Difference between revisions of "Moses"

<p> <strong> [[Moses]] </strong> </p> <p> 1. Name The [[Hebrew]] narrator regards <em> Môsheh </em> as a participle from the vb. <em> mâshâh </em> , ‘to draw’ [[Ex]] (&nbsp; Exodus 2:10 ). Jos. [Note: Josephus.] and [[Philo]] derive it from the Copt, <em> mo </em> ‘water,’ and <em> ushe </em> ‘saved’; this is implied in their spelling <em> Mouses </em> , also found in LXX [Note: Septuagint.] and NT. It is more plausible to connect the name with the Egyptian <em> mes, mesu </em> , ‘son.’ Perhaps it was originally coupled with the name of an Egyp. deity cf. <em> Ra-mesu, Thoth-mes </em> , and others which was omitted under the influence of Israelite monotheism. </p> <p> <strong> 2. History </strong> </p> <p> (i.) <em> The narrative of J. </em> <em> [Note: . Jahwist.] </em> Moses killed an Egyptian, and rebuked one of two Israelites who were striving together, and then he fled to Midian. There he helped seven daughters of the priest of Midian to water their flocks, dwelt with him, married his daughter Zipporah, and had one son by her, named [[Gershom]] (&nbsp; Exodus 2:11-22 ). The king of Egypt died (&nbsp; Exodus 2:23 a), and at J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’s bidding Moses returned. On the way, J″ [Note: Jahweh.] smote him because he had not been circumcised before marriage; but [[Zipporah]] saved him by circumcising the child, and thus circumcising Moses by proxy (&nbsp; Exodus 4:19; &nbsp; Exodus 4:24-26 . These verses must be put back to this point). J″ [Note: Jahweh.] appeared in the burning bush and spoke to Moses. Moses was to gather the elders, give them J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’s message, and demand permission from Pharaoh to sacrifice in the wilderness. Moses was given two signs to persuade the Israelites, and yet a third if the two were insufficient (&nbsp; Exodus 3:2-4 a, &nbsp; Exodus 3:6-8 a, &nbsp; Exodus 3:16-18 , &nbsp; Exodus 4:1-9 ). J″ [Note: Jahweh.] was angry at his continued diffidence. Moses spoke to the elders and they believed; and then they made their demand to Pharaoh, which led to his increased severity (&nbsp; Exodus 4:10-12; &nbsp; Exodus 4:29-31 , &nbsp; Exodus 5:3; &nbsp; Exodus 5:6; &nbsp; Exodus 5:23 , &nbsp; Exodus 6:1 ). [[Plagues]] were sent, the death of the fish in the river (&nbsp; Exodus 7:14; &nbsp; Exodus 7:16-17 a, &nbsp; Exodus 7:21 &nbsp;Exodus 7:21 a, &nbsp; Exodus 7:24 f.), frogs (&nbsp; Exodus 8:1-4; &nbsp; Exodus 8:8-15 a), flies (&nbsp; Exodus 8:20-32 ), murrain (&nbsp; Exodus 9:1-7 ), hail (&nbsp; Exodus 9:18; &nbsp; Exodus 9:17 f., &nbsp; Exodus 9:23 b, &nbsp; Exodus 9:24 b, &nbsp; Exodus 9:25-34 ), locusts (&nbsp; Exodus 10:1 a, &nbsp; Exodus 10:13 &nbsp;Exodus 10:13 b, &nbsp; Exodus 10:14 b, &nbsp; Exodus 10:16 a, c, &nbsp; Exodus 10:16-19 ). See Plagues of Egypt. Pharaoh bade Israel go with their families, but refused to allow them animals for sacrifice; so Moses announced the death of the firstborn (&nbsp; Exodus 10:24-26; &nbsp; Exodus 10:28 f., &nbsp; Exodus 11:4-8 ). At a later time Israelite thought connected with the Exodus certain existing institutions. The ordinances relating to them were preserved by J [Note: Jahwist.] , but their present position is due to redaction, and the result is a tangled combination in chs. 12, 13 of ordinance and narrative: the ritual of the [[Passover]] (&nbsp; Exodus 12:21-23; &nbsp; Exodus 12:27 b), the death of the firstborn and the hurried flight of the Israelites (&nbsp; Exodus 12:29-34; &nbsp; Exodus 12:37-39 ), commands concerning the Feast of [[Unleavened]] [[Cakes]] (&nbsp; Exodus 13:3 a, &nbsp; Exodus 13:4 , &nbsp; Exodus 13:6 f., &nbsp; Exodus 13:10 ), and the offering of firstlings (&nbsp; Exodus 13:11-13 ). J″ [Note: Jahweh.] went before the people in a pillar of cloud and fire (&nbsp; Exodus 13:21 f.), the water was crossed (&nbsp; Exodus 14:5 f., &nbsp; Exodus 14:7 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:10 a, &nbsp; Exodus 14:18 &nbsp;Exodus 14:18 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:21 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:26 &nbsp;Exodus 14:26 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:27 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:28 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:30 ), (and Moses sang praise (&nbsp; Exodus 15:1 ). Moses made the water at [[Marah]] fresh (&nbsp; Exodus 15:22-25 a), and thence they moved to [[Elim]] (&nbsp; Exodus 15:27 ). [[Fragments]] of J [Note: Jahwist.] ’s story of [[Massah]] are preserved (&nbsp; Exodus 17:3; &nbsp; Exodus 17:2 c, &nbsp; Exodus 17:7 a, c), and parts of the account of the visit of Moses’ father-in-law, which it is difficult to separate from E [Note: Elohist.] (&nbsp; Exodus 18:7-11 ). The narratives attached to the delivery of the laws of Sinai are in an extraordinarily confused state, but with a few exceptions the parts which are due to J [Note: Jahwist.] can be recognized with some confidence. The theophany occurred (&nbsp; Exodus 19:18 ), and Moses was bidden to ascend the mountain, where J″ [Note: Jahweh.] gave him directions respecting precautions to be taken (&nbsp; Exodus 19:20-22; &nbsp; Exodus 19:24; &nbsp; Exodus 19:11-13; &nbsp; Exodus 19:25 ) [&nbsp; Exodus 19:23 is a redactional addition of a remarkable character; due to &nbsp; Exodus 19:11-13 having been misplaced]. Moses stayed forty days and nights on the mountain (&nbsp; Exodus 34:28 a); J″ [Note: Jahweh.] descended, and Moses ‘invoked the name of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’ (6). The laws given to him are fragmentarily preserved (&nbsp; Exodus 34:10-26 ). J″ [Note: Jahweh.] commanded him to write them down (&nbsp; Exodus 34:27 ), and he obeyed (&nbsp; Exodus 34:28 b). </p> <p> The reason for the insertion of the laws so late in the book was that the compiler of JE [Note: [[Jewish]] Encyclopedia.] , finding laws in both J [Note: Jahwist.] and E [Note: Elohist.] , and noticing the strong similarity between them, considered the J [Note: Jahwist.] laws to be the <em> renewal </em> of the covenant broken by the people’s apostasy. Hence the editorial additions in &nbsp; Exodus 34:1 (from ‘like unto the first’) and in &nbsp; Exodus 34:4 (‘like unto the first’). </p> <p> A solemn ceremony sealed the covenant (&nbsp;Exodus 24:1 f., &nbsp; Exodus 24:9-11 ). Something then occurred which roused the wrath of J″ [Note: Jahweh.]; it is doubtful if the original narrative has been preserved; but J [Note: Jahwist.] has inserted a narrative which apparently explains the reason for the choice of [[Levites]] for [[Divine]] service (&nbsp; Exodus 32:25-29 ). Moses interceded for the people (the vv. to he read in the following order, &nbsp; Exodus 33:1-4 a, &nbsp; Exodus 33:12 &nbsp;Exodus 33:12 f., &nbsp; Exodus 33:18-23 , &nbsp; Exodus 34:6-9 , &nbsp; Exodus 33:14-16 ). J″ [Note: Jahweh.] having been propitiated, Israel left the mountain, and Moses asked [[Hobah]] to accompany them (&nbsp; Numbers 10:29-36 ). Being weary of manna, they were given quails, which caused a plague (&nbsp; Numbers 11:4-15; &nbsp; Numbers 11:18-24 a, &nbsp; Numbers 11:31-35 ), [[Dathan]] and [[Ahiram]] rebelled (ascribed by different comm. to J [Note: Jahwist.] and to E [Note: Elohist.] , &nbsp; Numbers 16:1 b, &nbsp; Numbers 16:2 a, &nbsp; Numbers 16:26 &nbsp;Numbers 16:26 f., &nbsp; Numbers 16:27-32 a, &nbsp; Numbers 16:33 f.). Fragments of the [[Meribah]] narrative at [[Kadesh]] appear to belong to J [Note: Jahwist.] (&nbsp; Numbers 20:3 a,&nbsp; Numbers 20:5 , &nbsp; Numbers 20:8 b). Moses sent spies through the S. of [[Palestine]] as far as Hebron. [[Caleb]] alone encouraged the people, and he alone was allowed to enter Canaan (&nbsp; Numbers 13:17 b, &nbsp; Numbers 13:18 b, &nbsp; Numbers 13:27 &nbsp;Numbers 13:27 a, &nbsp; Numbers 13:30-31 &nbsp;Numbers 13:30-31 , &nbsp; Numbers 14:1 b, &nbsp; Numbers 14:8-9; &nbsp; Numbers 14:11-24; &nbsp; Numbers 14:31 ). Moses promised that [[Hebron]] should be Caleb’s possession (&nbsp; Joshua 14:8-14 ). The [[Canaanites]] were defeated at [[Hormah]] (perh. a later stratum of J [Note: Jahwist.] , &nbsp; Numbers 21:1-3 ). Israel marched by [[Edom]] to Moab, and conquered [[Heshbon]] and other cities (&nbsp; Numbers 21:16-20; &nbsp; Numbers 21:24 b, &nbsp; Numbers 21:25; &nbsp; Numbers 21:31-32 ). The story of [[Balaam]] (parts of &nbsp; Numbers 21:22-24 ). Israel sinned with the [[Moabite]] women, and Moses hanged the chiefs (&nbsp; Numbers 25:1 b, &nbsp; Numbers 25:2-3 b, &nbsp; Numbers 25:4 ). Moses viewed the land from the top of Pisgah, and was buried in [[Moab]] (parts of &nbsp; Deuteronomy 34:1-6 ). </p> <p> (ii.) <em> The narrative of E </em> <em> [Note: Elohist.] </em> . The mid wives rescued Israelite [[Infants]] (&nbsp; Exodus 1:15-20 a, &nbsp; Exodus 1:21 ). Moses’ birth; his discovery and adoption by Pharaoh’s daughter (&nbsp; Exodus 2:1-10 ). Moses was feeding Jethro’s sheep in Midian, when God called to him from a bush at Horeb, and told him to deliver Israel. He revealed His name ‘Ehyeh,’ and promised that Israel should triumphantly leave Egypt (&nbsp; Exodus 3:1; &nbsp; Exodus 3:4 b, &nbsp; Exodus 3:9-13 &nbsp;Exodus 3:9-13 f., &nbsp; Exodus 3:21 f.). Moses returned to Egypt, meeting Aaron on the way; they made their demand to Pharaoh, and were refused (&nbsp; Exodus 4:17 f., &nbsp; Exodus 4:20 b, &nbsp; Exodus 4:27 f., &nbsp; Exodus 5:1 f., &nbsp; Exodus 5:4 ). Moses, by means of his Divinely given staff, brought plagues the turning of the river to blood (&nbsp; Exodus 7:16-17 b, &nbsp; Exodus 7:20 b, &nbsp; Exodus 7:23 ), the hail (&nbsp; Exodus 9:22-23 a, &nbsp; Exodus 9:24 a, &nbsp; Exodus 9:25 a), the locusts (&nbsp; Exodus 10:12-13 a, &nbsp; Exodus 10:14 a, &nbsp; Exodus 10:16 b, &nbsp; Exodus 10:20 ), the darkness (&nbsp; Exodus 10:21-23; &nbsp; Exodus 10:27 ). Moses was bidden to advise the Israelites to obtain gold, etc., from the Egyptians (&nbsp; Exodus 11:1-3 ), which they did (&nbsp; Exodus 12:35 f.). They departed, taking with them Joseph’s mummy (&nbsp; Exodus 13:17-19 ). They crossed the water (fragments are preserved from E [Note: Elohist.] ’s account, &nbsp; Exodus 13:7 a, c, &nbsp; Exodus 13:10 b, &nbsp; Exodus 13:16 a, &nbsp; Exodus 13:16 a, &nbsp; Exodus 13:19 a), and Miriam sang praise (&nbsp; Exodus 15:20-21 ). On emerging into the desert, they were given manna; it is possible that E [Note: Elohist.] originally connected this event with the name <em> massah </em> , ‘proving’ (&nbsp; Exodus 15:25 b, &nbsp; Exodus 16:4; &nbsp; Exodus 16:16 ) Then follows E [Note: Elohist.] ’s Meribah narrative, combined with J [Note: Jahwist.] ’s Massah narrative (&nbsp; Exodus 17:1 b, &nbsp; Exodus 17:2 a, &nbsp; Exodus 17:4-7 b). Israel fought with [[Amalek]] under Joshua’s leadership, while Aaron and [[Hur]] held up Moses’ hands with the sacred staff (&nbsp; Exodus 17:8-16 ). Jethro visited the Israelites with Moses’ wife and two sons; he arranged sacrifices, and a sacrificial feast, in which the elders of Israel took part (&nbsp; Exodus 18:1 a, &nbsp; Exodus 18:6 f., &nbsp; Exodus 18:12 ). [[Seeing]] Moses overburdened with the duty of giving decisions, he advised him to delegate smaller matters to inferior officers; and Moses followed his advice. Jethro departed to his own home (&nbsp; Exodus 18:12-27 ). Preparations were made for the theophany (&nbsp; Exodus 19:2 b, &nbsp; Exodus 19:3 a, &nbsp; Exodus 19:8 a, &nbsp; Exodus 19:10-11 a, &nbsp; Exodus 19:14 f.), which then took place (&nbsp; Exodus 19:16 f., &nbsp; Exodus 19:19 , &nbsp; Exodus 20:18-21 ). Laws preserved by E [Note: Elohist.] and later members of his school of thought are grouped together in chs, 20 23 (see Exodus, Law), in the narratives in which the laws are set, two strata, E [Note: Elohist.] and E2, are perceptible, the latter supplying the narrative portions connected with the Ten Words of &nbsp; Exodus 20:1-17 , E [Note: Elohist.] relates the ceremony which sealed the covenant (&nbsp; Exodus 24:3-8 ); the usual practice of Moses with regard to the ‘Tent of Tryst,’ where God used to meet with any one who wished to inquire of Him (&nbsp; Exodus 33:7-11 ); and the people’s act of repentance for some sin which E [Note: Elohist.] has not preserved (&nbsp; Exodus 33:6 ), E2 relates as follows: Moses told the people the Ten Words, and they promised obedience (&nbsp; Exodus 19:7 f.; this must follow &nbsp; Exodus 20:1-17 ), Moses ascended the mountain to receive the written Words, leaving the people in the charge of Aaron and Hur (&nbsp; Exodus 24:13-15 a, &nbsp; Exodus 31:18 b), During his absence Aaron made the golden bull, and Moses, when he saw it, brake the tablets of stone and destroyed the imags; Aaron offered a feeble excuse, and J″ [Note: Jahweh.] smote the people (&nbsp; Exodus 32:1-6; &nbsp; Exodus 32:16 a, &nbsp; Exodus 32:16-24; &nbsp; Exodus 32:35 ), Moses’ intercession has not been preserved in E [Note: Elohist.] , but it is supplied by a late hand in &nbsp; Exodus 32:30-34 . We here resume the narrative of E. [Note: . Elohist.] After the departure from [[Horeb]] a fire from J″ [Note: Jahweh.] punished the people for murmuring (&nbsp; Numbers 11:1-8 ). At the ‘Tent of Tryst’ J″ [Note: Jahweh.] took of Moses’ spirit and put it upon 70 elders who prophesied, including [[Eldad]] and Medad, who did not leave the camp; Joshua objected to the two being thus favoured, but was rebuked by Moses (&nbsp; Numbers 11:18 f., &nbsp; Numbers 11:24-30 ). Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses for having married a foreign woman and then for claiming to have received Divine revelations; Miriam became leprous, but was healed at Moses’ intercession (&nbsp; Numbers 11:12 ). On Dathan and [[Abiram]] (&nbsp; Numbers 11:16 ) see above, under J. Miriam died at Kadesh (&nbsp; Numbers 20:1 ). Twelve spies were sent, who brought back a large cluster of grapes, but said that the natives were numerous and powerful (&nbsp; Numbers 13:13 a, c, &nbsp; Numbers 13:23 &nbsp;Numbers 13:23 f., &nbsp; Numbers 13:26 b, &nbsp; Numbers 13:27 b, &nbsp; Numbers 13:29; &nbsp; Numbers 13:33 ). The people determined to return to Egypt under another captain (&nbsp; Numbers 14:1 b, &nbsp; Numbers 14:8 f.). [Here occurs a lacuna, which is partially supplied by &nbsp; Deuteronomy 1:19-46 , probably based on E. [Note: . Elohist.] ] Against Moses’ wish the people advanced towards Canaan, but were routed by the [[Amalekites]] and other natives (&nbsp; Numbers 14:39-45 ). Edom refused passage through their territory (&nbsp; Numbers 20:14-20 ). Aaron died at Moserah, and was succeeded by [[Eleazar]] (&nbsp; Numbers 10:5 ). [[Serpents]] plagued the people for their murmuring, and Moses made the serpent of bronze (&nbsp; Numbers 21:4-9 ). Israel marched by Edom to Moab, and vanquished [[Sihon]] (&nbsp; Numbers 21:21-24 &nbsp;Numbers 21:21-24 a, &nbsp; Numbers 21:27-30 ); the story of Balaam (part &nbsp; Numbers 21:22-24 ). Israel worshipped Baal-peor, and Moses bade the judges hang the offenders (&nbsp; Numbers 25:1 a, &nbsp; Numbers 25:8 a, &nbsp; Numbers 25:5 ). J″ [Note: Jahweh.] warned Moses that he was about to die, and Moses appointed Joshua to succeed him (&nbsp; Deuteronomy 31:14 f., &nbsp; Deuteronomy 31:23 ). Moses died in Moab, and his tomb was unknown. He was the greatest prophet in Israel (&nbsp; Deuteronomy 34:5; &nbsp; Deuteronomy 34:8 b, &nbsp; Deuteronomy 34:10 ). </p> <p> (iii.) <em> The narrative of D </em> <em> [Note: Deuteronomist.] </em> is based upon the earlier sources, which it treats in a hortatory manner, dwelling upon the religious meaning of history, and its bearing upon life and morals, and Israel’s attitude to God. There are a few additional details, such as are suitable to a retrospect ( <em> e.g </em> . &nbsp; Deuteronomy 1:6-8; &nbsp; Deuteronomy 1:16 f., &nbsp; Deuteronomy 1:20 f., &nbsp; Deuteronomy 1:29-31 , &nbsp; Deuteronomy 3:21 f., &nbsp; Deuteronomy 3:23-28 ), and there are certain points on which the tradition differs more or less widely from those of JE [Note: Jewish Encyclopedia.]; see Driver, <em> Deut </em> . p. xxxv f. But D [Note: Deuteronomist.] supplies nothing of importance to our knowledge of Moses’ life and character. </p> <p> (iv.) <em> The narrative of P </em> <em> [Note: Priestly Narrative.] </em> . Israel was made to serve the Egyptians ‘with rigour’ (&nbsp; Exodus 1:7; &nbsp; Exodus 1:16; &nbsp; Exodus 1:14 b). When the king died, J″ [Note: Jahweh.] heard their sighing, and remembered His covenant (&nbsp; Exodus 2:23-25 ). He revealed to Moses His name Jahweh, and bade him tell the Israelites that they were to be delivered (&nbsp; Exodus 6:2-9 ). Moses being diffident, Aaron his brother was given to be his ‘prophet’ (&nbsp; Exodus 6:10-12 , &nbsp; Exodus 7:1-7 ). [The genealogy of Moses and Aaron is given in a later stratum of P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] , &nbsp; Exodus 6:14-25 .] Aaron turned his staff into a ‘reptile’ before Pharaoh (&nbsp; Exodus 7:8-18 ). By Aaron’s instrumentality with Moses plagues were sent all the water in Egypt turned into blood (&nbsp; Exodus 7:19-20 a, &nbsp; Exodus 7:21 b, &nbsp; Exodus 7:22 ); frogs (&nbsp; Exodus 8:5-7; &nbsp; Exodus 8:15 b); gnats or mosquitoes (&nbsp; Exodus 8:16-19 ); boils (&nbsp; Exodus 9:8-12 ). [As in J [Note: Jahwist.] , commands respecting religious institutions are inserted in connexion with the Exodus: Passover (&nbsp; Exodus 12:1-18; &nbsp; Exodus 12:24; &nbsp; Exodus 12:28; &nbsp; Exodus 12:43-50 ), Unleavened cakes (&nbsp; Exodus 12:14-20 ), [[Dedication]] of firstborn (&nbsp; Exodus 13:1 f.).] The Israelites went to [[Etham]] (&nbsp; Exodus 13:20 ) and thence to the Red Sea. The marvel of the crosslng is heightened, the waters standing up in a double wall (&nbsp; Exodus 14:1-4; &nbsp; Exodus 14:8 f., &nbsp; Exodus 14:15 b, &nbsp; Exodus 14:13-18 , &nbsp; Exodus 14:21 a, c,&nbsp; Exodus 14:22 f., &nbsp; Exodus 14:26-27 a, &nbsp; Exodus 14:28 a). in the wilderness of [[Sin]] the people murmured, and manna was sent; embedded in the narrative are fragments of P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ’s story of the quails (16, exc. &nbsp; Exodus 14:4; &nbsp; Exodus 14:15 ). They moved to [[Rephidim]] (&nbsp; Exodus 17:1 a), and thence to Sinai (&nbsp; Exodus 19:1-2 a). After seven days J″ [Note: Jahweh.] called Moses into the cloud (&nbsp; Exodus 24:15-18 a) and gave him instructions with regard to the [[Tabernacle]] and its worship (&nbsp; Exodus 25:1 to &nbsp; Exodus 31:17 ), and also gave him the [[Tablets]] of the [[Testimony]] (&nbsp; Exodus 31:18 a). [Other laws ascribed to Divine communication with Moses are collected in Lev. and parts of Num.] When Moses descended, his face shone, so that he veiled it when he was not alone in J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ’s presence (&nbsp; Exodus 34:29-35 ). A census was taken of the fighting men preparatory to the march, and the writer takes occasion to enlarge upon the organization of the priestly and [[Levitical]] families (&nbsp; Numbers 1:1-54; &nbsp; Numbers 2:1-34; &nbsp; Numbers 3:1-51; &nbsp; Numbers 4:1-49 ). The cloud which descended upon the Tabernacle was the signal for marching and camping (&nbsp; Numbers 9:15-23 ), and the journey began (&nbsp; Numbers 10:11-28 ). With the story of Dathan and Abiram (see above) there are entwined two versions of a priestly story of rebellion (1) <em> [[Korah]] </em> and 250 princes, all of them laymen, spoke against Moses and Aaron for claiming, in their capacity of Levites, a sanctity superior to that of the rest of the congregation. (2) <em> Korah </em> and the princes were Levites, and they attacked Aaron for exalting priests above Levites (parts of 16). The former version has its sequel in 17; Moses and Aaron were vindicated by the budding of the staff for the tribe of Levi. In the wilderness of [[Zin]] Moses struck the rock, with an angry exclamation to the murmuring people, and water flowed; Moses and Aaron were rebuked for <em> lack of faith </em> [the fragments of the story do not make it clear wherein this consisted], and they were forbidden to enter Canaan (parts of &nbsp; Numbers 20:1-13 ). Joshua, Caleb, and ten other spies were sent from the wilderness of Paran; the two former alone brought a good account of the land, and they alone were permitted to enter Canaan; the other ten died by a plague (parts of 13, 14; see above under J and E). Aaron died at Mt. [[Hor]] (&nbsp; Numbers 20:22-29 ). Israel marched by Edom to Moab (&nbsp; Numbers 20:22 , &nbsp; Numbers 21:4 a, &nbsp; Numbers 21:10-11 a). [[Phinehas]] was promised ‘an everlasting priesthood’ for his zeal in punishing an Israelite who had brought a [[Midianite]] woman into the camp (&nbsp; Numbers 25:6-16 ). All the last generation having died except Joshua and Caleb, a second census was taken by Moses and Eleazar (26). Moses appointed Joshua to succeed hi m (27). T he [[Midianites]] were defeated and Balaam was slain (31). Moses died on Mt. Nebo, aged 120 (&nbsp; Deuteronomy 34:1 a, &nbsp; Deuteronomy 34:7-9 ). </p> <p> <strong> 3. Historicity </strong> . In the OT, there are presented to us the varying fortunes of a Semitic people who found their way into Palestine, and were strong enough to settle in the country in defiance of the native population. Although the Invaders were greatly in the minority as regards numbers, they were knit together by an <em> esprit de corps </em> which made them formidable. And this was the outcome of a strong religious belief which was common to all the branches of the tribe the belief that every member of the tribe was under the protection of the same God, Jahweh. And when it is asked from what source they gained this united belief, the analogy of other religions suggests that it probably resulted from the influence of some strong personality. <em> The existence and character of the Hebrew race require such a person as Moses to account for them </em> . But while the denial that Moses was a real person is scarcely within the bounds of sober criticism, it does not follow that all the <em> details </em> related of him are literally true to history. What Prof. Driver says of the patriarchs in [[Genesis]] is equally true of Moses in Ex., Nu.: ‘The basis of the narratives in Genesis is in fact <em> popular oral tradition </em> ; and that being so, we may expect them to display the characteristics which popular oral tradition does in other cases. They may well include a substantial historical nucleus; but details may be due to the involuntary action of popular invention or imagination, operating during a long period of time; characteristic anecdotes, reflecting the feelings, and explaining the relations, of a later age may thus have become attached to the patriarchs; phraseology and expression will nearly always be ascribed rightly to the narrators who cast these traditions into their present literary shape’ (art. ‘Jacob’ in <em> DB </em> <em> [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] </em> ii. 534 b ). </p> <p> Moses is portrayed under three chief aspects as (i.) a Leader, (ii.) the Promoter of the religion of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] , (iii.) Lawgiver, and ‘Prophet’ or moral teacher. </p> <p> (i.) <em> Moses as Leader </em> . Some writers think that there is evidence which shows that the Israelites who went to Egypt at the time of the famine did not comprise the whole nation. Whether this be so or not, however, there is no sufficient reason for doubting the Hebrew tradition of an emigration to Egypt. Again, if Israelites obtained permission as foreign tribes are known to have done to occupy pasture land within the Egyptian frontier, there could be nothing surprising if some of them were pressed into compulsory building labour; for it was a common practice to employ foreigners and prisoners in this manner. But in order to rouse them, and knit them together, and persuade them to escape, a leader was necessary. If, therefore, it is an historical fact that they were in Egypt, and partially enslaved, it is more likely than not that the account of their deliverance by Moses also has an historical basis. It is impossible, in a short article, to discuss the evidence in detail. It is in the last degree unsafe to dogmatize on the extent to which the narratives of Moses’ life are historically accurate. In each particular the decision resolves itself into a balance of probabilities. But that Moses was not an individual, but stands for a tribe or group of tribes, and that the narratives which centre round him are entirely legendary, are to the present writer pure assumptions, unscientific and uncritical. The minuteness of personal details, the picturesqueness of the scenes described, the true touches of character, and the necessity of accounting for the emergence of Israel from a state of scattered nomads into that of an organized tribal community, are all on the side of those who maintain that <em> in its broad outlines </em> the account of Moses’ leadership is based upon fact. </p> <p> (ii.) <em> Moses as the Promoter of the religion of [[Jahweh]] </em> . Throughout the OT, with the exception of &nbsp; Ezekiel 40:1-49; &nbsp; Ezekiel 41:1-26; &nbsp; Ezekiel 42:1-20; &nbsp; Ezekiel 43:1-27; &nbsp; Ezekiel 44:1-31; &nbsp; Ezekiel 45:1-25; &nbsp; Ezekiel 46:1-24; &nbsp; Ezekiel 47:1-23; &nbsp; Ezekiel 48:1-35 , the forms and ceremonies of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] worship observed in every age are attributed to the teaching of Moses. It is to be noticed that the earliest writer (J [Note: Jahwist.] ) uses the name ‘Jahweh’ from his very first sentence (&nbsp; Genesis 2:4 b) and onwards, and assumes that J″ [Note: Jahweh.] was known and worshipped by the ancestors of the race; and in Ex. he frequently employs the expression ‘J″ [Note: Jahweh.] the God of the Hebrews’ (&nbsp; Genesis 3:18 , &nbsp; Genesis 5:3 , &nbsp; Genesis 7:16 , &nbsp; Genesis 9:1; &nbsp; Genesis 9:13 , &nbsp; Genesis 10:3 ). But, in agreement with E [Note: Elohist.] and P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] , he ascribes to Moses a new departure in J″ [Note: Jahweh.] worship inaugurated at Sinai. E [Note: Elohist.] and P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] relate that the Name was a new revelation to Moses when he was exiled in Midian, and that he taught it to the Israelites in Egypt. And yet in &nbsp; Genesis 3:6 E [Note: Elohist.] represents J″ [Note: Jahweh.] as saying to Moses, ‘I am the God of thy father’ [the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (unless this clause is a later insertion, as in &nbsp; Genesis 3:15 f., &nbsp; Genesis 4:5 )]. And in &nbsp; Genesis 6:3 P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] states categorically that God appeared unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but He was not known to them by His name ‘Jahweh.’ All the sources, therefore, imply that Moses did not teach a totally new religion; but he put before the Israelites a new aspect of their religion; he defined more clearly the relation in which they were to stand to God: they were to think of Him in a peculiar sense as <em> their </em> God. When we go further and inquire whence Moses derived the name ‘ <strong> Jahweh </strong> ,’ we are landed in the region of conjectures. Two points, however, are clear: (1) that the God whose name was ‘Jahweh’ had, before Moses’ time, been conceived of as dwelling on the sacred mountain Horeb or Sinai (&nbsp; Genesis 3:1-5; &nbsp; Genesis 3:12; &nbsp; Genesis 19:4 ); (2) that He was worshipped by a branch of the Midianites named [[Kenites]] (&nbsp; Judges 1:16; &nbsp; Judges 4:11 ), of whom Jethro was a priest (&nbsp; Exodus 3:1; &nbsp; Exodus 18:1 ). From these facts two conjectures have been made. Some have supposed that Moses learned the name ‘Jahweh’ from the Midianites; that He was therefore a foreign God as far as the Israelites were concerned; and that, after hearing His name for the first time from Moses in Egypt, they journeyed to the sacred mountain and were there admitted by Jethro into the [[Kenite]] worship by a sacrificial feast at which Jethro officiated. But it is hardly likely that the Israelites, enslaved in Egypt, could have been so rapidly roused and convinced by Moses’ proclamation of an entirely new and foreign deity. The action taken by Jethro in organizing the sacrifice might easily arise from the fact that he was in his own territory, and naturally acted as host towards the strangers. The other conjecture, which can claim a certain plausibility, is that J″ [Note: Jahweh.] was a God recognized by Moses’ own tribe of Levi. From &nbsp; Exodus 4:24; &nbsp; Exodus 4:27 it is possible to suppose that Aaron was not in Egypt, but in the vicinity of Horeb, which he already knew as the ‘mountain of God.’ If Moses’ family, or the tribe of Levi, and perhaps (as some conjecture) the Rachel tribes, together with the Midianite branch of Semites, were already worshippers of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] , Moses’ work would consist in proclaiming as the God of the whole body of Israelites Him whose help and guidance a small portion of them had already experienced. If either of these conjectures is valid, it only puts back a stage the question as to the ultimate origin of the name ‘Jahweh.’ But whatever the origin may have been, it is difficult to deny to Moses the glory of having united the whole body of Israelites in the single cult which excluded all other deities. </p> <p> (iii.) <em> Moses as [[Prophet]] and [[Lawgiver]] </em> . If Moses taught the Israelites to worship J″ [Note: Jahweh.] , it may safely be assumed that he laid down some rules as to the method and ritual of His worship. But there is abundant justification for the belief that he also gave them injunctions which were not merely ritual. It is quite arbitrary to assume that the prophets of the 8th cent. and onwards, who preached an ethical standard of religion, preached something entirely new, though it is probable enough that their own ethical feeling was purer and deeper than any to which the nation had hitherto attained. The prophets always held up a lofty ideal as something which the nation had <em> failed to reach </em> , and proclaimed that for this failure the sinful people were answerable to a holy God. And since human nature is alike in all ages, there must have been at least isolated individuals, more high-souled than the masses around them, who strove to live up to the light they possessed. And as the national history of Israel postulates a leader, and their religion postulates a great personality who drew them, as a body, into the acceptance of it, so the ethical morality which appears in the laws of Exodus, and in a deeper and intenser form in the prophets, postulates a teacher who instilled into the nucleus of the nation the germs of social justice, purity, and honour. Moses would have been below the standard of an ordinary sheik if he had not given decisions on social matters, and &nbsp; Exodus 18:1-27 pictures him as so doing, and &nbsp; Exodus 33:7-11 shows that it was usual for the people to go to him for oracular answers from God. It is in itself probable that the man who founded the nation and taught them their religion, would plant in them the seeds of social morality. But the question whether any of the codified laws, as we have them, were directly due to Moses is quite another matter. In the life of a nomad tribe the controlling factor is not a <em> corpus </em> of specific prescriptions, but the power of custom. An immoral act is condemned because ‘it is not wont so to be done’ (&nbsp; Genesis 34:7 , &nbsp; 2 Samuel 13:12 ). The stereotyping of custom in written codes is the product of a comparatively late stage in national life. And a study of the history and development of the Hebrew laws leads unavoidably to the conclusion that while some few elements in them are very ancient, it is impossible to say of any particular detail that it is certainly derived from Moses himself; and it is further clear that many are certainly later than his time. </p> <p> <strong> 4. Moses in the NT </strong> . (i.) All [[Jews]] and [[Christians]] in [[Apostolic]] times (including our Lord Himself) held that Moses was the <em> author </em> of the Pentateuch. Besides such expressions as ‘The law of Moses’ (&nbsp; Luke 2:22 ), ‘Moses enjoined’ (&nbsp; Matthew 8:4 ), ‘Moses commanded’ (&nbsp; Matthew 19:7 ), ‘Moses wrote’ (&nbsp; Mark 12:19 ), ‘Moses said’ (&nbsp; Mark 7:10 ), and so on, his name could be used alone as synonymous with that which he wrote (&nbsp; Luke 16:20; &nbsp; Luke 16:31; &nbsp; Luke 24:27 ). </p> <p> (ii.) But because Moses was the representative of the Old Dispensation, Jesus and the NT writers thought of him as something more. He was an historical personage of such unique prominence in Israel’s history, that his whole career appeared to them to afford parallels to spiritual factors in the New Covenant. The following form an interesting study, as illustrating points which cover a wide range of [[Christian]] truth: The ‘glory’ on Moses’ face (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:7-18 ), the brazen serpent (&nbsp; John 3:14 ), the Passover (&nbsp; John 19:36 , Heb 11:28 , &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 5:7 f.), the covenant sacrifice at Horeb (&nbsp; Matthew 26:28 , &nbsp; Mark 14:24 , &nbsp; Luke 22:20 , &nbsp; 1 Corinthians 11:25; see also &nbsp; Hebrews 9:18-20 , &nbsp; 1 Peter 1:2 with Hort’s note), the terrors of the Sinai covenant (&nbsp; Hebrews 12:18-24 ), the crossing of the sea (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 10:2 ), the manna (&nbsp; John 6:30-35; &nbsp; John 6:41-58 ), the water from the rock (&nbsp; 1 Corinthians 10:3-4 ), Moses as a prophet (&nbsp; Acts 3:22; &nbsp; Acts 7:37 , &nbsp; John 1:21-23; and see &nbsp; John 6:14; &nbsp; John 7:40 [&nbsp; Luke 7:39 ]), the magicians of Egypt (&nbsp; 2 Timothy 3:8 ), the plagues (&nbsp; Revelation 8:5; &nbsp; Revelation 8:7-8; &nbsp; Revelation 9:2-4; &nbsp; Revelation 15:6-8; &nbsp; Revelation 16:2-4; &nbsp; Revelation 16:10; &nbsp; Revelation 16:13; &nbsp; Revelation 16:18; &nbsp; Revelation 16:21 ), and ‘the song of Moses the servant of God’ (&nbsp; Revelation 15:3 ). </p> <p> [[A. H]]  M‘Neile. </p>

<p> Just as, in the Synagogue, the Law (the Torah), was accounted the most important division of the Canon, and as Holy Scripture in its entirety might thus <i> a parte potiori </i> be designated the ‘Law’ (ὁ νόμος, the <i> tôrâh </i> ), so in the primitive Church Moses was regarded as the supreme figure of the OT. </p> <p> <b> 1. Moses as the author of the Pentateuch. </b> -Moses was honoured as the author of the ‘Law,’ <i> i.e. </i> the Pentateuch: &nbsp;Romans 10:5 (‘Moses writeth’); cf. &nbsp;Acts 3:22; &nbsp;Acts 7:37. His name had become so closely identified with the books of the [[Torah]] that we even find it said, ‘Moses is read’ (&nbsp;Acts 15:21, &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:15 [cf. &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:14]). The Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch was an assumption of Jewish tradition and, as such, seems to have been taken over by Jesus and His apostles without criticism of any sort. It is to be noted, however, that they attached no special importance to the belief that Moses himself wrote the Pentateuch. This is in no sense the point of the above references, as the name ‘Moses’ is used either metonymically for the Law (‘the Old Covenant’) as in &nbsp;Acts 15:21 and &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:15 (cf. &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:14), or as a designation of the correlative, <i> i.e. </i> the first, portion of Holy Scripture or Divine revelation; cf. <i> e.g. </i> &nbsp;Romans 10:19 (where Moses is referred to only as the mouth-piece of God, exactly like ‘Isaiah’ in the next verse). Occasionally, however, special emphasis is laid upon the fact that Moses, as a prophet, gave utterance to certain sayings, since, as the recognized representative of Judaism, he forms in some sense a contrast to Jesus; cf. &nbsp;Acts 7:37; &nbsp;Acts 3:22 (‘Moses said’) with &nbsp;John 5:46 (&nbsp;Romans 10:5). </p> <p> <b> 2. Moses as a prophet. </b> -Among the early Christians generally Moses was honoured as preeminently a prophet. While the religion of the OT revolved around the two foci, Law and Promise, primitive Christianity-in contrast to later Judaism-laid the chief emphasis upon the Promise; and, if the Jews exploited Moses in their controversies with the Christians, the latter could always appeal to his Messianic prediction; cf. &nbsp;Acts 3:22; &nbsp;Acts 7:37; &nbsp;Acts 26:22; &nbsp;Acts 28:23, &nbsp;Luke 24:27; &nbsp;Luke 24:44, &nbsp;John 5:45-47 (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:15 : ‘The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me’). More especially in the speech of Stephen a strong emphasis is laid upon the prophetic character of Moses (&nbsp;Acts 7:37); here, moreover, Moses does not merely foretell the coming of Christ, but in his calling, and even in his experiences, he is also, as indicated in the passage cited from Dt., a prototype of Christ, having been first of all disowned by his people (&nbsp;Acts 7:23-29), then exalted by God to be their leader and deliverer (&nbsp;Acts 7:35), and at length once more rejected by them (&nbsp;Acts 7:39-41). St. Paul, too, uses the figure of Moses as a type of Christ: the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt ‘were all baptized unto Moses’ in the Red Sea (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:2); and in &nbsp;Hebrews 3:2 Moses is spoken of as typifying Christ’s faithfulness in the service of God’s house. That Christ is called the [[Mediator]] of the New [[Covenant]] (&nbsp;Hebrews 8:6; &nbsp;Hebrews 12:24) doubtless presupposes that Moses was the mediator of the Old (cf. &nbsp;Acts 7:38, &nbsp;Galatians 3:19). In the speech of Stephen the life of Moses is sketched at some length, and is furnished with certain particulars which were derived from the oral tradition of the [[Synagogue]] (the Haggâdâ), as <i> e.g. </i> in &nbsp;Acts 7:22 (‘instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians’)-just as the names of the Egyptian magicians, Jannes and Jambres, are given by St. Paul (&nbsp;2 Timothy 3:8). Further, among the heroes of the faith enumerated in Hebrews 11, Moses wins more than a passing reference as a pattern of faith (&nbsp;Hebrews 11:24-26). </p> <p> High as Moses stands in the Old Covenant, however, his glory pales before that of Christ, as the transient and the material gives place to the permanent and the spiritual (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:7-18, &nbsp;Hebrews 3:3-5). Moses was but the servant of God, while Jesus Christ is God’s Son, who not merely superintends, but actually governs God’s house, and was in fact its builder (&nbsp;Hebrews 3:3-5). In the fading away of the dazzling glory on the face of Moses (&nbsp;Exodus 34:33-35) St. Paul finds a symbol of the transient glory of the Old Covenant mediated by Moses, while the glory of the Lord ( <i> i.e. </i> Christ), and thus also of the New Covenant, is imperishable (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:12-18; cf. &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:7-11). </p> <p> <b> 3. Moses as the law-giver. </b> -This brings us to the function of Moses as the law-giver. As [[Judaism]] became more and more definitely legalistic, an ever higher position was assigned to the great intermediary of the Law. He towered above every other character in the OT, and Judaism became neither more nor less than Mosaism. To impugn the Law in any way was to speak blasphemy, not only against Moses, but even against God (cf. the charge against Stephen, &nbsp;Acts 6:11). The primitive Church, on the other hand-as was said above-laid great stress upon the prophetic and prototypic character of Moses, as also upon his subordinate position in relation to Christ. But as long as Moses remained the great canonical standard, the Church could not renounce his legislative authority. Even the Lord Jesus Himself had sanctioned the Law of Moses, and co-ordinated it with the Prophets (&nbsp;Matthew 5:17-20, &nbsp;Luke 16:17; cf. &nbsp;Luke 16:29-31), and the primitive community in Jerusalem could never have entertained the thought of disparaging the authority of Moses for Christians as well as Jews. Still, the relation of the disciples of Jesus to the Mosaic Law could not permanently remain the same as that of the unbelieving Jews; the differentiating factor of belief in Jesus was felt more and more to be paramount, and at length it was fully realized that salvation could be secured not by the Law but by faith, or grace, and that it came not from Moses, but from Jesus Christ. </p> <p> Thus too had come the time when the believing [[Gentiles]] must be fully recognized as brethren, and received into the Church without circumcision.*[Note: A detailed explanation of this development is given in the art. Law.]Yet this does not in any sense imply that the mother church in Jerusalem and the rest of the Jewish Christians believed themselves to be exempt from the obligation of the Law. On the contrary, we are told in Acts that the many thousands of Jewish Christians continued to be ‘zealous for the law’ (&nbsp;Acts 21:20), and in a continuation of the passage we are shown that the rumour of St. Paul’s having taught the Jewish Christians in his churches to forsake Moses was without foundation (&nbsp;Acts 21:21-26), while we learn from St. Paul’s own letters that within certain limits he desired the distinction made by Moses between Jew and [[Gentile]] to be maintained in his churches (cf. &nbsp;1 Corinthians 7:18, &nbsp;Galatians 5:3; see also articleLaw, p. 690). Furthermore, even as regards a Gentile Christian community, the [[Apostle]] could appeal to particular regulations of the Mosaic Law as expressions of the Divine will in contrast to the dictates of human reason (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 9:8 f.; cf. &nbsp;1 Timothy 5:18, where the same OT passage-&nbsp;Deuteronomy 25:4 -is placed side by side with a saying of Jesus)-just as elsewhere he frequently refers to special provisions of the Law, or to the Law as a whole. Yet this in no way detracts from the validity of the principle that all things are spiritually judged (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 2:14 f.), and that nothing is to be enforced according to the letter which killeth (&nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:5), the regulative canon being that the external statutes, ‘the commandments in ordinances’ (&nbsp;Ephesians 2:15), are merely the shadow of things to come, while the body is Christ’s (&nbsp;Colossians 2:17)-whence it follows that the outward regulations of the Law are to be applied in a typological (or allegorical) way. A further result was a certain relaxation of the Mosaic ordinances relating to practical life, enabling the Jewish Christians to live in brotherly intercourse with the believing Gentiles. </p> <p> In this connexion, however, certain difficulties arose which seemed actually to necessitate some limitation of Gentile Christian liberty, and it was this state of things that led the primitive Church to promulgate the ‘Apostolic Decree.’ According to &nbsp;Acts 15:19-21, St. James, the brother of the Lord, justified his proposal regarding the [[Decree]] by the circumstance that ‘Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath.’ The point of this statement is much debated. Does St. James mean thereby that the apostles do not need to trouble regarding the dissemination of the Mosaic legislation, and that they should therefore lay upon the Gentile Christians nothing beyond the four prohibitions specified by him, since Moses had from of old been sufficiently represented throughout the [[Diaspora]] (so <i> e.g. </i> Zahn)? If this be the true interpretation, the statement of St. James fails to explain why these particular prohibitions were fixed upon. We must thus rather look for an interpretation according to which &nbsp;Acts 15:21 provides a reason why precisely these four injunctions were laid upon the Gentile churches. Such a reading of the passage would be as follows: Since, not only in the Holy Land, but also in heathen lands, the doctrines of Moses are every Sabbath inculcated upon those who attend the Synagogue, it is necessary that the believing Gentiles-like the so-called ‘God-fearing’ (οἱσεβόμενοιτὸν θεόν)-should give some consideration to the Mosaic Law, and should at least abstain from taking part in those heathen practices which were most revolting to the Jewish mind. The prohibitions of the Apostolic Decree, which resemble those imposed upon Jewish proselytes, were probably framed in conformity with Leviticus 17, 18, which contain, <i> inter alia </i> , laws to be observed by aliens resident in the land of Israel. They seem at first sight to be a strange mingling of moral and purely ritual laws, the prohibition of sexual immorality being conjoined with three interdicts about food (cf. &nbsp;Acts 15:29). But while this collocation has certainly an appearance of arbitrariness, a glance at &nbsp;Revelation 2:20-24 (where we undoubtedly hear an echo of the Apostolic Decree), as also a comparison with &nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:7 f., shows us that abstinence from idolatrous sacrifices and abstinence from sexual immorality are closely related, and that πορνεία here refers not merely to the forbidden degrees of marriage but also to ceremonial prostitution; the Gentile Christians must abstain both from taking part in the sacrificial meals of the heathen world and from the immoralities connected therewith, <i> i.e. </i> from practices regarded among the heathen as <i> adiaphora </i> (cf. &nbsp;1 Corinthians 6:12). As regards the other two restrictions, it is clear that they converge upon a single point-the supreme necessity of maintaining the sacredness of blood in every form, as already recognized in the so-called Noachian dispensation: the believing Gentiles must no longer partake of blood either in the flesh or by itself ( <i> e.g. </i> mixed with wine, as drunk by the heathen in their sacrificial feasts); in other words, only the flesh of ritually slaughtered animals may be eaten. </p> <p> The essential equivalence of these two prohibitions might also explain the uncertainty attaching to the reading πνικτοῦ in the textual tradition. Here, however, another consideration arises. In the Western text, which omits καὶ πνικτοῦ (πνικτῶν), we find an addition which points to an entirely different conception of the Apostolic Decree, viz. καὶ ὅσα μὴ θέλουσιν ἑαυτοῖς γίνεσθαι ἑτέροις μὴ ποιεῖν (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 15:20; so D, Iren., Tert., Cypr., some Minuscules, and the Sahidic). The ‘golden rule’ being thus added to the prohibitions of idolatrous sacrifices, fornication, and blood, the Decree is transformed into a short moral catechism, in which are forbidden the three cardinal vices-idolatry, fornication, and murder (αἶμα = ‘shedding of blood’). But although the genuineness of this form of the text is defended by able scholars, such as Blass and Harnack, it should in all probability be rejected as of secondary origin. For not only is the golden rule introduced most inaptly in a formal respect, but the purely ethical character of the decree as thus transformed presupposes the conditions of a later time-a time when the Church was no longer concerned with the specific problem that had called for the attention of the Apostolic Council; in the West, where the ‘ethical’ form of the Decree took its rise, Jewish Christianity was a relatively insignificant force, and what was wanted there was a brief compendium of the anti-heathen morality of Christianity. At the same time, however, the altered form of the Decree shows that the Church never regarded it as an inviolable law, but thought of it simply as a provisional arrangement which might be varied to suit local and temporary circumstances. </p> <p> In Revelation 2 the prohibitions of idolatrous sacrifices and (ritual) immorality are once more brought to view, while in &nbsp;1 Corinthians 6:8-10 St. Paul urges the same restrictions, though without appealing to the Apostolic Decree. Nor, strangely enough, does he mention the Decree in &nbsp;Galatians 2:1-10; this, however, would be sufficiently explained on the ground that the Apostle had emphasized its provisions (which, be it remembered, were not new, but had already found a regular place in the Jewish propaganda) in his missionary labours in the [[Galatian]] region (&nbsp;Acts 16:6). In that case it was not necessary that he should complicate the deliverance of the [[Council]] as to the recognition of his gospel and his apostolic status by mentioning the Decree, and all the less so because the account in Acts 15 does not imply that St. Paul himself was charged with the duty of enforcing its provisions in his missionary sphere. </p> <p> We may sum up the whole by saying that while primitive Christianity originally set Moses and Jesus side by side, it came at length, in the process of development, to contrast them with each other, and St. John, in the [[Prologue]] to his Gospel, gives expression to this result in his great saying: ‘The law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ’ (1:17). </p> <p> Literature.-H. H. Wendt, <i> Apostelgeschichte </i> 8, in Meyer’s <i> Kommentar </i> , 1899; G. Hoennicke, <i> Apostelgeschichte </i> , Leipzig, 1913; text-books of <i> NT [[Theology]] </i> , by B. Weiss (Eng. translation, 1882-83), [[H. J]]  Holtzmann (21911), P. Feine (1910), [[G. B]]  Stevens (1899); [[E. B]]  Reuss, <i> Hist. of Christian Theology in the Apostolic Age </i> , Eng. translation, 1872-74, i. 139, 205, etc.; [[J. R]]  Cohu, <i> St. Paul </i> , 1911, p. 40 ff.; [[A. E]]  Garvie, <i> Studies of Paul and his Gospel </i> , 1911, p. 192 ff. </p> <p> Olaf Moe. </p>

<p> This godly man towers above all other persons in the Old Testament period because he was God's instrument for the introduction of covenant law in Israel. In his long life he also acted on behalf of God to bring into being an enduring nation, while functioning as a prophet, judge, recorder of God's pronouncements, intercessor, military leader, worker of miracles, and tireless shepherd of the unruly Israelite tribes. By the time of his death he had welded his people into a highly efficient military force that would occupy the land promised by God to [[Abraham]] (&nbsp;Genesis 12:7 ). </p> <p> All that is known about Moses is found in the Bible. There are no surviving monuments to him, although some may have existed prior to his abrupt departure from Egypt (&nbsp;Exodus 2:15 ). It is therefore impossible to prove that he ever lived, as far as evidence from statues and inscriptions is concerned. But his existence cannot be disproved, either, since other prominent Old Testament figures have neither names nor monuments, as, for example, the Pharaoh with whom Moses contended, and the Egyptian princess who rescued the infant Moses from the Nile. </p> <p> Moses is so strongly interwoven with the religious tradition involving God's plan for human salvation through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and ultimately the Davidic Messiah, and attested to as an authoritative figure for Hebrew culture even in the New Testament period, that he could not possibly have been an invention or a fictional character used as an object of religious or social propaganda. Unquestionably he stood head and shoulders above all other Hebrews, and was for the Old Testament period what Paul was for the New. </p> <p> Perhaps out of deference to his stature there was nobody else in the Old Testament named Moses. There has been some debate about the meaning of his name, with some scholars relating it to a root "to bear, " and found in such Egyptian names as Ahmose and Thutmose. In &nbsp;Exodus 2:10 , the name given to him by the princess is connected with a Hebrew verb meaning "to draw out" (cf. &nbsp;2 Samuel 22:17 ), but it could also have come from an Egyptian term meaning "son." </p> <p> The Book of Exodus divides Moses' life into three periods of forty years each. The first of these deals with his birth in Egypt and his education as a prince of the royal harem (cf. &nbsp;Acts 7:21-22 ). The second phase occurs in Midian, where he fled for refuge after murdering an Egyptian (&nbsp;Exodus 2:15 ). The final stage involves him liberating the enslaved Hebrews, establishing God's covenant with them in the Sinai desert and leading them to the borders of the promised land. The [[Scriptures]] indicate that two-thirds of Moses' life served as a preparation for the crucial final third, which was so important for the divine plan of salvation. Accordingly we will focus on Moses' ministry as a mediator and teacher of God's revealed Word, since theology was henceforth to be the basis of Israelite life (&nbsp;Exodus 19:6 ). </p> <p> While Moses may have learned about his ancestral God from Jethro, his father-in-law, the "priest of Midian" (&nbsp;Exodus 3:1 ), his first encounter with the Lord is at Mount Horeb, where he observes a bush burning with fire, and hears God's announcement that he is the God of Moses' ancestors. Moses is given a commission to return to Egypt and lead out the captive Hebrew people. God reveals to him the new name by which God will become known: "I am who I am." Moses is to say to the Hebrews that "I am" had sent him, and this name is to empower all subsequent pronouncements. Not surprisingly it has also been a matter of debate, and many explanations of its meaning have been advanced. It certainly points to God's eternal existence, self-sufficiency, and continued activity in human history. Intensely dynamic in nature, it transcends and fulfills all other forms of being. </p> <p> This description of the divine name is supplemented by an additional revelation of his name as Yahweh (&nbsp;Exodus 6:3 ). So sacred is this designation that its pronunciation has not survived; the Hebrew consonants have been vocalized from another word, "lord, " to produce the classic "Jehovah." Modern attempts to vocalize the original consonants are uncertain at best. Nevertheless, this mysterious Name and its power sustain Moses as he struggles with Pharaoh for the liberation of the Hebrew slaves. The conflict ends with the first Passover celebration, which coincides with the death of Egypt's firstborn (&nbsp;Exodus 12:29 ). </p> <p> Dramatic though the crossing of the Re(e)d Sea is for the destiny of the Hebrews, the peak of Moses' career is attained on Mount Sinai, when God appears to him and delivers the celebrated Ten [[Commandments]] as the basis of Israel's covenant law. In conjunction with this revelation, God enters into a binding agreement with the twelve tribes that in effect welds them into one nation. God promises to provide for all their needs and give them the land promised long ago to Abraham if they, for their part, worship him as their one and only true God. </p> <p> God's purpose for his newly created nation is that the Israelites should be visible among their contemporaries as a priestly kingdom and a holy people (&nbsp;Exodus 19:6; &nbsp;Leviticus 11:44 ). Every man in Israel is to live as though he has been consecrated to the high and sacred office of a priest in God's service, and be holy and pure in all his doings. He is to abstain from the iniquitous ways of pagan neighboring nations, and be to them an example of what God himself is by nature (&nbsp;Exodus 34:6-7 ). Moses Acts on behalf of God at the covenant ratification ceremony (&nbsp;Exodus 24:6-8 ) and thereafter is the recipient of instructions concerning the building of a sacred national shrine known as the tabernacle. </p> <p> Of high theological significance for the Israelites, this structure was rectangular in shape and contained a tent where the cultic structure known as the covenant ark was housed. God's presence rested upon the ark, which was so sacred that the Israelites were prohibited from even seeing it. When the Israelite tribes were camped in order around the tabernacle, God's presence was indeed in their midst. </p> <p> During the wilderness period Moses receives from God other laws dealing with sacrifices and offerings, rules governing social behavior, prohibitions against idolatry and immorality, and positive promises of God's blessings upon the Israelites, provided always that they keep the covenant obligations that they had assumed under oath. </p> <p> From what has been said already it will be clear that Israelite life under Moses and his successors was grounded upon divine revelation and its accompanying theology. Distinctiveness in society as God's people, strictness of living in obedience to his laws, and unswerving trust in his power to save and keep were to be the hallmarks of Hebrew life. God's people were to be holy as he is holy (&nbsp;Leviticus 11:44 ), and any deviations from these requirements would result in severe punishment. In mediating this theology and setting an example of it in his own life of dedication to God and fellowship with him, Moses serves as the exemplar of spirituality for all Israel to observe. </p> <p> In dealing with the chosen people, Moses periodically Acts as an intercessor with God, so as to avert divine displeasure with Israel (&nbsp;Exodus 33:12-16; &nbsp;Numbers 12:13 ). The call that he had received from God involves his acting in the capacity of prophet to the nation, wherein he serves as God's spokesperson to Israel. So effective is he in this function that God promises to raise up other prophets after his death who will also serve as spokespersons (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:15-18 ), thus indicating that God regards Moses as the standard by which his successors will be judged. </p> <p> Yet despite his deeply spiritual life and his sense of commitment to covenantal ideals, Moses is still a human being. The task of organizing community living among people of a seminomadic disposition is formidable. In the wilderness he bears the brunt of complaints (&nbsp;Numbers 11:1-25 ) and feels the crushing weight of his responsibilities (&nbsp;Numbers 11:14 ). When he is overwhelmed by the numbers of people coming to him for legal decisions (&nbsp;Exodus 18:13 ), he willingly follows the advice of Jethro as to how he should conduct his judicial responsibilities (&nbsp;Exodus 18:24-26 ). Under obvious stress he goes beyond God's instructions in dealing with the complaining Israelites (&nbsp;Numbers 20:10-12 ), and is forbidden to lead the conquering Israelites into the promised land. Yet he is recognized as being "a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth" (&nbsp;Numbers 12:3 ), which has been urged commonly as a testimony to his humility in the service of Israel's most holy God. It is probable, however, that the term rendered "meek" actually means "more long-suffering than, " "more tolerant than, " which places a rather different construction upon the explanatory phrase. </p> <p> In New Testament times the law of Moses constituted the standard of faith and conduct for the Christian church, which was commanded to observe Old Testament obligations of holiness (&nbsp;1 Peter 1:16 ). At the transfiguration of Christ, Moses appears with Elijah and converses with Jesus, signifying the harmony of law, prophecy, and the gospel (&nbsp;Mark 9:4 ). The sermon of Stephen before the [[Sanhedrin]] quotes Moses several times (&nbsp;Acts 7:20-44 ). Moses is referred to authoritatively in the Epistles, and is celebrated as a man who lived by faith (&nbsp;Hebrews 11:23-29 ). In Revelation, the victorious saints chant the song of Moses (&nbsp;Exodus 15:1-19 ). </p> <p> [[R. K]]  Harrison </p> <p> <i> See also </i> [[Theology Of Exodus]]; Israel </p> <p> <i> Bibliography </i> . [[O. T]]  Allis, <i> God [[Spake]] by Moses </i> ; M. Buber, <i> Moses </i> ; [[R. A]]  Cole, <i> Exodus </i> ; [[R. K]]  Harrison, <i> Numbers </i> ; [[F. B]]  Meyer, <i> Moses the [[Servant]] of God </i> . </p>

<p> Son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, brother of Aaron and Miriam. He was born after the mandate by the king that all male children of the Hebrews were to be killed, but his parents by faith hid him three months, and when he could no longer be hidden he was put in an ark of bulrushes and placed among the reeds in the river. Being found there by Pharaoh's daughter he was named by her MOSES, signifying 'drawn out,' and adopted as her son, being nursed for her by his own mother. He became learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, and was mighty in words and deeds. </p> <p> When forty years of age he visited his brethren, and seeing one ill-used he defended him, and slew the Egyptian; but the next day, on seeing two of the Israelites contending, he reminded them that they were brethren, and would have judged between them; but the wrong-doer repulsed him, and asked whether he would kill him as he had killed the Egyptian. Moses, finding that his deed was known, feared the wrath of the king, and fled from Egypt. He had acted with zeal, but without divine direction, and had thereforeto become a fugitive for forty years (being the <i> second </i> period of forty years of his life, as the forty years in the wilderness was the <i> third </i> ). In the land of Midian he married Zipporah, daughter of Jethro, the priest of Midian, by whom he had two sons. </p> <p> At the end of the forty years God spoke to him out of the burning bush, telling him to go and deliver Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians. He who had once used an arm of flesh is now conscious of his own nothingness, but learns that God would be with him. He is to make known to the people the name of Jehovah, and to attest his mission, as sent by the God of their fathers, by doing certain signs in their sight. </p> <p> No trace of timidity is apparent in his dealings with Pharaoh, he boldly requests him to let the people go into the wilderness to sacrifice to Jehovah; but Pharaoh refused and made the burdens of the Israelites greater. Ten plagues followed, when the Egyptians themselves, on the death of all their firstborn, were anxious for them to depart. </p> <p> God constantly spoke to Moses and gave him instructions in all things. Though Aaron was the elder brother, Moses had the place of leader and apostle. He conducted them out of Egypt, and through the Red Sea. He led the song of triumph when they saw their enemies dead on the sea shore. The N.T. declares that it was by faith he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God. He forsook Egypt, not now fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. &nbsp;Hebrews 11:24-27 . </p> <p> Moses needed such faith, for the murmurings and rebellion of the people were great, and they charged him with causing their trials: why had <i> he </i> brought them out to perish in the wilderness? When God's anger was kindled against them, he pleaded for them. When God spake of consuming all the people, and making a great nation of Moses, he besought God to turn from His anger, urging what a reproach it would be forthe Egyptians to say that He had led them out only to slay them; and he reminded God of what He had sworn to His servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He thus acted as intercessor with God for the people. &nbsp;Exodus 32:7-13 . </p> <p> When Miriam and Aaron complained of Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman, and said, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?" it does not appear that Moses rebuked them; but on that very occasion it is recorded, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." God had, however, heard them, and He defended Moses, and declared, He "is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches." &nbsp;Numbers 12:1-8 . </p> <p> When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and their company rose against Moses and Aaron, 'he fell on his face,' and left the matter in God's hands. "Even to-morrow the Lord will show who are his and who is holy;" and they were all consumed. &nbsp;Numbers 16:1-35 . God also called Moses up into the mount, dictated to him the law, gave him the ten commandments written on stone by the finger of God, and showed him the pattern of the tabernacle. He was the mediator, that is, he received all communications from God for the people. He was also called 'King in Jeshurun' (or Israel), &nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:5; and was a prophet of a unique type. &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:10 . </p> <p> In one instance Moses failed. When without water, God told him to take the rod (namely, that of priesthood), and <i> speak </i> to the rock, and water would come forth. Moses took "the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him," and with Aaron said unto the people, "Hear now, ye rebels; must <i> we </i> fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly." Moses then had to hear the voice of God saying "Because ye believed me not, to sanctify <i> me </i> in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." It was called the water of Meribah, that is 'strife.' &nbsp; Numbers 20:7-13 . After this Moses besought the Lord saying "I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon." But the Lord told him to speak no more to Him of that matter. He was to go up to the top of Pisgah, and view the land. There the Lord showed him all the land: after which he died in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor; but no man knew where. He "was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." &nbsp;Deuteronomy 3:25-27; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:1-7 . </p> <p> In the N.T. it is said respecting the body of Moses that Michael, the archangel, contended with the devil about it, the object of Satan probably being to make his tomb to be regarded as a holy place, to which the people would go for blessing, as people do still to the tombs of saints. &nbsp;Jude 9 . </p> <p> The law having been given through Moses, his name is often used where the law is alluded to; and Moses is mentioned by the Apostle John when contrasting the dispensations of the law and the gospel: "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." &nbsp;John 1:17 . The fact of the two dispensations being entirely different furnishes the reason why Moses was not allowed to enter into Canaan. That being a type of the heavenly blessings of Christianity, it would not have agreed with Moses, as the dispenser of the law, leading the Israelites into the land: that must be done by JOSHUA, type of Christ risen. Moses had his proper line of service, and was greatly honoured of God. He was faithful in that service amid great discouragements and trials; he was faithful in all God's house. On the mount of transfiguration Moses still represented the law, as [[Elias]] did the prophets. </p> <p> That Moses was the writer of the first five books of the O.T., called the Pentateuch, there are many proofs in scripture; such as "have ye not read in the book of Moses?" &nbsp;Mark 12:26; "If they hear not Moses and the prophets," &nbsp;Luke 16:31; &nbsp;Luke 24:27; "When Moses is read," &nbsp;2 Corinthians 3:15 . Of course the section where his death is recorded was added by a later hand. When the inspiration of scripture is fully held, God is known as the author of His word, and it becomes a secondary question <i> who </i> was the instrument that God used to write down what He wished to be recorded. Respecting some of the books of scripture we know not who wrote them; but that in no way touches their inspiration. It is plain, however, from the above and other passages that Moses was the writer of the Pentateuch, which is often called "the law of Moses." </p>

<p> The name of the illustrious prophet and legislator of the Hebrews, who led them from Egypt to the Promised Land. Having been originally imposed by a native Egyptian princess, the word is no doubt Egyptian in its origin, and Josephus gives its true derivationfrom the two Egyptian words, MO, water, and USE, saved. With this accords the Septuagint form, MOUSES. The Hebrews by a slight change accommodated it to their own language, as they did also in the case of some other foreign words; calling it MOSHIE, from the verb MASHA, to draw. See &nbsp;Exodus 2:10 . Moses was born about 15.71 [[B. C]]  the son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, and the younger brother of Miriam and Aaron. His history is too extensive to permit insertion here, and in general too well known to need it. It is enough simply to remark, that it is divided into three periods, each of forty years. The first extends from his infancy, when he was exposed in the Nile, and found and adopted y the daughter of Pharaoh, to his flight to Midian. </p> <p> During this time he lived at the Egyptian court, and "was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was nightly in words and in deeds," &nbsp;Acts 7:22 . This is no unmeaning praise; the "wisdom" of the Egyptians, and especially of their priests, was then the profoundest in the world. The second period was from his flight till his return to Egypt, &nbsp;Acts 7:30 , during the whole of which interval he appears to have lived in Midian, it may be much after the manner of the Bedaween sheikhs of the present day. Here he married Zipporah, daughter of the wise and pious Jethro, and became familiar with life in the desert. What a contrast between the former period, spent amid the splendors and learning of a court, and this lonely nomadic life. Still it was in this way that God prepared him to be the instrument of deliverance to His people during the third period of his life, which extends from the exodus out of Egypt to his death on mount Nebo. In this interval how much did he accomplish, as the immediate agent of the Most High. </p> <p> The life and institutions of Moses present one of the finest subjects for the pen of a Christian historian, who is at the same time a competent biblical antiquary. His institutions breathe a spirit of freedom, purity, intelligence, justice, and humanity, elsewhere unknown; and above all, of supreme love, honor, and obedience to God. </p> <p> They molded the character of the Hebrews, and transformed them from a nation of shepherds into a people of fixed residence and agricultural habits. Through that people, and through the Bible, the influence of these institutions has been extended over the world; and often where the letter has not been observed, the spirit of them has been adopted. Thus it was in the laws established by the pilgrim fathers of New England; and no small part of what is of most value in the institutions which they founded, is to be ascribed to the influence of the Hebrew legislator. </p> <p> The name of this servant of God occurs repeatedly in Greek and Latin writings, and still more frequently in those of the Arabs and the rabbinical Jews. Many of their statements, however, are mere legends without foundation, or else distortions of the Scripture narrative. By the Jews he has always been especially honored, as the most illustrious personage in all their annals, and as the founder of their whole system of laws and institutions. Numerous passages both in the Old and New Testament show how exalted a position they gave him, &nbsp;Psalm 103:7 &nbsp; 105:26 &nbsp; 106:16 &nbsp; Isaiah 63:12 &nbsp; Jeremiah 15:1 &nbsp; Daniel 9:11 &nbsp; Matthew 8:4 &nbsp; John 5:45 &nbsp; 9:28 &nbsp; Acts 7:20,37 &nbsp; Romans 10:5,19 &nbsp; Hebrews 3:1-19 &nbsp; 11:23 . </p> <p> In all that he wrought and taught, he was but the agent of the Most High; and yet in all his own character stands honorably revealed. Though naturally liable to anger and impatience, he so far subdued himself as to be termed the meekest of men, &nbsp;Numbers 12:3; and his piety, humility, and forbearance, the wisdom and vigor of his administration, his unfailing zeal and faith in God, and his disinterested patriotism are worthy of all imitation. Many features of his character and life furnish admirable illustrations of the work of Christas the deliver, ruler, and guide of his people, bearing them on his heart, interceding for them, rescuing, teaching, and nourishing them even to the promised land. All the religious institutions of Moses pointed to Christ; and he himself, on the mount, two thousand years after his death, paid his homage to the Prophet he had foretold, &nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:15-19 , beheld "that goodly mountain and Lebanon," &nbsp;Deuteronomy 3:25 , and was admitted to commune with the [[Savior]] on the most glorious of themes, the death He should accomplish at Jerusalem, &nbsp;Luke 9:31 . </p> <p> Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, as it is called, or the first five books of the Bible. In the composition of them he was probably assisted by Aaron, who kept a register of public transactions, &nbsp;Exodus 17:14 &nbsp; 24:4,7 &nbsp; 34:27 &nbsp; Numbers 33:1,2 &nbsp; Deuteronomy 31:24 , etc. Some things were added by a later inspired hand; as for example, &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:1-12 &nbsp; Psalm 90:1-17 also is ascribed to him; and its noble and devout sentiments acquire a new significance, if received as from his pen near the close of his pilgrimage. </p>

<p> the great Jewish prophet and lawgiver, and the founder, we may say, under God, of the Hebrew nation and religion (Euseb. Prcep. Ev. 7:8; comp. Philo, V. Mos. 1:80). His importance in Biblical history justifies a somewhat extended biography here. In preparing it, we have to depend chiefly upon the Scriptural notices and references. </p> <p> '''I.''' ''The Name'' . '''''—''''' This in Heb. is '''''משֶׁה''''' , ''Mosheh','' signifying, according to &nbsp;Exodus 2:10, ''Drawn Out,'' i.e., from the water, as if from '''''מָשָׁה''''' , to [[Draw]] out; but in that case the form would be active, [[Drawing]] out; and it is hardly probable that the daughter of Pharaoh would have given him a Hebrew name. This, therefore (as in many other instances, ''Babel,'' etc.), is probably the Hebrew form given to a foreign word. Hence the Alexandrine Jews (Philo, ''Vit. Mos.'' 1:4) assigned it an Egyptian origin, from ''Mo, [[Water]] (Mou,'' or ''Mos;'' Copt. ''Mo),'' and ''Ouses'' (Copt. ''Ushe), Saved,'' i.e., "water-saved;" see Jablonski, ''Opusc.'' 1:152. This is the explanation given by Josephus ''(Ant.'' 2:9, 6; Apion, 1:31), and confirmed by the Greek form of the word adopted in the Sept. and other writings, and thence in the Vulgate. Brugsch, however (L'Histoire d'Egypte, pages 157, 173), renders the name Mes or Messon=child, being that borne by one of the princes of [[Ethiopia]] under Rameses II. In the Arabic traditions the name is derived from his discovery in the water and among the trees; "for in the Egyptian language mo is the name of water, and se is that of a tree" (Jalaladdin, page 387). Clem. Alex. (Strom. 1, page 343) derives Moses from "drawing breath." In an ancient Egyptian treatise on agriculture cited by Chwolson (Ueberreste, etc., page 12, note) his name is given as Monios. For other etymologies, see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. page 824. His original Hebrew name is said to have been Joachimn (Clem. Alex. Stron. 1, page 343). The Sept., Josephus, Philo, and the most ancient MSS. of N.T., give the Greek form as '''''Μωϋσῆς''''' (declined '''''Μωϋσέως''''' , or '''''Μωϋσεῖ''''' or '''''Μωϋσῇ''''' , '''''Μωϋσέα''''' ,or '''''Μωϋσῆν''''' ); other editions, however, have '''''Μωσῆς''''' , as in Strabo, 16:760 sq. (see Winer, ''Grammat. N.T.'' page 52); the Vulg. gives ''Moyses'' (declined ''Moysi,'' gen. and dat.; ''Moysen,'' ace.); the Rec. Text of the N.T. and [[Protestant]] versions, ''Moses-Arabic, Musa;'' [[Numenius]] (ap. Euseb. ''Prcep. Ev. 9:'' 8, 27), ''Movaalo';'' Artapanus ''(Ibid.'' 27), ''Mctiraog;'' Manetho (ap. Joseph. c. ''Ap.'' 1:26, 28, 31), ''Osarsiph,'' i.e., (Osiri-tef?) "saved by Osiris" (Osburn, ''Monumental Egypt);'' [[Chaeremon]] ''(Ib.'' 32), ''Tisithen.'' In Scripture he is entitled "the man of God" (Psalms 90, title; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:14); "the slave of Jehovah" (&nbsp;Numbers 12:7; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:5; &nbsp;Joshua 1:1; &nbsp;Psalms 105:26); "the chosen" (&nbsp;Psalms 106:23). </p> <p> '''II.''' ''His Biography'' . '''''—''''' The materials for this are the following: ''A.'' The details preserved in the last four books of the Pentateuch. ''B.'' The allusions in the prophets and Psalms, which in a few instances seem independent of the Pentateuch. c. The Jewish traditions preserved in the N.T. (&nbsp;Acts 7:20-38; &nbsp;2 Timothy 3:8-9; &nbsp;Hebrews 11:23-28; &nbsp;Judges 1:9); and in Josephus ''(Ant.'' 2:3, 4), Philo ''(Vita Moysis),'' and [[Clemens]] Alexandrinus ''(Strom.). D.'' The heathen traditions of Manetho, Lysimachus, and Chamremon, preserved in Josephus (c. ''Ap.'' 1:26-32), of Artapanus and others in Eusebius ''(Praep. Ev.'' 9:8, 26, 27), and of Hecatreus in Diod. Sic. 40; Strabo, 16:2. e. The Mussulman traditions in the [[Koran]] (2:7, 10, 18, 20, 28, 40), and the Arabian legends, as given in Weil's Biblical Legends; D'Herbelot (s.v. Moussa), and Lane's Selections, page 182. f. The fragmentary apocryphal books of Moses (Fabricius, Cod. Pseud. V.T. 1:825): </p> <p> '''(1)''' Prayers of Moses, </p> <p> '''(2)''' [[Apocalypse]] of Moses, </p> <p> '''(3)''' [[Ascension]] of Moses. e. ''G.'' </p> <p> In modern times his career and legislation have been treated by Warburton, Michaelis, Ewald, Bunsen, and others. </p> <p> The life of Moses, in the later period of the Jewish history, was divided into three equal portions of forty years each (&nbsp;Acts 7:23; &nbsp;Acts 7:30; &nbsp;Acts 7:36). This agrees with the natural arrangement of his history into the three parts of his Egyptian training, his exile in Arabia, and his government of the [[Israelitish]] nation in the wilderness and on the confines of Palestine. </p> <p> '''1.''' ''His Parentage, Birth, And Education'' . '''''—''''' The immediate pedigree of Moses is as follows: </p> <p> [[Levi]] - > Gerahon. + Kohath + Merari. </p> <p> '''Amram to Jochebed -''' -> Hur ''To'' Miriam. + Aaron ''To'' Elisheba + MOSES ''To'' Zipporah </p> <p> '''Aaron to Elisheba -''' -> Nadab + Abinu +Eleazar +Ithamar. </p> <p> '''Moses to Zipporah -''' -> Gershom + Eliezer. </p> <p> '''Eleazar -''' -> Phinehas. </p> <p> [[Gershom]] - > Jonathan. </p> <p> In this genealogy, as in all the others given of the same period, there is an interval of four to six generations (Browne, [[Ordo]] Sceclorum, page 301 sq.). In the Koran, by a strange confusion, the family of Moses is confounded with the Holy Family of Nazareth, chiefly through the identification of Mary and Miriam, and the third chapter, which describes the evangelical history, bears the name of the "Family of Amram." Although little is known of the family except through its connection with this its most illustrious member, yet it was not without influence on his after-life. The fact that he was of the tribe of Levi no doubt contributed to the selection of that tribe as the sacred caste. The tie that bound them to Moses was one of kinship, and they thus naturally rallied around the religion which he had been the means of establishing (&nbsp;Exodus 32:28) with an ardor which could not have been found elsewhere. His own eager devotion is also a quality, for good or evil, characteristic of the whole tribe. The Levitical parentage and Egyptian origin both appear in the family names. Gershom, Eleazar, are both repeated in the younger generations. Moses and Phinehas (see Brugsch, Hist. de Egypte, 1:173) are Egyptian. The name of his mother, Jochebed, implies the knowledge of the name of Jehovah in the bosom of the family. It is its first distinct appearance in the sacred history. Miriam, who must have been considerably older than himself, and Aaron, who was three years older '(&nbsp;Exodus 7:7), afterwards occupy that independence of position which their superior age would naturally give them. </p> <p> Moses was born B.C. 1738, and, according to Manetho (Josephus, Ap. 1:26; 2:2), at Heliopolis, in the time of the deepest depression of his nation in the Egyptian servitude. Hence the Jewish proverb, "When the tale of bricks is doubled, then comes Moses." His birth (according to Josephus, Ant. 2:9, 2, 3, 4) had been foretold to Pharaoh by the Egyptian magicians, and to his father Amram by a dream '''''—''''' as respectively the future destroyer and deliverer. The pangs of his mother's labor were alleviated so as to enable her to evade the Egyptian midwives. The story of his birth is thoroughly Egyptian in its scene. The beauty of the new-born babe in the later versions of the story amplified into a beauty and size (Josephus, ib. 1:5) almost divine ( '''''Ἀστεῖος''''' '''''Τῷθεῷ''''' '','' &nbsp;Acts 7:20; the word '''''Ἀστεῖος''''' is taken from the Sept. version of &nbsp;Exodus 2:2, and is used again in &nbsp;Hebrews 11:23, and is applied to none but Moses in the N.T.)induced the mother to make extraordinary efforts for its preservation from the general destruction of the male infants of Israel. For three months the child was concealed in the house. Then his mother placed him in a small boat or basket of papyrus-perhaps from a current Egyptian belief that the plant is a protection from crocodiles (Plutarch, ''Is. And Os.'' page 358) '''''—''''' closed against the water by bitumen. This was placed among the aquatic vegetation by the side of one of the canals of the Nile. (See [[Nile]]). </p> <p> The mother departed as if unable to bear the sight. The sister lingered to watch her brother's fate. The basket (Josephus, ''Ib.'' 4) floated down the stream. The Egyptian princess came down (after the custom of her country, which allowed more freedom to females than is now common in the East) to bathe in the sacred river, or (Josephus, Ant. 2:9, 5) to play by its side. Her attendant slaves followed her (see Wilkinson, Anc. Ey. 2:389). She saw the basket in the flags, or (Josephus) borne down the stream, and dispatched divers after it. The divers, or one of the female slaves, brought it. It was opened, and the cry of the child moved the princess to compassion. She determined to rear it as her own. The child refused the milk of Egyptian nurses (Josephus). The sister was then at hand to recommend a Hebrew nurse. The child was brought up as the princess's son, and the memory of the incident was long cherished in the name given to the foundling of the water's side '''''—''''' whether according to its Hebrew or Egyptian form. (See above.) The child was adopted by the princess. Tradition describes its beauty as so great that passers-by stood fixed to look at it, and laborers left their work to steal a glance (Josephus, Ant. 2:9, 6). His foster-mother (to whom the Jewish tradition gave the name of Thermuthis, Josephus, Ant. 2:9, 5; Artapanus, Praep. Ev. 9:27, the name of ierrhis, and the Arabian traditions that of Asiat, Jalaaddin, page 387) was (according to Artapanus, Eusebius, Praep. Ev. 9:27) the daughter of Palmanothes, who was reigning at Heliopolis, and the wife of Chenephres, who was reigning at Memphis. In this tradition, and that of Philo (V.M. 1:,4), she has no child, and hence her delight at finding one. Many attempts have been made in modern times to identify the Pharaoh into whose family Moses was thus introduced, but different Egyptologists have varied widely as to his name and relative position, according to their several chronological and historical schemes. (See [[Egypt]]). </p> <p> The latest and most plausible effort in this direction is that of Osburn (in the ''Jour. Of Sac. Lit.'' July 1860, page 257 sq.), who argues from a number of striking coincidences with the monumental records that it must have been no less than Sesostris-Rameses, the famous architectural monarch of the 19th dynasty, whose son Amenephthis, dying soon after his accession, was succeeded by a sister, Thonoris (in that case the foster- mother of Moses), who again, after a long reign, was succeeded by her nephew, Sethos II, the latter having already been associate king in Upper Egypt. This last then, if we might trust these precarious synchronisms, would be the Pharaoh of the exode (q.v.). </p> <p> From this time for many years Moses must be considered as an Egyptian. In the Pentateuch this period is a blank, but in the N.T. he is represented as "educated ( '''''Ἐπαιδεύθη''''' '')'' in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and as "mighty in words and deeds" (&nbsp;Acts 7:22). The following is a brief summary of the Jewish and Egyptian traditions which fill up the silence of the sacred writer. He was educated at Heliopolis (comp. Strabo, 17:1), and grew up there as a priest, under his Egyptian name of Osarsiph (Manetho, ap. Josephus, c. Ap. 1:26, 28, 31) or Tisithen (Chaeremon, ib. 32). He was (according to these accounts) taught the whole range of Greek, Chaldee, and Assyrian literature. From the Egyptians especially he learned mathematics, to train his mind for the unprejudiced reception of truth (Philo, V.M. 1:5). "He invented boats and engines for building-instruments of war and of hydraulics '''''—''''' hieroglyphics '''''—''''' division of lands" (Artapanus, ap. Euseb, Prcep. Ev. 9:27). He taught Orpheus, and was hence called by the [[Greeks]] Musseus (ib.), and by the Egyptians [[Hermes]] (ib.). He taught grammar to the Jews, whence it spread to [[Phoenicia]] and [[Greece]] (Eupolemus, ap. Clem. Alexand. Strom. 1, page 343). He was sent on an expedition against the Ethiopians. He got rid of the serpents of the country to be traversed by turning basketfuls of ibises upon them (Josephus, Ant. 2:10, 2), and founded the city of Hermopolis to commemorate his victory (Artapanus, ap. Euseb. 9:27). He advanced to Saba, the capital of Ethiopia, and gave it the name of Meroe, from his adopted mother Merrhis, whom he buried there (ib.). Tharbis, the daughter of the king of Ethiopia, fell in love with him, and he returned in triumph to Egypt with her as his wife (Josephus, ib.). See D.W. Moller, De Mose philosopho (Altorf, 1707); Adami, Exerc. exeg. page 92 sq.; Brucker, Hist. phil. 1:78; J.G. Walch, Observ. N.T. (Jen. 1727), page 62 sq. </p> <p> '''2.''' ''Period Of Moses'S Retirement'' . '''''—''''' The nurture of his mother is probably the unmentioned link which bound him to his own people, and the time had at last arrived ''When'' he was resolved to reclaim his nationality. Here again the N.T. preserves the tradition in a more distinct form than the account in tie Pentateuch. "Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures" '''''—''''' the ancient accumulated treasure of Rhampsinitus and the old kings '''''—''''' "of Egypt" (&nbsp;Hebrews 11:24-26). In his earliest infancy he was reported to have refused the milk of Egyptian nurses (Josephus, ''Ant.'' 2:9, 5), and when three years old to have trampled under his feet the crown which Pharaoh had playfully placed on his head ''(Ib.'' 7). According to the [[Alexandrian]] representation of Philo [[''(V. M'']]  1:6), he led an ascetic life, in order to pursue his high philosophic speculations. According to the Egyptian tradition, although a priest of Heliopolis, he always performed his prayers, in conformity with the custom of his fathers, outside the walls of the city, in the open air, turning towards the sun-rising (Josephus, ''Apion,'' 2:2). [[Tile]] king was excited to hatred by the priests of Egypt, who foresaw their destroyer ''(Ib.),'' or by his own envy (Artapanus, ap. Euseb. ''Praep. Ev.'' 9:27). </p> <p> Various plots of assassination were contrived against him, which failed. The last was after he had escaped across the Nile from Memphis, warned by his brother Aaron, and when pursued by the assassin he killed him (ib.). The same general account of conspiracies against his life appears in Josephus (Ant. 2:10). All that remains of these traditions in the sacred narrative is the simple and natural incident that seeing an Israelite suffering the bastinado from an Egyptian, and thinking that they were alone, he slew the Egyptian (the later tradition, preserved by [[Clement]] of Alexandria, said, "with a word of his mouth"), and buried the corpse in the sand (the sand of the desert then, as now, running close up to the cultivated tract). The fire of patriotism which thus turned him into a deliverer from the oppressors, turns him in the same story into the peace-maker of the oppressed. See J.F. Mayer, Utrum Moses Egyptium juste interfecit (Viteb. 1685); Hoffmann, ''Moses Just. Egyptii Percussor'' (Hal. 1776). It is characteristic of the faithfulness of the Jewish records that his flight is there occasioned rather by the malignity of his countrymen than by the enmity of the Egyptians. So in St. Stephen's speech it is this part of the story which is drawn out at greater length than in the original, evidently with a view to showing the identity of the narrow spirit which had thus displayed itself equally against their first and their last [[Deliverer]] (&nbsp;Acts 7:25-35). But his spirit was yet too rash and vindictive to fit him for being the meek and patient instrument of the Divine purposes. The discovery, too, of the servile and treacherous temper of his own compatriots disheartened him. He needed the bracing as well as the purifying discipline which years of calm reflection and peaceful self-culture alone could give in order to make him the cool, firm, and independent leader of a popular movement. </p> <p> Moses fled into Midian, B.C. 1698. Beyond the fact that it was in or near the peninsula of Sinai, its precise situation is unknown. Arabian tradition points to the country east of the Gulf of Akaba (see Laborde). Josephus (Ant. 2:11, 1) makes it "by the Red Sea." There was a famous well ("the well," &nbsp;Exodus 2:15) surrounded by tanks for watering the flocks of the Bedouin herdsmen. By this well the fugitive seated himself "'at noon" (Joseph. ''Ib.),'' and watched the gathering of the sheep. There were the Arabian shepherds, and there were also seven maidens, whom the shepherds rudely drove away from the water. The chivalrous spirit (if we may so apply a modern phrase) which had already broken forth in behalf of his oppressed countrymen, broke forth again in behalf of the distressed maidens. They returned unusually soon to their father, and told him of their adventure. Their father was a person of whom we know but little, but of whom that little shows how great an influence he exercised over the future career of Moses. It was Jethro, or Reuel, or Hobab, chief or priest ("Sheik" exactly expresses the union of the religious and political influence) of the Midianitish tribes. Moses, who up to this time had been "an Egyptian" (&nbsp;Exodus 2:19), now became for a long period, indicated by the later tradition as forty years (&nbsp;Acts 7:30), an Arabian. He married Zipporah, daughter of his host, to whom he also became the servant and shepherd (&nbsp;Exodus 2:21; &nbsp;Exodus 3:1). </p> <p> The blank which during the stay in Egypt is filled up by Egyptian traditions can here only be supplied from indirect allusions in other parts of the O.T. The alliance between Israel and the Kenite branch of the Midianites, now first formed, was never broken. (See Kenite). </p> <p> Jethro became their guide through the desert. If from Egypt, as we have seen, was derived the secular and religious learning of Moses, and with this much of their outward ceremonial, so from Jethro was derived the organization of their judicial and social arrangements during their nomadic state (&nbsp;Exodus 18:21-23). Nor is the conjecture of Ewald ''(Gesch.'' 2:59, 60) improbable, that in this pastoral and simple relation there is an indication of a wider concert than is directly stated between the rising of the Israelites in Egypt and the Arabian tribes, who, under the name of "the Shepherds," had recently been expelled. According to Artapanus (Euseb. Praep. Ev. 9:27), Reuel actually urged Moses to make war upon Egypt. Something of a joint action is implied in the visit of Aaron to the desert (&nbsp;Exodus 4:27; comp. Artapanus, ''Ut Sup.);'' something also in the sacredness of Sinai, already recognised both by Israel and by the Arabs (&nbsp;Exodus 8:27; comp. Joseph. Ant. 2:12, 1). </p> <p> But the chief effect of this stay in Arabia was on Moses himself. It was in the seclusion and simplicity of his shepherd-life that he received his call as a prophet. The traditional scene of this great event is in the valley of Shoeib, or Hobab, on the north side of Jebel Musa. Its exact spot is marked by the convent of St. Catharine, of which the altar is said to stand on the site of the [[Burning]] Bush. The original indications are too slight to enable us to fix the spot with any certainty. To judge from the indications given in the Bible (&nbsp;Exodus 4:27; &nbsp;Numbers 10:30), Jethro must have resided southeast of that mountain (Keil, 2:325; Antonini Placent. ''Itinerar.'' c. 37; ''Acta Sanct.'' Maji, 2:22). It is remarkable that the time of the calling of Moses in the mount of God was contemporaneous with the extraordinary spirit of prayer among the oppressed nation in Egypt (&nbsp;Exodus 2:23). The call itself was at "the back" of "the wilderness" at Horeb (&nbsp;Exodus 3:1); to which the Hebrew adds, while the Sept. omits, "the mountain of God." Josephus further particularizes that it was the loftiest of all the mountains in that region, and the best for pasturage, from its good grass; and that, owing to a belief in its being inhabited by the Divinity, the shepherds feared to approach it (Ant. 2:12, 1). Philo (V.M. 1:12) adds that it was "a grove" or "glade." Upon the mountain was a well-known briery shrub or tree ( '''''הִסְּנְה''''' , ''The Seneh,'' A.V. "a bush" '''''—''''' the definite article may indicate either "the particular celebrated tree," sacred perhaps already, or "the tree" or "vegetation peculiar to the spot"), usually thought to have been the acacia or the thorn-tree of the desert, spreading out its tangled branches, thick set with white thorns, over the rocky ground; but perhaps only a bramble, or some one of the bristly plants with which the desert abounds. Comp. Reichlin-Meldeg, Mos. Gesch. v. brennenden Dornbusch (Frieb. 1831). (See [[Shittim]]); (See [[Thorn]]). </p> <p> It was this bush which became the symbol of the divine Presence, in the form of a flame of fire in the midst of it, in which the dry branches would naturally have crackled and burned in a moment, but which played around it without consuming it. In Philo ( V.M. 1:12) "the angel" is described as a strange but beautiful creature. Artapanus (Euseb. Pr. Ev. 9:27) represents it as a fire suddenly bursting from the bare ground, and feeding itself without fuel. But this is far less expressive than the Biblical image. Like all the visions of the divine [[Presence]] recorded in the O.T. as manifested at the outset of a prophetical career, this was exactly suited to the circumstances of the tribe. It was the true likeness of the condition of Israel-in the furnace of affliction, yet not destroyed (comp. Philo, V.M. 1:12). The place too, in the desert solitude, was equally appropriate, as a sign that the divine protection was not confined either to the sanctuaries of Egypt or to the Holy Land, but was to be found with any faithful worshipper, fugitive and solitary though he might be. The rocky ground at once became "holy," and the shepherd's sandal was to be taken off no less than on the threshold of a palace or a temple. It is this feature of the incident on which St. Stephen dwells as a proof of the universality of the true religion (&nbsp;Acts 7:29-33). The call or revelation was twofold '''''—''''' </p> <p> '''(1.)''' The declaration of the [[Sacred]] Name expressed the eternal self- existence of the one God. The name itself, as already mentioned, must have been known in the family of Aaron. But its grand significance was now first drawn out. (See Jehovah). </p> <p> '''(2.)''' The mission was given to Moses to deliver his people. The two signs are characteristic-the one of his past Egyptian life, the other of his active shepherd life. In the rush of leprosy into his hand is the link between him and the people whom the Egyptians called a nation of lepers (Josephus, ''Apion,'' 1:26). (The Mussulman legends speak of his white shining hand as the instrument of his miracles [D'Herbelot]. Hence "the white hand" is proverbial for the healing art.) In the transformation of his shepherd's staff is the glorification of the simple pastoral life, of which that staff was the symbol, into the great career which lay before it. The humble yet wonder- working book is, in the history of Moses, as Ewald finely observes, what the despised cross is in the first history of Christianity. In this call of Moses, as of the apostles afterwards, the man is swallowed up in the cause. Yet this is the passage in his history which, more than any other, brings out his external and domestic relations. </p> <p> Moses returned to Egypt from his exile, [[B. C]]  1658. His Arabian wife and her two infant sons were with him. She was seated with them on the ass (the ass was known as the animal peculiar to the Jewish people from Jacob down to David). He apparently walked by their side with his shepherd's staff. (The Sept. substitutes the general term '''''Τὰ''''' '''''Ὑποζύγια''''' '')'' On the journey back to Egypt a mysterious incident occurred in the family; which can only be explained with difficulty. The most probable explanation seems to be that at the caravansary either Moses or Gershom (the context of the preceding verses [&nbsp;Exodus 4:22-23] rather points to the latter) was struck with what seemed to be a mortal illness. In some way, not apparent to us, this illness was connected by Zipporah with the fact that her sos had not been circumcised '''''—''''' whether in the general neglect of that rite among the Israelites in Egypt, or in consequence of his birth in Midian. She instantly performed the rite, and threw the sharp instrument, stained with the fresh blood, at the feet of her husband, exclaiming, in the agony of a mother's anxiety for the life of her child '''''—''''' "A bloody husband thou art, to cause the death of my son." Then, when the recovery from the illness took place (whether of Moses or Gershom), she exclaimed again '''''—''''' "A bloody husband still thou art, but not so as to cause the child's death, but only to bring about his circumcision." So Ewald explains the narrative (Geschichte, volume 2, part 2, page 105), taking the sickness to have visited Moses. Rosenmuller makes Gershom the victim, and makes Zipporah address Jehovah, the Arabic word for "marriage" being a synonym for "circumcision." It is possible that on this story is founded the tradition of Artapanus (Euseb. Pr. Ev. 9:27), that the [[Ethiopians]] derived circumcision from Moses. It would seem to have been in consequence of this event, whatever it was, that the wife and her children were sent back to Jethro, and remained with him till Moses joined them at Rephidim (&nbsp;Exodus 18:2-6), which is the last time that she is distinctly mentioned. In &nbsp;Numbers 12:1 we hear of a [[Cushite]] wife who gave umbrage to Miriam and Aaron. This may be '''''—''''' (1) an Ethiopian (Cushite) wife, taken after Zipporah's death (Ewald, ''Gesch.'' 2:229); (2) the Ethiopian princess of Josephus ''(Ant.'' 1:10, 2; but that whole story is probably only an inference from &nbsp;Numbers 12:1); (3) Zipporah herself, which is rendered probable by the juxtaposition of [[Cushan]] with Midian in &nbsp;Habakkuk 3:7. The two sons also sink into obscurity. Their names, though of Levitical origin, relate to their foreign birthplace. Gershom, "stranger," and Eliezer, "God is my help," commemorated their father's exile and escape (&nbsp;Exodus 18:3-4). Gershom was the father of the wandering [[Levite]] [[Jonathan]] (&nbsp;Judges 18:30), and the ancestor of Shebuel, David's chief treasurer (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:16; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 24:20), Eliezer had an only son, [[Rehabiah]] (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:17), who was the ancestor of a numerous but obscure progeny, whose representative in David's time '''''—''''' the last descendant of Moses known to us '''''—''''' was Shelomith, guard of the consecrated treasures in the temple (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:25-28). </p> <p> After this parting Moses advanced into the desert, and at the same spot where he had had his vision encountered Aaron (&nbsp;Exodus 4:27). From that meeting and cooperation we have the first distinct indication of Moses's personal appearance and character. The traditional representations of him in some respects well agree with that which we derive from Michael Angelo's famous statue in the church of St. Pietro in Vinculi at Rome. Long, shaggy hair and beard is described as his characteristic equally by Josephus, [[Diodorus]] (1, page 424), and Artapanus ( '''''Κομήτης''''' '','' ap. Euseb. ''Praep. Ev.'' 9:27). To this Artapanus adds the curious touch that it was of a reddish hue, tinged with gray ''( '''''Πυῤῥάκης''''' '' , '''''Πολιός''''' ). The traditions of his beauty and size as a child have already been mentioned. They are continued to his manhood in the Gentile descriptions. "Tall and dignified," says Artapanus ( '''''Μάκρος''''' , '''''Ἀξιωματικός''''' ) '''''—''''' ''"'' [[Wise]] and beautiful as his father Joseph" (with a curious confusion of genealogies), says Justin (36:2). But beyond the slight glance at his infantine beauty, no hint of this grand personality is given in the Bible. What is described is rather the reverse. The only point there brought out is a singular and unlooked-for infirmity: "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue... How shall Pharaoh hear me, which am of uncircumcised lips?" (i.e., slow, without words, stammering, hesitating; Sept. '''''Ἰσχνόφωνος''''' '''''Καὶ''''' '''''Βαρύγλωσσος''''' ); his "speech contemptible," like St. Paul's '''''—''''' like the English Cromwell (comp. Carlyle's ''Cromwell,'' 2:219) '''''—''''' like the first efforts of the Greek Demosthenes. In the solution of this difficulty which Moses offers we read both the disinterestedness, which is the most distinct trait of his personal character, and the future relation of the two brothers. "Send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send" (i.e., "make any one thy apostle rather than me"). In outward appearance this prayer was granted. Aaron spoke and acted for Moses, and was the permanent inheritor of the sacred staff of power. But Moses was the inspiring soul behind; and so as time rolls on, Aaron, the prince and priest, has almost disappeared from view, and Moses, the dumb, backward, disinterested prophet, is in appearance what he was in truth '''''—''''' the foremost leader of the chosen people. </p> <p> '''3.''' ''Moses'S Public Career'' . '''''—''''' Thus '','' after the solitude of pastoral life, where he was appointed to ripen gradually for his high calling, he was now unexpectedly and suddenly sent back among his people, in order to achieve their deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Overruled and encouraged by the above remarkable interview with Jehovah, he resumed his journey into Egypt, where neither the dispirited state of the Israelites nor the obstinate opposition and threatenings of Pharaoh were now able to shake the man of God. [[Supported]] by his brother Aaron, and commissioned by God as his chosen instrument, proving, by a series of marvellous deeds, in the midst of heathenism, the God of Israel to be the only true God, Moses at last overcame the opposition of the Egyptians (Exodus 5-12). According to a divine decree, the people of the Lord were to quit Egypt, under the command of Moses, in a triumphant manner. The punishments of God were poured down upon the hostile people in an increasing ratio, terminating in the death of the firstborn, as a sign that all had deserved death. See Bauer, Hebr. Myth. 1:274 sq., and Ausfuhrl. Erklda. der altest. Wundergeschichte, 2:174 sq.; Rosenmuller, Morgenl. 1:275 sq., and Schol. 1:2; J. Bryant, Observ. on the Plagues inflicted on the Egyptians (Lond. 1794); L. Bertholdt, De reb. a Mose in AEgypt. gestis (Erl. 1795); Eichhorn, in the Comment. Soc. Gott reg. 4:35 sq. The formidable power of paganism, in its conflict with the theocracy, was obliged to bow before the apparently weak people of the Lord. The Egyptians paid tribute to the emigrating Israelites (&nbsp;Exodus 12:35), who set out laden with the spoils of victory. See Harenberg, in the ''Biblioth. Brem.'' 7:624 sq.; Kanne, ''Biblische Untersuch.'' 2:267 sq.; Hengstenberg, ''Pent.'' 2:520 sq.; Justi, ''Ueb. Die [[Den]] Aegypt. Abgenommen Gerathe'' (Frckf. 1771); Augusti, ''Theul. Blatter,'' 1:516 sq.; Zeibich, ''Vern. Betracht.'' II, 1:20 sq.). B.C. 1658. The enraged king vainly endeavored to destroy the emigrants. Moses, firmly relying upon miraculous help from the Lord, led his people through the Red Sea into Arabia, while the host of Pharaoh perished in its waves (Exodus 12-15). (See [[Passage Of Red Sea]]). </p> <p> After this began the most important functions of Moses as the lawgiver of the Israelites, who were destined to enter into Canaan as the people of promise, upon whom rested the ancient blessings of the patriarchs. By the instrumentality of Moses, they were appointed to enter into intimate communion with God through a sacred covenant, and to be firmly bound to him by a new legislation. Moses, having victoriously repulsed the attack of the Amalekites, marched to Mount Sinai, where he signally punished the defection of his people, and gave them the law as a testimony of divine justice and mercy. From Mount Sinai they proceeded northward to the desert of Paran, and sent spies to explore the Land of Canaan (Numbers 10-13). On this occasion broke out a violent rebellion against the lawgiver, which he, however, by divine assistance, energetically repressed (Numbers 14-16). The Israelites frequently murmured, and were disobedient during about forty years. In a part of the desert of Kadesh, which was called Zin, near the boundaries of the Edomites, after the sister of Moses had died, and after even the new generation had, like their fathers, proved to be obstinate and desponding, Moses fell into sin, and was on that account deprived of the privilege of introducing the people into Canaan (&nbsp;Numbers 19:12). He was appointed to lead them only to the boundary of their country, to prepare all that was requisite for their entry into the land of promise, to admonish them impressively, and to bless them. It was according to God's appointment that the new generation also, to whom the occupation of the country had been promised, should arrive at their goal only after having vanquished many obstacles. Even before they had reached the real boundaries of Canaan they were to be subjected to a heavy and purifying trial. It was important that a man like Moses should have been at the head of Israel during all these providential dispensations. His authority was a powerful preservative against despondency under heavy trials. Having in vain attempted to pass through the territory of the Edomites, the people marched around its boundaries by a circuitous and tedious route. Two powerful kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og, were vanquished. Moses led the people into the fields of Moab over against Jericho, to the very threshold of Canaan (Numbers 20-21). The oracles of Balaam became, by the instrumentality of Moses, blessings to his people, because by them they were rendered conscious of the great importance of having the Lord on their side. Moses happily averted the danger which threatened the Israelites on the part of Midian (Numbers 25-31). Hence he was enabled to grant to some of the tribes permanent dwellings in a considerable tract of country situated to the east of the River Jordan (Numbers 32), and to give to his people a foretaste of that well-being which was in store for them. Moses made excellent preparations for the conquest and distribution of the whole country, and concluded his public services with powerful admonitions and impressive benedictions, transferring his government to the hands of Joshua, who was not unworthy to become the successor of so great a man. B.C. 1618. For details of these incidents, (See Egypt); (See [[Exode]]); (See Law); (See Passover); (See Plague); (See Sinai); (See Wanderings); (See [[Wilderness]]). </p> <p> '''4.''' ''Moses'S Death'' . '''''—''''' In exact conformity with his life is the account of his end. The book of Deuteronomy describes, and is, the long, last farewell of the prophet to his people. It took place on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year of the wanderings, in the plains of Moab (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 1:3; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 1:5), in the palm-groves of [[Abila]] (Josephus, ''Ant.'' 4:8, 1). (See [[Abel-Shittim]]). He is described as 120 years of age, but with his sight and his freshness of strength unabated (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:7). The address from chapter 1 to chapter 30 contains the recapitulation of the law. Joshua was then appointed his successor. The law was written out, and ordered to be deposited in the ark (chapter 31). The song and the blessing of the tribes conclude the farewell (chapters 32, 33). </p> <p> Then came the mysterious close. As if to carry out to the last the idea that the prophet was to live not for himself, but for his people, he is told that he is to see the good land beyond the Jordan, but not to possess it himself. The sin for which this penalty was imposed on the prophet is difficult to ascertain clearly. It was because he and Aaron rebelled against Jehovah, and "believed him not to sanctify him," in the murmurings at Kadesh (&nbsp;Numbers 20:12; &nbsp;Numbers 27:14; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 32:51), or, as it is expressed in the Psalms (&nbsp;Psalms 106:33), because he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. It seems to have been a feeling of distrust. "Can we (not, as often rendered, can ''We)'' bring water out of the cliff?" (&nbsp;Numbers 20:10; Sept. '''''Μὴ''''' '''''Ἐξάξομεν''''' , "surely we cannot"). The Talmudic tradition, characteristically, makes the sin to be that he called the chosen people by the opprobrious name of "rebels." He ascends a mountain in the range which rises above the Jordan valley. Its name is specified so particularly that it must have been well known in ancient times, though, owing to the difficulty of exploring the eastern side of the Jordan, the exact location has until recently been unidentified. (See Nebo). Hence it is called by the specific name of ''The Pisgah'' (q.v.). It was one of those summits apparently dedicated to different divinities (&nbsp;Numbers 23:14). Here Moses took his stand, and surveyed the four great masses of Palestine west of the Jordan '''''—''''' so far as it could be discerned from that height. The view has passed into a proverb for all nations. In two remarkable respects it illustrates the office and character of Moses. First, it was a view, in its full extent, to be imagined rather than actually seen. The foreground alone could be clearly discerned: its distance had to be supplied by what was beyond, though suggested by what was within, the actual prospect of the seer. Secondly, it is the likeness of the great discoverer pointing out what he himself will never reach. To English readers this has been made familiar by the application of this passage to lord Bacon, originally in the noble poem of Cowley, and then drawn out at length by lord Macaulay. </p> <p> "So Moses, the servant of Jehovah, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Jehovah, and he buried him in a 'ravine' in the land of Moab, 'before' Beth-peor '''''—''''' but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day... And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:5-8). This is all that is said in the sacred record. Jewish. Arabian, and Christian traditions have labored to fill up the detail. "Amid the tears of the people '''''—''''' the women beating their breasts, and the children giving way to uncontrolled wailing '''''—''''' he withdrew. At a certain point in his ascent he made a sign to the weeping multitude to advance no farther, taking with him only the elders, the high- priest Eliezar, and the general Joshua. At the top of the mountain he dismissed the elders and then, as he was embracing [[Eliezar]] and Joshua, and still speaking to them, a cloud suddenly stood over him, and he vanished in a deep valley. He wrote the account of his own death [so also Philo, V.M. 3:39] in the sacred books, fearing lest he should be deified" (Josephus, Ant. 4:8, 48). "He died in the last month of the Jewish year" '''''—''''' in the Arabic traditions, the 7th of [[Adar]] (Jalaladdin, page 388). After his death he is called "Melki" (Clem. Alex. Saroin. 1, page 343). </p> <p> The grave of Moses, though studiously concealed in the sacred narrative, in a manner which seems to point a warning against the excessive veneration of all sacred tombs (see &nbsp;Judges 1:9), and though never acknowledged by the Jews, is shown by the Mussulmans on the [[West]] (and therefore the wrong) side of the Jordan, between the Dead Sea and St. Saba (Stanley, ''S. And P.'' page 302). There is some reason, however, to conclude from the appearance of Moses with Elijah on the Mount of [[Transfiguration]] (&nbsp;Luke 9:30-31) that he was honored with an anticipatory resurrection. See Bauer, ''Hebr. Gesch.'' 1:337 sq.; J.A. Schmid, ''De Morte M.'' (Helmst. 1703); Abbt, ''Ob Gott Moses Begraben'' (Hal. 1757); J.G. Drasde, ''De Morte Ac Sepultura Mosis'' (Viteb. 1784); ''Recherches Sur'' ''La Sepulture De Moise,'' in the Bibl. raisonn. 31:243 sq.; Donauer, De corpore Mosis (Ratisb. 1682); Hech, De Mosis corpore (Jen. 1653); Reusmann, Moses resuscitatus (Gotting. 1747); Rohling, Moses' Abschied (Jena, 1867); J.J. Muller, De morte Mosis (Jena, 1710); Rathlef, De corpore Mosis (Hann. 1733); Zeibich, Von dem Grabe Mosis (Gera, 1758); Heyden, De Mosis resurrectione (Hal. 1723); Dansville Review, September 1861. </p> <p> '''III.''' ''Character, Work, And Writings Of Moses'' . '''''—''''' It will be best to confine ourselves here to such indications of these as transpire through the general framework of the Scripture narrative, or appear in traditions and profane accounts. </p> <p> It is important to trace his relation to his immediate circle of followers. In the exodus he takes the decisive lead on the night of the flight. Up to that point he and Aaron appear almost on an equality; but after that Moses is usually mentioned alone. Aaron still held the second place, but the character of interpreter to Moses which he had borne in speaking to Pharaoh withdraws, and it would seem as if Moses henceforth became altogether, what hitherto he had only been in part, the prophet of the people. Another who occupies a place nearly equal to Aaron, though we know but little of him, is Hur, of the tribe of Judah, husband of Miriam and grandfather of the artist [[Bezaleel]] (Josephus, Ant. 3:2, 4). He and Aaron are the chief supporters of Moses in moments of weariness or excitement. His adviser with regard to the route through the wilderness, as well as in the judicial arrangements, was, as we have seen, Jethro. His servant, occupying the same relation to him as [[Elisha]] to Elijah, or [[Gehazi]] to Elisha, was the youthful [[Hoshea]] (afterwards Joshua). Miriam always held the independent position to which her age entitled her. Her part was to supply the voice and song to her brother's prophetic power. </p> <p> But Moses is incontestably the chief personage of the history, in a sense in which no one else is described before or since. In the narrative, the phrase is constantly recurring, "The Lord spake unto Moses," "Moses spake unto the children of Israel." In the traditions of the desert, whether late or early, his name predominates over that of every one else: "The Wells of Moses" on the shores of the Red Sea; "the [[Mountain]] of Moses" (Jebel Mufsa) '''''—''''' near the convent of St. Catharine; the Ravine of Moses (Shuk Mfusa) '''''—''''' at Mount St. Catharine; the Valley of Moses (Wady Mfisa) '''''—''''' at Petra. "The Books of Moses" are so called (as afterwards the Books of Samuel), in all probability, from his being the chief subject of them. The very word "Mosaism" has been in later times applied (as the proper name of no other saint of the O.T.) to the whole religion. Even as applied to tessellated pavement ("Mosaic," Musivum, '''''Μουσαϊκόν''''' ) there is some probability that the expression is derived from the variegated pavement of the later Temple, which had then become the representative of the religion of Moses (see an essay of Redslob in the ''Zeitschrift Der Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesells.'' 14:663). </p> <p> It has sometimes been attempted to reduce this great character into a mere passive instrument of the divine Will, as though he had himself borne no conscious part in the actions in which he figures, or the messages which he delivers. This, however, is as incompatible with the general tenor of the scriptural account as it is with the common language in which he has been described by the Church in all ages. The frequent addresses of the [[Divinity]] to him no more contravene his personal activity and intelligence than in the case of Elijah, Isaiah, or Paul. In the N.T. the Mosaic legislation is expressly ascribed to him: "Moses gave you circumcision" (&nbsp;John 7:22). ''"Moses,'' because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you" (&nbsp;Matthew 19:8). "Did not [[Moses]] give you the law?" (&nbsp;John 7:19). ''"Moses'' accuseth you" (&nbsp;John 5:45). Paul goes so far as to speak of him as the founder of the Jewish religion: "They were all baptized ''Unto Moses"'' (&nbsp;1 Corinthians 10:2). He is constantly called "a prophet." In the poetical language of the O.T. (&nbsp;Numbers 21:18; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 33:21), and in the popular language both of Jews and Christians, he is known as "the Lawgiver." The terms in which his legislation is described by Philo ''(V.M.'' 2:1-4) are decisive as to the ancient Jewish view. He must be considered, like all the saints and heroes of the Bible, as a man of marvellous gifts, raised up by divine Providence for a special purpose; but as led, both by his own disposition and by the peculiarity of the revelation which he received, into a closer communion with the invisible world than was vouchsafed to any other in the Old Testament. </p> <p> Such a marvellous character was not exempted from the most virulent attacks of that criticism called the Rationalismus vulgaris, which at one time threatened to devour every fragment of antiquity. The history of Moses was considered merely a tissue of contradictory statements, till Voltaire (in [[Questions]] sur l'Encyclopedie, '''''§''''' 127) boldly called his very existence in question. The exodus of Israel, of which Moses was the sole instrument, was deprived of its strictly historical basis. Goethe wantonly reduced the forty years' wandering to two years. Most of the halting-places named in the books of Exodus and Numbers were deemed unhistorical, and the whole chain of events was said to be purely mythical. De Wette (Kritik der israelitischen Geschichte), Gramberg (Religionsideen), Vatke (Biblische Theologie),Von Bohlen (Commentar zum Buche Genesis), and George (Judische Feste) combine to reduce the whole to a fable. Even the best substantiated acts of Moses '''''—''''' such as the construction of the tabernacle, the founding of an hereditary priesthood, the appointment of cities of refuge were assumed to have been stripped of every vestige of historical veracity. The finding of the Law (&nbsp;2 Kings 22:8) was said to prove nothing of its Mosaic authorship, because the Egyptian priests pretended to have become possessed of the books of Hermes in the same way. The tables of stone, as evidence of the historical activity of Moses, were said to be no evidence, because no mention is made of them at the revelation of the [[Decalogue]] (Exodus 20), but only on a later occasion, in chapter 22. The testimony of their existence (&nbsp;1 Kings 8:9) in the days of Solomon was thought not worthy to be depended upon, because the author lived after the destruction of Jerusalem! By such frivolous assertions Nork finds himself authorized (see ''Hebraisch-Chaldaisch-Rabbinisches Worterbuch)'' to resolve the character of Moses into a mythical personage; and to reduce the marvellous exodus, and the subsequent journey through the wilderness, to a level with the mythological conquests of Osiris or those of Bacchus, in each of whom personifications of the solar year were recognised. Moses is contrasted with Bacchus, whose grandfather Kadmus placed him in an ark and exposed him to the ocean (see J.J. Miiller, De Mose in Bacchum converso [Jena, 1667]). The 600,000 fighting men in Israel are assumed to be so many stars, which ancient astronomers believed to exist. The wonder-working rod of Moses was considered to be as pure a fiction as the serpent-rod of Hermes. </p> <p> The passage of the Red Sea by Moses and his followers was regarded as a striking parallel to some of the details of Bacchus's expedition to India (Nonnus, 20:253). [[Bacchus]] also smites the [[Hydaspes]] with a rod, and passes over dry-shod (Nonnus, 23:115, 124,156-188; 24:41). Even the smiting of the rock by Moses is compared to a myth recorded in [[Euripides]] (Bacch. 5:703); to Bacchus smiting a rock '''''—''''' not indeed in his own person, but by the instrumentality of his priestess, who wielded the thyrsus- rod with a similar result of water flowing from it. These attempts to neutralize history are quoted simply as literary curiosities, and they show by what methods it was thought possible to establish the mythical origin of the Jewish commonwealth. But as the historical veracity of the Gospel history can alone account for the existence and subsistence of Christianity, so the past and present influence of the Mosaic constitution can only be explained by the strictly historical character of its beginnings. </p> <p> '''1.''' There are two main characters in which Moses appears, namely, as a Leader and as a Prophet. The two are more frequently combined in the East than in the West. Several remarkable instances occur in the history of Mohammedanism: [[Mohammed]] himself, Abd-elKader in Algeria, [[Shamyl]] in Circassia. </p> <p> '''(a.)''' As a Leader his life divides itself into the three epochs of the march to Sinai, the march from Sinai to Kadesh, and the conquest of the trans- jordanic kingdoms. Of his natural gifts in this capacity we have but few means of judging. The two main difficulties which he encountered were the reluctance of the people to submit to his guidance and the impracticable nature of the country which they had to traverse. The patience with which he bore their murmurs is often described at the Red Sea, at the apostasy of the golden calf (the eccentric Beke contends that the idol was a ''Cone,'' and not a calf [ ''The [[Idol]] In Horeb,'' Lond. 1871]), at the rebellion of Korah, at the complaints of Aaron and Miriam (see below). The incidents with which his name was specially connected both in the sacred narrative and in the Jewish, Arabian, and heathen traditions were those of supplying water when most wanted. This is the only point in his life noted by Tacitus, who describes him as guided to a spring of water by a herd of wild asses (Hist. 5:3). In the Pentateuch these supplies of water take place at Marah, at Horeb, at Kadesh, and in the land of Moab. That at Marah is produced by the sweetening of waters through a tree in the desert; those at Horeb and at Kadesh by the opening of a rift in the "rock" and in the "cliff;" that in Moab by the united efforts, under his direction, of the chiefs and of the people (&nbsp;Numbers 21:18). (See Philo, ''V.M.'' 1:40.) An illustration of these passages is to be found in one of the representations of Rameses II (contemporary with Moses), in like manner calling out water from the desert rocks (see Brugsch, ''Hist. De L'Eg.'' 1:153). Of the first three of these incidents, traditional sites, bearing his name, are shown in the desert at the present day, though most of them are rejected by modern travellers. One is Ayun Musa, "the wells of [[Moses]] ," immediately south of Suez, which the tradition (probably from a confusion with Marah) ascribes to the rod of Moses. Of the water at Horeb, two memorials are shown: one is the Shuk Musa, or "cleft of Moses," in the side of Mount St. Catharine; and the other is the remarkable stone, first mentioned expressly in the Koran (2:57), which exhibits the twelve marks or mouths out of which the water is supposed to have issued for the twelve tribes (Stanley, Syr. and Pal. page 46,47; also Wolff, Travels, page 125, 2d ed.). The fourth is the celebrated "Sik," or ravine, by which [[Petra]] is approached from the east, and which, from the story of its being torn open by the rod of Moses, has given his name (the [[Wady]] Mfisa) to the whole valley. The quails and the manna are less directly ascribed to the intercession of Moses. The brazen serpent that was lifted up as a sign of the divine protection against the snakes of the desert (&nbsp;Numbers 21:8-9) was directly connected with his name down to the latest times of the nation (&nbsp;2 Kings 18:4; &nbsp;John 3:14). Of all the relics of his time, with the exception of the ark, it was the one longest preserved. (See [[Nehushtan]]). </p> <p> The route through the wilderness is described as having been made under his guidance. The particular spot of the encampment was fixed by the cloudy pillar; but the direction of the people, first to the Red Sea and then to Mount Sinai (where he had been before), was communicated through Moses, or given by him. According to the tradition of Memphis, the passage of the Red Sea was effected through Moses's knowledge of the movement of the tide (Euseb. Praep. Ev. 9:27). In all the wanderings from Mount Sinai he is said to have had the assistance of Jethro. In the Mussulman legends, as if to avoid this appearance of human aid, the place of Jethro is taken by [[El]] Khudhr, the mysterious benefactor of mankind (D'Herbelot, s.v. Moussa). On approaching Palestine the office of the leader becomes blended with that of the general or the conqueror. By Moses the spies were sent to explore the country. Against his advice took place the first disastrous battle at Hormah. To his guidance is ascribed the circuitous route by which the nation approached Palestine from the east, and to his generalship the two successive campaigns in which Sihon-and Og were defeated. The narrative is told so shortly that we are in danger of forgetting that, at this last stage of his life, Moses must have been as much a conqueror and victorious soldier as Joshua. </p> <p> '''(b.)''' His character as a Prophet is, from the nature of the case, more distinctly brought out. He is the first as he is the greatest example of a prophet in the O.T. The name is, indeed, applied to Abraham before (&nbsp;Genesis 20:7), but so casually as not to enforce our attention. But in the case of Moses it is given with peculiar emphasis. In a certain sense he appears as the center of a prophetic circle, now for the first time named. His brother and sister were both endowed with prophetic gifts. Aaron's fluent speech enabled him to act the part of prophet for Moses in the first inst </p>

<p> ''''' mō´zez ''''' , ''''' mō´ziz ''''' ( משׁה , <i> ''''' mōsheh ''''' </i> ; Egyptian <i> ''''' mēs ''''' </i> , "drawn out," "born"; Septuagint Μωυσῆ ( ρ Ο2 ςπ ), <i> ''''' Mōusḗ ''''' </i> ( <i> ''''' s ''''' </i> )). The great Hebrew national hero, leader, author, law-giver and prophet. </p> <p> I. [[Life]] </p> <p> 1. Son of Levi </p> <p> 2. Foundling Prince </p> <p> 3. Friend of the People </p> <p> 4. [[Refuge]] in Midian </p> <p> 5. Leader of Israel </p> <p> II. Work And Character </p> <p> 1. The Author </p> <p> 2. The Lawgiver </p> <p> 3. The Prophet </p> <p> [[Literature]] </p> <p> The traditional view of the Jewish church and of the Christian church, that Moses was a person and that the narrative with which his life-story is interwoven is real history, is in the main sustained by commentators and critics of all classes. </p> <p> It is needless to mention the old writers among whom these questions were hardly under discussion. Among the advocates of the current radical criticism may be mentioned [[Stade]] and Renan, who minimize the historicity of the Bible narrative at this point. Renan thinks the narrative "may be very probable." Ewald, Wellhausen, Robertson Smith, and Driver, while finding many flaws in the story, make much generally of the historicity of the narrative. </p> <p> The critical analysis of the Pentateuch divides this life-story of Moses into three main parts, [[J, E]]  and P, with a fourth, D, made up mainly from the others. Also some small portions here and there are given to R, especially the account of Aaron's part in the plagues of Egypt, where his presence in a J-document is very troublesome for the analytical theory. It is unnecessary to encumber this biography with constant cross-references to the strange story of Moses pieced together out of the rearranged fragments into which the critical analysis of the Pentateuch breaks up the narrative. It is recognized that there are difficulties in the story of Moses. In what ancient life-story are there not difficulties? If we can conceive of the ancients being obliged to ponder over a modern life-story, we can easily believe that they would have still more difficulty with it. But it seems to very many that the critical analysis creates more difficulties in the narrative than it relieves. It is a little thing to explain by such analysis some apparent discrepancy between two laws or two events or two similar incidents which we do not clearly understand. It is a far greater thing so to confuse, by rearranging, a beautiful, well-articulated biography that it becomes disconnected - indeed, in parts, scarcely makes sense. </p> <p> The biographical narrative of the Hebrew national hero, Moses, is a continuous thread of history in the Pentateuch. That story in all its simplicity and symmetry, but with acknowledgment of its difficulties as they arise, is here to be followed. </p> I. Life. <p> The recorded story of Moses' life falls naturally into five rather unequal parts: </p> <p> <b> 1. Son of Levi </b> </p> <p> "And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi" &nbsp;Exodus 2:1 . The son of Levi born of that union became the greatest man among mere men in the whole history of the world. How far he was removed in genealogy from Levi it is impossible to know. The genealogical lists &nbsp;Genesis 46:11; &nbsp;Exodus 6:16-20; &nbsp;Numbers 3:14-28; &nbsp;Numbers 26:57-59; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 6:1-3 show only 4 generations from Levi to Moses, while the account given of the numbers of Israel at the exodus &nbsp; Exodus 12:37; &nbsp;Exodus 38:26; &nbsp;Numbers 1:46; &nbsp;Numbers 11:21 imperatively demand at least 10 or 12 generations. The males alone of the sons of Kohath "from a month old and upward" numbered at Sinai 8,600 &nbsp; Numbers 3:27-28 . It is evident that the extract from the genealogy here, as in many other places (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:15; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 26:24; &nbsp;Ezra 7:1-5; &nbsp;Ezra 8:1-2; compare &nbsp;1 Chronicles 6:3-14; Mt 1:1-17; Lk 3:23-38) is not complete, but follows the common method of giving important heads of families. The statement concerning Jochebed: "And she bare unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister" &nbsp;Numbers 26:59 really creates no difficulty, as it is likewise said of Zilpah, after the mention of her grandsons, "And these she bare unto Jacob" (&nbsp; Genesis 46:17-18; compare &nbsp;Genesis 46:24-25 ). </p> <p> The names of the immediate father and mother of Moses are not certainly known. The mother "saw him that he was a goodly child" &nbsp;Exodus 2:2 . So they defied the commandment of the king &nbsp;Exodus 1:22 , and for 3 months hid him instead of throwing him into the river. </p> <p> <b> 2. Foundling Prince </b> </p> <p> The time soon came when it was impossible longer to hide the child (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , II, ix, 3-6). The mother resolved upon a plan which was at once a pathetic imitation of obedience to the commandment of the king, an adroit appeal to womanly sympathy, and, if it succeeded, a subtle scheme to bring the cruelty of the king home to his own attention. Her faith succeeded. She took an ark of bulrushes (&nbsp; Exodus 2:3-4; compare [[Ark Of Bulrushes]] ), daubed it with bitumen mixed with the sticky slime of the river, placed in this floating vessel the child of her love and faith, and put it into the river at a place among the sedge in the shallow water where the royal ladies from the palace would be likely to come down to bathe. A sister, probably Miriam, stood afar off to watch &nbsp;Exodus 2:3-4 . The daughter of Pharaoh came down with her great ladies to the river &nbsp;Exodus 2:5-10 . The princess saw the ark among the sedge and sent a maid to fetch it. The expectation of the mother was not disappointed. The womanly sympathy of the princess was touched. She resolved to save this child by adopting him. Through the intervention of the watching sister, he was given to his own mother to be nursed &nbsp;Exodus 2:7-9 . "And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son" &nbsp;Exodus 2:10 . Thus, he would receive her family name. </p> <p> [[Royal]] family names in Egypt then were usually compounded of some expression of reverence or faith or submission and the name of a god, e.g. "loved of," "chosen of," "born of," Thoth, Ptah, Ra or Amon. At this period of Egyptian history, "born of" (Egyptian <i> ''''' mēs ''''' </i> , "drawn out") was joined sometimes to Ah, the name of the moon-god, making Ahmes, or Thoth, the scribe-god, so Thothmes, but usually with Ra, the sun-god, giving Rames, usually anglicized Rameses or Ramoses. </p> <p> It was the time of the Ramesside dynasty, and the king on the throne was Rameses II. Thus the foundling adopted by Pharaoh's daughter would have the family name Mes or Moses. That it would be joined in the Egyptian to the name of the sungod Ra is practically certain. His name at court would be Ramoses. But to the oriental mind a name must mean something. The usual meaning of this royal name was that the child was "born of" a princess through the intervention of the god Ra. But this child was not "born of" the princess, so falling back upon the primary meaning of the word, "drawn out," she said, "because I drew him out of the water" &nbsp;Exodus 2:10 . Thus, Moses received his name. Pharaoh's daughter may have been the eldest daughter of Rameses II, but more probably was the daughter and eldest child of Seti Merenptah I, and sister of the king on the throne. She would be lineal heir to the crown but debarred by her sex. Instead, she bore the title "Pharaoh's Daughter," and, according to Egyptian custom, retained the right to the crown for her first-born son. A not improbable tradition (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , II, ix, 7) relates that she had no natural son, and Moses thus became heir to the throne, not with the right to supplant the reigning Pharaoh, but to supersede any of his sons. </p> <p> Very little is known of Moses' youth and early manhood at the court of Pharaoh. He would certainly be educated as a prince, whose right it probably was to be initiated into the mysteries. Thus he was "instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" &nbsp;Acts 7:22 , included in which, according to many Egyptologists, was the doctrine of one [[Supreme]] God. </p> <p> Many curious things, whose value is doubtful, are told of Moses by Josephus and other ancient writers (Josephus, <i> Ant. </i> , II, ix, 3; <i> Apion </i> , I, 31; compare <i> Smith, Dictionary of the Bible </i> ; for Mohammedan legends, see Palmer, <i> The Desert of the Exodus </i> , Appendix; for rabbinical legends, see <i> Jewish Encyclopedia </i> ). Some of these traditions are not incredible but lack authentication. Others are absurd. Egyptologists have searched with very indifferent success for some notice of the great Hebrew at the Egyptian court. </p> <p> <b> 3. Friend of the People </b> </p> <p> But the faith of which the Epistle to the Hebrews speaks &nbsp;Hebrews 11:23-28 was at work. Moses "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" &nbsp; Exodus 2:11-14; &nbsp;Acts 7:24 . Whether he did so in word, by definite renunciation, or by his espousal of the cause of the slave against the oppressive policy of Pharaoh is of little importance. In either case he became practically a traitor, and greatly imperiled his throne rights and probably his civil rights as well. During some intervention to ameliorate the condition of the state slaves, an altercation arose and he slew an Egyptian &nbsp;Exodus 2:11-12 . Thus, his constructive treason became an overt act. [[Discovering]] through the ungrateful reproaches of his own kinsmen &nbsp;Acts 7:25 that his act was known, he quickly made decision, "choosing rather to share ill treatment with the people of God," casting in his lot with slaves of the empire, rather than "to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season," amid the riotous living of the young princes at the Egyptian court; "accounting the reproach of Christ" his humiliation, being accounted a nobody ("Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?") As "greater riches than the treasures of Egypt" &nbsp; Hebrews 11:25-26; &nbsp;Acts 7:25-28 . He thought to be a nobody and do right better than to be a tyrant and rule Egypt. </p> <p> <b> 4. Refuge in Midian </b> </p> <p> Moses fled, "not fearing the wrath of the king" &nbsp;Hebrews 11:27 , not cringing before it or submitting to it, but defying it and braving all that it could bring upon him, degradation from his high position, deprivation of the privileges and comforts of the Egyptian court. He went out a poor wanderer &nbsp;Exodus 2:15 . We are told nothing of the escape and the journey, how he eluded the vigilance of the court guards and of the frontier-line of sentinels. The friend of slaves is strangely safe while within their territory. At last he reached the Sinaitic province of the empire and hid himself away among its mountain fastnesses &nbsp;Exodus 2:15 . The romance of the well and the shepherdesses and the grateful father and the future wife is all quite in accord with the simplicity of desert life &nbsp;Exodus 2:16-22 . The "Egyptian" saw the rude, selfish herdsmen of the desert imposing upon the helpless shepherd girls, and, partly by the authority of a manly man, partly, doubtless, by the authority of his Egyptian appearance in an age when "Egypt" was a word with which to frighten men in all that part of the world, he compelled them to give way. The "Egyptian" was called, thanked, given a home and eventually a wife. There in Midian, while the anguish of Israel continued under the taskmaster's lash, and the weakening of Israel's strength by the destruction of the male children went on, with what more or less rigor we know not, Moses was left by Providence to mellow and mature, that the haughty, impetuous prince, "instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," might be transformed into the wise, well-poised, masterful leader, statesman, lawgiver, poet and prophet. God usually prepares His great ones in the countryside or about some of the quiet places of earth, farthest away from the busy haunts of men and nearest to the "secret place of the Most High." David keeping his father's flocks, Elijah on the mountain slopes of Gilead, the [[Baptist]] in the wilderness of Judaea, Jesus in the shop of a [[Galilean]] carpenter; so Moses a shepherd in the Bedouin country, in the "waste, howling wilderness." </p> <p> <b> 5. Leader of Israel </b> </p> (1) The [[Commission]] <p> One day Moses led the flocks to "the back of the wilderness" (&nbsp;Exodus 3:1-12; see [[Burning Bush]] ). Moses received his commission, the most appalling commission ever given to a mere man &nbsp;Exodus 3:10 - a commission to a solitary man, and he a refugee - to go back home and deliver his kinsmen from a dreadful slavery at the hand of the most powerful nation on earth. Let not those who halt and stumble over the little difficulties of most ordinary lives think hardly of the faltering of Moses' faith before such a task &nbsp; Exodus 3:11-13; &nbsp;Exodus 4:1 , &nbsp;Exodus 4:10-13 . "Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, [[I Am]] hath sent me unto you" &nbsp;Exodus 3:14 , was the encouragement God gave him. He gave him also Aaron for a spokesman &nbsp;Exodus 4:14-16 , the return to the Mount of God as a sign &nbsp;Exodus 3:12 , and the rod of power for working wonders &nbsp;Exodus 4:17 . </p> <p> One of the curious necessities into which the critical analysis drives its advocates is the opinion concerning Aaron that "he scarcely seems to have been a brother and almost equal partner of Moses, perhaps not even a priest" (Bennett, <i> Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible </i> (five volumes), III, 441). Interesting and curious speculations have been instituted concerning the way in which Israel and especially Pharaoh were to understand the message, "I Am hath sent me unto you" (&nbsp;Exodus 3:13-14; compare &nbsp;Exodus 6:3 ). They were evidently expected to understand this message. Were they to so do by translating or by transliterating it into Egyptian? Some day Egyptologists may be able to answer positively, but not yet. </p> <p> With the signs for identification &nbsp;Exodus 4:1-10 , Moses was ready for his mission. He went down from the "holy ground" to obey the high summons and fulfil the great commission &nbsp;Exodus 4:18-23 . After the perplexing controversy with his wife, a controversy of stormy ending &nbsp;Exodus 4:24-26 , he seems to have left his family to his father-in-law's care while he went to respond to the call of God &nbsp;Exodus 18:6 . He met Aaron, his brother, at the Mount of God &nbsp;Exodus 4:27-28 , and together they returned to Egypt to collect the elders of Israel &nbsp;Exodus 4:29-31 , who were easily won over to the scheme of emancipation. Was ever a slave people not ready to listen to plans for freedom? </p> (2) The [[Conflict]] with Pharaoh <p> The next move was the bold request to the king to allow the people to go into the wilderness to hold a feast unto Yahweh &nbsp;Exodus 5:1 . How did Moses gain admittance past the jealous guards of an Egyptian court to the presence of the Pharaoh himself? And why was not the former traitorous refugee at once arrested? [[Egyptology]] affords a not too distinct answer. Rameses Ii was dead &nbsp;Exodus 4:19; Merenptah Ii was on the throne with an insecure tenure, for the times were troublous. Did some remember the "son of Pharaoh's daughter" who, had he remained loyal, would have been the Pharaoh? Probably so. Thus he would gain admittance, and thus, too, in the precarious condition of the throne, it might well not be safe to molest him. The original form of the request made to the king, with some slight modification, was continued throughout &nbsp;Exodus 8:27; &nbsp;Exodus 10:9 , though God promised that the Egyptians should thrust them out altogether when the end should come, and it was so &nbsp;Exodus 11:1; &nbsp;Exodus 12:31 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:33 , &nbsp;Exodus 12:39 . Yet Pharaoh remembered the form of their request and bestirred himself when it was reported that they had indeed gone "from serving" them &nbsp;Exodus 14:5 . The request for temporary departure upon which the contest was made put Pharaoh's call to duty in the easiest form and thus, also, his obstinacy appears as the greater heinousness. Then came the challenge of Pharaoh in his contemptuous demand, "Who is Yahweh?" &nbsp;Exodus 5:2 , and Moses' prompt acceptance of the challenge, in the beginning of the long series of plagues (see [[Plagues]] ) (&nbsp;Exodus 8:1 ff; &nbsp; Exodus 12:29-36; &nbsp;Exodus 14:31 ). Pharaoh, having made the issue, was justly required to afford full presentation of it. So Pharaoh's heart was "hardened" (&nbsp;Exodus 4:21; &nbsp;Exodus 7:3 , &nbsp;Exodus 7:13; &nbsp;Exodus 9:12 , &nbsp;Exodus 9:35; &nbsp;Exodus 10:1; &nbsp;Exodus 14:8; see [[Plagues]] ) until the vindication of Yahweh as God of all the earth was complete. This proving of Yahweh was so conducted that the gods of Egypt were shown to be of no avail against Him, but that He is God of all the earth, and until the faith of the people of Israel was confirmed &nbsp;Exodus 14:31 . </p> (3) [[Institution]] of the Passover <p> It was now time for the next step in revelation &nbsp;Exodus 12; &nbsp;13:1-16 . At the burning bush God had declared His purpose to be a saviour, not a destroyer. In this contest in Egypt, His absolute sovereignty was being established; and now the method of deliverance by Him, that He might not be a destroyer, was to be revealed. Moses called together the elders &nbsp;Exodus 12:21-28 and instituted the Passover feast. As God always in revelation chooses the known and the familiar - the tree, the bow, circumcision, baptism, and the Supper - by which to convey the unknown, so the Passover was a combination of the household feast with the widespread idea of safety through blood-sacrifice, which, however it may have come into the world, was not new at that time. Some think there is evidence of an old Semitic festival at that season which was utilized for the institution of the Passover. </p> <p> The lamb was chosen and its use was kept up &nbsp;Exodus 12:3-6 . On the appointed night it was killed and "roasted with fire" and eaten with bitter herbs &nbsp;Exodus 12:8 , while they all stood ready girded, with their shoes on their feet and their staff in hand &nbsp;Exodus 12:11 . They ate in safety and in hope, because the blood of the lamb was on the door &nbsp;Exodus 12:23 . That night the firstborn of Egypt were slain. Among the Egyptians "there was not a house where there was not one dead" &nbsp;Exodus 12:30 , from the house of the maid-servant, who sat with her handmill before her, to the palace of the king that "sat on the throne," and even among the cattle in the pasture. If the plague was employed as the agency of the angel of Yahweh, as some think, its peculiarity is that it takes the strongest and the best and culminates in one great stunning blow and then immediately subsides (see [[Plagues]] ). Who can tell the horror of that night when the Israelites were thrust out of the terror-stricken land &nbsp;Exodus 12:39 ? </p> <p> As they went out, they "asked," after the fashion of departing servants in the East, and God gave them favor in the sight of the over-awed Egyptians that they lavished gifts upon them in extravagance. Thus "they despoiled the Egyptians" &nbsp;Exodus 12:36 . "Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people" &nbsp;Exodus 11:3; &nbsp;Exodus 12:35-36 . </p> (4) The Exodus <p> "At the end of 430 years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt" &nbsp;Exodus 12:41 . The great oppressor was Rameses II, and the culmination and the revolution came, most probably, in connection with the building of [[Pithom]] and Raamses, as these are the works of Israel mentioned in the Bible narrative &nbsp;Exodus 1:11 . Rameses said that he built Pithom at the "mouth of the east" (Budge, <i> History of Exodus </i> , V, 123). All efforts to overthrow that statement have failed and for the present, at least, it must stand. Israel built Pithom, Rameses built Pithom; there is a synchronism that cannot in the present knowledge of Egyptian history even be doubted, much less separated. The troublous times which came to Egypt with the beginning of the reign of Merenptah Ii afforded the psychological moment for the return of the "son of Pharaoh's daughter" and his access to the royal court. The presence and power of Yahweh vindicated His claim to be the Lord of all the earth, and Merenptah let the children of Israel go. </p> <p> A little later when Israel turned back from the border of Khar (Palestine) into the wilderness and disappeared, and Merenptah's affairs were somewhat settled in the empire, he set up the usual boastful tablet claiming as his own many of the victories of his royal ancestors, added a few which he himself could truly boast, and inserted, near the end, an exultation over Israel's discomfiture, accounting himself as having finally won the victory: </p> <p> "Tehennu is devastation, Kheta peace, the Canaan the prisoner of all ills; </p> <p> "Asgalon led out, taken with Gezer, Yenoamam made naught; </p> <p> "The People of Israel is ruined, his posterity is not; Khar is become as the widows of Egypt." </p> <p> The synchronisms of this period are well established and must stand until, if it should ever be, other facts of Egyptian history shall be obtained to change them. Yet it is impossible to determine with certainty the precise event from which the descent into Egypt should be reckoned, or to fix the date Bc of Moses, Rameses and Merenptah, and the building of Pithom, and so, likewise, the date of the exodus and of all the patriarchal movements. The ancients were more concerned about the order of events, their perspective and their synchronisms than about any epochal date. For the present we must be content with these chronological uncertainties. Astronomical science may sometimes fix the epochal dates for these events; otherwise there is little likelihood that they will ever be known. </p> <p> They went out from [[Succoth]] (Egyptian "Thuku," Budge, <i> History of Egypt </i> , V, 122,129), carrying the bones of Joseph with them as he had commanded &nbsp; Exodus 13:19; &nbsp;Genesis 50:25 . The northeast route was the direct way to the promised land, but it was guarded. Pithom itself was built at "the mouth of the East," as a part of the great frontier defenses (Budge, op. cit., V, 123). The "wall" on this frontier was well guarded Exo 14, and attempts might be made to stop them. So they went not "by the way of the land of the Philistines ... lest peradventure the people repent when they see war" &nbsp;Exodus 13:17 . The Lord Himself took the leadership and went ahead of the host of Israel in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night &nbsp;Exodus 13:21 . He led them by "the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea" &nbsp;Exodus 13:18 . They pitched before Pi-hahiroth, over against Baal-zephon between [[Migdol]] and the sea &nbsp;Exodus 14:2 . Not one of these places has been positively identified. But the Journeys before and after the crossing, the time, and the configuration of the land and the coast-line of the sea, together with all the necessities imposed by the narrative, are best met by a crossing near the modern town of [[Suez]] (Naville, <i> Route of the Exodus </i> ; Palmer, <i> The Desert of the Exodus </i> ), where <i> ''''' Ras ''''' </i> <i> ''''' ‛Ataka ''''' </i> comes down to the sea, upon whose heights a <i> ''''' migdhōl ''''' </i> or "watch-tower," as the southern outpost of the eastern line of Egyptian defenses, would most probably be erected. </p> <p> Word was carried from the frontier to Pharaoh, probably at Tanis, that the Israelites had "fled" &nbsp;Exodus 14:5 , had taken the impassioned thrusting out by the frenzied people of Egypt in good faith and had gone never to return. Pharaoh took immediate steps to arrest and bring back the fugitives. The troops at hand &nbsp;Exodus 14:6 and the chariot corps, including 600 "chosen chariots," were sent at once in pursuit, Pharaoh going out in person at least to start the expedition &nbsp; Exodus 14:6-7 . The Israelites seemed to be "entangled in the land," and, since "the wilderness (had) shut them in" &nbsp;Exodus 4:3 , must easily fall a prey to the Egyptian army. The Israelites, terror-stricken, cried to Moses. God answered and commanded the pillar of cloud to turn back from its place before the host of Israel and stand between them and the approaching Egyptians, so that while the Egyptians were in the darkness Israel had the light &nbsp;Exodus 14:19-20 . </p> <p> The mountain came down on their right, the sea on the left to meet the foot of the mountain in front of them; the Egyptians were hastening on after them and the pillar of cloud and fire was their rearward. Moses with the rod of God stood at the head of the fleeing host. Then God wrought. Moses stretched out the rod of God over the sea and "Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night" &nbsp;Exodus 14:16-21 . A pathway was before them and the sea on the right hand, and on the left was a "wall unto them," and they passed through &nbsp;Exodus 14:21-22 . Such heaping up of the waters by the wind is well known and sometimes amounts to 7 or 8 ft. in Lake Erie (Wright, <i> Scientific Confirmations of the Old Testament </i> , 106). No clearer statement could possibly be made of the means used and of the miraculous timing of God's providence with the obedience of the people to His command to Moses. </p> <p> The host of Israel passed over on the hard, sandy bottom of the sea. The Egyptians coming up in the dark and finding it impossible to tell exactly where the coastline had been on this beach, and where the point of safety would lie when the wind should abate and the tide come in again, impetuously rushed on after the fleeing slaves. In the morning, Yahweh looked forth and troubled the Egyptians "and took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily" &nbsp;Exodus 14:24-25 . The wind had abated, the tide was returning and the infiltration that goes before the tide made the beach like a quicksand. The Egyptians found that they had gone too far and tried to escape &nbsp;Exodus 14:27 , but it was too late. The rushing tide caught them &nbsp;Exodus 14:28 . When the day had come, "horse and rider" were but the subject of a minstrel's song of triumph Exo 15:1-19; &nbsp;Psalm 106:9-12 which Miriam led with her timbrel &nbsp; Exodus 15:20 . The Bible does not say, and there is no reason to believe, that Pharaoh led the Egyptian hosts in person further than at the setting off and for the giving of general direction to the campaign &nbsp;Exodus 15:4 . Pharaoh and his host were overthrown in the Red Sea &nbsp;Psalm 136:15 . So Napoleon and his host were overthrown at Waterloo, but Napoleon lived to die at St. Helena. And Merenptah lived to erect his boastful inscription concerning the failure of Israel, when turned back from Kadesh-barnea, and their disappearance in the wilderness of Paran. His mummy, identified by the lamented Professor Groff, lies among the royal mummies in the [[Cairo]] Museum. Thus at the Red Sea was wrought the final victory of Yahweh over Pharaoh; and the people believed &nbsp;Exodus 14:31 . </p> (5) [[Special]] Providences <p> Now proceeded that long course of special providences, miraculous timing of events, and multiplying of natural agencies which began with the crossing of the Red Sea and ended only when they "did eat of the fruit of the land" &nbsp;Joshua 5:12 . God promised freedom from the diseases of the Egyptians &nbsp;Exodus 15:26 at the bitter waters of Marah, on the condition of obedience. Moses was directed to a tree, the wood of which should counteract the alkaline character of the water &nbsp; Exodus 15:23-25 . A little later they were at Elim ( <i> ''''' Wâdy ''''' </i> <i> ''''' Gharandel ''''' </i> , in present-day geography), where were "twelve springs of water and three score and ten palm trees" &nbsp;Exodus 15:27 . The enumeration of the trees signifies nothing but their scarcity, and is understood by everyone who has traveled in that desert and counted, again and again, every little clump of trees that has appeared. The course of least resistance here is to turn a little to the right and come out again at the Red Sea in order to pass around the point of the plateau into the wilderness of Sin. This is the course travel takes now, and it took the same course then &nbsp;Exodus 16:1 . Here Israel murmured &nbsp;Exodus 16:2 , and every traveler who crosses this blistering, dusty, wearisome, hungry wilderness joins in the murmuring, and wishes, at least a little, that he had stayed in the land of Egypt &nbsp;Exodus 16:3 . Provisions brought from Egypt were about exhausted and the land supplied but little. [[Judging]] from the complaints of the people about the barrenness of the land, it was not much different then from what it is now &nbsp;Numbers 20:1-6 . Now special providential provision began. "At even ... the quails came up, and covered the camp," and in the morning, after the dew, the manna was found (Exo 16:4-36; see [[Manna]]; [[Quails]] ). </p> <p> At Rephidim was the first of the instances when Moses was called upon to help the people to some water. He smote the rock with the rod of God, and there came forth an abundant supply of water &nbsp;Exodus 17:1-6 . There is plenty of water in the wady near this point now. The Amalekites, considering the events immediately following, had probably shut the Israelites off from the springs, so God opened some hidden source in the mountain side. "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel" &nbsp;Exodus 17:8 . Whether the hand which Moses lifted up during the battle was his own hand or a symbolical hand &nbsp;Exodus 17:9-12 , thought to have been carried in battle then, as sometimes even yet by the Bedouin, is of no importance. It was in either case a hand stretched up to God in prayer and allegiance, and the battle with Amalek, then as now, fluctuates according as the hand is lifted up or lowered &nbsp;Exodus 17:8-16 . </p> <p> Here Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, met him and brought his wife and children to him (&nbsp;Exodus 18:5-6; compare &nbsp;Numbers 10:29 ). A sacrificial feast was held with the distinguished guest &nbsp;Exodus 18:7-12 . In the wise counsel of this great desert-priest we see one of the many natural sources of supply for Moses' legal lore and statesmanship. A suggestion of Jethro gave rise to one of the wisest and most far-reaching elements in the civil institutions of Israel, the elaborate system of civil courts &nbsp;Exodus 18:13-26 . </p> (6) [[Receiving]] the Law <p> At Sinai Moses reached the pinnacle of his career, though perhaps not the pinnacle of his faith. (For a discussion of the location of Sinai, see Sinai; [[Exodus]] .) It is useless to speculate about the nature of the flames in the theophany by fire at Sinai. Some say there was a thunderstorm ( <i> Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible </i> (five volumes)); others think a volcanic eruption. The time, the stages of the journey, the description of the way, the topography of this place, especially its admirable adaptability to be the cathedral of Yahweh upon earth, and, above all, the collocation of all the events of the narrative along this route to this spot and to no other - all these exercise an overwhelming influence upon one (compare Palmer, <i> The Desert of the Exodus </i> ). If they do not conclusively prove, they convincingly persuade, that here the greatest event between [[Creation]] and [[Calvary]] took place </p> <p> Here the people assembled. "And Mount Sinai, the whole of it, smoked," and above appeared the glory of God. [[Bounds]] were set about the mountain to keep the people back &nbsp;Exodus 19:12-13 . God was upon the mountain: "Under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness" &nbsp;Exodus 19:16-19; &nbsp;Exodus 24:10 . 16-17, "and God spake all these words" Exo 20:1-17. Back over the summit of the plain between these two mountain ridges in front, the people fled in terror to the place "afar off" &nbsp;Exodus 20:18 , and somewhere about the foot of this mountain a little later the tabernacle of grace was set up &nbsp;Exodus 40:17 . At this place the affairs of Moses mounted up to such a pinnacle of greatness in the religious history of the world as none other among men has attained unto. He gave formal announcement of the perfect law of God as a rule of life, and the redeeming mercy of God as the hope through repentance for a world of sinners that "fall short." Other men have sought God and taught men to seek God, some by the works of the Law and some by the way of propitiation, but where else in the history of the world has any one man caught sight of both great truths and given them out? </p> <p> Moses gathered the people together to make the covenant &nbsp;Exodus 24:1-8 , and the nobles of Israel ate a covenant meal there before God &nbsp;Exodus 24:11 . God called Moses again to the mountain with the elders of Israel &nbsp;Exodus 24:12 . There Moses was with God, fasting 40 days &nbsp;Exodus 34:28 . Joshua probably accompanied Moses into the mount &nbsp;Exodus 24:13 . There God gave directions concerning the plan of the tabernacle: "See ... that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount" (&nbsp;Hebrews 8:5-12 , summing up &nbsp;Exodus 25:40; &nbsp;Exodus 26:30; &nbsp;Exodus 27:8 ). This was the statement of the architect to the builder. We can only learn what the pattern was by studying the tabernacle (see Tabernacle ). It was an Egyptian plan (compare <i> Bible Student </i> , January, 1902). While Moses was engaged in his study of the things of the tabernacle on the mount, the people grew restless and appealed to Aaron &nbsp;Exodus 32:1 . In weakness Aaron yielded to them and made them a golden calf and they said, "These are thy gods, [[[[O]] I]]  srael, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt" (&nbsp;Exodus 32:2-6; compare Calf , [[Golden]] ). This was probably, like the later calf-worship at [[Bethel]] and Dan, ancient Semitic bull-worship and a violation of the second commandment &nbsp;Exodus 20:5; compare <i> Bible Student </i> , August, 1902). The judgment of God was swift and terrible 32:7-35, and Levi was made the Divine agent &nbsp;Exodus 32:25-29 . Here first the "tent of meeting" comes into prominence as the official headquarters of the leader of Israel &nbsp;Exodus 33:7-11 . [[Henceforth]] independent and distinct from the tabernacle, though on account of the similarity of names liable to be confused with that building, it holds its place and purpose all through the wanderings to the plain of Moab by Jordan &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:14 . Moses is given a vision of God to strengthen his own faith &nbsp;Exodus 33:12-23; 34:1-35. On his return from communion with God, he had such glory within that it shone out through his face to the terror of the multitude, an adumbration of that other and more glorious transfiguration at which Moses should also appear, and that reflection of it which is sometimes seen in the life of many godly persons &nbsp;Matthew 17:1-13; &nbsp;Mark 9:2-10; &nbsp;Luke 9:28-36 . </p> <p> Rationalistic attempts to account for the phenomena at Sinai have been frequent, but usually along certain lines. The favorite hypothesis is that of volcanic action. God has often used natural agencies in His revelation and in His miracles, and there is no necessary obstacle to His doing so here. But there are two seemingly insuperable difficulties in the way of this naturalistic explanation: one, that since geologic time this has not been a volcanic region; the other, that volcanic eruptions are not conducive to literary inspiration. It is almost impossible to get a sane account from the beholders of an eruption, much less has it a tendency to result in the greatest literature, the most perfect code of laws and the profoundest statesmanship in the world. The human mind can easily believe that God could so speak from Sinai and direct the preparation of such works of wisdom as the Book of the Covenant. Not many will be able to think that Moses could do so during a volcanic eruption at Sinai. For it must be kept in mind that the historical character of the narrative at this point, and the Mosaic authorship of the Book of the Covenant, are generally admitted by those who put forward this naturalistic explanation. </p> (7) Uncertainties of History <p> From this time on to the end of Moses' life, the materials are scant, there are long stretches of silence, and a biographer may well hesitate. The tabernacle was set up at the foot of the "mountain of the law" &nbsp;Exodus 40:17-19 , and the world from that day to this has been able to find a mercy-seat at the foot of the mountain of the law. Nadab and [[Abihu]] presumptuously offered strange fire and were smitten &nbsp;Leviticus 10:1-7 . The people were numbered (&nbsp;Numbers 1:1 ff). The Passover was kept &nbsp; Numbers 9:1-5 . </p> (8) [[Journey]] to Canaan Resumed <p> The journey to Canaan began again &nbsp;Numbers 10:11-13 . From this time until near the close of the life of Moses the events associated with his name belong for the most part to the story of the wanderings in the wilderness and other subjects, rather than to a biography of Moses. (compare Wanderings; Aaron; Miriam; [[Joshua]]; Caleb; [[Brazen Serpent]] , etc.). The subjects and references are as follows: </p> <p> The March Num (&nbsp;Numbers 2:10-18; &nbsp;Numbers 9:15-23 ) </p> <p> The [[Complaining]] (&nbsp;Numbers 11:1-3 ) </p> <p> The [[Lusting]] (&nbsp;Numbers 11:4-6 , 18-35) </p> <p> The Prophets (&nbsp;Numbers 11:16 ) </p> <p> [[Leprosy]] of Miriam (&nbsp;Numbers 12:1-16 </p> (9) The [[Border]] of the Land <p> Kadesh-barnea (&nbsp;Numbers 13:3-26 ) </p> <p> The [[Spies]] (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 1:22; &nbsp;Numbers 13:2 , &nbsp;Numbers 13:21; &nbsp;Numbers 23:27-28 -33; 14:1-38) </p> <p> The Plagues (&nbsp;Numbers 14:36-37 , &nbsp;Numbers 14:40-45 </p> (10) The Wanderings <p> Korah, Dathan and Abiram (&nbsp;Numbers 16:1-35 ) </p> <p> The Plague (&nbsp;Numbers 16:41-50; &nbsp;Numbers 17:1-13 ) </p> <p> Death of Miriam (&nbsp;Numbers 20:1 ) </p> <p> Sin of Moses and Aaron (&nbsp;Numbers 20:2-13; &nbsp;Psalm 106:32 ) </p> <p> Unfriendliness of Edom (&nbsp;Numbers 20:14-21 ) </p> <p> Death of Aaron (&nbsp;Numbers 20:22-29 ) </p> <p> [[Arad]] (&nbsp;Numbers 21:1-3 ) </p> <p> [[Compassing]] of Edom (&nbsp;Numbers 21:4 ) </p> <p> [[Murmuring]] (&nbsp;Numbers 21:5-7 ) </p> <p> Brazen [[Serpent]] (&nbsp;Numbers 21:8-9; &nbsp;John 3:14 </p> (11) Edom <p> The Jordan (&nbsp;Numbers 21:10-20 ) </p> <p> Sihon (&nbsp;Numbers 21:21-32 ) </p> <p> Og (&nbsp;Numbers 21:33-35 ) </p> <p> [[Balak]] and Balaam (&nbsp;Numbers 22:4; &nbsp;Numbers 24:25 ) </p> <p> [[Pollution]] of the People (&nbsp;Numbers 25:6-15 ) </p> <p> [[Numbering]] of the People (&nbsp;Numbers 26 ) </p> <p> Joshua Chosen (&nbsp;Numbers 27:15-23 ) </p> <p> Midianites [[Punished]] (&nbsp;Numbers 31 ) </p> (12) Tribes East of Jordan <p> (&nbsp;Numbers 32 ) </p> (13) Moses' Final Acts <p> Moses was now ready for the final instruction of the people. They were assembled and a great farewell address was given &nbsp;Deuteronomy 1-30:20 . Joshua was formally inducted into office &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:1-8 , and to the priests was delivered a written copy of this last announcement of the Law now adapted to the progress made during 40 years (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:9-13; compare &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:24-29 ). Moses then called Joshua into the tabernacle for a final charge &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:14-23 , gave to the assembled elders of the people "the words of this song" &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:30; 32:1-43 and blessed the people Deut 33. And then Moses, who "by faith" had triumphed in Egypt, had been the great revelator at Sinai, had turned back to walk with the people of little faith for 40 years, reached the greatest triumph of his faith, when, from the top of Nebo, the towering pinnacle of Pisgah, he lifted up his eyes to the goodly land of promise and gave way to Joshua to lead the people in &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:1-12 . And there Moses died and was buried, "but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day" &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:5-6 , "and Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died" &nbsp;Deuteronomy 34:7 . </p> <p> This biography of Moses is the binding-thread of the Pentateuch from the beginning of Exodus to the end of Deuteronomy, without disastrous breaks or disturbing repetitions. There are, indeed, silences, but they occur where nothing great or important in the narrative is to be expected. And there are, in the eyes of some, repetitions, so-called doublets, but they do not seem to be any more real than may be expected in any biography that is only incidental to the main purpose of the writer. No man can break apart this narrative of the books without putting into confusion this life-story; the one cannot be treated as independent of the other; any more than the narrative of the English [[Commonwealth]] and the story of Cromwell, or the story of the American [[Revolution]] and the career of Washington. </p> <p> Later references to Moses as leader, lawgiver and prophet run all through the Bible; only the most important will be mentioned: &nbsp;Joshua 8:30-35; &nbsp;Joshua 24:5; &nbsp;1 Samuel 12:6-8; &nbsp;1 Chronicles 23:14-17; &nbsp;Psalm 77:20; &nbsp;Psalm 99:6; 105; 106; &nbsp;Isaiah 63:11-12; &nbsp;Jeremiah 15:1; &nbsp;Daniel 9:11-13; &nbsp;Hosea 12:13; &nbsp;Micah 6:4; &nbsp;Malachi 4:4 . </p> <p> The place held by Moses in the New Testament is as unique as in the Old Testament, though far less prominent. Indeed, he holds the same place, though presented in a different light. In the Old Testament he is the type of the Prophet to be raised up "like unto" him. It is the time of types, and Moses, the type, is most conspicuous. In the New Testament the Prophet "like unto Moses" has come. He now stands out the greatest One in human history, while Moses, the type, fades away in the shadow. It is thus he appears in Christ's remarkable reference to him: "He wrote of me" &nbsp;John 5:46 . The principal thing which Moses wrote specifically of Christ is this passage: "Yahweh thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:15 , &nbsp;Deuteronomy 18:18 ). Again in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is the formal passing over from the types of the Old Testament to the fulfilment in the New Testament, Jesus is made to stand out as the Moses of the new dispensation Heb 3; 12. 24-29. Other most important New Testament references to Moses are &nbsp;Matthew 17:3; &nbsp;Mark 9:4; &nbsp;Luke 9:30; &nbsp;John 1:17 , &nbsp;John 1:45; &nbsp;John 3:14; &nbsp;Romans 5:14; &nbsp;Judges 1:9; &nbsp;Revelation 15:3 . </p> II. Work and Character <p> So little is known of the private life of Moses that his personal character can scarcely be separated from the part which he bore in public affairs. It is the work he wrought for Israel and for mankind which fixes his place among the great ones of earth. The life which we have just sketched as the life of the leader of Israel is also the life of the author, the lawgiver, and the prophet. </p> <p> <b> 1. The Author </b> </p> <p> It is not within the province of this article to discuss in full the great critical controversies concerning the authorship of Moses which have been summed up against him thus: "It is doubtful whether we can regard Moses as an author in the literary sense" ( <i> Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible </i> (five volumes), III, 446; see Pentateuch; [[Deuteronomy]] ). It will only be in place here to present a brief statement of the evidence in the case for Moses. There is no longer any question concerning the literary character of the age in which Moses lived. That Moses might have written is indisputable. But did he write, and how much? What evidence bears at these points? </p> (1) "Moses wrote" <p> The idea of writing or of writings is found 60 times in the Pentateuch It is definitely recorded in writing purporting to be by Moses. 7 times that Moses wrote or was commanded to write &nbsp;Exodus 17:14; &nbsp;Exodus 34:27; &nbsp;Exodus 39:30; &nbsp;Numbers 17:2-3; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 10:4; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:24 and frequently of others in his times &nbsp; Deuteronomy 6:9; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 27:3; &nbsp;Deuteronomy 31:19; &nbsp;Joshua 8:32 . Joshua at the great convocation at [[Shechem]] for the taking of the covenant wrote "these words in the book of the law of God" &nbsp;Joshua 24:26 . Thus is declared the existence of such a book but 25 years after the death of Moses (compare <i> Bible Student </i> , 1901, 269-74). It is thus clearly asserted by the Scriptures as a fact that Moses in the wilderness a little after the exodus was "writing" "books." </p> (2) Moses' [[Library]] <p> There are many library marks in the Pentateuch, even in those portions which by nearly all, even the most radical, critics are allowed to be probably the writings of Moses. The Pentateuch as a whole has such library marks all over it. </p> <p> On the one hand this is entirely consistent with the known literary character of the age in which Moses lived. One who was "instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians" might have had in his possession Egyptian records. And the author of this article is of that class to whom Professor [[Clay]] refers, who believe "that Hebraic (or Amoraic) literature, as well as Aramaic, has a great antiquity prior to the 1st millennium BC" (Clay, <i> Amurru </i> , 32). </p> <p> On the other hand, the use of a library to the extent indicated by the abiding marks upon the Pentateuch does not in the least militate against the claim of Moses for authorship of the same. The real library marks, aside from the passages which are assigned by the critics to go with them, are far less numerous and narrower in scope than in Gibbon or in Kurtz. The use of a library no more necessarily endangers authorship in the one case than in the other. </p> (3) The Moses-Tradition <p> A tradition from the beginning universally held, and for a long time and without inherent absurdity, has very great weight. Such has been the Moses-tradition of authorship. Since Moses is believed to have been such a person living in such an age and under such circumstances as might suitably provide the situation and the occasion for such historical records, so that common sense does not question whether he could have written "a" Pentateuch, but only whether he did write "the" Pentateuch which we have, it is easier to believe the tradition concerning his authorship than to believe that such a tradition arose with nothing so known concerning his ability and circumstances. But such a tradition did arise concerning Moses. It existed in the days of Josiah. Without it, by no possibility could the people have been persuaded to receive with authority a book purporting to be by him. The question of the truthfulness of the claim of actually finding the Book of the Law altogether aside, there must ha </p>