Everything we know about Moses can be found in a single source: the Old Testament. Until the time of the Enlightenment, the teachers of the Church were convinced that Moses himself had written it.
Today, after 150 years of scientific biblical criticism, this assumption has been rejected. An editorial team of Jewish priests compiled the five books of Moses in the fifth century BC, just 800 years after the time Moses is believed to have lived, if he existed at all.
Recognized historians consider the Exodus narrative neither a credible factual account nor a pure invention. Rather, the five books of Moses are a collection of stories that the tribes of Palestine passed down orally for centuries, from generation to generation.
The experiences of foreign peoples were mixed up, others were deliberately embellished. The search for the true core of the Exodus account therefore remains one of the greatest challenges facing Old Testament scholars today.
Egypt in the 13th century BC The country is a great power. The pharaohs, especially Ramesses II, extended the empire as far north as Syria and as far south as Sudan.
The only political rival, the Hittite people, settled far to the north in Asia Minor. A peace treaty with its ruler, concluded by Ramses II in 1258 BC, delimits the spheres of mutual influence and guarantees the non-disruption of trade and traffic flows.
Did Moses exist?
Biography of Moses
The second book of Moses follows the story of the children of Israel told at the end of Genesis and shows how the people of Israel are rescued from Egyptian slavery and called to be the special people of God’s covenant.
Like Genesis, it originated around 1500 BC. The Jewish name for this book consists of its first words: «We elleh schemath» («And these are the names»).
The ancient Greek translators of the OT called it «Exodus» («Exodus»). He portrays us how God brings the enslaved people of Israel out of Egypt under mighty signs and wonders to serve him: «Let my people go to serve me!» (4:23) could be called a main verse of this book.
Chapters 1-15 deal with God’s salvation of Israel, chapters 16-24 with the passage through the wilderness and the legislation and establishment of the covenant on Mount Sinai, and chapters 25-40 with the establishment of the tabernacle, the sanctuary in which the Israelites were to serve the Lord.
The Exodus from Egypt, Moses, the leader of God’s people, the Passover, the paschal lamb, the tabernacle, the priestly service and many other things are interpreted in the NT as models: they point grimly above all to Jesus Christ and his work. of redemption (cf. among others the Letter to the Hebrews; 1Cor 10,1-11; 5,6-8).
Moses (1391–1271 BC): An Egyptian prince who became the leader and prophet of the Jewish people, leading them from slavery in Egypt across the Red Sea to Mount Sinai.
On Mount Sinai, Moses he received the Ten Commandments, which form an important foundation of the Old Testament and the Torah.
The life of Moses is subject to historical debate. Limited sources exist, such as independent written accounts and archaeological evidence. The Biblical narrative of the life of Moses is found in Exodus.
According to Exodus, Moses was born at a time when the Egyptian pharaoh was oppressing the Israelites.
Moses is a key figure
The name Moses (Hebrew מֹשֶׁה mošæh) derives from the Egyptian verb mś/mśj «to give birth». It is the shortened form of an Egyptian name such as Thutmosis «the god Thut has given birth», with the element theophore, the name of the god, omitted: «[el dios N.N.] is or has given birth».
In the Old Testament, the memory of the Egyptian origin of the name is preserved in the fact that the pharaoh’s daughter names the child, although an etymology of the name is put into her mouth, deriving the name from a Hebrew root mšh «to take out»: «I drew him out of the water» (Ex 2,10). But the Hebrew knowledge of Pharaoh’s daughter has all the historical probability against it and is due to the theme of the legendary story.
Objectively, the context speaks against this etymological derivation, which actually suggests a passive formation of the verb mšh meaning «the one taken out».
Furthermore, the active meaning «he who tore off», which is presupposed by the formation of the word in Ex 2.10, is nowhere attributed to Moses.
monotheism
He is considered the founder of monotheism – the first of Yahweh’s commandments that he transmitted is: «You shall have no other gods besides me» – and, therefore, the founder of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Without it, the State of Israel would lack territorial legitimacy, a claim to Palestine, the «promised land» promised by God. Finally, Moses is the legislator whose decalogue, the ten commandments, influenced the ethical order of the entire world.
Everyone needs Moses. «It would have to be invented if tradition did not account for it,» writes the Old Testament scholar Rudolf Smend.
The Pharaoh
This was approximately 1,000 years after the first prophet Abraham. At that time, the Egyptian pharaoh feared that the Israelites would grow in strength and compete with his might.
Pharaoh had declared that all children born to Hebrew males would be drowned in the Nile River.
Legend has it that his mother Jochebed hid her newborn son in a reed arch and let her baby float down the river.
Their newborn son was found by chance by Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him and gave him the Egyptian name Moses which means «to be born» a son.
As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses received royal status and became a powerful prince.
The slaves
However, he was sympathetic to the plight of the Hebrew slaves. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, Moses, in turn, killed the Egyptian.
After this, he feared for his safety and fled into the desert (Midian). In the desert, Moses lived a relatively ascetic life, working as a shepherd. He married Zipporah, the daughter of the Midian priest.
While working as a shepherd, Moses heard the voice of God, coming from a burning bush, which did not burn.
The ancient scriptures say that God told Moses that he must return to Egypt to lead his chosen people out of slavery and into the promised land. Moses expressed reluctance: fearing that the people would not believe him and it would be too difficult.
«Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?»
But, Moses returned to Egypt to demand the freedom of the Israelites.
«Do not fear: for God has come to test you, and that his fear may be before your faces, so that you do not sin.» 20:20 (KJV).
When Pharaoh refused to grant the Israelites freedom, 10 plagues were sent to Egypt. In the last plague, «the plague of the firstborn», all the firstborn sons would die unless the door was marked with a red cross, a cross drawn with the blood of a sacrificed lamb.
Only after this last plague did Pharaoh relent.
When Moses was leading the Hebrews out of Egypt, Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his army to destroy the Hebrews. It seemed that the Israelites would be trapped by the Red Sea.
But, according to Exodus, the Red Sea miraculously parted, allowing Moses to lead the Israelites, and then the sea closed in to destroy the Egyptian army. This flight from Egypt is celebrated by the Jews at the Passover festival.
Moses led the Israelites to Mount Sinai, where he received, on behalf of Israel, the Torah, or «law.» He renewed the Israelites’ covenant with God, originally started with Abraham.
From these laws, Moses instituted religious customs, laws, and the priesthood. For Orthodox Jews, Moses is called Moshe Rabbenu, defined as «Our leader Moshe», «Servant of God», and «Father of all prophets».
The Judaism
It is from the time of Moses that Judaism became a more clearly defined organized religion with established religious practices.
Moses is honored as Israel’s lawgiver, and he is responsible for the Covenant (Exodus 19-24) which includes the Ten Commandments as well as other laws and customs.
The Ten Commandments are given in the 20th chapter of Exodus and in the 5th chapter of Deuteronomy.
You can not have others gods in front of me.You shall not make a graven image for yourself.You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain.Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.Honor your father and your motheryou shall not killYou shall not commit adulteryyou don’t have to stealYou shall not bear false witness against your neighborYou shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.
The laws and customs of the prophet are also included in the Book of Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and the Book of Numbers. These Old Testament books have been dated to approximately 538 – 532 BC.
While Moses was on the mountain receiving God’s commandments, the Israelites feared that he would not return. Because of this fear, Moses’ brother Aaron made a golden calf to symbolize God’s presence and the people began to worship him.
Upon his return, Moses symbolically broke the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments and burned the golden calf. He insisted that he worship God without form.
A key aspect of Moses’ religious leadership was the promotion of a monotheistic religion.
The Roman historian Tacitus (56-120 AD) later explained that Moses was influential: thanks to Moses, Tacitus wrote: «Pagan mythology fell into contempt.»
The fear
Moses wanted to take his people to the fertile region of Cannan, but at first they refused out of fear.
Moses responded that this generation would never enter the Promised Land, but would wander in the desert for forty years until this generation died. After 40 years, Moses led a new generation to Canaan, where he killed the Midianites who lived there.
Moses is said to have died at the age of 120 after going up to Nebo, east of the Jordan River.
Moses is also an influential figure in Christianity.
He is mentioned frequently in the New Testament – when Jesus Christ undergoes a divine transfiguration – he speaks with the prophets, Moses and Elijah. Moses is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions.
Moses is also an influential figure in Islam: he is considered a prophet and a messenger.
Leadership
A key aspect of Moses’ religious leadership was the promotion of a monotheistic religion. The Roman historian Tacitus (56-120 AD) later declared that Moses was influential; because of Moses, Tacitus writes that: «pagan mythology fell into contempt».
The Prophet wanted to lead his people to the fertile area of Cannan, but initially, they refused out of fear.
Moses responded that this generation would never enter the Promised Land, but would instead wander in the desert for forty years until that generation died.
After 40 years, Moses led a new generation to Canaan, where he killed…