MOSES (Gr. Mow*, the great Jewish lawgiver, prophet and mediator, and leader of the Israelites from Egypt to the eastern borders of the promised land. The records of his life and work are noticed in the articles EXODUS, NUMBERS, DEUTER ONOMY, where the several sources of the narratives are described.
He appears in Midian at the "Mount of God" (Horeb) dwelling with its priest Jethro (q.v.), one of whose seven daughters he married, thus becoming the father of Gershom and Eliezer. Of his earlier life it was said that he was born in Egypt of Levite parents, and when the Pharaoh commanded that every new-born male child of the Hebrews should be killed, he was put into a chest and cast upon the Nile. He was found by Pharaoh's daugh ter, and his (step-)sister Miriam contrived that he should be nursed by his mother; on growing up he killed an Egyptian who was oppressing an Israelite, and this becoming known, he sought refuge in flight.
At the holy mount, Moses received the divine revelation and was commissioned to bring the people a three-days' journey out of Egypt to sacrifice at this spot (Exod. iiii. 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 circumcision. The plagues with which the reluc tant Pharaoh was coerced culminated in the destruction of all the first-born, and Israel escaped to the Red Sea. The pursuing Egyptians were drowned and the miraculous preservation of the chosen people at the critical moment marks the first stage in the national history (see EXODUS, THE).
The other events need not be detailed. Kadesh (holy) was the chief centre. This was the scene of the "strife" at Meribah (striving) where Yahweh "skewed himself holy" (Num. xx. 1-13) ; a parallel account joins the name with Massah (trial, proof) where Yahweh "proved" the people (Exod. xvii. 1-7). These two names (Deut. ix. 22, xxxii. 51) with their significant meanings recur with varying nuances (Ps. lxxxi. 7, xcv. 8 seq.). Here also in the wilderness of Shur, and possibly at En-mishpat (well of judgment, i.e., Kadesh, Gen. xiv. 7), Yahweh made for Israel "statute and judgment" and "proved them." This is apparently
viewed as the goal of the three-days' journey (Exod. xv. 22-25). In this district the defeat of the Amalekites is more naturally lo cated (Exod. xvii.; cf. I Sam. xxvii. 8) and here, finally, for some cause, now obscured, Moses and his brother Aaron (q.v.) incurred Yahweh's displeasure (Num. xx. 12, xxvii. 14; Deut. xxxii. 51; Ps. cvi. 3). Pisgah or Mt. Nebo (the name suggests a foreign god), to the north-east of the Dead Sea became the scene of the death of Moses; his burial-place was never known (Deut. xxxiv.).
Close study of the Pentateuch, in connection with the political and religious history of Israel as presented to us in other parts of the Old Testament, makes it difficult if not impossible to accept the tradition which ascribed to Moses every detail of Israel's legal and cultural institutions. It was inevitable that these should be traced back to the great hero, and there is evidence which sug gests that in some quarters other elements in Israelite life, re pudiated by the orthodox Jew, were once attributed to him. The snake worship of Jerusalem was thus assigned to him, and it is at least possible that at one time he was held to be the author of the bull worship of Bethel and Dan (II Ki. xviii. 4).
Beyond question Moses must be regarded as the founder alike of Israel's nationality and of Israel's religion. His leadership in the Exodus and his prominence in the great covenant at Sinai (or Horeb) are hardly to be doubted. It was he who welded into one people the various kindred tribes under his leadership, and it was he who introduced Israel to Yahweh and Yahweh to Israel. But further details must be a matter of conjecture. Even the earliest code of laws in the Bible (Ex. xxi.–xxiii.) is simply a local and national form of the civil law common to Babylonia, Assyria and the Hittites, and (since it presupposes an agricultural community) was probably adopted by Israel after the settlement in Canaan. The familiar Decalogue (Ex. xx. 1-17) is sometimes attributed to Moses in its earliest form, but all we can say with certainty is that it probably represents the ethical principles he laid down. Yet, with all this doubt, the fact remains that Moses stands out as one of the greatest figures in history.