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See also:MOSES (Gr. Mwvo c, Mcoo-i3s)
, the See also:great Jewish lawgiver, See also:prophet and mediator, and See also:leader of the Israelites from See also:Egypt to the eastern See also:borders of the promised See also:land
.
The records of his See also:life and See also:work are noticed in the articles See also:EXODUS, See also:NUMBERS, See also:DEUTERONOMY, where the several See also:sources of the narratives are described
.
He appears in See also:Midian at the " See also:Mount of See also:God " (See also:Horeb) dwelling with its See also:priest See also:Jethro (q.v.), one of whose seven daughters he married, thus becoming the See also:father of Gershom and Eliezer
.
Of his earlier life it was said that he was See also:born in Egypt of Levite parents, and when the See also:Pharaoh commanded that every new-born male See also:child of the See also:Hebrews should be killed, he was put into a See also:chest and See also:cast upon the See also:Nile
.
He was found by Pharaoh's daughter, and his (step-)See also:sister Miriam contrived that he should be nursed by his See also:mother; on growing up he killed an See also:Egyptian who was oppressing an Israelite, and this becoming known, he sought See also:refuge in See also:flight
.
The See also:story of the youth of See also:Moses is, as is commonly the See also:case with great heroes, of secondary origin; moreover, the circumstances of his See also:birth as related in Exod. ii. find numerous See also:parallels in See also:legend elsewhere, e.g. in the story of the See also:historical See also:Sargon (L
.
W
.
See also: Test. p . 30 seq.) . The story of the See also:adoption of Moses by the Egyptian princess appealed to later See also:imagination (See also:Josephus, See also:Ant. ii . 9, 10; Acts vii . 20—22), and many fanciful fables See also:grew up around this and the other biblical statements . The name MOsheh, explained by the fact that the princess " See also:drew him " (mdshah) out of the See also:waters, means properly " one who draws "; a derivation from Eg. See also:mes(u), " child, " finds more favour, but is not certain . At the See also:holy mount, Moses received the divine See also:revelation and was commissioned to bring the See also:people a three-days' See also:journey out of Egypt to See also:sacrifice at this spot (Exod. iii . 12, 18; v . 3; viii . 27) . The deity revealed himself in a new name, Yahweh, and with signs and wonders fortified Moses for his task . On his return he experienced a remarkable incident which is obscurely associated with the rite of See also:circumcision.' The plagues with which the reluctant Pharaoh was coerced culminated in the destruction of all the first-born, and See also:Israel escaped to the Red See also:Sea .
The pursuing Egyptians were drowned, and the miraculous preservation of the chosen people at the See also:critical moment marks the first See also:stage in the See also:national See also:history.2 (See Exonus, THE.)
The other events need not be detailed
.
Kadesh (holy) was ' Exod. iv
.
24—26; it possibly explains the transference of the rite from the bridegroom to the new-born son
.
For a See also:recent discussion,
see H
.
P
.
See also: 204-218) . 2 The plagues appear to have been amplified . In Exod. iv. three signs are given: the See also:hand of Moses is stricken with leprosy and restored (the sign for Moses) ; his See also:rod becomes a See also:serpent (cf. vii . 8—13, the sign for Pharaoh) ; and the See also:water is turned into See also:blood (cf. vii . 17 sqq.) . If Pharaoh still remains obdurate his first-born is threatened (iv . 21 sqq.) . As regards the See also:crossing of the Red Sea, a perfectly rationalizing explanation can be found: with a strong See also:east See also:wind its waters could temporarily recede and permit a passage (see Journ . Viet . Inst. See also:xxvi . 28; xxviil . 268, 277) . To the Israelites, however, it was a See also:miracle, an unexpected intervention on the See also:part of Yahweh, and the first of many marvels which he performed on behalf of the people of his choice . To rationalize this or any of the See also:series misses the whole point of the religious history . the See also:chief centre . This was the See also:scene of the strife " at Meribah (striving) where Yahweh " sheaved himself holy " (Num. xx . I—13); a parallel See also:account joins the name with Massah (trial, See also:proof) where Yahweh " proved " the people (Exod. xvii . 1–7) . These two names (Deut. ix . 22, xXxn . 51) with their' significant meanings recur with varying nuances (Ps. lxxxi . 7, xcv . 8 seq.) . Here also in the See also:wilderness of Shur, and possibly at En-mishpat (well of See also:judgment, i.e . Kadesh, Gen. xiv . 7), Yahweh made for Israel " See also:statute and judgment " and " proved them." This is apparently viewed as the See also:goal of the three-days' journey (Exod. xv . 22–25) . In this See also:district the defeat of the See also:Amalekites is more naturally located (Exod. xvii.; cf . I Sam. See also:xxvii . 8) and here, finally, for some cause, now obscured, Moses and his See also:brother See also:Aaron (q.v.) incurred Yahweh's displeasure (Num. xx . 12, xxvii . 14; Deut. xxxii . 51; Ps. cvi . 3) . Pisgah or Mt See also:Nebo (the name suggests a See also:foreign god), to the See also:north-east of the Dead Sea became the scene of the See also:death of Moses; his See also:burial-See also:place was never known (Deut. xxxiv.) . In estimating the work of one who stands at the See also:head. of the religious and legal institutions of Israel, it is necessary to refrain from interpreting the traditions from a See also:modern legal standpoint or in the See also:light of subsequent ideas and beliefs for which the sources themselves give no authority .
Much confusion has been caused by attributing to Moses more than the See also:Pentateuch itself claims, and by misunderstanding the meaning of later references (See also:Mat. xix
.
8; See also:Mark vii
.
So, x
.
5; xii
.
26; See also:Luke xx
.
37; See also: Although Moses was venerated as a prophet (Hos. xii . 13), a mediator (Jer. xv . 1) and a leader (Mic. vi . 4; Ira. lxiii . II), much of the legal See also:procedure ascribed to him must belong on See also:internal grounds (religious, ethical and sociological See also:evidence) to a See also:post-See also:Mosaic See also:age . Many of the Mosaic See also:laws find parallels and analogies in all ages outside the See also:sphere of Israelite See also:influence, notably in the laws codified several centuries previously by the Babylonian king Khammurabi (see BABYLONIAN See also:LAW) . The practice of finding in See also:ancient authority a precedent for institutions new and old (cf. the law of See also:booty, I Sam. See also:xxx . 25, with that ascribed to Moses in Num. xxXi . 25 sqq.) is quite in accordance with See also:Oriental See also:custom and explains the growth of the See also:present extremely complex sources . But this very development of Mosaism implies the existence of an See also:original See also:nucleus or substratum, although the recovery of its precise extent is very difficult . The legislation on Mt See also:Sinai (Horeb) which apparently occupies a very important place in tradition (Exod. xx. sqq.) is really secondary (cf . W . R . Smith, Prophets of Israel, p . III); more prominence is evidently to be ascribed to the influence of the See also:half-Arabian Jethro or Hobab, and this must be taken into See also:consideration with what is known of Kenite and kindred clans (Exod. xviii.; Num. x . 29–33; see JETHRO; See also:KENITES) I Yahweh appears to have been known to them before he revealed himself to Moses, and the ancestors of the Israelites are recognized as worshippers of Yahweh, but are on another level (Exod. vi . 3) . The traditions would seem to point to the institution of new principles in the See also:religion of Yahweh, and would See also:associate with it not merely Moses but those foreign elements which are subsequently found in Israel and See also:Judah . See See also:JEWS, § § 5, 14, 20 . I See K . Budde, Religion of Israel to the See also:Exile, ch. i . According to Gen. iv . 26, so far from the name Yahweh having been made known to Israel by Moses (Exod. iii . 13 sqq., vi . 2 sqq.), the worship goes back to the earliest ages . Prolegomena is a conclusive elaboration of the initial stages of See also:criticism .. All subsequent studies vary according to the writer's standpoint; W . R . Harper, See also:Amos and See also:Hosea (Internat . Critical Commentary), pp . 84 sqq., gives a convenient See also:summary . Among particular discussions may be named See also:Cheyne, Ency . Bib. s.v., E . See also:Meyer, Israeliten, pp . 1–103 ; and the mythological treatment by H . Winkler, Gesch . Isr., ii . 86–95 A . Jeremias, Alte Test., loc. cit . ; and Ed . Stucken, Astralmythen d . Hebraer, &c., pp . 431 sqq . For Jewish and other legends (to which See also:Jude 9 alludes), see See also:Beer, Leben Moses (1863), M . Grunbaum, Neue Beitrage z. sem . Sagenkunde (1893), pp, 152 sqq.; the See also:Assumption o,f Moses, ed . R . H .
See also: See also:Maspero, Rec. de travaux (1905), xxvii . 13 sqq., 22 seq . (S . A . |
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