of the tribe of Menashe.

Moses, however, was not permitted to lead the children of Israel into Canaan, the Promised Land, because he had been disobedient to God during the period of wandering in the desert. His regular meetings with God had fulfilled him in ways that even his fellow Israelites could detect. His face was always radiant when he exited any interview with his Almighty.


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Moses, years old, died in the land of Moab and was buried opposite Bet Peor. Moses—the Prince, the Prophet: Jewish Lights Publishers, Roshwald, Mordecai, and Miriam Roshwald. Childhood years Moses was the son of Amram and Yochebed of the tribe of Levi. Exodus Moses' immediate goal was Mt. Covenant With the help of his brother Aaron, Moses was able to hold together his ragtag band of exslaves for forty years.

For More Information Hodges, Margaret. Also read article about Moses from Wikipedia. I am doing Moses for a book report I hav to do a project for school about him and other eras like Babalonia. Other words i am glad i saw this and im glad i got assasigned CH. God instructed Moses and Aaron to gather the people together and speak to a certain rock. When they did this, God would cause water to come out of the rock.

Instead of doing what God said for Moses to do, he lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: Ramses increased the oppression of the Hebrews by the fiendish plan of requiring them to gather the straw binder for the bricks and still produce the same quota each day. Scholars differ widely concerning the narrative about the plagues. Some claim that three sources have been combined, but more recent scholarship finds only the two traditions. While granting that some of the plagues had a core of historicity, older critics tended to discount the present accounts as fantastic stories with pious decorations.

Moses in Islam

A recent school of research suggests that, notwithstanding some later additions, all the plagues probably had a historical core. The basic cause, according to one interpretation, was an unusually high flooding of the Nile. The White Nile originates in the lake region of east central Africa , known today as Uganda.

The flow is fairly even throughout the year because of consistent equatorial rains. The Blue Nile , on the other hand, originates in the headwaters of the Ethiopian highlands, and it varies from a small stream to a raging torrent. At the time Moses was bargaining with Ramses, excessively heavy summer rains in Ethiopia washed powdery, carmine-red soil from the slopes of the hills.

Around the Lake Tana region the blood-red torrent picked up bright red algae known as flagellates and their bacteria. Since there were no dams at that time, the Nile flowed blood-red all the way to the Mediterranean. It probably reached the delta region in August. Thus, this rare natural event, it is held, set in motion a series of conditions that continued until the following March. During these months Moses used the plagues of the frogs, gnats, mosquitoes, cattle murrain, boils, hail, locusts, and thick darkness to increase the pressure on Ramses.

At first the King was adamant. The Hebrews were not the only disgruntled slaves , and, if he agreed to let them go, then other groups would want the same privilege. To protect his building program, he had to suppress the slave rebellion at its outset. As an expedient attempt to restore order, he offered to let the Hebrews sacrifice in Goshen. When this failed, he suggested that they make offerings to Yahweh at the edge of the Egyptian border. Moses, however, insisted on a three-day journey into the wilderness.

Pharaoh countered by allowing the Hebrew men to make the journey, but this, too, was rejected. As his final offer Pharaoh agreed to let the people go. He would keep the livestock , however, as the guarantee of their return. Moses spurned the condition, and in anger Pharaoh drove him out. After nine rounds with Pharaoh it appeared that the deliverance of the Hebrews was no nearer, but, in contrast to his earlier periods of doubt and frustration, Moses showed no despair. Apparently he had an inner assurance that Pharaoh would not have the last word.

Moses Biography

Chapters 11—14 of Exodus comprise an exceedingly complex section, and at times the traditions have contradictory statements. The drama is more blurred than usual, and scholars vary tremendously in their interpretation of the material. One tradition notes that Pharaoh was shaken when death took his son and that he ordered the Hebrews to leave.

Another source indicates that Moses used the period of mourning for the first-born son as the occasion for fleeing secretly from the country. In either case, it is clear that Pharaoh finally had his forces pursue the Hebrews. Although tradition interpreted the Hebrew text to claim that about 2,, people left Egypt, interpretation by critical methods reduces the number to 15, or so.

The Egyptian army cornered them at the Sea of Reeds papyrus , which barred their exit to the east. Later Jewish tradition understood the body of water to be the Red Sea , and this erroneous interpretation persists today, even in some of the most recent English translations of the Bible. Scholars disagree as to the precise location of the Reed Sea, but, since papyrus grows only in freshwater, it was most probably a shallow lake in the far northeastern corner of Egypt. Hemmed in by the Egyptians, the people vented their complaints on Moses.

According to one tradition, Moses shared their uneasiness, and he called to Yahweh for help. A strong east wind blew all night, creating a dry corridor through the lake and permitting the Hebrews to cross. The pursuing Egyptians were destroyed when the waters returned. Sinai Horeb , in the granite range at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. The journey there traversed some very desolate country, and Moses had to contend with bitter complaints about the lack of water and food.

During the 14th century bce the Hittites of Asia Minor made a number of treaties with neighbouring rulers who came under their control. The agreement was not between equals, but between the Hittite king the suzerain and a subordinate ruler the vassal.


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    • Then followed a historical survey of relationships between the Hittite suzerain and his vassal. Special attention to the kindnesses shown the underling by the overlord was intended to remind the vassal of his obligation to abide by the treaty stipulations. The basic requirement was an oath of loyalty.

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    Since Egypt was involved with the Hittites in the international politics of the time, Moses probably learned about the Hittite treaty form during his years in the Egyptian court. The appearance of Yahweh in a terrific storm at Mt. Sinai, narrated in chapters 19 and 20 of Exodus, was a revelatory experience for Moses, just as the burning bush had been.

    Somehow he realized that the Hittite treaty was an accurate analogy of the relationship between Yahweh and the Hebrews. Yahweh had a claim upon them because he had delivered them. The only proper response to his love and care would be a pledge of obedience to his will. Scholars have tended to date the Ten Commandments , or Decalogue contained in the revelation at Sinai , after the conquest of Canaan, but there is absolutely nothing in these guidelines to indicate their origin in an agricultural context.

    More likely they were the stipulations in the covenant ceremony at Mt. Because Yahweh was proclaimed the only true God, one of the first commands was appropriately a ban against all other gods. Authorities have debated whether or not this understanding was interpreted as monotheism. Inasmuch as he had brought them into being and authorized their presence in his council, he was Lord over all gods and nations.

    Another early command has been taken to mean a ban on making images of other gods, but originally the prohibition applied to representations of Yahweh himself. Yahweh is the unimageable Deity who cannot be represented in material forms. Since Yahweh had revealed the meaning of his name to Moses, it was fitting that the Decalogue should also prohibit any magical or unethical use of his name. Undoubtedly the ideas underlying the other commands came from the religious culture of his day, but they were raised to a significantly higher level because of the holy, righteous character of Yahweh.

    Moses realized that, if the Covenant people were to have a stable, just society, they would have to emulate their God. Concern for his creatures would mean respect for them as persons. Murder, adultery, theft, lying, and covetousness would never be legitimate because they lead to chaos and breakdown of the community. Moreover, inasmuch as Yahweh had been concerned to protect the powerless Hebrews in Egypt, they in turn would have to guarantee justice for the orphans, widows, resident aliens, and any other disadvantaged persons under their jurisdiction. On confirmation of the Covenant, Moses and the people faced the task of living by the stipulations.

    This called for interpretations of the commands, and so Moses began issuing ordinances for specific situations. In short, the rudiments of the whole Hebrew cult, according to tradition, originated at Sinai. It was at Sinai, perhaps, where the people were organized into 12 tribes. When they reverted to worshipping a golden calf , Yahweh was ready to disown them and begin anew with Moses and his descendants. Sinai, Moses faced increasing resistance and frustration, according to the narrative in the book of Numbers.

    Apparently his virility did not diminish during these years because he took a Cushite woman as his second wife. But Miriam, with the support of Aaron, opposed the marriage. When he urged the people to reconsider their action they almost stoned him. But here again, according to tradition, Moses interceded for the people with Yahweh, who threatened to destroy them and raise up another and greater nation. At Meribah, probably in the area of Kadesh-barnea, Moses addressed the complaining people as rebels and struck a rock twice in anger, whereupon water flowed forth for the thirsty people.

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    Although tradition interpreted this lapse as the reason why Yahweh would not permit Moses to enter Canaan, the remarkable fact is that Moses was able to bear up under such continuous pressure. He wisely circled east of them and moved north to conquer Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. Moses permitted some of the tribes to settle in Transjordan, a decision that evoked opposition from the Moabites and their Midianite overlords.

    They hired the Syrian diviner Balaam to put a curse on the Hebrews, but instead he pronounced a blessing. Some scholars interpret this as proof that Balaam was a convert to Yahwism. If this was indeed the case, he must have reverted later on, because the biblical tradition implies that Balaam incited his former employers to weaken the Hebrews by religious seduction. Moses responded to the enmity of the Midianites with a successful holy war against them not long before his death. As his last official act Moses renewed the Sinai Covenant with those who had survived the wilderness wanderings.

    From his camp in the Jordan Valley , Moses climbed to a vantage point on Mt. There he viewed the land of promise. The Hebrews never saw him again, and the circumstances of his death and burial remain shrouded in mystery. Although time undoubtedly enhanced the portrait of Moses, a basic picture emerges from the sources. Five times the narratives claim that Moses kept written records Ex. Even with a generous interpretation of the extent of these writings, they do not amount to more than a fifth of the total Pentateuch; therefore, the traditional claim of Mosaic authorship of the whole Pentateuch is untenable.

    Moses formulated the Decalogue, mediated the Covenant, and began the process of rendering and codifying supplemental interpretations of the Covenant stipulations. Undoubtedly he kept some records, and they served as the core of the growing corpus of law and tradition. In a general sense, therefore, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible can be described as Mosaic. Without him there would have been no Israel and no collection known as Torah. Moses was a gifted, well-trained person, but his true greatness was probably due to his personal experience of and relationship with Yahweh.

    Moses - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    This former stammering murderer understood his preservation and destiny as coming from the grace of a merciful Lord who had given him another chance. Moses had an understanding spirit and a forgiving heart because he knew how much Yahweh had forgiven him.

    He was truly humble because he recognized that his gifts and strength came from Yahweh. Because of the uniqueness of his situation, Moses had to function in a number of roles.

    As mediator of the Covenant, he was the founder of the community. As interpreter of the Covenant, he was an organizer and legislator. As intercessor for the people, he was their priest. Moses had a special combination of gifts and graces that made it impossible to replace him.