MOSES mwo-i3s), the lawgiver of Israel, belonged to the tribe of Levi, and was a son of Amram and Jochebed (Exod, vi. 20). His brother Aaron and his sister Miriam, both his seniors, constituted the other members of the family. According to Exod. ii. so, the name neJo means drawn out of water. Even ancient writers knew that the correctness of this interpretation could be proved by a reference to the Egyptian language (comp. Joseph. //nag. ii. 9. 6 ; contra Apionent, 3t ; Philo, ii. 83, etc., ed. Mang.) In Coptic ma signifies water and ushe, saved; and with this deri vation accords also the Greek form of the name, Mao*. The name contains also an allusion to the verb mein, extraxit, he extracted, pulled out.
Hence it appears that riy:n is a significant memorial of the marvellous preservation of Moses when an infant, in spite of those Pharaonic edicts which were promulgated in order to lessen the number of the Israelites. It was the intention of Divine Provi dence that the great and wonderful destiny of the child should he from the first apparent : and what the Lord had done for Moses he intended also to accomplish for the whole nation of Israel.
It was an important event that the infant Moses, having been exposed near the banks of the Nile, was found there by an Egyptian princess, to whom Jewish tradition gives the name of Thermuthis (Joseph. Antiy. ii. 9. 5) ; and that, having been adopted by her, he thus obtained an education at the royal court (Exod. so). Having been taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts vii. 22 ; comp. Joseph. Antiy. ii. 9. 7), the natural gifts of Moses were fully developed, and he thus became in many respects better prepared for his future vocation. Though educated, however, as an Egyptian and the adopted son of the daughter of the Pharaoh, his own mother was his nurse, and to this doubtless his adherence, when he came of age, to the religion and people of his fathers is to he traced.
After Moses had grown up, he returned to his brethren, and, in spite of the degraded state of his people, manifested a sincere attachment to them. He felt deep compassion for their sufferings, and showed his indignation against their oppressors by slaying an Egyptian whom he saw ill-treating an Israelite. This doubtful act became by Divine
Providence a means of advancing him farther in his preparation for his future vocation, by inducing him to escape into the Arabian desert, where he abode for a considerable period with the Midian itish prince-priest Jethro, whose daughter Zipporah he married (Exod. ii. 11, seq.) Here, in the soli tude of pastoral life, he was appointed to ripen gradually for his high calling, before he was unex pectedly and suddenly sent back among his people, in order to achieve their deliverance from Egyptian bondage.
His entry upon this vocation was not in conse quence of a mere natural resolution of Moses, whose constitutional timidity and want of courage ren dered him disinclined for such an undertaking. An extraordinary divine operation was required to overcome his disinclination. On Mount Horeb he saw a burning thorn-bush or acacia [SHirrim], in the flame of which he recognised a sign of the immediate presence of Deity, and a divine admo nition induced him to resolve upon the deliverance of his people. On this occasion God revealed to Moses the full import of his covenant name [JE HovAH]. Thus instructed he returned into Egypt, where neither the dispirited state of the Israelites, nor the obstinate oppostion and threatenings of Pharaoh, were now able to shake the man of God.
Supported by his brother Aaron, and commis sioned by God as his chosen instrument, proving, by a series of marvellous deeds [EGYPT, PLAGUES OF], in the midst of heathenism, the God of Israel to be the only true God, Moses at last overcame the opposition of the Egyptians. According to a divine decree, the people of the Lord were to quit Egypt, under the command of Moses, in a trium phant manner. The punishments of God were poured down upon the hostile people in an increas ing ratio, terminating in the death of the firstborn, as a sign that all had deserved death. The formid able power of paganism, in its conflict with the theocracy, was obliged to bow before the appa rently weak people of the Lord. The Egyptians paid tribute to the emigrating Israelites (Exod. xii. 35), who set out laden with the spoils of victory.