Biblical story of Moses and Ramses. Brief biography of the Old Testament prophet Moses. Background and birth of Moses

Holy Prophet Moses The name Moses (in Hebrew - Moses) presumably means "taken from the water." This name was given to him by an Egyptian princess who found him on the river bank. The book of Exodus tells the following. Abram and Jochebed of the tribe of Levi had a very

The Prophet of God Moses and His Pastoral Ministry While studying the pastoral ministry of the holy Old Testament prophets, it is necessary to take a closer look at the activities of the great prophet Moses, whose whole life was devoted entirely to serving God and his own

After the death of Patriarch Joseph, the position of the Jews changed dramatically. The new king, who did not know Joseph, began to fear that the Jews, having become a numerous and strong nation, would go over to the side of the enemy in the event of war. He placed leaders over them to wear them out with hard work. Pharaoh also ordered the death of newborn Israelite boys. The very existence of the chosen people is at stake.. However, the Providence of God did not allow this plan to be carried out. God saved from death and the future leader of the people - Moses. This greatest Old Testament prophet came from the tribe of Levi. His parents were Amram and Jochebed (Ex 6:20). The future prophet was younger than his brother Aaron and sister Miriam. The baby was born when the pharaoh's order was in force to drown newborn Jewish boys in the Nile. The mother hid her child for three months, but then she was forced to hide it in a basket in the reeds on the river bank. The pharaoh's daughter saw him and took him into her house. Watching from afar, Moses' sister offered to bring a wet nurse. According to God's providence, it was so arranged that his own mother became the breadwinner for him, raising him in her house. When the boy grew up, his mother brought him to the pharaoh's daughter. While living in the royal palace as an adopted son, Moses was taught all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in word and deed (Acts 7:22).

When he forty years old he went out to his brothers. Seeing that an Egyptian was beating a Jew, he, protecting his brother, killed the Egyptian. Fearing persecution, Moses fled to the land of Midian and was received in the house of the local priest Raguel (aka Jethro), who married his daughter Zippora to Moses.

Moses lived in Midian Fourty years. During these decades, he gained that inner maturity that made him capable of accomplishing a great feat - with the help of God, free the people from slavery. This event was perceived by the Old Testament people as central to the history of the people. It is mentioned more than sixty times in Holy Scripture. In memory of this event, the main Old Testament holiday was established - Easter. The Exodus has a spiritual and representative significance. The Egyptian captivity is an Old Testament symbol of the slavish submission of mankind to the devil until the redemptive feat of Jesus Christ. Exodus from Egypt heralds spiritual liberation through the New Testament sacrament of baptism.

The Exodus was preceded by one of the most important events in the history of the Chosen People. epiphany. Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep in the desert. He went to Mount Horeb and saw that the thorn bush is engulfed in flames, but does not burn out. Moses began to approach him. But God called to him from the midst of the bush: don't come here; put off thy sandals from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. And he said: I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob(Ex 3:5-6).

The outer side of the vision - a burning, but not burning thorn bush - depicted plight of the Jews in Egypt. Fire, as a destructive force, indicated the severity of suffering. As the bush burned and did not burn out, so the Jewish people were not destroyed, but only cleansed in the crucible of disasters. This is a prototype of the Incarnation. The Holy Church adopted the symbol of the Burning Bush of the Mother of God. The miracle lies in the fact that this thorn bush, in which the Lord appeared to Moses, has survived to this day. It is located in the fence of the Sinai monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine.

The Lord appeared to Moses and said, scream the sons of Israel suffering at the hands of the Egyptians came to him.

God sends Moses on a great mission: bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt(Ex 3:10). Moses humbly speaks of his weakness. To this indecision, God answers with clear and full of all-conquering power words: I will be with you(Ex 3:12). Moses, having received high obedience from the Lord, asks for the name of the One who sent it. God said to Moses: I am the Existing (Ex 3:14). Word Existing in the Synodal Bible, the hidden name of God is transmitted, inscribed in the Hebrew text with four consonants ( tetragram): YHWH. The place cited shows that the prohibition to pronounce this secret name appeared much later than the time of the exodus (perhaps after the Babylonian captivity).

During the reading aloud of sacred texts in the tabernacle, the temple, and later in the synagogues, instead of the tetragram, another name of God was pronounced - Adonai. In Slavic and Russian texts, the tetragram is given by the name Lord. in biblical language Existing expresses the personal principle of absolute self-sufficient being, on which the existence of the entire created world depends.

The Lord strengthened the spirit of Moses two miraculous acts. The rod turned into a snake, and Moses' hand, covered with leprosy, was healed. The miracle with the rod testified that the Lord gave Moses the authority of the leader of the people. The sudden defeat of Moses' hand with leprosy and its healing meant that God endowed His chosen one with the power of miracles to fulfill his mission.

Moses said he was tongue-tied. The Lord strengthened him: I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say(Ex 4:12). God gives the future leader as an assistant to his older brother Aaron.

Having come to Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron, on behalf of the Lord, demanded that the people be released into the wilderness to celebrate the holiday. The pharaoh was a pagan. He declared that he did not know the Lord and the people of Israel would not let him go. Pharaoh was hardened against the Jewish people. The Jews did hard work at that time - they made bricks. Pharaoh ordered that their work be made heavier. God again sends Moses and Aaron to declare His will to Pharaoh. At the same time, the Lord commanded to perform signs and wonders.

Aaron threw his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. The wise men and sorcerers of the king and the magi of Egypt did the same with their charms: they threw down their wands, and they became snakes, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.

The next day, the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to perform another miracle. When the pharaoh was going to the river, Aaron struck the water with his rod in front of the king's face and water turned to blood. All reservoirs in the country were filled with blood. The Egyptians Nile was one of the gods of their pantheon. What happened to the water was to enlighten them and show the power of the God of Israel. But this first of the ten plagues of Egypt only hardened Pharaoh's heart even more.

Second execution took place seven days later. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and went out frogs and covered the ground. The disaster prompted Pharaoh to ask Moses to pray to the Lord to remove all the frogs. The Lord fulfilled the petitions of His saint. The toads are dead. As soon as the king felt relieved, he again fell into bitterness.

Therefore followed third execution. Aaron struck the ground with his rod, and there appeared midges and began to bite people and livestock. In the Hebrew original, these insects are named kinnim, in Greek and Slavic texts - sketches. According to the Jewish philosopher of the 1st century Philo of Alexandria and Origen, these were mosquitoes - a common scourge of Egypt during the flood period. But this time all the dust of the earth became midges throughout all the land of Egypt(Ex 8:17). The Magi could not repeat this miracle. They said to the king: this is the finger of God(Ex 8:19). But he didn't listen to them. The Lord sends Moses to Pharaoh to speak on behalf of the Lord to let the people go. If he does not comply, they will be sent to the whole country dog flies. It was fourth plague. Her tools were flies. They are named canine, apparently because they had a strong bite. Philo of Alexandria writes that they were distinguished by their ferocity and persistence. The fourth plague has two features. Firstly, The Lord works a miracle without the mediation of Moses and Aaron. Secondly, the land of Goshen, where the Jews lived, was freed from disaster so that Pharaoh could clearly see the absolute power of God. The punishment worked. Pharaoh promised to let the Jews go into the desert and offer a sacrifice to the Lord God. He asked to pray for him and not to go far. Through the prayer of Moses, the Lord removed all the flies from Pharaoh and the people. Pharaoh did not let the Jews go into the desert.

Followed fifth plague - pestilence which struck all the cattle of Egypt. The Jewish cattle, however, the calamity has passed. This execution was also carried out by God directly, and not through Moses and Aaron. The stubbornness of the pharaoh remained the same.

Sixth execution was accomplished by the Lord only through Moses (when the first three were accomplished, Aaron was the mediator). Moses took a full handful of ashes and threw them into the sky. People and cattle covered abscesses. This time, the Lord Himself hardened Pharaoh's heart. He did this, apparently, in order to further reveal to the king and all the Egyptians His all-conquering power. God says to Pharaoh: I will send tomorrow, at this very time, a very strong hail, which has not been in Egypt since the day it was founded until now.(Ex 9:18). The holy writer notes that those servants of Pharaoh who were afraid of the words of the Lord, hastily gathered their servants and flocks into their houses. The hail was accompanied by thunder, which can be explained as the voice of God from heaven. Psalm 77 gives further details of this execution: They crushed their grapes with hail, and their sycamores with ice; gave up their livestock to hail and their flocks to lightning(47-48). Blessed Theodoret explains: “The Lord brought upon them hail and thunder, showing by the fact that He is the Lord of all the elements. This execution was carried out by God through Moses. The land of Goshen was not affected. It was seventh plague. Pharaoh repented: this time I sinned; The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are guilty; pray to the Lord: let the thunders of God and hail cease, and I will let you go and hold you no longer(Ex 9:27-28). But repentance was short-lived. Soon the pharaoh again fell into a state bitterness.

Eighth plague was very scary. After Moses stretched out his rod over the land of Egypt, The Lord brought a wind from the east lasting day and night. The locusts attacked all the land of Egypt and ate all the grass and all the greenery on the trees.. Pharaoh repents again, but, apparently, as before, his repentance is superficial. The Lord hardens his heart.

Peculiarity ninth plague in that it was caused by the symbolic action of Moses, who stretched out his hands to heaven. Installed for three days thick darkness. Having punished the Egyptians with darkness, God showed the insignificance of their idol Ra, the god of the sun. Pharaoh gave in again.

Tenth plague was the scariest. The month of Aviv has arrived. Before the start of the exodus, God commanded to celebrate Easter. This holiday became the main one in the Old Testament sacred calendar.

The Lord told Moses and Aaron that every family on the tenth day of Abib (after the Babylonian captivity, this month became known as Nissan) took one lamb and kept him separate until the fourteenth day of that month, and then stabbed him to death. When the lamb is slain, let them take from its blood and they will anoint on both the doorposts and on the crossbar of the doors in the houses where they will eat it.

At midnight on the 15th of Abib, the Lord struck in the land of Egypt all the firstborn as well as all original livestock. The first-born Jews were not harmed. Because the doorposts and lintels of their houses were anointed with the blood of the sacrificial lamb, The angel who slew the firstborn of Egypt, passed by. Established in memory of this event, the holiday was called Easter (Heb. passover; from a verb meaning jump over something).

The blood of the lamb was a type of the atoning blood of the Savior, the blood of cleansing and reconciliation. Unleavened bread (unleavened bread), which the Jews were supposed to eat on Easter days, also had a symbolic meaning: in Egypt, the Jews were in danger of becoming infected with pagan wickedness. However, God brought the Jewish people out of the country of enslavement, made them spiritually pure people, called to holiness: And you will be holy to me(Ex 22:31). He must reject the former leaven of moral corruption and start a clean life. Unleavened bread that cooks quickly symbolized that speed with which the Lord brought His people out of the land of slavery.

Easter meal expressed common unity of its participants with God and among themselves. Symbolic meaning It also had the fact that the lamb was cooked whole, with the head. Bone shouldn't have broken.

Based on the story of the Pentateuch. A number of deviations from it (for example, X osh. 12:14 or Micah 6:4) testify, according to some researchers, to traditions parallel to the story of the Pentateuch, but not quite identical to it. Moses is not mentioned in non-Jewish Near Eastern sources from the pre-Hellenistic period.

Despite the contradictions caused by the fact that the biblical story includes texts of various historical periods, in the epic of the Exodus, the gigantic figure of Moses clearly emerges, powerful and purposeful, but not without human weaknesses, often tormented by doubts and internal struggles, a personality that left an indelible imprint not only on the history, imagination and thinking of the Jewish people, but also on the appearance of Christian and Muslim civilizations .

Moses in the Pentateuch story

The book of Exodus tells that Moses' parents belonged to the tribe (see Tribes of Israel) of Levi (Ex. 2:1). Moses was born in Egypt in the reign of a pharaoh who "did not know Joseph" (Ex. 1:8), who was the first noble under his predecessor. He doubted the allegiance to Egypt of the descendants of Joseph and his brothers and enslaved the Israelites, sending them to royal work. However, hard labor did not reduce their numbers, and the pharaoh ordered all newborn male Israelite babies to be drowned in the Nile. At that time, the son Moses was born in the family of Amram. Moses' mother Jocheved managed to hide the baby in her home for three months. No longer able to hide the child, she left him in a basket in the reeds on the banks of the Nile, where he was found by the daughter of the pharaoh, who came there to bathe. Realizing that in front of her was one “of the Jewish children” (Ex. 2:6), she, however, took pity on the crying beautiful baby and, on the advice of Moses’ sister Miriam, who was watching what was happening from afar, agreed to call the Israelite nurse. Miriam called Yocheved, and Moses was given to his mother, who nursed him. "And the child grew up, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was with her instead of a son" (Ex. 2:10).

Having matured, Moses became interested in the fate of his enslaved fellow tribesmen and "went out to his brothers." The exhausting labor of the Israelites, the oppression and mockery of the Pharaoh's overseers, revolted him. Having once seen how one of the overseers was beating a Jew at construction work, Moses killed the offender-Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. However, the intercession of Moses did not find a proper response in the souls of his relatives, hardened in slavery. On the contrary, when Moses again went out to them the next day, he was a witness to a quarrel between two Jews, which came to a fight. “And he said to the wrongdoer, Why do you strike your neighbor? And he said: Who made you judge and ruler over us? Are you thinking of killing me like you killed the Egyptian? Moses was frightened and said: Surely, the matter has become known. And Pharaoh heard about this matter and wanted to kill Moses” (Ex. 2:13-15). Fleeing from the wrath of the pharaoh, Moses fled to the land of the Midianites, where he married the daughter of the local priest Yitro Zipporah, who gave birth to his sons Gershom and Eliezer. For many years Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep in the Sinai desert. The turning point in his life was the theophany at Mount Horev, to the foot of which he led his flock.

Sinai revelation, the giving of the Law (Torah) and the conclusion of the Covenant - the culmination of the exodus and the apogee of the stormy and impetuous activity of Moses. However, this climax is almost immediately followed by a fall. Moses spends forty days on the mountain. People lose faith in Moses and demand from Aaron to make a material god, “who would go before us, for with this man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become” (Ex. 32:1). Aaron makes a golden calf, which the people declare to be the god who brought him out of Egypt, and arranges cult festivals in his honor. Moses, outraged by the gross violation of the second of the Ten Commandments (“... you will not have other gods besides Me; do not make yourself a statue and no image ... do not worship and do not serve them”), in anger breaks the tablets handed to him by God, on which these commandments are written. In punishment for the inexorable sin, God is ready to destroy the entire nation and make the descendants of Moses a great nation. Moses rejects this offer, intercedes for the Israelites, and God reverses His decision. The people are saved, but the punishment imposed on them is severe: "The calf was burned, ground to dust," and the dust was scattered on the water, which the Israelites are forced to drink; three thousand of those who worshiped the idol were put to death (Ex. 32).

This event becomes a turning point in the history of the Exodus. Alienation begins between Moses and the people he freed from slavery. “Moses set up a tent for himself ... far from the camp and called it the tabernacle of the meeting ... And when Moses went out to the tabernacle, all the people got up and stood each at the entrance to their tent and looked after Moses until he entered the tabernacle” ( Exodus 33:7, 8).

Moses again ascends the mountain, where, at the behest of God, he writes down the words of the Covenant on new tablets. He is rewarded not only with indirect evidence of the presence of God, hearing God's voice, but also with a partially visible theophany, after which his face is illuminated with light. When Moses descends from the mountain to convey the words of God for the second time, the people, struck by the radiance of his face, are afraid to approach him. Since then, appearing before the people after each conversation with God, Moses covers his face with a veil (Ex. 34).

The crisis caused by the worship of the golden calf was a shock to Moses and revealed the duality of his complex relationship with the people. Fearing the Philistines, who settled in the south of the coastal strip of Canaan, Moses leads the people in a roundabout way. Wanderings in the desert seem endless, hardships and hardships are insurmountable, and the Promised Land is unattainable. Murmuring and latent discontent do not stop and result in open rebellion against Moses and Aaron (the latter was appointed high priest). Moses' relative Korah (Korah) from the tribe of Levi and his accomplices Datan, Aviram and He from the tribe of Reuben dispute the authority of Moses and his brother, accusing them of autocracy. They are joined by 250 "eminent people" who claim the right to be priests. Moses calls the leaders of the rebellion to him, but they categorically refuse to appear before him. “Is it not enough that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to destroy us in the wilderness, and you still want to rule over us? Have you brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and have you given us fields and vineyards to own? Do you want to blind the eyes of these people? Will not go!" (Num. 16:13-14).

This time, God decides to punish the rebels, resorting to a miracle that should serve as a sign and warning: the instigators are swallowed up by the earth, and their adherents are burned (Num. 16:17).

But even the most cruel measures cannot calm the people. Outbursts of indignation, distrust, and disobedience are repeatedly repeated (Num. 20:1-13; 21:4-8; 25:1-9). Even Moses' brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, protest against Moses' marriage to an Ethiopian (Num. 12:1–3), and both are punished. In almost all of these cases, Moses is trying to deflect or mitigate God's punishment, but he himself cannot escape punishment for, contrary to God's command, striking a rock with a rod to extract water from it, when God ordered only "to say ... rock, and it will give water." According to traditional exegesis, God sees in the use of force Moses' doubt in His omnipotence and forbids him to enter the country of the fathers, into which he leads the people. Moses is destined to die in the desert near the shore of the Promised Land in Transjordan (Numbers 20:7-13). According to another version, Moses was punished for the sins of the people (Deut. 1:37; 3:26; 4:21).

But an even more bitter disappointment befalls Moses when the scouts sent to Canaan return convinced that it is impossible to conquer this country, since its inhabitants, among whom are giants, are invincible. And although in fact the country flows with milk and honey, it "eats its inhabitants." The indignant people rebel again and demand to return him to Egypt. Two of the scouts, who do not share the opinion of the others, try to exhort the people, but the crowd threatens to stone them to death. The angry God again decides to exterminate the people of Israel, but this time Moses manages to obtain God's forgiveness and commutation of the sentence: listened to my voice, they will not see the land that I swore to their fathers...” (Numbers 14:23-24). They will die in the desert, and only the next generation, who grew up in the desert, will be honored to conquer the Promised Land and settle in it. The conquest of Canaan is entrusted to the pupil of Moses Yeh X oshua bin nun.

After forty years in the wilderness, the people are approaching Canaan. The generation of freed slaves of the "cruel people" (Ex. 32:9; 33:35; 34:9; Deut. 9:6, 13) died out. Moses, despite his age (“one hundred and twenty years”; Deut. 31:2), is still full of strength (“his eyesight has not become dull, and his freshness has not been exhausted”; Deut. 34:7). All his entreaties and exhortations are in vain to change the fate prepared for him and allow him to enter the future Land of Israel: he is only allowed to look at it from the top of Mount Nebo beyond the Jordan.

The tragedy of Moses, deprived of the opportunity to complete the great work he started, is described in last book Pentateuch - Deuteronomy. Sharply different from other books both in style and in spirit characteristic of the period of its writing (much later than the epic of the Exodus), from a compositional point of view it is a brilliant epilogue to the story of the life and work of Moses. This is the testament of the leader, who, with some bitterness, sums up his activities, lists the successes and failures that accompanied an almost overwhelming mission, and gives the people a complete set of laws, largely repeating the prescriptions of the previous code in the new edition, but, in contrast, more adapted to future settled life in the newly found homeland.

Moses dies in “the land of Moab” after God himself shows him from Mount Nebo the whole Land of Israel (Deut. 34:1-5), “no one knows the place of his burial even to this day ... And the sons of Israel mourned him ... thirty days” (Deut. 34:6, 8).

Leader

Without going into an analysis of the various traditions and sources that together make up the epic of the Exodus, one can easily distinguish two conflicting trends in the biblical narrative of Moses. On the one hand, none of the biblical heroes is given as much space in the Bible as is given to Moses, and none of them was given what Moses was awarded. God revealed to him His hidden name and entrusted him with a gigantic mission. In the account of the Pentateuch, he is the only mediator between God and the people. Only the Ten Commandments were proclaimed by God to the people (see above); all other laws, commands and prescriptions were given by God directly to Moses, they were told to the people and written down by them. Moses worked wonders and signs, he even saw God himself to some extent. By the command of God, he founded the most important institutions that later formed the Jewish society and existed for many centuries: the priesthood, sanctuaries, ritual services, judicial instances. He is also credited with the formation of the army. He was the first to fulfill the duties associated with the existence of these institutions. On the other hand, in the entire epic of the Exodus, Moses is presented only as an instrument in the hands of God. The protagonist of the epic is God himself (see Exodus book). At decisive moments, Moses is almost always confused, and sometimes even helpless. He waits for God's direction and very rarely takes the initiative. Moses enters into controversy with God, only trying to evade the mission entrusted to him or interceding for the Jewish people. Moses is sometimes referred to in the Pentateuch as "God's servant" (Num. 12:7, 8; Ex. 14:31; Deut. 34:15). In other biblical books, this epithet is repeated many times, especially (17 times) in the book of Jeh. X oshua bin nun. For a minor error, God deprives him of the right to crown his life's work. In traditional biblical exegesis, this tendency is usually explained by the fear of the deification of Moses. Such apotheosis of historical or semi-legendary heroes was common in the polytheistic civilizations of the Ancient East. Hence the features of the "anti-hero" in the image of Moses; therefore, in order to avoid worshiping the tomb of Moses, the place where it is located is kept secret. Nevertheless, the demythologized image of Moses served as a prototype of the leader of different times and civilizations. The story of the birth of Moses echoes the legends of conquering kings: the Akkadian king Sargon II and the Persian king Cyrus. Like many other leaders, Moses does not grow up among his people, but comes to him from outside. Saved by his mother, he is brought up in the pharaoh's palace. He is separated from his enslaved brothers by an abyss that arose as a result of a different way of life and education received by Moses, apparently in the spirit of the Egyptian "wise men and sorcerers" (Ex. 7:8–12). Moses from a young age has a heightened sense of justice: he kills a cruel Egyptian overseer, his willingness to intercede for the weak, his courage and physical strength impress the daughters of Yitro, who mistake him for an Egyptian (Ex. 2:16-17).

Moses is a leader obsessed with the feeling of being called to fulfill a holy duty, even against his own will. His mission is to: 1) free the Israelites from slavery and lead them out of Egypt; 2) to re-educate the scattered enslaved tribes and turn them into a single inspired new religion people; 3) to lead the people to the land of the fathers.

Having overcome doubts and hesitation, Moses proceeds to implement his plan and, having no real power, except for spiritual power, the traits of a potential leader and deep faith in his calling, he appears before the ruler of the most powerful empire of the Ancient East, recognized as a deity of the Egyptian people. The irony of the pharaoh, the resolute refusal to fulfill the request of a man who claims to be the messenger of an unknown god, cannot break the spirit of Moses. As a leader, he knows how to turn the chain of failures in his favor - so, he uses the disasters that have befallen the empire. The alternation of successes and failures is the share of every leader. In the course of a stubborn struggle to achieve a seemingly unattainable goal, both the personality of Moses and his relationship with the people change: from a charismatic leader, he turns into an institutional one. At first, he seeks recognition from the people by immediately solving problems, overcoming obstacles and disasters: hunger, thirst, confrontation with an unexpected enemy. He alone performs all administrative, judicial and legislative functions in the spirit of the people's revolutionary leaders. During some rift between Moses and the people after the dramatic events of the promulgation of the Law and the worship of the calf (see above), Moses creates a number of new institutions. Then the new leaders seem to come into conflict with the old ones.

The people often refuse to accept the authority of Moses. Open riots break out. The reaction of Moses in his new incarnation as an institutional leader (as opposed to behavior during the period of charismatic leadership) is invariably the same: severe punishment. When the people, having reached the homeland of their ancestors, show cowardice and are ready to refuse to achieve the final goal, Moses comes to the conclusion that the psychology of the generation that emerged from Egyptian slavery is incorrigible. It takes a long process of educating a new generation. It becomes clear to Moses that he himself is not destined to fulfill the last stage of his mission. He sees the main task in preparing the people for the future conquest of Canaan and the creation of an ideal society in it. Moses' leadership takes the form of paternalism. He is a patron, teacher, educator, preacher, for whom, unlike all the rulers of antiquity, not the past, but the future serves as the norm. The descendants of the former slaves become a people, the bearer of a new faith based on the concept of God, which is fundamentally different from the polytheistic religions of the surrounding civilization. The camp of the close-knit, organized twelve tribes, whose life is regulated by the Law, unprecedented in this civilization, Moses considers as the model and core of a new civilization.

The Biblical Moses is one of the greatest leaders of mankind, standing on the edge where history creates legends, and legends create history.

Prophet, priest, legislator

In the post-biblical tradition, Moses is considered the first and greatest prophet (see Prophets and prophecy; Land of Israel / Eretz Israel /. Historical essay). In the Bible itself, he is rarely referred to as a prophet. However, in the last verses of the Pentateuch, after describing the death of Moses, it says: “And there was no more among Israel a prophet like Moses, whom God knew face to face. According to all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to do...” (Deut. 34:10, 11). The characterization of Moses in Deuteronomy, imbued with the spirit of the later, so-called written (or literary) prophets, reflects two essential aspects of the prophetic movement. Like the early prophets, Moses is endowed with miraculous power when he fulfills his assigned mission or confirms his God-given authority. But the traits of the later prophets show through more clearly. He is the messenger on whom - like almost all biblical prophets (Amos, Isaiah and others) - the Divine mission is entrusted, even against their will. The prophets, unlike Moses, contemplate God in ecstatic visions (Ehezkel, Isaiah); they create a special genre of biblical poetry, colorfully depicting their visions and predicting the future in sermons full of warnings against sins and promises of reward for obedience and good deeds. According to this pattern, Deuteronomy ends with two poetic works, related to the oldest texts of biblical literature and put into the mouth of Moses. The first of these is the Song of Moses, an eschatological poem that foreshadows the fate of the Jewish people as a drama of uninterrupted dialectical tension in the relationship between God and His chosen people. This tension is expressed in alternating loyalty to God and falling away from His covenants. They are followed by retribution, ultimately leading to repentance and salvation (Deut. 32). The second work is the solemn blessing by Moses of each of the twelve tribes of Israel, which will inhabit the conquered Canaan (Deut. 33).

At the first stages of the Exodus, Moses also performed some functions of the priest (Ex. 24:6, 8; Lev. 8), but his brother Aaron was appointed the ancestor of the priestly class and the dynasty of high priests (see Ko X en; Sacrifice; Jewish religion). All ritual prescriptions and laws of priestly worship, according to tradition, were handed over to Moses by God. The so-called priestly literature covers the entire book of Leviticus and significant parts of the book of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses announces and fixes these laws, but, remaining a Levite (see Levi), does not consider himself a priestly class.

Historicity of Moses

The absence of any information about the life of Moses in the ancient sources of the pre-Hellenistic period (except the Bible) caused some biblical scholars to doubt his historicity. Some researchers even came to the conclusion that Moses is a fictional, legendary figure, and the story about him is the fruit of mythological creativity. However, most scholars acknowledge that biblical traditions historical events served in which a certain personality played a decisive role, but the nature of its activity is difficult to establish with certainty due to folklore layers. However, the story of the birth of Moses (see above, the name Moses (apparently from the Egyptian ms - son), the activities of Moses in Egypt (competitions with Egyptian sorcerers; Ex. 7:10–12), the work on the construction of Egyptian cities by Pete and Ramesses (Egyptian sources mention the city of Piramesses) - these components of the narrative reflect the atmosphere of Egypt of the New Kingdom era in a peculiar way.Some features of the ancient Egyptian story about the adventures of Sinuhe, which echo the episode of Moses' flight from Egypt and his stay in Midian, testify to the same. names are found in the Bible only in the cycle of stories about Moses.According to some historians, one can trace the influence of religious and cult trends that existed in Egypt in the 14th century BC on the monotheistic ideas of Moses.Pharaoh Akhenaten proclaimed the sun god Aten the only deity of all Egypt The monotheistic cult of the Aton was very soon liquidated, but stories about him could reach the pharaoh Moses, who was brought up in the palace.

Some biblical scholars offer another argument for the historicity of Moses. All institutions of the era of the First Temple were created by historical figures: the monarchy - Samuel and David; Temple - by Solomon; religious reforms carried out by the kings (Chizkiah X y ; Josiah X y). Introduction of the cult I X ve and creation at dawn Jewish history religious institutions, the memory of which has been preserved in the minds of the people, leads by analogy to the postulate of the activity of a person of the scale of Moses; moreover, this personality cannot be a retrospective projection of a later time. The most convincing historical analogy is Muhammad. According to Muslim tradition, like Moses, he is a prophet, political and military leader, creator of a new cult and legislator. However, there is no doubt about the existence of Muhammad as a historical figure.

Moses in the Post-Biblical Tradition

Moses in the Post-Biblical Tradition (in the Talmud, Midrash and Rabbinic Literature). The Talmud and Midrash continue, exaggerating, the biblical tradition of simultaneously exalting and belittling the person of Moses.

From the time of the Talmud to the present day, Moses is commonly referred to as rabbenu (our teacher). Moshe rabbenu is the great teacher of the Jewish people. He is not only the author of the Pentateuch, who gave the people the Torah, that is, the Written Law, but also the founder of the entire Oral Law. Everything that a sage or teacher of the law has ever established or will establish in the future has already been bequeathed by Moses, including such prescriptions that do not follow from the commands of the Torah ( X halacha l-moshe mi-sinai, see Halacha). The whole world exists because of the virtues of Moses and Aaron (Hul. 89a). When Moses was born, the whole house of Amram was lit up with light (Sotah 13b). Dying, Moses received a kiss from God himself (BB 17a). There is even an opinion that Moses did not actually die and continues to serve God, as he once did on Mount Sinai (Ned. 38a).

Aggadah and folklore tales endow Moses with great wisdom, unprecedented virtues, incredible spiritual and physical strength, the ability to work miracles, bordering on sorcery. His youth is full of adventures and exploits. But it is against this background that his human traits and weaknesses stand out even brighter. One of the most common legends tells that in early childhood, Moses, sitting on the lap of the pharaoh, tore off the crown from his head and placed it on his head. Pharaoh's advisers saw this as a bad omen. They advised to kill Moses, but Yitro said that the child did it out of thoughtlessness, and advised him to be tested mental capacity offering him a choice of hot coals and gold. The child reached for the gold, but an invisible angel directed his hand to the coals. Moses burned himself and, in fright, raised the coal to his mouth. Since then he has become tongue-tied (Ex. R. 1).

Another legend tells that when Moses was a shepherd, one lamb ran away from the flock. Moses chased him, but when he saw how he stopped by the stream to drink, he realized that the tired lamb was suffering from thirst, and on his shoulder he carried him back to the flock. Then God said to him: “He who shows such mercy to the sheep is worthy to shepherd My people” (Ex. R. 2).

In complete contradiction with such legends and with the texts of the Pentateuch, the Midrash tells of the vanity of Moses, who wished to establish his own dynasty. During the dedication of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, Moses served as the high priest. During forty years of wandering in the wilderness, he was considered the king of Israel. Before his death, he asked God to keep these two titles for him and pass them on to his offspring. God refused him, explaining that the title of the high priest would go to the descendants of Aaron, and the royal dynasty was already destined for the descendants of David (Ex. R. 2:6).

Some statements even express doubt about Moses' full suitability for the role that God chose for him: "The Holy One - blessed be He [cf. God. God in the Talmud, Midrash and rabbinical literature] said [on seeing the worship of the people to the golden calf]: Moses, come down from the heights of your greatness. For I gave you greatness only for the sake of Israel. But now that Israel has sinned, I do not need you” (Br. 32a). Rabbi Yosi says that if Moses had not preceded the scribe Ezra, he would have been worthy to receive the Torah from God (San X. 21b).

The treatise Menachot gives a legend about Moses' visit to the yeshiva of Rabbi Akiva. After listening to the lecture of the great sage, Moses was confused, because he did not understand anything. Only after Rabbi Akiva explained that his words - X halacha l-moshe mi-sinai(see above), he calmed down (Men. 29b). Rabbinic literature contains various interpretations this story.

A colorful, dramatic description of the prayer of Moses to take away the death prepared for him and let him cross the Jordan River is one of the exciting texts of the Haggadah. God did not heed his request, and Moses turns to heaven and earth, the sun and moon, stars and planets, mountains and hills, seas and rivers with a request to intercede for him before God, but they all find excuses to get rid of him. The sea, for example, says to him: “How can you demand this, who cut me in the exodus from Egypt?” (Deut. R. 6:11). In most options X the paschal haggadah, which is entirely devoted to the Exodus, the name of Moses is absent, and in those rare versions in which it appears, it is mentioned only in passing. This emphasizes the personal tragedy of Moses. According to Talmudic tradition, Moses was born on Adar 7 and died on the same day at the age of 120.

In Hellenistic literature

In anti-Jewish Hellenistic literature, the Exodus is presented as the flight of a sect of lepers, Moses as a priest egyptian god He, and the motive that prompted Moses to create a new doctrine, is hatred for the Egyptians and their culture. The Greek writers of Alexandria argued that the Jews made no contribution to human culture. In contrast to such claims, the Hellenistic Jewish literature emphasizes the great importance of Moses in this area. Ofolmos (2nd century BC) credits Moses with the invention of alphabetic writing (see also Alphabet), which was adopted by the Greeks through the Phoenicians. Aristobulus (2nd century AD) claims that the Greek philosophers and poets borrowed their wisdom and art from Moses. Artapan (2nd century) believes that Moses created the culture, civilization and religion of Egypt, and the teacher of Orpheus Musayos is none other than Moses. Artapan tells that Moses married an Ethiopian queen, who gave him the capital of her state (see above about the Ethiopian - the wife of Moses). Jewish apologetic literature on Greek includes Moses among the greatest legislators of the world. Some writers say that the Egyptians revered him as the god Hermes - Thoth. Moses is the protagonist of the tragedy of Ezekiel (2nd century) "The Exodus from Egypt". Philo of Alexandria left a colorful biography of Moses.

In Kabbalah

In Zo's book X ar Moses is one of the seven "faithful shepherds of Israel", who passionately loves his people. "On Mount Sinai, God revealed to him 70 faces of the Torah in seventy languages." Moses embodies one of the ten Sefirot (see also Kabbalah) - modes of Divine emanation through which God reveals himself to humanity. Some Kabbalists believe that the soul of Moses will migrate to the Messiah (see Gilgul). Moses is the bridegroom of Divinity, which in Kabbalah is identified with the tenth Sephirah (Malchut), which symbolizes the feminine.

In Jewish religious philosophy

In medieval Jewish philosophy, Moses is, first of all, the greatest of the Hebrew prophets. This is how Ie considers him X good luck X a-Levi, in whose works the image of Moses does not go beyond the tradition of the Bible and Haggadah.

According to Maimonides, Moses is superior to all other prophets because he is the only one who went beyond the laws of nature and penetrated into the realm of the supernatural being. Other prophets reached perfection only within the limits available human mind and imagination. ie X uda Liva ben Bezalel (Ma X Aral) also considers Moses a superhuman being, standing halfway between the earthly and the higher world.

In contemporary Jewish thought

Modern Jewish thought was greatly influenced by Ahad- X ha-‘Ama “Moses”, in which the author distinguishes between two approaches: archaeological and historical. Archaeological, he calls the desire to restore the historical image of Moses on the basis of historical monuments and archaeological finds. He considers historical that image of Moses, which is imprinted in the minds of the people and not only played for centuries, but still plays a decisive role in shaping its history. Moses is a symbol of the denial of the imperfect present. As the people of Israel, Moses lives in the past and the future, serving as the engine of the moral progress of all mankind.

M. Buber in the book "Moses" basically recognizes the historicity of Moses, but draws a distinction between history and the saga, which he considers historical to a certain extent, since it correctly reflects the feeling of the people and their hero in the dramatic moments of history that cannot be comprehended without the postulate of Divine intervention . Moses attributes all his accomplishments to God and demands from the Israelites unbounded fidelity to Him, that is, to the ideals of justice. The Israelites are to become a holy people, living for God and for the whole world. Therefore, the identity of Moses was driving force in the history of mankind, which "in our day, perhaps, needs it more than in any other era." I. Kaufman ardently stands up for the historicity of Moses as a spiritual leader who, having founded Jewish monotheism, made a revolution in the history of mankind. The Jewish religion is fundamentally different from all other religions of the world in that it opposes the will of a single transcendent God to the laws of nature, to which the gods of all polytheistic and henotheistic religions were subject.

The founder of psychoanalysis, Z. Freud, suggested that Moses was an Egyptian who, after an unsuccessful attempt to introduce the cult of the sun as a single god, “chosen” the Jewish people as the bearer of such monotheism. The people rose up and killed him, repeating the act of the primitive horde, according to Freud, who killed their progenitor. Despite this, the monotheistic religion took root in the minds of the people, but its rooting and development was accompanied by a sense of guilt and the need for repentance, which are characteristic of all monotheistic religions originating from Judaism. Freud's psychoanalytic hypothesis is disputed by almost all historians, and its failure is considered to be proven.

In Christianity

The Christian church, which considers itself the heir of Judaism, gives Moses a place of honor in the Old Testament, but claims that the New Testament of Jesus replaced the laws of Moses. In the epistle of Barnabas (first half of the 2nd century), the idea is expressed that, by breaking the tablets, Moses canceled the Covenant with the Jewish people. The raising of the hand by Moses during the war with Amalek (see above) and the healing bronze serpent (Numbers 21:9) symbolize the crucified Jesus, who, according to Christian views, is higher than Moses - not a servant, but the son of God. The most important Christian work dedicated to Moses, "The Life of Moses", belongs to the pen of one of the church fathers, Gregory of Nyssa.

In Islam

The story of Moses in the Qur'an in general terms similar to the biblical narrative, although it lacks some of the main events of the life and work of Moses, for example, wanderings in the desert. On the other hand, tales of the post-Biblical period and new legends are woven into it, for example, the journey of Moses in the company of a wandering sage (Sura 18:64). According to the Koran, Miriam, the sister of Moses, is the mother of Jesus, and in the Nile, Moses was found not by the daughter of the pharaoh, but by his wife (Sura 28:8).

In later Muslim traditions, the stories of the Qur'an are expanded and colored with fantastic folklore motifs. A special place in them is occupied by the staff (rod) of Moses, endowed with miraculous power. It was given to Moses Yitro, who inherited it through the chain of prophets from Adam. These stories belong to the literary genre "Kisas al-anbiya" ("Stories about the Prophets"), of which only the works of A. al-Ta'labi (11th century) and M. al-Kisai (lived until the beginning of the 10th century BC) have survived. ?).

In art, music and literature

The life of Moses is one of the most widespread biblical themes in world art. In early Christian art, Moses was often depicted as a beardless young man with a staff in his hand. Later, a canonical image developed: a majestic old man with a beard, with tablets in his hands and with horns on his head (a misunderstanding related to the fact that the word karnaim means “rays” and “horns” in Hebrew; see above about the radiance of the face of Moses). Beginning in the 5th century, scenes from the life of Moses often appear in illustrations for the Bible; they are found in the mosaics of the Cathedral of St. Mark in Venice (late 12th century - early 13th century) and the church of Santa Maria Madecore in Rome (5th and 13th centuries). Episodes from the life of Moses served as the subject of numerous works of Renaissance wall painting in Italy (the frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the covered cemetery of Camposanto in Pisa; S. Botticelli, Pinturicchio and L. Signorelli in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican). In the painting of the loggias in the Vatican, made by Raphael and his students, the theme of the Exodus is used. In the 16th century it is also the basis for the plot of the paintings by B. Luini (Pinacotheca Brera, Milan) and C. Tintoretto (panels for the Scuola di San Rocco, Venice). “Finding Moses” is the theme of paintings by Giorgione and P. Veronese.

In the 17th century N. Poussin created a series of paintings dedicated to almost all the main events in the life of Moses. One of the most famous paintings dedicated to Moses is Rembrandt's Moses Breaking the Tablets (1659). The Russian artist F. Bruni painted a painting on the theme of the Exodus "The Bronze Serpent" (1827–41).

Sculptural images of Moses were created both in the Middle Ages (for example, the statues in Chartres) and in the Renaissance (for example, the statue of Donatello in Florence). Outstanding works of art - the statue of Moses by K. Sluter for the so-called "Well of the Prophets", or "The Well of Moses in Dijon" (1406), as well as the most famous image of Moses - the statue of Michelangelo in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome (1515– 16). In modern sculpture, works by A. Archipenko, I. Meshtrovic and others are dedicated to Moses.

In Jewish visual art, Moses appears already on the frescoes of the synagogue in Dura Europos. They depict the baby Moses in a basket floating on the Nile, a burning bush, crossing the Red Sea, Moses striking a rock with a rod, and other subjects. The image of Moses is repeatedly found in the Middle Ages in illustrated manuscripts, especially in X A. Rubinstein "Moses" (1892); M. Gast "Death of Moses" (1897); J. Weinberg "Life of Moses" (1955). Opera by A. Schoenberg "Moses and Aaron" (1930, not completed) - one of the most important works of atonal music - gives an original musical interpretation of the conflict between the leader-legislator and his people. The ballet "Moses" was written by the French composer D. Millau (1957). "Exodus" by the Israeli composer I. Tal is the first work of electronic music in Israel.

Moses is dedicated to a number of Israeli songs that have become popular. Some of them are processing plots from X haggadah. The most popular song of Jedidia Admon (1894–1982) “U-Moshe X ikka al zur" ("And Moses struck the rock").

The African-American spiritual song "Let My People Go" has enjoyed international popularity for decades.

Already in the era of Hellenism, a number of literary works were dedicated to Moses (see above). In medieval Christian dramaturgy, the theme of the Exodus occupies an important place. In the 16th century interest in this topic is somewhat weakening; only a few works are devoted to it, including the "Childhood of Moses" by Meistersinger G. Sachs (1553). Although Moses was one of the biblical heroes who inspired Protestant writers in the 17th century, most of the works devoted to him were written by Catholic authors.

From the 18th century More and more poetic works are dedicated to Moses, which is connected, in particular, with the development of the musical and poetic genre of oratorio. So, the drama of Ch. Jennens "Israel in Egypt" (circa 1738) served as a source for the libretto of the oratorio by G. F. Handel (see above). F. G. Knopstock in the poem "Messiad" (1751-73) gave the image of Moses the features of a titanic hero. F. Schiller wrote in his youth the sketch "Message of Moses" (1738).

In the 19th century the image of Moses attracted many prominent poets, including V. Hugo ("Temple", 1859). G. Heine in "Confession" (1854) enthusiastically praises Moses ("How small Mount Sinai seems when Moses is standing on it!"). Heine calls Moses a great artist who built pyramids and obelisks not from stone, but from people who made up a great, eternal people. R. M. Rilke wrote the poems "Death of Moses" and "Moses" (1922). The Ukrainian poet I. Franko wrote the poem "Moses" (1905).

In Russian poetry, poems were dedicated to Moses by I. Kozlov (“Promised Land”, 1821), V. Benediktov (“Exodus”, 1835), L. May (“Desert Key”, 1861), V. Solovyov (“ Burning bush”, 1891), F. Sologub (“The Bronze Serpent”, 1896), I. Bunin (“Torah”, 1914), V. Bryusov (“Moses”, 1909) and others. The Russian-Jewish poet S. Frug dedicated in the 1880s–90s. Moses a whole series of poems ("Child on the Nile", "Broken Tablets", "Firebush Bush", "In Sinai", "Tomb of Moses").

The English Jewish poet Isaac Rosenberg (1890 - 1918) published the drama Moses (1916), which is clearly influenced by Nietzsche's ideas about the superman. Dramas about Moses were written in English language I. Zangvil ("Moses and Jesus", 1903), in Italian - A. Orvisto ("Moses", 1905), in Czech - E. Leda ("Moses", 1919). The Aggadic legends about Moses were processed in German by R. Kaiser (“The Death of Moses”, 1921) and in French by E. Fleg (“Moses in the Stories of Talmudic Wise Men”, 1925). Novels about the life of Moses were published in English by Lina Eckshtein (“Tutankhatan: a story about the past”, 1924), L. Untermeyer (“Moses”, 1928) and G. Fast Azaz in the prose poem “Khatan Damim” (“Groom of Blood” , 1925) depicted the spiritual world of Moses' wife, suffering from her husband's all-absorption in his mission. M. Gottfried wrote the epic poem "Moshe" ("Moses", 1919).

In Israeli literature, several works are dedicated to Moses: B. Ts. Firer "Moshe" ("Moses", 1959); I. Shurun ​​"Halom Leil Stav" ("Dream on an Autumn Night", 1960); Shulamit X ar'even "Sone X a-nissim" ("Hated Miracles", 1983; Russian translation in the collection "In Search of Personality", 1987); I. Oren " X A- X ar ve- X a-‘akhbar” (“The Mountain and the Mouse”, 1972). In 1974, in the Jerusalem magazine "Menorah" (No. 5, 6, 7), a dramatic poem in Russian by A. Radovsky "Exodus" was published.

KEE, volume: 5.
Col.: 404–422.
Published: 1990.

“I heard their cry. And I will bring them out of Egypt

to a land flowing with milk and honey" .

Moses is a biblical prophet who freed the Jewish people from slavery.

Muslims, Christians, Jews - consider Moses the founder of monotheism (belief in one God).

The Bible tells the most about the life of Moses.

According to scripture, Moses was born in Egypt to a Jewish family, at a time when the Jewish people were being persecuted by the Egyptian pharaoh (around the 13th century BC).

Pharaoh, seeing a threat to his power in the rapidly growing Jewish tribe, made the Jews slaves, forcing them to work, dig the earth, build palaces, hoping that overwork would weaken them and reduce their numbers.

When the pharaoh realized that these measures were not enough, he ordered all newborn Jewish boys to be drowned in the waters of the Nile.

Moses' mother saved her son's life by hiding him in the reeds by the river. There he was found by the daughter of the pharaoh, who came to the Nile for a bath. Taking pity on him, the Egyptian princess took him to the palace and subsequently raised him as her son.

However, Moses never forgot about his fellow tribesmen. One day, as an adult, he witnessed an Egyptian beating a Jew. Moses stood up for the unfortunate and accidentally killed the offender, after which he was forced to flee from Egypt to the desert.

He lived on the Sinai peninsula for 40 years, when the Lord appeared to him and said that Moses had been chosen by Him for a great purpose - the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery.

The Lord told Moses and his brother Aaron to return to Egypt and take the Israelites away from the Egyptian land to Palestine. Moses doubted his ability to persuade Pharaoh to let the slaves go.

Nor was he sure that the Jews would follow him. Then the Lord, to convince the unbelievers, gave Moses the ability to work miracles.

Upon their return to Egypt, Moses and Aaron tried to persuade Pharaoh to let the Jews go into the wilderness for a few days to offer a sacrifice to the new God who appeared to Moses. However, the pharaoh did not believe in the new God and refused to let the slaves go.

Then the Lord sent calamities upon the Egyptian people. The Egyptians survived the invasion of insects and toads, God turned the waters of the Nile into blood, sent diseases to people and animals - but this only embittered the pharaoh more.

The last and most terrible divine punishment that fell upon the Egyptian people was the death of all newborns.

After this terrible tragedy, from which the heir of the pharaoh also suffered, the pharaoh ordered the Jews, led by Moses, to go into the desert and pray for mercy on the Egyptians, but later, realizing that the slaves were not going to return, the Pharaoh sent an army after them.

When Moses led the people to the shores of the Red Sea, the army was already close. Moses struck the earth with his staff and, by the will of God, the sea parted, freeing the Israelites the way to the other side. The Egyptian army tried to follow them, but the sea rejoined, destroying it.

On Mount Sinai, God spoke to the Jews through Moses, calling them to listen to the Divine voice and keep His covenant. “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” said

Lord, and then the ten commandments were sent down to Moses, which, together with the prescriptions and prohibitions for the holy people, were written by Moses on stone tablets.

The Jewish people were not accustomed to serve God, so they made mistakes. So, once, the Jews disobeyed one of the commandments, starting to worship the golden calf. Angry, Moses broke the two tablets, and the offended people rebelled against the prophet.

More than once the Jews raised an uprising against the Prophet, but Moses managed to calm the dissatisfied, enlisting the support of his assistants and followers.

Despite his feat, Moses was not granted life in the promised land, he died at the age of 120 years. According to one version, God saw in the soul of Moses a doubt in the Divine powers.