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Moses [note 1] was a Hebrew teacher and leader [2] considered the most important prophet in Judaism [3] [4] and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, and other Abrahamic religions. According to both the Bible and the Quran, [5] Moses was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver to whom the prophetic ...
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- Historical views of Moses
- The date of Moses
Moses (flourished 14th–13th century bce) Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader who, in the 13th century bce (before the Common Era, or bc), delivered his people from Egyptian slavery. In the Covenant ceremony at Mt. Sinai, where the Ten Commandments were promulgated, he founded the religious community known as Israel. As the interpreter of these Cove...
Few historical figures have engendered such disparate interpretations as has Moses. Early Jewish and Christian traditions considered him the author of the Torah (“Law,” or “Teaching”), also called the Pentateuch (“Five Books”), comprising the first five books of the Bible, and some conservative groups still believe in Mosaic authorship.
Opposing this is the theory of the German scholar Martin Noth, who, while granting that Moses may have had something to do with the preparations for the conquest of Canaan, was very skeptical of the roles attributed to him by tradition. Although recognizing a historical core beneath the Exodus and Sinai traditions, Noth believed that two different groups experienced these events and transmitted the stories independently of each other. He contended that the biblical story tracing the Hebrews from Egypt to Canaan resulted from an editor’s weaving separate themes and traditions around a main character Moses, actually an obscure person from Moab.
According to the biblical account, Moses’ parents were from the tribe of Levi, one of the groups in Egypt called Hebrews. Originally the term Hebrew had nothing to do with race or ethnic origin. It derived from Habiru, a variant spelling of Ḫapiru (Apiru), a designation of a class of people who made their living by hiring themselves out for various services. The biblical Hebrews had been in Egypt for generations, but apparently they became a threat, so one of the pharaohs enslaved them. Unfortunately, the personal name of the king is not given, and scholars have disagreed as to his identity and, hence, as to the date of the events of the narrative of Moses. One theory takes literally the statement in I Kings 6:1 that the Exodus from Egypt occurred 480 years before Solomon began building the Temple in Jerusalem. This occurred in the fourth year of his reign, about 960 bce; therefore, the Exodus would date about 1440 bce.
This conclusion, however, is at variance with most of the biblical and archaeological evidence. The storage cities Pitḥom and Rameses, built for the pharaoh by the Hebrews, were located in the northeastern part of the Egyptian delta, not far from Goshen, the district in which the Hebrews lived. It is implicit in the whole story that the pharaoh’s palace and capital were in the area, but Thutmose III (the pharaoh in 1440) had his capital at Thebes, far to the south, and never conducted major building operations in the delta region. Moreover, Edom and Moab, petty kingdoms in Transjordan that forced Moses to circle east of them, were not yet settled and organized. Finally, as excavations have shown, the destruction of the cities the Hebrews claimed to have captured occurred about 1250, not 1400.
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- Dewey M. Beegle
Apr 2, 2024 · Learn about the biblical Moses, the Exodus hero who led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Law from God. Discover his unique character, origins, family, and death in this article by Peter Machinist.
Learn about Moses, the prophet, lawgiver, and leader of the Israelites in the Bible. Discover his life, miracles, encounters with God, and his role in foreshadowing Christ.
Sep 28, 2016 · Moses (c. 1400 BCE) is considered one of the most important religious leaders in world history. He is claimed by the religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Bahai as an important prophet of God and the founder of monotheistic belief. The story of Moses is told in the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers but he ...
- Joshua J. Mark
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Moses, (flourished 14th–13th century bce ), Prophet of Judaism. In the Judaic tradition, Moses is revered as the greatest prophet and teacher. According to the book of Exodus, he was born in Egypt to Hebrew parents, who set him afloat on the Nile in a reed basket to save him from an edict calling for the death of all newborn Hebrew males.
Jul 27, 2020 · Learn about Moses' life, roles, and legacy in the Bible. He was a prophet, mediator, judge, and author of the Pentateuch, who led Israel out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments.
