RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Morus Moses
that Aaron was older than Moses, as was also a sister (Ex. ii. 4), perhaps Miriam. The future liberator was born at the time of the severest oppression of his people. The Pharaoh, apprehensive because of the spread of the Semitic population in the northeast of the kingdom, had just commanded that the newly born male children of the Israelites should be cast into the Nile. Disregarding this stern command, the mother of Moses dared to keep her child, who was " exceeding fair " (Acts vii. 20), for three months; then she entrusted him to the care of the Almighty (Heb. xi. 23). The child, placed in an ark of bulrushes and watched by his sister, was discovered by the Pharaoh's daughter who wished to bathe in the river. It therefore seems that Moses saw the light in a royal capital on the lower Nile. Some think of Tanis (the Zoan of Num. xiii. 22, etc.), but Bubastis is more probable, as the Hyksos rulers often resided there. The Pharaoh in question is not Rameses II., but a ruler of the eighteenth dynasty. A tradition (Eusebius, Prwparatio evangelica, ix. 27; Eng. transl., i. 462 sqq., Oxford, 1903) names the savior of Moses Merris; the Rabbis give Bityah, derived from the Bithiah of I Chron. iv. 18; Josephus, however (Ant. II., ix. 5) calls her Thermuthis. The adoption of foreign children was not unusual at the royal court. Similar legends regarding the preservation of celebrated men in their childhood prove nothing against the historical character of this event, only the undoubtedly older recital concerning Sargon I. could be considered a prototype (see Babylonia, VI., 3,
At the Egyptian court Moses was instructed in " all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and it is quite probable that he came into close touch with the Egyptian priesthood, who were the guardians of wisdom and culture. Manetho (Jo- 2. Youth sephus, Apion, i. 26, 28) even asserts and Early that he was a priest of Osiris in Heli- Manhood; opolis and bore the name of Osarsiph, the Divine which he later changed to Moses. The Call. Bible relates only one event of Moses' youth, the slaying of an Egyptian slave-driver (Ex. ii. 11 sqq.). He was obliged to flee from Pharaoh's wrath to the land of Midian, y in the southeastern part of the Sinaitic peninsula. A courteous service rendered at a well, recalling Jacob's adventure, brought him into the house of the priest of Midian, who took him into his service and gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage. This priest of Midian is called Reuel in Ex. ii. 18 (J), but Jethro in Ex. iii. 1 (E), etc.; 'the name Jethro may be an appellative (yithro-yithron, " superiority," " excellency "). Zjppqrah is hardly identical with the Ethiopian woman of Num. xii. 1, this text seeming to refer to a later event. Two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, were born to Moses during his exile in Midian (Ex. ii. 22, xviii. 4). Tradition (Acts vii. 30) marks an interval of forty years between the flight to Midian and the revelation from God; according to P (Ex. vii. 7), Moses was eighty years old when he appeared before Pharaoh. The vision at which he was entrusted with his office was vouchsafed him* at Mt. Horeb or Sinai (see Sinai). Here the angel of the Lord, or, according to the
further recital, the Lord himself appeared to him unexpectedly. This appearance was not in human form but elemental, a flame of fire rising from a bush. Its supernatural quality was shown by the bush remaining unconsumed. The divine voice heard by Moses announced itself to be that of the God of the covenant with the fathers, and commanded Moses to free his people and lead them, in the name of Yahweh, from the Egyptian bondage to Canaan (cf. Ex. iii. 14 with vi. 3). Moses was to demand of Pharaoh that the Israelites should be allowed to go three days' journey into the desert to sacrifice to their God, whom they could not serve in Egypt. In spite of his hesitation, Moses was forced to accept, and his power consisted in the fact that not his own will but that of God prevailed. Moses feared that he did not possess the requisite eloquence for his task and was told that Aaron should speak for him. He was therefore forced to conform to the will of God and depart for Egypt. On his way back, during a halt, an incident occurred, the account of which is obscure (Ex. iv. 24-26). He had failed to circumcise his son (the narrator seems to know of only one), although this usage had been made a law for Abraham and his descendants, and the text says that Yahweh attacked him, probably by an illness which roused his conscience. As the father was incapacitated by illness, Zipporah cut off her son's foreskin and, casting it at Moses' feet, exclaimed: " A bloody husband art thou to me." These enigmatical words may signify that by her act she had saved her husband's life. Another king now sat on the Egyptian throne, but the position of the Israelites was not improved. Moses was coldly received by his people, and found little appreciation for his mission. At first, indeed, -they were grateful for the prospect of liberation, but when the Pharaoh received ungraciously the demand for the festival in the desert and redoubled his exactions, the Israelites reproached Moses and Aaron with being mischief-makers.
Before the plagues fell upon Egypt, Pharaoh was shown the change of the rod into a serpent, which was merely a symbol of what was to follow; it accorded with Egyptian usage, just as the plagues conformed to the natural conditions 3. The of the land. Egyptian magic was to be Plagues conquered in the domain of its national of Egypt, gods, so that all might see that Yahweh was the real Lord of the land (Ex. viii. 19). On the traditional names of the Egyptian magicians, see Jannbs and Jambres. At the present day Egyptian snake-charmers are able to reduce these creatures to complete insensibility, so that they appear like rods. Since Pharaoh paid no heed to this sign, it was followed by the plagues, ten in number, which gradually forced the Egyptians to recognize the full power of the Lord. They are principally related byJE, partly by P or by both sources in combination. The plagues succeeded one another in the course of a few months, with short intervals to give the Pharaoh time for reflection. Firstly, at the command of the prophet, the Nile water was turned to blood; this signifies a reddish hue of the water, accompanying its corruption, the latter a fearful blow for the Egyptians,
Moses