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[[File:Moses receiving the Law (Mt Sinai, 1050-1100).jpg|right|thumb|The Holy Prophet and Lawgiver Moses, the God-seer and faithful servant of [[God]] receiving the Law Before the [[Burning Bush]] (''[[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|Mt. Sinai]], ca.1050–1100'')]]
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[[Image:Moses the God-seer.jpg|right|frame|Holy Prophet Moses]]
The glorious [[Prophet]] and  God-seer '''Moses''' ({{he icon}}: ''' מֹשֶׁה ''' ''Mōsheh, Mōsheh ben Amram'';<ref>
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The glorious [[Prophet]] '''Moses''', God-seer, is the pinnacle of the lovers of [[Holy Wisdom|wisdom]], the supremely wise lawgiver, the most ancient historian of all.  His name means ''one who draws forth'', or ''is drawn from'', that is, from the water. His life is narrated in the [[Scripture|Bible]] ([[Exodus]] 2 through [[Deuteronomy]] 34:12). The [[Orthodox Church]] celebrates his [[feast day]] on [[September 4]].<ref>Great [[Synaxarium|Synaxaristes]]: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/552/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Προφήτης Μωϋσῆς].'' 4 Σεπτεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref>
Rev. Professor [[w:Nathaniel Schmidt|Nathaniel Schmidt]], Ph.D.. "Moses: His Age and His Work. II." ''The Biblical World.'' Vol. 7, No. 2 (Feb., 1896), pp. 105-119. p.105.</ref> {{el icon}}: '''Mωϋσῆς''', ''Mōÿsēs'' in both the [[Septuagint]] and the [[New Testament]];  {{ar icon}}: ''' موسىٰ ''', ''Mūsā''), meaning ''one who draws forth'', ''is drawn out'', or is ''saved from the water'',<ref>[[w:Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius' Lexicon]] (1906), s.v. מֹשֶׁה . Gesenius was sympathetic towards the Coptic etymology. Likewise Alfred Jones' ''Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names'' (1990).</ref> ca.1570 BC - ca.1450 BC,<ref group="note">The following are variously given as the birth dates of Moses:
 
:* '''1391 BC''' -- [[w:Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinical Judaism]] calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BC ([[w:Seder Olam Rabbah|Seder Olam Rabbah]] (2nd c. AD Hebrew language chronology)).
 
:* '''1550 BC''' -- Given in the ''' ''[[Prologue from Ohrid]]'' ''', compiled by St. [[Nikolai Velimirovic]] (1928).
 
:* '''1569 BC''' -- The ''' ''Great [[Synaxarium|Synaxaristes]]'' ''' in the Greek, gives 1569 BC for the birth of Moses.
 
:* '''1571 BC''' -- According to Dr. Floyd Nolen Jones, in: ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=ZkBasQYRy4sC&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=moses+birth+1689bc&source=bl&ots=VuQoAWyKnZ&sig=0gcLQ5MW7LyH2RhGaUf5clvMyGw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-rPST5qRFaSm6gHW-5iAAw&ved=0CFUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=moses%20birth%201689bc&f=false The Chronology of the Old Testament]'' (1993).
 
:* '''1592 BC''' -- [[Jerome]]'s ''[[w:Chronicon (Jerome)|Chronicon]]'' (ca.380 AD) gives 1592 BC for the birth of Moses.
 
:* '''1619 BC''' -- The 17th-century [[w:Ussher chronology|Ussher chronology]] calculates 1619 BC (''Annals of the World'', 1658).
 
:* '''1689 BC''' -- In the [[OCA]] hagiography (''[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsLife.asp?FSID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses]'')
 
:* '''1738 BC''' -- In [[w:John McClintock (theologian)|John McClintock]] and [[w:James Strong (theologian)|James Strong]]'s ''[[w:Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature|Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]]'' (1882).</ref> was the deliverer,<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%207:35&version=NKJV Acts 7:35].</ref> [[prophet]], legislator, judge, and leader of the Israelites from the period of the [[Exodus]] of [[Israel]] from slavery in Egypt, to their arrival on the doorstep of Canaan near the [[w:Jordan River|Jordan River]]. He is best known for leading the Israelites out of Egypt, bringing the Ten Commandments ([[w:Decalogue|Decalogue]]) down from [[Mount Sinai]], establishing the '''[[w:Mosaic covenant|Mosaic Covenant]]''' and founding the religious community known as [[Israel]].<ref name=BRITTANICA>''"Moses."'' Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009.</ref><ref group="note">He is the most important prophet in [[Judaism]], also called ''Moshe Rabbenu'' ({{he icon}}: ''' מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ''', Lit. "Moses our Teacher/Rabbi").</ref>  
 
  
His life is narrated in the [[Septuagint]] from [[Exodus]] 2 through to [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2034:10-12&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 34:10-12]. Considered something more than a prophet, for [[God]] spoke face-to-face with Moses ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2033:11&version=NKJV Exodus 33:11]), he was a true servant of the [[Lord]] in every sense of the word and is the supremely wise Lawgiver ({{el icon}}: '''Ο Νομοθέτης'''), the most ancient historian of all to whom the authorship of the [[Pentateuch]] is traditionally attributed (ca.1491-1451 BC),<ref group="note">The [[Pentateuch]] consists of:
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{{stub}}
:* The [[Genesis|Book of Genesis]], also known as the First Book of Moses, is the first book of the Old Testament and contains extremely old oral and written traditions of the people of Israel.
 
:* The [[Exodus|Book of Exodus]] tells how Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness to [[Mount Sinai]], where God reveals himself and offers them a Covenant: they are to keep his Torah (i.e. law, instruction), and in return He will be their God and give them the [[w:Canaan|Land of Canaan]].
 
:* The [[Leviticus|Book of Leviticus]] records the laws of God.
 
:* The [[Book of Numbers]] tells how the Israelites, led now by their God, journey onwards from Sinai towards Canaan, but when their spies report that the land is filled with giants they refuse to go on. God then condemns them to remain in the desert until the generation that left Egypt passes away. After thirty-eight years at the oasis of [[w:Kadesh (Israel)|Kadesh Barnea]] the next generation travel on to the borders of Canaan.
 
:* The [[Book of Deuteronomy]] tells how, within sight of the Promised Land, Moses recalls their journeys and gives them new laws. His death (the last reported event of the Torah) concludes the 40 years of the Exodus from Egypt.</ref> and through whom the Seven [[Old Testament]] '''Feasts of Lord''' were instituted by [[God]]'s command as described in [[w:Emor#Leviticus_chapter_23_2|Leviticus Chapter 23]].<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2023&version=NKJV Leviticus 23 (New King James Version)]. BibleGateway.com.</ref><ref group="note">A [[Typology|typological]] connection exists between the '''Seven Feasts of Lord''' in the [[Old Testament]] and their corresponding fulfillment by [[Christ]] in the [[New Testament]] - both during His '''First Coming''' as well as in events prophecied surrounding His '''Second Coming'''.</ref><ref group="note">Three of the major festivals of ancient [[Judaism]] were known as the "[[w:Three Pilgrimage Festivals|Three Pilgrimage Festivals]]," including:<br>
 
:* Pesach (''[[Passover]]''),- [[Passover]] commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. In particular referring to how the tenth plague "passed over" the houses of the Israelites while smiting the Egyptians.
 
:* Shavuot (''Weeks / Pentecost'') - [[w:Shavuot|Shavuot]] commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at [[Mount Sinai]].
 
:* Sukkot (''Tents / Booths / [[Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacles]]'') - The [[w:Sukkot|sukkah]] is intended as a reminiscence of the type of fragile dwellings in which the Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of travel in the desert after the Exodus from slavery in Egypt. The [[Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacle]] (Hebrew: משכן‎, mishkan, "residence" or "dwelling place"), according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan.</ref>
 
[[Image:Moses the God-seer.jpg|left|thumb|300px|The Holy Prophet and Lawgiver Moses, the God-seer and faithful servant of God.]]
 
For forty years, Moses lived at the court of the Pharaoh (his Egyptian training); for the next forty years, he lived as a shepherd in [[Apophatic theology|contemplation]] of [[God]] and the world (his exile in Arabia); and for his remaining forty years, he led the people through the wilderness to the [[w:Promised Land|Promised Land]] (his government of the Israelite nation). He beheld the Promised Land, but was not allowed to enter it, for he had once [[Sin|sinned]] against God ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2020:12&version=NKJV Numbers 20:12]). Thus Moses reposed at the age of 120.<ref name=PROLOGUE>[[Nikolai Velimirovic]]. ''[[Prologue from Ohrid|Prologue from Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies for Every Day of the Year]].''  1928.</ref>
 
  
As a [[Wonderworker|miracle-worker]], he was a prefiguration of [[Christ]], according to St. [[Basil the Great]],<ref name=PROLOGUE/> and is looked upon as a precursor to [[Christ]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2010:1-4&version=NKJV 1 Corinthians 10:1-4]) and as a witness to him ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:45&version=NKJV John 1:45]) in the seamless, unified history of God's relationship to and interaction with humanity throughout the ages.<ref name=WHOSWHO>''"Moses".'' In: Who's Who in the Bible: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary. Reader's Digest Association, 1994. pp.300-311.</ref> Moses' influence continues to be felt in the religious life, moral concerns, and social ethics of civilization today.<ref name="BRITTANICA"/>
 
 
The [[Orthodox Church]] commemorates his [[feast day|sacred memory]] annually on [[September 4]]/17,<ref name=SYNAX>Great [[Synaxarium|Synaxaristes]]: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/552/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Προφήτης Μωϋσῆς].'' 4 Σεπτεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.</ref><ref name=OCA-LIFE>''[http://oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses - Life].'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.</ref> the day that Moses saw the [[w:Promised Land|Land of Promise]],<ref>"September 4: The Holy God-seer Moses the Prophet and Aaron His Brother". In: ''The Menaion: Volume 1, The Month of September.'' Transl. from the Greek by the [[Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Transfiguration Monastery]]. Boston, Massachusetts, 2005. pp.67.</ref> as well as on the [[Sunday of the Forefathers]].<ref>Fr. Andrew Anglorus. ''[http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/sermhff.htm THE SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FOREFATHERS].'' St John's Orthodox Church, Colchester, Essex, England.</ref>
 
 
He is likewise [[Feast day|commemorated]] on [[September 4]] in the respective Calendars of Saints of the [[Roman Catholic Church]],<ref>The Benedictine Monks of [[w:Historic_buildings_in_Ramsgate#Churches|St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate]] (Comp.). ''[http://archive.org/details/bookofsaintsdict00stau The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonised by the Catholic Church: Extracted from the Roman & Other Martyrologies].'' London: A & C. Black Ltd., 1921. p.198.</ref><ref>''[http://archive.org/details/romanmartyrology00cathuoft The Roman Martyrology].'' Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916. p.270.</ref><ref group="note">
 
* "'''MOSES (St.) Patriarch. (Sept. 4)'''. (12th cent. B.C.) The Hebrew leader and lawgiver. What we know of him we learn from the inspired text of Holy Scripture, especially from the Book of Exodus. He died at the age of one hundred and twenty years, on the borders of the Promised Land. Where he was buried no man knows. The Epistle of St. Jude speaks of the altercation of the devil with St. Michael concerning the body of Moses. He is one of the few Saints of the Old Law whom the Catholic Church includes by name in her Kalendars and Martyrologies."
 
::(''[http://archive.org/details/bookofsaintsdict00stau The Book of Saints]''. The Benedictine Monks of [[w:Historic_buildings_in_Ramsgate#Churches|St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate]] (Comp.). p.198.)<br>
 
* ''"The Fourth Day of September: "ON Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab, the holy lawgiver and prophet Moses." "''
 
::(''[http://archive.org/details/romanmartyrology00cathuoft  The Roman Martyrology]'', Baltimore, 1916. p.270.)</ref> and [[w:Calendar_of_Saints_(Lutheran)#September|Lutheran]] ([[w:Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod|LCMS]]) churches.<ref>[[w:Calendar_of_Saints_(Lutheran)#September|Calendar_of_Saints_(Lutheran)]]. Wikipedia. Retrieved: 2012-12-12.</ref>
 
 
In the [[Coptic Calendar|Coptic Orthodox Calendar]] his feast day is observed on [[w:Thout|Thout]] 8 (September 18),<ref>Coptic Orthodox Church Network (CopticChurch.net). ''[http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/1_8.html 2. The Departure of Moses the Prophet.]'' St. Mark Coptic Church, Jersey City, NJ. Retrieved: 2012-12-10.</ref> and in the [[w:Ethiopian_calendar#Months|Ethiopian Orthodox Calendar]] on Mäskäräm 8 (September 18) as well.<ref>''[http://www.stmichaeleoc.org/The_Ethiopian_Synaxarium.pdf Synaxarium: The Bool of the Saints of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church].'' Transl. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. Printed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Debre Meheret St. Michael Church, Garland, TX USA. pp.17-18.</ref>
 
 
In the [[Church of Armenia|Armenian Apostolic Church]] Moses is commemorated together with the The Holy Forefathers of the [[Old Testament]] on July 26.<ref>Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC) – Eastern Prelacy. ''2012 Liturgical Calendar and Daily Bible Readings: According to the Donatsooyts (Typicon) of the Armenian Apostolic Church.'' Armenian Apostolic Church of America, Eastern Prelacy. Retrieved 2012-12-12.</ref><ref group="note">Armenian Apostolic Church. July 26 - "The Holy Forefathers: Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, Joshua, Samuel, Samson, Jephthah, Barak, Gideon, and others. Genesis 4:1-50:26 (selections); Numbers 20:23-30; Deuteronomy 34:5-12; Joshua 24:29-33; 1 Samuel 15:34-16:13; Hebrews 11:1-31; Luke 20:34-40."</ref>
 
 
==Sources==
 
The life of the Holy Prophet and God-Seer Moses is narrated in the [[Septuagint]] in the Books of [[Exodus]], [[Leviticus]], [[Numbers]] and Deuteronomy, which provides the chief authentic account of his luminous life.<ref name=NEWADVENT>Reilly, Thomas à Kempis. ''"[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10596a.htm Moses]."'' The Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent). Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.</ref> In addition he is mentioned in the Jewish traditions preserved throughout the [[New Testament]], in particular in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207:20-44&version=NKJV Acts 7:20-44], and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%2011:23-28&version=NKJV Heb. 11:23-28].<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG">Rev. [[w:John McClintock (theologian)|John McClintock]], D.D., and Dr. [[w:James Strong (theologian)|James Strong]], [[w:Doctor of Sacred Theology|S.T.D.]]. ''"Mo'ses."'' In: [[w:Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature|Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]]. Vol. VI.— ME-NEV. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1882. pp.677-687.</ref><ref group="note">References to Moses in the [[New Testament]] include the following:<br>
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%208.4&version=NKJV Matt. 8.4]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%2017.3-4&version=NKJV Matt. 17.3-4]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%2019.7-8&version=NKJV Matt. 19.7-8]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%2022:24&version=NKJV Matt. 22:24]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt.%2023:2&version=NKJV Matt. 23:2];<br>
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%201:44&version=NKJV Mark 1:44]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%207:10&version=NKJV Mark 7:10]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%209:4-5&version=NKJV Mark 9:4-5]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2010:3-4&version=NKJV Mark 10:3-4]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012:19&version=NKJV Mark 12:19]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2012:26&version=NKJV Mark 12:26];<br>
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202:22&version=NKJV Luke 2:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%205:14&version=NKJV Luke 5:14]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%209:30-33&version=NKJV Luke 9:30-33]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2016:29-31&version=NKJV Luke 16:29-31]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2020:28&version=NKJV Luke 20:28]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2020:37&version=NKJV Luke 20:37]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024:27&version=NKJV Luke 24:27]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024:44&version=NKJV Luke 24:44];<br>
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:17&version=NKJV John 1:17]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:45&version=NKJV John 1:45]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%203:14&version=NKJV John 3:14]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205:45-46&version=NKJV John 5:45-46]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%206:32&version=NKJV John 6:32]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%207:19-23&version=NKJV John 7:19-23]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208.5&version=NKJV John 8.5]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%209:28-29&version=NKJV John 9:28-29];<br>
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%203:22&version=NKJV Acts 3:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%206:11-14&version=NKJV Acts 6:11-14]; '''[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207:20-44&version=NKJV Acts 7:20-44]'''; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2013:39&version=NKJV Acts 13:39]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2015.1-5&version=NKJV Acts 15.1-5]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2015:21&version=NKJV Acts 15:21]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2021:21&version=NKJV Acts 21:21]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2026:22&version=NKJV Acts 26:22]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2028:23&version=NKJV Acts 28:23];<br>
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.5.14&version=NKJV Rom.5.14]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.9.15&version=NKJV Rom.9.15]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.10.5&version=NKJV Rom.10.5]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.10.19&version=NKJVRom.10.19];
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Cor.%209:9&version=NKJV 1 Cor. 9:9]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Cor.%2010:2&version=NKJV 1 Cor. 10:2];
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Cor.%203:7&version=NKJV 2 Cor. 3:7]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Cor.%203:13-15&version=NKJV 2 Cor. 3:13-15];
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Tim.%203:8-9&version=NKJV 2 Tim. 3:8-9];
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%203:2-5&version=NKJV Heb. 3:2-5]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%203:16&version=NKJV Heb. 3:16]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%207:14&version=NKJV Heb. 7:14]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%208:5&version=NKJV Heb. 8:5]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%209:19&version=NKJV Heb. 9:19]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb%2010:28&version=NKJV Heb 10:28]; '''[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%2011:23-28&version=NKJV Heb. 11:23-28]'''; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Heb.%2012:21&version=NKJV Heb. 12:21];
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude%201:9&version=NKJV Jude 1:9];
 
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev.%2015:3&version=NKJV Rev. 15:3].</ref>
 
 
In non-biblical writings, references to the role of Moses first appear at the beginning of the [[w:Hellenistic civilization|Hellenistic period]], the zenith of Greek influence in the ancient world, from 323 BC to about 146 BC. Judeo-Hellenic or Judeo-Roman historians who mention him include [[w:Artapanus of Alexandria|Artapanus]], [[w:Eupolemus|Eupolemus]], [[Josephus]], and [[w:Philo|Philo]].
 
 
A few non-Jewish historians also make reference to him including [[w:Hecataeus of Abdera|Hecataeus of Abdera]] (quoted by [[w:Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus Siculus]]), [[w:Alexander Polyhistor|Alexander Polyhistor]], [[w:Manetho|Manetho]], [[w:Apion|Apion]], [[w:Chaeremon of Alexandria|Chaeremon of Alexandria]], [[w:Tacitus|Tacitus]] and [[w:Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]]. The extent to which any of these accounts rely on earlier sources is unknown.
 
 
Several [[Church Fathers]] refer to Moses including [[Clement of Alexandria]], [[Basil the Great]], [[Ambrose of Milan]], [[Augustine of Hippo]], [[Cyril of Jerusalem]], [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], [[Justin Martyr]], [[Hilary of Poitiers]], [[John Cassian]], [[Cyprian of Carthage]], [[w:Lactantius|Lactantius]], [[w:Aphrahat|Aphrahat the Persian Sage]], [[Ephrem the Syrian]] (''Nisibene Hymns; Fifteen Hymns for the Feast of Epiphany''), and [[Gregory of Nyssa]] (''Life of Moses'').
 
 
Moses also appears in other religious literature such as the [[w:Mishnah|Mishnah]] (ca.200 AD) and [[w:Midrash|Midrash]] (second century onwards) of Rabbinic [[Judaism]].
 
 
Included among the Jewish pseudepigraphical group of writings attributed to Moses are the ''[[w:Life of Adam and Eve|Apocalypse of Moses]]'', and the ''[[w:Assumption of Moses|Ascension of Moses]]''.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
  
 
==Life==
 
==Life==
 
===Birth===
 
===Birth===
[[File:Moses-conflation-birth-death.jpg|right|thumb|240px|Illuminated manuscript with a conflation of events from Moses' life: ''Left'': the basket is taken from the [[w:Nile|Nile River]] by the daughter of Pharaoh; ''Right'': the death of Moses on Mt. Nebo overlooking the [[w:Jordan River|Jordan River]]. (''[[w:Menologion of Basil II|Menologion of Basil II]]'') ]]
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According to the Book of Exodus Moses was born in the thirteenth century BC. He was born of a Hebrew family who came from the tribe of Levi. His parents were Amran and Yocheved. Because Pharaoh ordered that all Hebrew infant boys be slain or thrown into the river his mother hid him in her home for three months. When it was no longer possible to hide him, she hid him in a reed basket by the banks of the river. The infant’s sister Miriam, watched over it from afar, to see what would happen.
Moses was born of the [[w:Levite|Levite]] tribe of Israel, the son of [[w:Amram|Amram]] and [[w:Jochebed|Jochabed]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%206:20&version=NKJV Exodus 6:20]). According to [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2046:11&version=NKJV Genesis 46:11], Amram's father [[w:Kohath|Kohath]] had immigrated to Egypt with 70 of Jacob's household, making Moses part of the second generation of Israelites born during their time in Egypt. The name of his mother, Jochebed implies the knowledge of the name of [[w:Jehovah|Jehovah]] in the bosom of the family. It is its first distinct appearance in the sacred history.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
 
 
Moses was born around 1570 BC, having one older sister, Miriam (by seven years), and one older brother, Aaron (by three years).<ref name=EASTON>[[w:Matthew George Easton|Matthew George Easton]] (1897). ''"Moses".'' in: Illustrated Bible Dictionary. London ; New York: T. Nelson, 1897.</ref> According to [[w:Manetho|Manetho]] the place of his birth was at the ancient city of [[w:Heliopolis (ancient)|Heliopolis]].<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/> He was born at a time when an unnamed Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all the male Hebrew children born be killed by drowning in the river Nile ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%201:22&version=NKJV Exodus 1:22]).<ref group="note">This event [[Typology|prefigures]] the [[w:Massacre of the Innocents|Massacre of the 14,000 Infants (Holy Innocents)]] slain by [[w:Herod the Great|Herod]] at Bethlehem, the first Christian martyrs (commemorated on [[December 29]]).<br>
 
:* Great Synaxaristes: {{el icon}}: ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/1558/sxsaintinfo.aspx Τὰ Ἅγια Νήπια (περίπου 14.000) ποὺ ἐσφάγισαν μὲ διαταγὴ τοῦ Ἡρώδη].'' 29 Δεκεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.<br>
 
:* ''[http://oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103682 14,000 Infants (the Holy Innocents) slain by Herod at Bethlehem].'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.
 
:* [[Ephrem the Syrian]]. ''NINETEEN HYMNS ON THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST IN THE FLESH: HYMN XII.''</ref>
 
[[File:Edwin Long - Pharaoh's Daughter - The Finding of Moses .jpg|left|thumb|180px|The Finding of Moses by Pharaoh's Daughter. (''[[w:Edwin Long|Edwin Long]]'', 1886).]]
 
His mother Jochebed kept the baby Moses concealed for three months, but when she could keep him hidden no longer, rather than deliver him to be killed, she set him adrift on the Nile River in a small craft of bulrushes coated in pitch.<ref name=JEWISH-ENCYC>''[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11049-moses#0 MOSES].'' Jewish Encyclopedia (The unedited full-text of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia).</ref><ref group="note">"Perhaps significantly, other great national heroes in the ancient Middle East, such as [[w:Sargon of Akkad|Sargon of Akkad]] and [[w:Cyrus the Great|Cyrus II of Persia]], were said to have been saved in infancy by being set afloat in a crude basket. Most probably, the folktale quality of these stories, of which more than 30 survive today, is meant to foreshadow the career of an extraordinary individual who will someday have to deal with ominous events." (''Who's Who in the Bible'', p. 301.)</ref>
 
 
 
The daughter of Pharaoh ([[w:Bithiah|Bithiah]], Thermuthis<ref>"Antiquities of the Jews, Book II, Chapter 9, Paragraph 5."</ref>), coming opportunely to the river to bathe, discovered the babe, was attracted to him, adopted him as her son, and named him "Moses." His sister Miriam, who had observed the progress of the tiny craft until it had reached the Pharaoh's daughter, came forward and asked Pharaoh's daughter if she would like a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.<ref name="EASTON"/> According to Josephus the child had refused the milk of Egyptian nurses,<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/> and thereafter, Jochebed was employed as the child's nurse.
 
 
 
Thus it came about that the future deliverer of Israel was reared as the son of an Egyptian princess (Exodus 2:1-10).<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/>
 
 
 
===Prince of Egypt===
 
In the Pentateuch this period is unrecorded, however in the [[New Testament]] it states that in his new surroundings Moses was schooled "in all the wisdom of the Egyptians", and was "mighty in words and deeds" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207:22&version=NKJV Acts 7:22]).<ref name=NEWADVENT/>
 
 
 
According to non-biblical literature, he was educated at [[w:Heliopolis (ancient)|Heliopolis]] and grew up there as a priest, under his Egyptian name of [[w:Osarseph|Osarsiph]] (according to [[w:Manetho|Manetho]])<ref group="note">[[w:Osarseph|Osarseph]] or Osarsiph is a legendary figure of Ancient Egypt who has been equated with Moses. His story was recounted by the Ptolemaic Egyptian historian [[w:Manetho|Manetho]] in his ''Aigyptiaca'' (first half of the 3rd century BC); Manetho's work is lost, but the 1st century AD Jewish historian [[Josephus]] quotes extensively from it.</ref> or Tisithen (according to [[w:Chaeremon of Alexandria|Chaeremon]]).<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
  
In his adulthood, [[w:Josephus|Flavius Josephus]] suggests that Moses commanded Egyptian troops and led them to victory against the forces of neighboring Ethiopia.<ref>Josephus. ''Antiquities'' 2.10.</ref> According to that account, the Ethiopians were raiding the Egyptians, and the Pharaoh ordered Moses to lead an army to stop the raiders once and for all. Moses then used a remarkable tactic to take the Ethiopians by surprise. The Ethiopians were expecting Moses to attack by marching along the river, rather than by land, because the land between the two armies was so thick with snakes that it was impassable. For that very reason, Moses was determined to march over land. He ordered his artificers to construct cages and to carry [[w:Ibis|Ibis]] birds (a sacred bird in Egypt) with them. The ibis is a natural enemy of snakes, and so they scattered the snakes, and the army was safe. Thus the army crossed the land, surprised the enemy, and defeated them.
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By God's providence, the daughter of Pharaoh came to the river to bathe with her servants. She noticed the basket and when she found the child inside, she raised him as her own.
  
According to [[w:Artapanus of Alexandria|Artapanus]] he founded the city of [[w:Hermopolis (Lower Egypt)|Hermopolis]] in Lower Egypt to commemorate his victory, and advanced to [[w:Sheba|Saba]] (Sheba), the capital of Ethiopia, and gave it the name of [[w:Meroë|Meroë]], from his adopted mother Merrhis, whom he buried there. [[w:Tharbis|Tharbis]],<ref group="note">A [[w:Cush (Bible)|Cushite]] princess of [[w:Kingdom of Kush|Kingdom of Kush]], [[w:Tharbis|Tharbis]] (alternatively Adoniah) is said to have married the Hebrew Moses prior to his ascendancy to prophethood and better-known marriage to [[w:Zipporah|Zipporah]].</ref> the daughter of the king of Ethiopia, fell in love with him, and he returned in triumph to Egypt with her as his wife.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
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Seeing that her brother had been discovered by the princess, Miriam approached her and negotiated for Moses' mother Yocheved to nurse the child.
  
Yet, the adult Moses did not forget his origins.<ref name=WHOSWHO/> The nurture of his mother is probably the unmentioned link which bound him to his own people, and the time had at last arrived when he was resolved to reclaim his nationality. Here again the [[New Testament]] preserves the tradition in a more distinct form than the account in the [[Pentateuch]]:
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When the infant grew up, his mother brought him to the princess. The princess took him with her, and treated him like a son as she did not have any children. She gave him the name Moses, which means, “taken up from the water”.
::"By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26)
 
  
One day when he was about 40 years old, Moses had gone to see how it fared with his brethren, [[w:Slavery_in_Ancient_Egypt#Slavery_in_ancient_Egypt|bondservants]] to the Egyptians.<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/> Upon seeing an Egyptian maltreating a Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. Moses soon discovered that the affair was known, and that Pharaoh was likely to put him to death for it. He then fled in [[w:Exile|exile]] from Egypt across the [[w:Sinai Peninsula|Sinai Peninsula]] and went to [[w:Midian|Midian]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%202:1-15;&version=NKJV Exodus 2:1-15], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%207:23-29;&version=NKJV Acts 7:23-29]).<ref group="note">Josephus suggests that Moses had to flee Egypt because a rival prince had hatched a plot to kill him in order to remove him as a rival for the throne.</ref>
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Moses grew up in the royal palace and was taught all of the wisdom of Egypt and raised in the same manner as all Egyptian boys.  
  
In this regard, it is worth noting that the ancient historians of the Pharaohs tended to exaggerate minor events that favoured reigning monarchs, and dismissed as "border incidents" such monumental achievements as the flight from Egyptian slavery under Moses. As a common practice, the names of opponents were wiped out from the temples and public works, in an attempt to erase their memory from history. Despite this practice however, the shining truth has emerged of God's prophet Moses, the legislator, judge, and leader of the Israelites.<ref name=POULOS>Fr. [http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/affiliates/rca/biography/poulos_george George Poulos]. ''"September 4 - Moses".'' In: Orthodox Saints: Spiritual Profiles for Modern Man: July 1 to September 30. Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1991. p.170.</ref>
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Once, Moses saw an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew. He intervened in order to defend the Hebrew and killed the Egyptian. On another occasion Moses saw one Hebrew beating another Hebrew. Moses wanted to stop him but he brazenly replied, “Do you intend to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?”  Moses was frightened when he saw that people knew what he had done and so he fled from Egypt and from Pharaoh into a different country, Arabia, in the land of Midian. He settled there, in the home of the priest Jethro, also known as Reuel, after he saved Jethro’s seven daughters from the abuse of Midianite shepherds. He lived in the land of Midian and married Jethro’s daughter Zepphora. He worked as a shepherd, looking after his father-in-law’s flocks.
 
 
===Shepherd in Midian===
 
When he first arrived in Midian he stopped at a well where he protected seven shepherdesses from a band of rude shepherds. He settled with the shepherdesses' father [[w:Hobab#Hobab|Hobab]], or [[w:Jethro (Bible)|Jethro]] (Raguel),<ref name=NEWADVENT/> a [[w:Kenite|Kenite]] shepherd and priest of Midian, whose daughter [[w:Zipporah|Zipporah]] he married in due time. As descendants of Abraham and his second wife, [[w:Keturah|Keturah]], the Midianites were distantly related to the Israelites.<ref name=WHOSWHO/> The alliance between Israel and the Kenite-branch of the Midianites, now first formed, was never broken.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
 
 
Moses sojourned there for forty years, following the occupation of a shepherd, during which time his first son [[w:Gershom|Gershom]] was born ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%202:11-22;&version=NKJV Exodus 2:11-22]).<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/> Moses' second son was named [[w:Eliezer#The_son_of_Moses|Eliezer]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2018:4&version=NKJV Exodus 18:4]), named in commemoration of his successful flight from Pharaoh.<ref name=NEWADVENT/>
 
 
 
The chief effect of his stay in Arabia was on Moses himself. It was in the seclusion and simplicity of his shepherd-life that he received his call as a prophet.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/> During this period in Moses' life we see a man who was a desperately thirsting ''God-Seeker'', long before he was a ''God-Seer'' — forty years — in the desert, before [[God]] first began to reveal Himself to him, reminding us of the faithful early [[Desert Fathers]] of the Christian dispensation. This was four decades of intense [[Asceticism|ascetical]] suffering, and it was a penance endured willingly by Moses for his [[sin]] — having killed a man in anger while still in Egypt. Moses’ long years of exile in the desolate desert were used by him for purification, first of his sins, then of his passions, so that, in this terrible crucible of heat and suffering, he could be made ready to have his astonishing encounter with the Living God.<ref name=AMBYOUNG>Fr. Ambrose Young. ''[http://theotokos-skete.org/files/Fr%20Ambrose%20Files/Fr%20Ambrose%20Sunday%20Sermons/Sep42011FeastMoses.pdf 12th Sunday of Mathew - The Feast of the Holy and Righteous Prophet Moses the God-seer].'' Entrance of the Theotokos Skete, September 4, 2011.</ref>
 
  
 
===The Burning Bush===
 
===The Burning Bush===
[[File:Moses Burning Bush - Byzantine Mosaic.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Holy Prophet Moses before the Burning Bush.<br>(''Byzantine mosaic'').]]
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Once, while shepherding his flocks, Moses was led by an angel of the Lord to the top of Mount Horeb. There he saw a bush that was burning but was not being consumed by the flames; that is, it was enveloped in flames but did not burn up.
One day, Moses led his flock to [[w:Mount Horeb|Mount Horeb]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%203&version=NKJV Exodus 3]), the ''Mountain of God'', usually identified with [[Mount Sinai]]. There was already some recognition of the sacredness of Sinai both by Israel and by the Arabs at this time.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/> There he saw a [[Burning Bush|bush that burned, but was not consumed]].  
 
  
<blockquote>"Upon the [[Mount Sinai|Sinaitic mountain tops]], his home, [[w:Yahweh|Yahweh]] revealed himself to Moses. He saw his glory in the heavenly fire; he heard his voice in the thunder; the storm-clouds were his [[Cherubim|Kerubim]], the lightnings were his [[seraphim]]. At last there came to him on [[w:Mount Horeb|Horeb]], by some sacred tree, illumined strangely by the fire from heaven, a message to his inmost soul to go back into [[w:Land of Goshen|Goshen]] on the twofold errand of making Yahweh known and delivering his people. It was the [[w:Religious calling|prophet's call]]. It was a real [[w:Religious ecstasy|ecstatic experience]], like that of [[David]] under the baka-tree, [[Elijah]] on the mountain, [[Isaiah]] in the temple, [[w:Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] on the [[w:Khabur River|Khebar]], [[Jesus]] in the Jordan, [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] on the [[w:Conversion of Paul the Apostle|Damascus road]]. It was the perpetual mystery of the divine touching the human."<ref>
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Moses decided to come closer to investigate. Here he heard a voice from the midst of the bush saying, “Moses, Moses… Do not come any closer, take off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Rev. Professor [[w:Nathaniel Schmidt|Nathaniel Schmidt]], Ph.D.. "Moses: His Age and His Work. II." ''The Biblical World.'' Vol. 7, No. 2 (Feb., 1896), pp. 105-119. p.108.</ref></blockquote>
 
  
The location, in the desert solitude, was appropriate as a sign that the divine protection was not confined either to the sanctuaries of Egypt or to the Holy Land, but was to be found with any faithful worshiper, fugitive and solitary though he might be.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
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The Lord said to him, “I have seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry… and I am come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land… unto the place of the Canaanites…  I will send you unto Pharaoh that you might bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”  At the same time, God granted Moses the power to perform miracles. The Lord gave him his brother Aaron as a helper, who would speak publicly on his behalf.
  
When Moses approached to look more closely, God spoke to him from the bush saying: "Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%203:4-5&version=KJV Exodus 3:4-5]).
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The bush that did not burn up that Moses saw through God’s revelation to him, received the name ‘Burning Bush’.  The symbolism of the miracle is powerful. In a world in which nature itself is worshiped, God shows that He rules over it. The burning bush depicted the state of the chosen Hebrew people, which was persecuted but did not perish.
  
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob then designated Moses to deliver the Hebrews from the Egyptian yoke of bondage, and to conduct them into the "land of milk and honey", the region long since promised to the seed of Abraham.<ref name=NEWADVENT/> Moses argued that he was not worthy of such responsibility, did not know the Lord's true name, and could not persuade the Hebrews to follow him.<ref name=WHOSWHO/> God then revealed his name to Moses, the [[w:Tetragrammaton|Tetragrammaton]], referring to the Hebrew written form of '''YHWH''' ({{he icon}}:''' יהוה‎'''), as a "memorial unto all generations":<ref name=NEWADVENT/>
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The burning bush is also significant and relevant to Christianity as it foreshadowed the plight of the early Christians who although persecuted and suffered terribly at the hands of the pagan emperors maintained steadfast faith in Jesus Christ and were not eradicated, despite the efforts of the godless authorities. It was also a foreshadowing or pre-figuration of the All-holy Mother of God, who was not burned by the fire of the divinity of the Son of God when He came down through her from heaven to earth, and was born of her.
  
<blockquote>"So Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I go to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' what shall I tell them? Then God said to Moses, '''"I AM the Existing One."''' He also said, '''"Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The Existing One sent me to you.' "''' "<ref>Exodus 3:13-14. In: ''"The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World.'' Ed. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Thomas Nelson Inc, 2008. pp.68-69. ISBN 9780718003593</ref><ref group="note">"The name '''I AM the Existing One''' is the name for the Essence of God, which is one and undivided (AthanG, JohnDm). This Essence is like a boundless sea, containing all things yet not contained by anything. The Son is eternally begotten from the Essence of the Father. When Jesus said He was the Existing One, the Jews who were listening took up stones to stone Him, for they knew this passage in Exodus ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%208:57-59&version=NKJV Jn 8:57-59]). He is acknowledged as the Existing One is every [[Vespers]] service of the Church."<br>
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===Pharaoh and the Plagues of Egypt===
:(''"The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World.'' Ed. Thomas Nelson Publishers. Thomas Nelson Inc, 2008. p.69. ISBN 9780718003593 )</ref></blockquote>
 
[[File:Moses & Bush Icon Sinai c12th century.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Moses and the Burning Bush<br>(''[[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|Mt. Sinai]], 12th c.'')]]
 
  
Although it was at this time that the name of '''YHWH''' was revealed, nevertheless it is frequently used throughout the patriarchal narratives, from the second chapter of [[Genesis]]. According to Very Rev. Fr. [http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/affiliates/rca/biography/poulos_george George Poulos], Moses was a protagonist of [[w:Monotheism#Judaism|monotheism]], and brought together the two sects that worshipped "Yahweh" and "Jehovah" since the names applied to the living God.<ref name=POULOS/>. In [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206:4&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 6:4] he instructs them:  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!...” ([[w:Shema Yisrael|Shema Yisrael]]).
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===Passover and the Parting of the Red Sea===
  
In Orthodox Christian tradition, as defined by the [[Church Fathers]] and the [[Ecumenical councils]], the flame Moses saw was in fact God's ''Uncreated Energies''/''Glory'', manifested as light, thus explaining why the bush was not consumed. It is not interpreted as a miracle in the sense of an event, which only temporarily exists, but is instead viewed as Moses being permitted to see these ''Uncreated Energies''/''Glory'', which are considered to be eternal things. The Orthodox definition of salvation is this vision of the ''Uncreated Energies''/''Glory'', and it is a recurring theme in the works of Greek Orthodox theologians such as [[John S. Romanides]]. In addition, Moses saw foreshadowed the great mystery of our [[Incarnation|Savior’s virginal Conception]] and of his coming in the flesh, which has overturned the laws of nature at the same time as preserving them.<ref name=AMBYOUNG/>
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===Wandering in the Desert===
  
Armed with this new name, and carrying in his hand the "[[w:Aaron's rod|rod of God]]" to attest to his mission, he returned to Egypt ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%204:1-9&version=NKJV Exodus 4:1-9,20]). In the transformation of his shepherd's staff is the glorification of the simple pastoral life, of which that staff was the symbol, into the great career which lay before it. The humble yet wonder-working crook is, in the history of Moses, what the despised [[cross]] is in the first history of Christianity. In this call of Moses, as of the [[Apostles]] afterwards, the man is swallowed up in the cause.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
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===The Ten Commandments and the Ark of the Covenant===
  
On the way Moses was nearly killed by God because his son was not [[w:Religious male circumcision|circumcised]], but [[w:Zipporah|Zipporah]], Moses' wife, circumcised her son and threw the foreskin at Moses' feet, saying that Moses had become a "bridegroom of blood" to her, and God's anger abated ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus%204:24-26&version=NKJV Exodus 4:24-26]).<ref group="note">It is possible that on this story is founded the tradition of [[w:Artapanus of Alexandria|Artapanus]] ([[Eusebius of Caesarea|Euseb.]] ''Pr. Er.'' ix, 27), that the Ethiopians derived [[w:Religious male circumcision|circumcision]] from Moses. (McClintock  & Strong. ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature.'' p.680.)</ref>
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===Seeing the Promised Land===
  
===Pharaoh, the Plagues of Egypt and Passover===
 
Moses was met and assisted on his arrival in Egypt by his elder brother, Aaron, and readily gained a hearing with his oppressed brethren ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204:27-31&version=NKJV Exodus 4:27-31]),<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/>  who believed Moses and Aaron after they saw the signs that were performed in the midst of the Israelite assembly.
 
[[File:Tissot - Moses Speaks to Pharaoh.jpg|left|thumb|225px|Moses Speaks to Pharaoh (''[[w:James Tissot|James Tissot]], ca.1896-1902'').]]
 
It was a more difficult matter, however, to persuade Pharaoh to let the Hebrews depart. When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him that the Lord God of Israel wanted him to permit the Israelites to celebrate a feast in the wilderness ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%205:3&version=NKJV Exodus 5:3]), Pharaoh, who was himself considered a deity in an official state religion with numerous gods,<ref name=WHOSWHO/> replied that he did not know their God and would not permit them to go. Worse, he added to their burdens by increasing their work quotas and decreeing that they would henceforth have to gather their own straw for making bricks.<ref name=WHOSWHO/>
 
 
Although they gained a second hearing with Pharaoh, the Lord had already disclosed that the king would not yield, declaring:
 
<blockquote>“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%207:3-5&version=NKJV Exodus 7:3-5])</blockquote>
 
 
[[File:Gustav Dore--The Firstborn of the Egyptians Are Slain.jpg|right|thumb|The firstborn of the Egyptians are slain ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2012:29-30&version=NKJV Exodus 12:29-30]), with death "[[Passover|passing over]]" the houses of the Israelites.<br>(''[[w:Gustave Doré|Gustave Doré]], 19th c.'')]]
 
When [[w:Aaron's rod|Aaron's rod]] was changed into a serpent, and Pharaoh's magicians did the same with their rods, Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. When the people were still not freed, Moses caused a series of Divine manifestations to come upon the Egyptians, described as [[w:Plagues of Egypt|ten in number]], in which he humiliates the sun and river gods, afflicts man and beast, and displays such extraordinary control over the earth and heavens that even the magicians are forced to recognize in his prodigies "the finger of God" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%207-12&version=NKJV Exodus 7-12]).<ref name=NEWADVENT/><ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/><ref group="note">Each of them was a direct strike at part of the Egyptian religious system and everything the Egyptians held sacred.</ref> These took place in the last year of the enslavement of the Israelite people in that land, and included:
 
<br>
 
:# The Plague Upon the River (Plague of blood) - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%207:14-25&version=NKJV Exodus 7:14–25])
 
:# The Plague of Frogs - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%207:25%E2%80%938:11&version=NKJV Exodus 7:25–8:11])
 
:# The Plague of Lice or Gnats - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%208:16-19&version=NKJV Exodus 8:16–19])
 
:# The Plague of Flies - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%208:20%E2%80%9332&version=NKJV Exodus 8:20–32])
 
:# The Plague Upon the Cattle (Plague of pestilence) - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%209:1%E2%80%937&version=NKJV Exodus 9:1–7])
 
:# The Plague of Sores (Plague of boils) - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%209:8%E2%80%9312&version=NKJV Exodus 9:8–12])
 
:# The Plague of Hail and Fire - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%209:13%E2%80%9335&version=NKJV Exodus 9:13–35])
 
:# The Plague of Locusts - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2010:1%E2%80%9320&version=NKJV Exodus 10:1–20)]
 
:# The Plague of Darkness - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2010:21%E2%80%9329&version=NKJV Exodus 10:21–29])
 
:# The Plague Upon the First-born (Death of the firstborn) - ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2011:1%E2%80%9312:36&version=NKJV Exodus 11:1–12:36])
 
 
These plagues culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian first-born ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2012:29&version=NKJV Exodus 12:29]), whereupon such terror seized the Egyptians that they urged the Hebrews to leave. The events are commemorated as [[Passover]] (Pesach), referring to how the plague "passed over" the houses of the Israelites while smiting the Egyptians.<ref>Judaism 101. "[http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm Pesach; Passover]".</ref>
 
 
Thus the formidable power of [[paganism]], in its conflict with the theocracy, was obliged to bow before the apparently weak people of the Lord.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
 
===The Exodus and Parting of the Red Sea===
 
[[File:David Roberts - Israelites Leaving Egypt (1828).jpg|right|thumb|240px|The Israelites Leaving Egypt, by Orientalist painter [[w:David Roberts (painter)|David Roberts]] (1828).]]
 
 
The [[Exodus]] ({{he icon}}: יציאת מצרים, ''Yetsi'at Mitzrayim'' "[the] exit [from] Egypt"; {{el icon}}: ἔξοδος, ''exodos'' "way out") is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt as described in the Bible.<ref group="note">Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan described in the books of [[Leviticus]], [[Numbers]] and Deuteronomy.</ref> After 430 years in a foreign land, the Israelites trekked northeastward toward their spiritual home in Canaan.<ref name=WHOSWHO/> According to [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2012:37-38&version=NKJV Exodus 12:37-38], the Israelites numbered "about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children," plus many non-Israelites and livestock. [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%201:46&version=NKJV Numbers 1:46] gives a more precise total of 603,550.<ref group="note">The modern "scholarly" consensus is that there was never any exodus of the proportions described in the Bible, and that the story is best seen as theology instead of history, illustrating how the God of Israel acted to save and strengthen his chosen people.<br>
 
:*<small>Walton, John H.. "[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Ao5ecZ0ZsG8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Exodus, date of]". In: Alexander, T.D.; Baker, David W.. ''Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch.'' InterVarsity Press, 2003. p.258.</small>
 
:*<small>Redmount, Carol A.. "[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=zFhvECwNQD0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Bitter Lives: Israel In And Out of Egypt]". In Coogan, Michael D.. ''The Oxford History of the Biblical World.'' OUP, 1998. p.64.</small></ref>
 
 
Before the Israelites departed from Egypt, they acquired a great store of precious metal, gemstones, linens, and other stuffs of luxury, which would later be used to furnish the material for the [[w:Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacle]]. Although some of these items also furnished the material for the [[w:Golden calf|golden calf]]. 
 
 
[[File:Paris psaulter gr139 fol419v.jpg|left|thumb|Moses and the Israelites pass through the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh is drowned.<br>(''[[w:Paris Psalter|Paris Psalter]]'', mid-10th c.)]]
 
 
Thus the children of Israel, with their flocks and herds, started toward the eastern border at the southern part of the [[w:Isthmus of Suez|Isthmus of Suez]]. The long procession moved slowly, and found it necessary to encamp three times before passing the Egyptian frontier — some believe at the [[w:Great Bitter Lake|Great Bitter Lake]], while others propose sites as far south as the northern tip of the Red Sea.
 
 
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a '''[[w:Pillar of Cloud (theophany)|Pillar of Cloud]]''' to guide them on their way, and by night in a '''[[w:Pillar of Fire (theophany)|Pillar of Fire]]''' to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the Pillar of Cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2013:21-22&version=NKJV Exodus 13:21-22]).
 
 
[[File:Red Sea Passage (Mashtots, 1266).jpg|right|thumb|Passage of the Red Sea<br>(''Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarchate Library, 1266 AD'').]]
 
Meanwhile Pharaoh had repented of freeing them, and was in pursuit of them with a large army ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2014:5-9&version=NKJV Exodus 14:5-9]). Shut in between this army and the Red Sea (or "Sea of Reeds"), or the Bitter Lakes, which were then connected with it, the Israelites despaired, but God [[w:Crossing the Red Sea|divided the waters]] of the sea so that they passed safely across on dry ground.<ref group="note">There is some contention about this passage, since an earlier incorrect translation of ''[[w:Yam Suph|Yam Suph]]'' to Red Sea was later found to have meant Reed Sea ("Sea of Reeds").</ref>
 
 
[[File:Exodus Map.jpg|left|thumb|Map showing the 3 standard alternative possible routes for the first part of the Israelite Exodus.]]
 
When the Egyptians attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2014:10-31&version=NKJV Exodus 14:10-31]). The charioteers, horses, and foot soldiers of the king were drowned beneath the surging waves.<ref name=WHOSWHO/> <ref group="note">[[Clement of Alexandria]] in his ''Stromata'' makes reference to how Moses discharged the part of a military leader in this instance:
 
:* CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA THE STROMATA (MISCELLANIES) -- BOOK I -- CHAP. XXIV. - ''[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf02.vi.iv.i.xxiv.html HOW MOSES DISCHARGED THE PART OF A MILITARY LEADER].''</ref> The event furnishes the theme of the thrilling ''' ''"Canticle of Moses"'' ''', one of the most magnificent Psalms recorded in the Scriptures, where Moses and his sister Miriam led the people in a victory song of praise to Yahweh ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2015:1%E2%80%9321&version=NKJV Exodus 15:1–21]), [[Byzantine Chant|chanting]]: ''“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”''<ref name="BRITTANICA"/><ref group="note">"Although phrased in the first person, the verses nowhere mention Moses' name. Moses was making certain that God alone was given the credit for Israel's victories and good fortune. He steadfastly refused to let himself become idolized as the center of a cult of personality." (''Who's Who in the Bible'', p.306.)</ref>
 
 
The people then continued to [[w:Marah (Bible)|Marah]] marching for three days along the wilderness of the [[w:Shur (Bible)|Shur]], without finding water; Moses cast a tree into the water, and the water became sweet ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2015:23-25;&version=KJV Exodus 15:23-25]). Later in the journey the people began running low on supplies and again murmured against Moses and Aaron and said they would have preferred to die in Egypt, but God's provision of [[w:Manna|manna]] from the sky in the morning and quail in the evening took care of the situation ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2016;&version=KJV Exodus 16]). Then they came to [[w:Elim (Bible)|Elim]] where twelve water springs and 70 Palm trees greeted them.<ref group="note">Elim and Elat are plurals of the word El in Phoenician and again associated with [[w:Asherah|Asherah]] worship. The words [[w:Elim (Bible)|Elim]] and Elat refer to the power of the high and mighty [[w:Terebinth|terebinth]] trees that the Phoenicians used for masts and [[w:Asherah pole|Asherah poles]]. [[w:William F. Albright|William Albright]] has associated Asherah groves with the incense trade spices and perfumes such as frankincense and [[myrrh]].</ref>
 
 
From Elim they set out again and after 45 days they reached the [[w:Wilderness of Sin|Wilderness of Sin]] between Elim and Sinai. From there they reached the plain of [[w:Rephidim|Rephidim]], completing the crossing of the Red Sea, and camping before the [[Mount Sinai|Holy Mountain of God]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2019:1-2&version=NKJV Exodus 19:1-2]).
 
 
The route of the Hebrews is contested by scholars, but the most likely possibility is the southern route to [[w:Biblical Mount Sinai|Jabal Mūsā]], the traditional location of Mt. Sinai (Horeb), in the granite range at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.<ref name="BRITTANICA"/>
 
 
In the meantime [[Joshua of Navi]] had become general of the armies of Israel and the special minister, or assistant, of Moses ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2017:9&version=NKJV Exodus 17:9]). When Amalekites arrived and attacked the Israelites, in response, Moses bade [[Joshua of Navi|Joshua]] to lead the men to fight while he stood on a hill with the rod of God in his hand. As long as Moses held the rod up, Israel dominated the fighting, but if Moses let down his hands, the tide of the battle turned in favor of the Amalekites. Because Moses was getting tired, Aaron and Hur had Moses sit on a rock. Aaron held up one arm, Hur held up the other arm, and the Israelites routed the Amalekites ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2017:8-13;&version=KJV Exodus 17:8-13]).
 
 
===At Mount Sinai — The Ten Commandments===
 
[[File:Paris psaulter gr139 fol422v.jpg|right|thumb|Moses hears the call of God and receives the Tablets of the Law<br>(''[[w:Paris Psalter|Paris Psalter]], mid-10th c'').]]
 
In the third month of their journey, the Israelites reached [[Mount Sinai]], the site divinely chosen for the ultimate goal of their liberation from Egypt, sealing the covenant that formed the religious and ethical foundation of the nation of [[Israel]].<ref name=WHOSWHO/> By the instrumentality of Moses, they were appointed to enter into intimate communion with God through a sacred covenant, and to be firmly bound to him by a new legislation.<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
 
Thus Moses led the Hebrews to Sinai, or Horeb, where [[w:Jethro (Bible)|Jethro]] celebrated their coming by a great [[w:Korban|sacrifice]] in the presence of Moses, Aaron, and the elders of Israel ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2018&version=NKJV Exodus 18]). The meeting with Jethro ends in an alliance with Madian, and the appointment of a corps of [[Book of Judges|Judges]] subordinate to Moses, to attend to minor decisions.<ref name=NEWADVENT/>
 
 
====First Ascent====
 
[[God]] summoned Moses upon the [[Mount Sinai|sacred mountain]] and talked with him face to face. Moses stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2024:12-18&version=NKJV Exodus 24:12-18]), a period in which he received the [[w:Ten Commandments|Ten Commandments]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020:1-17&version=NKJV Exodus 20:1-17]) directly from [[God]].
 
 
While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving instruction on the laws for the Israelite community, the Israelites went to Aaron and asked him to make gods for them. After Aaron had received golden earrings from the people, he made a golden calf and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." A "solemnity of the Lord" was proclaimed for the following day, which began in the morning with sacrifices and was followed by revelry.
 
[[File:William de Brailes - The Israelites Worship the Golden Calf (Exodus 32).jpg|right|thumb|The Israelites Worship the [[w:Golden calf|Golden Calf]] and Moses Breaks the Tablets <br>(''[[w:William de Brailes|William de Brailes]], ca.1250).]]
 
When Moses descended from the mountain with intent to deliver the commandments to the people, but upon his arrival he saw that the people were involved in the [[sin]] of the [[w:Golden calf|Golden Calf]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2032&version=NKJV Exodus 32]). In terrible anger, Moses '''broke the commandment tablets''' because of the idolatry of the people ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2032:19&version=NKJV Exodus 32:19]),<ref name=MASTRANTONIS>Fr. George Mastrantonis. ''[http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7115 The Ten Commandments].'' [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]], 1990-1996.</ref> and ordered his own tribe, the Levites, to go through the camp and kill everyone, including family and friends ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2032:27&version=NKJV Exodus 32:27]), upon which the Levites killed about 3,000 people ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2032:28&version=NKJV Exodus 32:28]). The event itself is described as a crisis in the life of Moses, almost equal to that in which he received his first call. In an agony of rage and disappointment he destroyed the monument of his first revelation, and threw up his sacred mission.
 
 
Despite this event, one of Moses' most remarkable characteristics was his concern for the Hebrews, in spite of their stubborn, rebellious ways. When Yahweh was ready to disown them after they reverted to worshipping the golden calf, and to begin anew with Moses and his descendants, Moses rejected the offer. And later, when pleading for the forgiveness of the people, he even asked to have his own name blotted out of Yahweh's [[w:Book of Life|Book of Remembrance]] if the Lord would not forgive them.<ref name="BRITTANICA"/>
 
 
<blockquote>All that is told of him indicates a withdrawal of himself, a preference of the cause of his nation to his own interests...He joins his countrymen in their degrading servitude. He forgets himself to avenge their wrongs. He desires that his brother may take the lead instead of himself. He wishes that not he only, but that all the nation were gifted alike...(Numbers 11:29). When the offer is made that the people should be destroyed, and that he should be made "a great nation" (Exodus 32:10) he prays that they they be forgiven — "if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written" (32:32). His sons were not raised to honor. The leadership of the people passed, after his death, to another tribe. In the books which bear his name, Abraham, and not himself, appears as the real father of the nation. In spite of his great pre-eminence, they are never "the children of Moses."<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/></blockquote>
 
 
====Second Ascent====
 
God later commanded Moses to inscribe two other tablets, to replace the ones Moses smashed ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2034:1&version=NKJV Exodus 34:1]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2034:27-28&version=NKJV 34:27-28]) so Moses went to the mountain again, for another second period of 40 days and nights, and when he returned, the commandments were finally given, and God entered into a [[w:Mosaic covenant|Covenant with Israel]] through him, by the observance of which Israel was to be moulded into a [[w:Theocracy|theocratic]] nation.<ref group="note">In relation to this event, Professor [[w:Nathaniel Schmidt|Nathaniel Schmidt]] commenting on the origins of script ([[w:History of writing|history of writing]]), wrote the following in his paper of 1896:
 
<blockquote>"Tradition says that in his hands he held [[w:Tablets of Stone|two stones]], afterwards kept within the ark. Was there a writing on these stones? Could Moses write? This question is not easily answered. The [[w:Egyptians|Egyptians]], [[w:Babylonia|Babylonians]] and [[w:Hittites|Hittites]] had their systems of writing and their scribes who knew the art. In [[w:Palestine|Palestine]], while under Egyptian rule, the [[w:Amorite|Amorites]] had scribes acquainted with [[w:Akkadian language|Babylonian script and language]]. Assyria, Mitani and other kingdoms likewise had adopted the [[w:Cuneiform|cuneiform]] characters, and a modification of the [[w:Anatolian hieroglyphs|Hittite hieroglyphics]] was early introduced in Cyprus. On the other hand, no Aramaic or Chaldaean inscriptions from this age have yet been found, and it is almost certain that in spite of their achievements in other arts the men of Mycenae, Tiryus, Orchomenos, and Troy knew not how to write their own euphonious names. Whether the [[w:Cretan hieroglyphs|Minaean inscriptions]] date back to this time is yet a mooted question; and even if citizens of Main knew the alphabet, it is far from certain that [[w:Midian|Midian]] had acquired the knowledge. It is said that Moses may have learnt the art in Egypt. But [[w:Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian hieroglyphics]] written by him would have been as unintelligible in the Israel of the next century as they were to the European nations of the last. '''When the alphabet was introduced among the Semites and how it originated we do not know.''' The earliest alphabetic inscriptions, aside from the Minaean possibly, are [[w:King Hiram I|Hiram's of Tyre]], of the tenth century, Mesa's of [[w:Moab|Moab]], and the [http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/wsrp/educational_site/ancient_texts/hadad.shtml elder Panamu's] of [[w:Sam'al|Yaudi]], of the ninth. Many signs seem to show that the alphabet had been in use for some time then."</blockquote>
 
::* <small>(Rev. Professor [[w:Nathaniel Schmidt|Nathaniel Schmidt]], Ph.D.. "Moses: His Age and His Work. II." ''The Biblical World.'' Vol. 7, No. 2 (Feb., 1896), pp. 112-113.)</small></ref>
 
Moses had received these heavenly revelations within a darkness brighter than the light of this world, and he went down the Mountain with the Law graven by God on two [[w:Tablets of Stone|tablets of stone]]. The divine light had streamed into his heart to overflowing, making his countenance shine with a brightness that the people, uninitiated into the mysteries of God, could not bear to look upon, so that Moses had to veil his face when he spoke to them.<ref name=AMBYOUNG/><ref group="note">In regards to the splendor that shone on Moses' face on his final descent from [[Mount Sinai]], after his second long seclusion, as if from the glory of the divine Presence, there are two different versions given:<br>
 
:* (1.) In the [[w:Authorized King James Version|A.V.]] and most Protestant versions Moses is said to wear a veil in order to hide the splendor. In order to produce this sense, the A.V. of [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2034:33&version=NKJV Exodus 34:33] reads, "and [till] Moses had done speaking with them" — and other versions, "he ''had'' put on the veil"
 
:* (2.) In the [[Septuagint]] and the [[Vulgate]], on the other hand, he is said to put on the veil, not during, but after, the conversation with the people — in order to hide, not the splendor, but the vanishing away of the splendor; and to have worn it till the moment of his return to the Divine Presence in order to rekindle the light there. With this reading agrees the obvious meaning of the Hebrew words, and it is this rendering of the sense which is followed by [[Apostle Paul|Paul]] in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%203:13-14&version=NKJV 2 Corinthians 3:13-14], where he contrasts the fearlessness of the apostolic teaching with the concealment of that of the [[Old Testament]]: "We have no fear, as Moses had, that our glory will pass away." (McClintock  & Strong. ''Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature.'' p.684.)</ref>
 
 
On Moses' first descent, he exhibits an all-consuming zeal for the purity of Divine worship, by causing to perish those who had indulged in the idolatrous orgies about the Golden Calf; on his second, he inspires the deepest awe because his face is emblazoned with luminous horns.<ref name=NEWADVENT/>
 
 
[[File:Moses Window - St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church, SC.jpg|right|thumb|135px|Moses with a [[New Testament]] summary of the [[Old Testament]] Law: the two commandments (tablets) read: ''' ''"Love The Lord Thy God"'' ''', and ''' ''"Love Thy Neighbor"'' '''.]]
 
====The Decalogue====
 
The text of the Commandments is preserved in the [[Old Testament]] in two versions, one in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2020:1-17&version=NKJV Exodus 20:1-17], and the other in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%205:6-22&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 5:6-22]. The Commandments, apart from the prohibition regarding images and the precept of observing the [[Sabbath]], contain rules of life that are the common property of mankind, as a basic moral code of discipline toward God and toward men. As such, the commandments have been deepened by our Lord's teachings in the [[w:Sermon on the Mount|Sermon on the Mount]] and summed up by Him in the precepts of love toward [[God]] and one's neighbor, as it is mentioned in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%20Mark%2012:29-31&version=NKJV Mark 12:29-31]:<br>
 
* ''"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might"'' (cf. [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%206:4-5&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 6:4-5]); and
 
* ''"thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandments greater than these"'' (cf. [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus%2019:18&version=NKJV Leviticus 19:18]).<ref name=MASTRANTONIS/>
 
 
[[Tertullian]], an early Christian writer, asserted that the Ten Commandments were engraved on the hearts of men even before being written on the tables of stone.<ref name=MASTRANTONIS/>
 
 
The Content of the Ten Commandments is given in the negative approach, teaching us not to do what is forbidden. It is an excellent teaching and guide in its sphere of negative dominion, opposing evil in its external influence. The Decalogue is considered the "schoolmaster (custodian) to bring us unto Christ" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%203:24&version=NKJV Galatians 3:24]). When the Christian faithful ascend the steps of the [[w:Decalogue|Decalogue]], they are urged to follow the new steps of Christian ideals toward Almighty [[God]] and toward their neighbors. Our Lord [[Jesus Christ]] stressed the point and said ''I have come not to abolish them (the law) but fulfill them'' ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%205:17&version=NKJV Matthew 5:17]). The Decalogue is the law which has been fulfilled by the [[Grace]] of God through the Person of [[Jesus Christ]] as the Head of the Church and the Author of our Faith.<ref name=MASTRANTONIS/>
 
 
Evidence suggests the Commandments were used in [[Catechism|Christian education]] in the Early Church<ref>[[Jaroslav Pelikan|Pelikan, Jaroslav]]. ''The Christian Tradition.'' University of Chicago Press, 1971. p.60. ISBN 9780226653716.</ref> and throughout the Middle Ages, but with inconsistent emphasis.<ref>Bast, Robert James. ''Honor your fathers.'' Brill Publishers, 1997. p.4 ISBN 9789004108561.</ref>
 
 
====The Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle====
 
Moses and the Israelites sojourned at Sinai for about a year ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2010:11-13&version=NKJV Numbers 10:11-13]), during which time Moses had frequent communications from God.
 
 
According to the [[Exodus|Book of Exodus]], [[God]] instructed Moses on [[Mount Sinai]] during his 40-day stay upon the mountain within the thick cloud and darkness where God was (Exodus 19:20; 24:18) and he was shown the pattern for the [[Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacle]] and furnishings of the [[w:Ark of the Covenant|Ark of the Covenant]] to be made of [[w:Shittim Wood|shittim-wood]], to house the [[w:Tablets of Stone|Tablets of Stone]]. Moses instructed [[w:Bezalel|Bezalel]] and [[w:Oholiab|Oholiab]] to construct the Ark ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2031&version=NKJV Exodus 31]).<ref>Fr. Joseph Ponessa (S.S.D.) and Laurie Watson Manhardt (Ph.D.). ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=1AgtbRbclcIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Moses and The Torah: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy]''. Come and See: Catholic Bible Study. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2007. pp.85-86. ISBN 9781931018456</ref> St [[Augustine of Hippo]] Augustine writes that "the Law in the Ark of the Testimony represents holiness in the Lord's body, by whose resurrection is promised to us the future rest; for our receiving of which, love is breathed into us by the Holy Spirit."<ref>St. [[Augustine of Hippo]]. ''St Augustine's Letters: Letter LIII, Chapter XVI, 30''.</ref>
 
 
As a result, the [[Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacle]] was constructed according to the last chapters of Exodus, the priestly law was ordained, the plan of encampment was arranged for both the Levites and the non-priestly tribes, and the Tabernacle was [[Consecration of a church|consecrated]].<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/> 
 
[[File:Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle - Tissot.jpg|right|thumb|Moses and Joshua in the Tabernacle<br>(''Tissot, ca.1896-1902'')]]
 
Immediately after the catastrophe of the worship of the calf, and apparently in consequence of it, Moses removed the chief tent outside the camp, and invested it with a sacred character under the name of "the Tent or Tabernacle of the Congregation" (Exodus 33:7). This tent became henceforth the chief scene of his communications with God.<ref group="note">In certain passages, it seems that the tabernacle is synonymous with the so-called Tent of Meeting, which was pitched outside the encampment. There the Lord appeared to Moses in order to give advice or hear prayers. At other times, the tent and tabernacle are treated as separate structures. (''Who's Who in the Bible'', p.307)</ref> The communications within the tent are described as being still more intimate than those on the mountain. "Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend" (Exodus 33:11). He was apparently accompanied on these mysterious visits by his attendant Hoshea (or Joshua), who remained in the tent after his master had left it. All the revelations contained in the books of [[Leviticus]] and [[Numbers]] seem to have been made in this manner (Leviticus 1:1; Numbers 1:1).<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/>
 
 
The Tabernacle was to be the symbol of the Lord's ongoing presence, "for throughout all their journeys the [[w:Pillar of Cloud (theophany)|cloud of the Lord]] was upon the tabernacle by day, and [[w:Pillar of Fire (theophany)|fire]] was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of [[Israel]]" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2040:38&version=NKJV Exodus 40:38]).<ref name=WHOSWHO/>
 
 
Thus the [[w:Mosaic covenant|Covenant with Israel]] bound God to be Israel's God, if Israel would keep His commandments. In [[Judaism]], "Mosaic law" came to refer to the entire legal content of the [[Pentateuch]], not just the Ten Commandments explicitly connected to Moses in the biblical narrative. The content of this law was excerpted and codified in Rabbinical Judaism as the [[w:613 commandments|613 commandments]] (613 Mitzvot). By [[w:Late Antiquity|Late Antiquity]], the tradition of Moses as being the source of the law in the [[Pentateuch]] also gave rise to the tradition of Mosaic authorship and the interpretation of the entire Torah as the work of Moses.
 
 
===Wandering in the Wilderness for Forty Years===
 
[[File:The Erection of the Tabernacle and the Sacred Vessels.jpg|left|thumb|245px|The erection of the [[Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacle]] and the Sacred vessels, as in Exodus 40:17-19<br>(''Figures de la Bible'', 1728).]]
 
It is during this period that tradition places the composition of a large part of the Pentateuch.<ref name=NEWADVENT/> He is also traditionally connected with the first draft at least of the book of [[Job the Long-suffering|Job]],<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/><ref group="note">The Talmudic tradition (tractate [[w:Bava Batra|Bava Batra]] (15a-b)) maintains that Job was written by Moses, although nowhere does it name its author.</ref> and the 90th [[Psalm]] is titled ''"A prayer of Moses, the man of God."''
 
 
After instituting the priesthood and erecting the [[Tabernacle (biblical)|Tabernacle]], Moses ordered a census which showed an army of 603,550 fighting men. These with the Levites, women, and children, duly celebrated the first anniversary of the [[Passover|Pascha]] (Passover), and, carrying the [[w:Ark of the Covenant|Ark of the Covenant]], shortly entered on the second stage of their migration.<ref name=NEWADVENT/>
 
 
Seventy elders — a conjectural origin of the [[w:Sanhedrin|Sanhedrin]] — are then appointed to assist Moses ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2011:16,25&version=NKJV Numbers 11:16,25]).
 
 
Miriam and Aaron then spoke against Moses on account of his marriage to an Ethiopian (Cushite) woman as his second wife, and about him being the only one through whom the Lord spoke. Miriam was punished with leprosy for seven days ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2012:1-15&version=NKJV Numbers 12:1-15]).
 
 
From Sinai Moses led the people to [[w:Kadesh (Israel)|Kadesh]], from where twelve spies were sent into Canaan as scouts, including most famously Caleb and Joshua. After forty days, they returned to the Israelite camp, bringing back grapes and other produce as samples of the regions fertility. Although all the spies agreed that the land's resources were spectacular, the majority of them gave a pessimistic report, and only two of the twelve spies (Joshua and Caleb) were willing to try to conquer it, and were nearly stoned for their unpopular opinion. Here again, according to tradition, Moses interceded for the people with Yahweh, who threatened to destroy them and raise up another and greater nation.<ref name="BRITTANICA"/> Ultimately since the people were discouraged and refused to go forward, wanting to return to Egypt, they were condemned to remain in the wilderness until that generation had passed away ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2013-14&version=NKJV Numbers 13-14]).<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/> 
 
 
The subsequent uprising led by the Tribe of Reuben under [[w:Korah|Korah]], [[w:Dathan|Dathan]], [[w:Abiram|Abiram]], and 250 Israelite princes suggests that during the thirty-eight years spent in the Badiet et-Tih ("Desert of the Wandering"), habitual discontent continued.<ref name=NEWADVENT/> They accused Moses and Aaron of raising themselves over the rest of the people. Moses told them to come the next morning with a [[censer]] for every man, although Dathan and Abiram refused to come when summoned by Moses. Then Moses went to the place of Dathan and Abiram's tents and after he spoke the ground opened up and engulfed Dathan and Abiram's tents, after which it closed again, and fire consumed the 250 men with the censers. Moses had the [[censer]]s taken and made into plates to cover the altar. The following day, the Israelites came and accused Moses and Aaron of having killed his fellow Israelites, and the people were struck with a plague that killed 14,700 persons, that was only ended when Aaron went with his censer into the midst of the people ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2016&version=NKJV Numbers 16]).
 
[[File:Aaron.JPG|right|thumb|Prophet "Aaron the Priest" (אֵהֲרֹן הֵכֹּהֵן), the older brother of Moses and first [[w:High Priest (Judaism)|High Priest]] of the Israelites.]]
 
To prevent further murmurings and settle the matter permanently, Moses had each of the chief princes of the non-Levitic tribes write his name on his staff and had them lay them in the sanctuary. He also had Aaron write his name on his staff and had it placed in the tabernacle. The next day, when Moses went into the tabernacle, Aaron's staff had budded, blossomed, and yielded almonds ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2017:1-8&version=NKJV Numbers 17:1-8]).
 
 
After leaving Sinai, the Israelites camped in Kadesh. After more complaints from the Israelites, Moses struck the stone twice, and water gushed forth. However, because Moses and Aaron had not shown the Lord's holiness, they were not permitted to enter the land to be given to the Israelites ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2020:1-13&version=NKJV Numbers 20:1-13]).<ref group="note">Apparently, Moses was being punished for speaking so angrily, for not stating that God was responsible for the miracle, and for striking the rock as if he himself wielded the supernatural power to bring forth water. (''Who's Who in the Bible'', p.310).</ref>
 
 
When the old generation, including Mary, the prophet's sister, was no more, Moses inaugurated the onward march around Edom and Moab to the [[w:Wadi Mujib|Arnon]] (Wadi Mujib),<ref name=NEWADVENT/> from the area of Kadesh towards the Promised Land.
 
[[File:Gustav Doré -- The Bronze Serpent.jpg|left|thumb|The Bronze Serpent of [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2021:8&version=NKJV Numbers 21:8].<br>(''Gustav Doré'', 19th c.)]]
 
While the Israelites were making their journey around Edom, they complained about the ''manna'', upon which the Lord sent "fiery serpents" among the people, as a chastisement for renewed murmurings, and many of the people of Israel died. Moses then set up the brazen serpent and set it on a pole, "and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2021&version=NKJV Numbers 21]).<ref group="note">According to the Biblical Book of Kings this brass serpent remained in existence until the days of King Hezekiah, who destroyed it after persons began treating it as an idol, burning [[incense]] to it, and calling it [[w:Nehushtan|Nehushtan]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%2018:1-4;&version=NKJV 2 Kings 18:1-4]).</ref>
 
 
Thus after the lapse of thirty-eight years Moses led the people eastward. Having gained friendly permission to do so, they passed through the territory of Esau (where Aaron died, on [[w:Mount Hor|Mount Hor]]; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2020:22-29&version=NKJV Numbers 20:22-29]), and then, by a similar arrangement, through the land of Moab.
 
 
At this point two Transjordan kings, Og and Sihon refused them passage. [[w:Sihon|Sihon]], king of the Amorites, whose capital was at [[w:Heshbon|Heshbon]], refused them passage, and was conquered by Moses, who allotted his territory to the tribes of Reuben and Gad. Next, Og, King of [[w:Bashan|Bashan]], was similarly overthrown (Numbers 21), and his territory assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh.<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/>  The Israelites fought with Og's forces at Edrei, on the southern border of Bashan, where the Israelites were victorious and slew every man, woman, and child of his cities and took spoil for their bounty.<ref>Tromp, Johnannes (1993). ''The Assumption of Moses: A Critical Edition with Commentary.'' Brill. ISBN 90-04-09779-1.</ref>
 
 
When [[w:Balak|Balak]], king of Moab, heard of the Israelites' conquests over Sihon of the Amorites and Og of Bashan, he feared that his territory might be next. He sent elders of Moab, and of Midian, to [[w:Balaam|Balaam]] (a powerful and respected prophet), son of [[w:Beor (biblical figure)|Beor]]), to induce him to come and curse the Israelites. Ultimately Balaam informed Balak and the Midianites that if they wished to overcome the Israelites for a short interval, they needed to seduce the Israelites to engage in idolatry.<ref>"Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraph 6".</ref> The Midianites sent beautiful women to the Israelite camp to seduce the young men to partake in idolatry, and the attempt proved successful. Due to the scandalous intercourse with the idolatrous Moabites, God then commanded Moses to kill and hang the heads of everyone who had engaged in idolatry, and Moses ordered the judges to carry out the mass execution, resulting in the slaughter of 24,000 offenders ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2025&version=NKJV Numbers 25]).
 
 
At the same time, one of the Israelites brought home a Midianitish woman in the sight of the congregation. Upon seeing this, [[w:Phinehas|Phinehas]], the grandson of Aaron, took a javelin in his hand and thrust through both the Israelite and the Midianitish woman, which turned away the wrath of God. Moses was then told that because Phinehas had averted the wrath of God from the Israelites, Phinehas and his descendents were given the pledge of an everlasting priesthood ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2025:1-13;&version=NKJV Numbers 25:1-13]).
 
 
After Moses had taken a census of the people, which showed that the army still numbered 601,730, excluding 23,000 Levites,<ref group="note">Of these Moses allows the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasses to settle in the east-Jordan district, without, however, releasing them from service in the west-Jordan conquest.</ref> he sent an army to avenge the perceived evil brought on the Israelites by the Midianites. Numbers 31 says Moses instructed the [[w:Midian war|Israelite soldiers to kill every Midianite]] woman, boy, and non-virgin girl ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2031:17-18&version=NKJV Numbers 31:17-18]). Thus the Israelites killed [[w:Balaam|Balaam]], and the five kings of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2031:8;&version=NKJV Numbers 31:8]).
 
 
Moses then appointed Joshua, son of Nun, to succeed him as the leader of the Israelites ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2027:15-23;&version=NKJV Numbers 27:15-23]). At the end of the Book of Numbers the Israelites are on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho ready to enter the land.
 
 
===Seeing the Promised Land and Moses' Departure===
 
[[File:Nebi-Musa.jpg|right|thumb|200px|[[w:Nabi Musa|Nabi Musa]], the traditional site of Moses' Tomb in the Judean desert.]]
 
After all this was accomplished,  arriving in the land of [[w:Moab|Moab]], Moses was warned that he would not be permitted to lead Israel across the Jordan into the [[w:Promised Land|Promised Land]], but would die on the eastern side ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2020:12&version=NKJV Numbers 20:12]). He therefore assembled the tribes and delivered to them a parting address, which forms the Book of Deuteronomy. In this last official act, it is commonly supposed that Moses recapitulated the Law, renewing the Sinai Covenant with those who had survived the wilderness wanderings.<ref name="BRITTANICA"/><ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/>
 
 
When this was finished, and he had pronounced a blessing upon the people, he went up Mount Nebo to the top of [[w:Mount Pisgah (Bible)|Pisgah]] (''Phasga'') ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2032:49&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 32:49]), looked over the country spread out before him, and died, at the age of one hundred and twenty (120).<ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/> [[God]] Himself buried him in an unknown grave, in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2034:5-8&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 34:5-8]). God kept the location secret so that the Israelites would not make the religious error of turning the site into a shrine of worship.<ref name=WHOSWHO/>
 
 
In [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude%201:9&version=NKJV Jude 1:9] there is an allusion to an altercation between the [[Archangel Michael]] and Satan over the body of Moses.
 
 
====Legacy====
 
The epitaph for Moses, who was more [[Humility|meek]] than any other man ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2012:3&version=NKJV Numbers 12:3]), and the summation of traditional Jewish reverence for him and his accomplishments, appears at the very end of the [[Pentateuch]], for: ''"there hath not arisen a prophet since in [[Israel]] like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face"'' ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2034:10&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 34:10]).<ref name=WHOSWHO/><ref name="JEWISH-ENCYC"/> Moses is the ultimate 'Man of Faith' who in fact rejects being the 'Majestic Man'.<ref name=REISS>Reiss, Moshe (Rabbi). "[http://www.moshereiss.org/messenger/06_moses/06_moses.html Moses]." ''Messengers of God: A Theological And Psychological Perspective.'' Retrieved: 2012-07-07.</ref> It is the everlasting glory of Moses that he should have been the messenger of God. The thundering words of God: "I AM THAT I AM" were echoed by Moses for all time, and will burn in the minds of men as did the bush in the eyes of Moses.<ref name=POULOS>Fr. [http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/affiliates/rca/biography/poulos_george George Poulos]. ''"September 4 - Moses".'' In: Orthodox Saints: Spiritual Profiles for Modern Man: July 1 to September 30. Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1991. p.170.</ref>
 
 
[[File:Moses window - Washington National Cathedral (Lawrence Saint).JPG|right|thumb|240px|Stained glass window depicting the three stages in Moses' life (''Washington National Cathedral'')]]
 
 
<blockquote>"In the narrative, the phrase is constantly recurring, "The Lord spake unto Moses," "Moses spake unto the children of Israel." In the traditions of the desert, whether late or early, his name predominates over that of every one else: "The Wells of Moses" — on the shores of the Red Sea; "the Mountain of Moses" ([[Mount Sinai|Jebel Mūsá]]) — near the [[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|convent of St. Catharine]]; the Ravine of Moses (Shuk Mūsá) — at Mount St. Catharine; the Valley of Moses ([[w:Wadi Musa|Wady Mūsá]]) — at Petra. "The [[Pentateuch|Books of Moses]]" are so called (as afterwards the [[w:Books of Samuel|Books of Samuel]]), in all probability, from his being the chief subject of them. The very word "Mosaism" has been in later times applied (as the proper name of no other saint of the O.T.) to the whole religion. Even as applied to tessellated pavement ("[[w:Mosaic|Mosaic]]," ''Musiuum'', ''μουσειον'', ''μουσαικον'') there is some probability that the expression is derived from the variegated pavement of the later Temple, which had then become the representative of the religion of Moses...<br>
 
<br>
 
It has sometimes been attempted to reduce this great character into a mere passive instrument of the divine Will, as though he had himself borne no conscious part in the actions in which he figures, or the messages which he delivers. This, however, is as incompatible with the general tenor of the scriptural account as it is with the common language in which he has been described by the Church in all ages. The frequent addresses of the Divinity to him no more contravene his personal activity and intelligence than in the case of [[Elijah]], [[Isaiah]], or [[Apostle Paul|Paul]]. In the [[New Testament|N.T.]] the Mosaic legislation is expressly ascribed to him : "''Moses'' gave you circumcision" (John vii, 22). "'Moses', because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you" (Matt. xix, 8). "Did not ''Moses'' give you the law?" (John vii, 19). "'Moses' accuseth you" (John v, 45). Paul goes so far as to speak of him as the founder of the Jewish religion: "They were all baptized ''unto Moses''" (1 Cor. x,2). He is constantly called "a prophet." In the poetical language of the O.T. (Numb. xxi,18; Deut. xxxiii,21), and in the popular language both of Jews and Christians, he is known as "the Lawgiver." The terms in which his legislation is described by Philo (''V.M.'' ii,1-4) are decisive as to the ancient Jewish view. He must be considered, like all the saints and heroes of the Bible, as a man of marvellous gifts, raised up by divine Providence for a special purpose; but as led, both by his own disposition and by the peculiarity of the revelation which he received, into a closer communion with the invisible world than was vouchsafed to any other in the [[Old Testament]]."<ref name="MCCLINTOCK+STRONG"/></blockquote>
 
 
It is the constant teaching of the [[Church Fathers|Holy Fathers]] that what Moses encountered on Mt. Sinai was the Lord [[Jesus Christ]] Himself, in pre-incarnate state, for [[God]] the Father has never at any time made contact with or revealed Himself, except through the Son, And it is the Son who makes the Father known to us. It is only after the [[Incarnation]] of Christ that it becomes again permissible to make images of [[Christ]] [[God]], and the saints and angels, not in order to worship them, as did pagans and idolaters, but as a reminder to us of heavenly realities.<ref name=AMBYOUNG/>
 
 
When Exodus 33:11 states that God ''"...spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend"'', the phrase ''"face to face"'' is not used to refer to their physical position in relation to one another, but to the intimate nature of the Lord’s discourse with Moses. Deuteronomy 34:10 again states that the Lord ''"knew"'' Moses ''"face to face"''; and again, the phrase is not being used of physical position, but of their relationship – that is:
 
<blockquote>''"In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of all Israel."'' (34:11-12).<ref name=AMBYOUNG/></blockquote>
 
 
The first two [[Biblical Odes]] are attributed to Moses:<ref name="OCA-LIFE"/>
 
:# "Let us sing to the Lord…" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%2015:1-9&version=NKJV Exodus 15:1-9]), which was sung on the shores of the Red Sea after the Hebrews had crossed it. And:
 
:# "Attend, O heaven…" ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2032:1-43&version=NKJV Deuteronomy 32:1-43]), which was sung in the land of Moab, a few days before Moses' death.
 
<br>
 
 
==Apparitions of Moses==
 
[[File:Theophanes the greek - Transfiguration.jpg|right|thumb|160px|The [[Transfiguration]] (''[[w:Theophanes the Greek|Theophanes the Greek]], 15th c.'')]]
 
The holy Prophet Moses performed many miracles during his lifetime, and also after his death. He appeared on [[Mount Tabor]] with the Prophet [[Elijah]] at the [[Transfiguration]] of the Lord ([[August 6]]).<ref name="OCA-LIFE"/>
 
 
<blockquote>"Jewish-minded Peter, when he saw the ancient worthies about to pass away (Luke 9:33), was troubled, and proposed to build three tabernacles to keep the Christ and Moses and Elijah on the same equality; but a cloud overshadowed him while he spoke, and "a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my chosen, ''hear ye him'' (rather than Moses and the prophets). And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone." Let us not misapprehend the far-reaching significance of that heavenly vision. Moses and Elijah remain in the picture in a glory of their own, as old schoolmasters of blessed memory who led the way to Christ. But we should be like the three disciples who, after they heard the voice out of the cloud, "suddenly looking round about, saw no one any more save Jesus only with themselves" (Mark 9:8). He remains with us in all his glory still. He is the end of the law and the fulfilment of prophecy for the Christian ages. He is now sitting on his heavenly throne, and he saith: "Behold, I make all things new."<ref>Professor Milton S. Terry, D.D., LL.D.. "The Old Testament and the Christ." ''The American Journal of Theology.'' Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 1906), pp.233-250. (pp.249-250).</ref></blockquote>
 
 
In addition, on the day that St [[John Climacus|John of the Ladder]] ([[March 30]]) was installed as abbot of [[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|Mt. Sinai]] (late 6th century AD), the Prophet Moses was seen going around [[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|St. Catherine's Monastery]] during the feast and giving orders to the cooks, stewards, and servants. When the guests had gone and the monks were sitting at table, they wondered what had become of the stranger who had been giving orders. St John said, ''"Our Lord Moses does nothing strange by serving in the place which belongs to him."''<ref name="OCA-LIFE"/>
 
 
There is also an apparition of Moses recorded in the hagiography of Saint [[Gregentios of Himyaritia]], the missionary Bishop of [[w:Himyarite Kingdom|Himyaritia]] in [[w:Arabia Felix|Sourthern Arabia]], in the sixth century. During a debate on faith that was held between the Jews of that region and the Orthodox Christians, the leading Rabbi among the Jews, named Ervan (''Herban, Ervas'') beheld the holy Prophet Moses, who worshipped the Lord [[Jesus Christ]]; the prophet Moses told Ervan that he (Ervan) was in opposition to the truth and would be defeated.<ref>''[http://oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103592 St Gregory the Archbishop of Omirits].'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.</ref>
 
 
Furthermore, it has been considered that Moses will be one of the [[w:Two witnesses|Two Witnesses]], together with [[Elijah]], who will appear during the ''Second woe'' in the Book of [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%2011:1-14&version=NKJV Revelation 11:1-14]. In a homily given by Protopresbyter [[Thomas Hopko]] on the ''[http://www.amazon.com/Apocalypse-Revelation-Christian-Tradition-Recording/dp/0881413054 Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation Within Orthodox Christian Tradition],'' in discussing the mystagogical and liturgical character of the [[Book of Revelation]], he posits that the two witnesses will be Moses and [[Elijah]] because they represent or symbolize the whole of the Hebrew religion; Moses symbolizes the Law and Elijah the Prophets; Moses represents the earth because he is buried and Elijah the heavens because He is taken-up; Moses represents the dead because he died and Elijah represents the living because he did not die; they represent the totality / [[Oikonomia|economia]] / plan of God; and at the Transfiguration, Moses and [[Elijah]] appeared with [[Jesus]] to show that He is the fulfillment of the whole history of [[Israel]].<ref group="note"> On the other hand, most modern scholars would say that the two witnesses represent Enoch and [[Elijah]] because they were the two taken up into heaven.</ref>
 
<br>
 
<br>
 
 
==Theological considerations==
 
==Theological considerations==
===Prefiguring Jesus===
 
Moses' role as a prophet is complex and diverse, but one of the predominant themes of relevance to the Early Church is prefigured in '''[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut%2018:15;&version=50; Deut 18:15]''', his chief utterance relating to a future [[Prophet]], like to himself, whom the people are to receive. He is often in Jewish tradition known as the '[[w:Redeemer (Christianity)|Redeemer]]'. This symbolized two things. He did redeem the Jews from Egypt, but he is also seen as the model of the 'Redeemed Man', a forerunner of the Davidic Messianic model.<ref name="REISS"/>
 
 
As the author of the Law, he is contrasted with [[Christ]], the Author of the [[Gospel]]. The Gospel writers make an effort at several points to highlight the role of [[Jesus]] as the "new Moses," the fulfillment of the prophecy. The [[New Testament]]'s view goes beyond paralleling that of the [[Old Testament]], in that Moses is looked upon as a precursor to Christ ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2010:1-4&version=NKJV 1 Corinthians 10:1-4]) and as a witness to him ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:45&version=NKJV John 1:45]), in the seamless, unified history of God's relationship to and interaction with humankind throughout the ages.<ref name=WHOSWHO/>
 
 
<blockquote>"During his whole life and ministry [[Jesus]] showed a becoming respect for the rites of the [[w:Mosaic covenant|Mosaic law]]. He himself was "born under the law" (Gal. 4:4), and after [[Circumcision of our Lord|having been circumcised]] he was formally presented at the temple with the appropriate offerings required by the law (Luke 2:21-24). He submitted to [[Theophany|John's baptism]], declaring that thus it became him "to fulfil all righteousness." When he cleansed a [[w:Leprosy|leper]], he bade him go to the priest and "offer the gift that Moses commanded" (Matt. 8:4). He admonished his [[Apostles|disciples]] that "the scribes and the [[Pharisee]]s sit on Moses' seat," and their teachings were therefore to be duly observed. He even represented father [[w:Abraham|Abraham]] as speaking to the rich man in [[w:Hades|Hades]] about "Moses and the prophets" (Luke 16: 29). He enjoined upon those who asked him what they must do to inherit eternal life, to keep the commandments of the [[w:Decalogue|Decalogue]]; and he condensed them into the [[w:Great Commandment|two great commandments]] of love (Matt. 19:16-19; Luke 10:26-28). These two commandments are found in Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18; but the superior wisdom of our [[Lord]] is seen in the discrimination which assigns to these two the substance of "the whole law and the prophets." The [[Lord's Prayer]] is made up of petitions which had probably been uttered in substance and in separate parts a thousand times before, but only the wisdom of Jesus was sufficient to collect and combine them into one short universal prayer."<ref>Professor Milton S. Terry, D.D., LL.D.. "The Old Testament and the Christ." ''The American Journal of Theology.'' Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 1906), pp.233-250. (pp.236-237).</ref></blockquote>
 
  
Furthermore, the Law of Moses is contrasted with and fulfilled by the [[grace]] of [[Christ]] ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%201:17&version=NKJV John 1:17]).<ref name="POULOS"/> Although Jesus declared that ''he came not to destroy but to fulfil the law and the prophets,'' his fulfilling the law and the prophets, as contradistinguished from destroying them, has been strangely misunderstood.
+
Moses' role as a prophet is complex and diverse, but one of the predominant themes of relevance to the Early Church is prefigured in [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut%2018:15;&version=50; Deut 18:15]. The Gospel writers make an effort at several points to highlight the role of Jesus as the "new Moses," the fulfillment of the prophecy.
  
<blockquote>"(Jesus') fulfilling the content and purport of the Old Testament involves the complete displacement of the statutes and rites of the old covenant as a norm of religious life in Christ. His saying that "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law till all things be accomplished" (Matt. 5:I8) does not mean or imply that the law in all its parts is to remain in force forever. On the contrary the great Teacher made it very clear and positive that he himself is the end of the law; and his fulfillment, accomplishing, or consummation of the law and the prophets is a ''making of all things new in the gospel of a new and better covenant.'' Law and prophets are swallowed up and superseded by the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. The distinction between destroying and fulfilling is illustrated by the obvious impropriety of putting a piece of new undressed cloth upon an old garment, and of putting new wine into old wineskins. It is equally incongruous for an invited guest to be found fasting at the time of the wedding-feast when the bridegroom and his friends are expected to rejoice together (Matt. 9:14-17). And so we are taught that the gospel carries with it a new spirit and a new life. It is not a dispensation of partial reforms, with the omission or modification of a number of old customs, but '''a deep, radical, and permanent uplift from the bondage of the letter to a glorious freedom of the Spirit.''' Jesus came not to set aside an indefinite portion of the Old Testament regulations, and to institute a sort of eclectic system in which the old law and the prophets were, with a few exceptions, to remain as the authoritative guides of Christian life and thought. He came as the Mediator of a new and better covenant, enacted upon better promises (Heb. 8:6). He made the old things pass away in order that all things might become new (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17 and Rev. 21:5). The old is not destroyed; it remains as an invaluable object-lesson, showing how God did at sundry times and in divers ways reveal himself of old. But every jot and tittle of the former revelations have been taken up, as by a process of living growth, and incorporated by the power of a new and higher life into the gospel of our Lord."<ref>Professor Milton S. Terry, D.D., LL.D.. "The Old Testament and the Christ." ''The American Journal of Theology.'' Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 1906), pp.233-250. (pp.239-240).</ref></blockquote>
+
(Consider for starters... http://www.direct.ca/trinity/moses.html )
 
 
Therefore while Moses is looked upon as a precursor to [[Christ]], we are also reminded of his humanity, as influential writer [[w:Franz Kafka|Franz Kafka]] writes in his ''[[w:Franz Kafka's Diaries|Diaries]]'' :
 
<blockquote>"He is on the track of Canaan all his life; it is incredible that he should see the land only when he is on the verge of death. This dying vision of it can only be intended to illustrate how incomplete a moment is human life, incomplete because a life like this could last forever and still be nothing but a moment. Moses fails to enter Canaan not because his life was too short but because it is a human life."<ref name="REISS"/></blockquote>
 
 
 
===Typologies===
 
Moses — mentioned more often in the [[New Testament]] than any other [[Old Testament]] figure — is often a symbol of God's law, as reinforced and expounded on in the teachings of [[Jesus]].
 
 
 
New Testament writers often compared Jesus' words and deeds with Moses' to explain Jesus' mission. In Acts 7:39–43, 51–53, for example, the rejection of Moses by the Jews who worshiped the [[w:Golden calf|golden calf]] is likened to the rejection of Jesus by the Jews that continued in [[w:Rabbinic Judaism|traditional Judaism]].
 
 
 
[[File:Korazim Old Synagogue -- Seat of Moses.jpg|right|thumb|Stone armchair at [[w:Chorazin|Chorazin]], Israel, an exemplary illustration of the '''“seat of Moses”''' mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23.]]
 
Moses also figures in several of Jesus' messages. When he met the [[Pharisee|Pharisees]] [[Nicodemus the Righteous|Nicodemus]] at night in the third chapter of the [[Gospel of John]], he compared Moses' lifting up of the [[w:Nehushtan|bronze serpent]] in the wilderness, which any Israelite could look at and be healed, to his own lifting up (by his death and [[resurrection]]) for the people to look at and be healed.
 
 
 
In the sixth chapter, Jesus responded to the people's claim that Moses provided them manna in the wilderness by saying that it was not Moses, but [[God]], who provided. Calling himself the "[[Eucharist|bread of life]]", Jesus stated that He was provided to feed God's people.
 
 
 
Moses, along with [[Elijah]], is presented as meeting with Jesus in all three Gospel accounts of the [[Transfiguration]] of Jesus in [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 17, [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 9, and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 9, respectively.
 
 
 
Later Christians found numerous other [[Typology|typological]] parallels between the life of Moses and Jesus to the extent that Jesus was likened to a "second Moses." For instance, Jesus' escape from the [[Holy Innocents|slaughter by Herod in Bethlehem]] ([[December 29]]) is compared to Moses' escape from Pharaoh's designs to kill Hebrew infants.
 
 
 
===Moses' Seat===
 
It is unknown whether the roots of the “seat of Moses” are Israelite, pagan, or Christian. Nothing alike to this is found described in the [[Old Testament]]. The best of archaeological evidence indicates more that it was a Jewish adoption of a pagan practice and possibly a Christian one. The earliest account of "Moses' seat" is found in the [[New Testament]]] (Matthew 23), and whether this was a literal or metaphorical description of authority provides fodder for perennial debate. Hence, the question becomes not whether Christians derived the "[[Cathedra|bishop chair]]" from the [[synagogue]], but whether both synagogue and church communities alike appropriated the notion from pagan buildings. However that may be, in terms of "Moses' seat" one may conclude that the unity that the synagogal community saw and today sees in ''Mosheh Rabbenu'' ("Moses our teacher"), so the Orthodox churches see in its overseer, the bishop (''[[Bishop|Episkopos]]'').
 
<br>
 
 
 
==Gallery==
 
<center>'''The Finding of Moses'''</center>
 
<center>
 
<gallery>
 
File:Lawrence Alma-Tadema - The Finding of Moses (1904).jpg|The finding of Moses (''[[w:Lawrence Alma-Tadema|Lawrence Alma-Tadema]], 1904'').
 
 
 
File:Flavicky Nahozhd Moiseya.jpg|Pharaoh's daughter finding baby Moses (''Russian painter [[w:Konstantin Flavitsky|Konstantin Flavitsky]], 1830–1866'').
 
 
 
File:Goodall - The Finding of Moses.jpg|The Finding of Moses (''[[w:Frederick Goodall|Frederick Goodall]], 1862'').
 
</gallery>
 
</center>
 
 
 
<center>'''The Burning Bush'''</center>
 
<center>
 
<gallery>
 
File:Burning Bush, St Catherine's Monastery.jpg|The [[Burning Bush]], at [[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai]].
 
 
 
File:Ingeborg Psalter - Moses and the Burning Bush.jpg|Speaking from the Burning Bush, God tells Moses to remove his shoes because he is standing on hallowed ground. (''[[w:Ingeborg Psalter|Ingeborg Psalter]], 12th c. illuminated Psalter'').
 
 
 
File:Dirk Bouts - Moses and the Burning Bush.jpg|Moses and the Burning Bush. Attributed to [[w:Dieric Bouts|Dieric Bouts]], ca.1450-1475.
 
 
 
File:Vitrail Arbre de Jessé - Notre-Dame de Paris.jpg|Moses before the Burning Bush, as an extension of the [[Root of Jesse|Tree of Jesse]] (''Cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris. [[w:Adolphe Napoleon Didron|Adolphe Napoleon Didron]], 1864'').
 
 
 
File:Gerhard von Kügelgen, Moses auf dem Berge Horeb.jpg|Moses at the Burning Bush. By [[w:Gerhard von Kügelgen|Gerhard von Kügelgen]] (1772-1820).
 
 
 
File:20 ANONYME MOSESBUSH.jpg|''"Moses and the Burning Bush"'', by [[w:Arnold Friberg|Arnold Friberg]] (1953). Commissioned by [[w:Cecil B. DeMille|Cecil B. DeMille]] for ''[[w:The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments (1956 film)]].''
 
 
 
File:Jonathan Mandell -- Mosaic -- The Burning Bush.jpg|Mosaic of the Burning Bush, by Jonathan Mandell.
 
 
 
</gallery>
 
</center>
 
 
 
<center>'''The Burning Bush as the Theotokos'''</center>
 
<center>
 
<gallery>
 
 
 
File:Unburnt Bush Crete.JPG|The Burning Bush - Icon of Mother of God (''[[Michael Damaskinos|Damaskinos]], 16th c.'').
 
 
 
File:Burning Bush - Icon of Mother of God-2.jpg|Burning Bush - Icon of Mother of God (''Russian icon of Virgin Mary "Neopalimaya Kupina"'').
 
 
 
File:Nicolas Froment -- Burning Bush.jpg|Triptych of the Burning Bush, middle panel. Cathédrale St. Sauveur, Aix-en-Provence. By [[w:Nicolas Froment|Nicolas Froment]], ca 1475/1476.
 
 
 
</gallery>
 
</center>
 
 
 
<center>'''The Tablets of Stone'''</center>
 
<center>
 
<gallery>
 
File:Moisei St.Catherin Sinai.jpg|Moses receiving the Ten Commandments (''[[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)|St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)]],'' ca.6th c.).
 
 
 
File:Moses (The Gates of Paradise, Florence).JPG|Moses receives the tables of the law from God - (one of the ten scenes/panels from: ''' ''The Gates of Paradise'' ''', gilded bronze doors of the [[w:Florence Baptistery|Florence Baptistery]], by [[w:Florence_Baptistery#Lorenzo_Ghiberti|Lorenzo Ghiberti]], ca.1425-1452).
 
 
 
File:Moses - José de Ribera.jpg|Moses and the Tablets of Law (''[[w:Jusepe de Ribera|José de Ribera]]'', 1638).
 
 
 
File:Ten Commandments Plaque (Anonymous).jpg|Plaque of Moses with the Ten Commandments. (Anonymous).
 
 
 
File:Moses radiant--Gustav Dore.jpg|Moses with the Ten Commandments (''Gustave Doré,'' 1865).
 
 
 
File:Exodus-Moses.jpg|Screenshot of actor Charlton Heston as Moses, holding the [[w:Ten_Commandments#The_Two_Tablets|Two Tablets]] of the [[w:Ten Commandments|Ten Commandments]] (''[[w:The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|1956 film]]'').
 
</gallery>
 
</center>
 
 
 
<center>'''Worship of The Golden Calf'''</center>
 
<center>
 
<gallery>
 
File:Dura Europos - fresco worshipping golden calf.jpg|Worshipping the golden calf. Fresco from the Dura Europos synagogue (ca.244-256 AD).
 
 
 
File:Ingeborg Psalter - Worship of the Golden Calf.jpg|Worship of the Golden Calf (''[[w:Ingeborg Psalter|Ingeborg Psalter]], 12th c. illuminated Psalter'').
 
 
 
File:Poussin - The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1633-36).jpg|The Adoration of the Golden Calf (''[[w:Nicolas Poussin|Nicolas Poussin]], 1633-36'').
 
 
 
File:Ipatios monastery Kostroma 07.jpg|Fresco from the [[w:Ipatiev Monastery|Ipatiev (Hypatian) Monastery]] showing the Golden Calf (ca.1913).
 
 
 
</gallery>
 
</center>
 
  
 
==Hymns==
 
==Hymns==
<ref group="note">For the hymns in Greek from the ''Great [[Synaxarion|Synaxaristes]]'', see:<br>
+
'''[http://www.oca.org/FStropars.asp?SID=13&ID=102490 Russian:]'''
:'''Ἀπολυτίκιον. Ἦχος γ’. Θείας πίστεως.'''<br>
 
::Γνόφον ἄϋλον, τεθεαμένος, νόμον ἔνθεον, πλαξὶν ἐδέξω, ὡς θεάμων μυστηρίων τοῦ Πνεύματος•<br>
 
::καὶ καταπλήξας τὴν Αἴγυπτον θαύμασι, δημαγωγὸς Ἰσραὴλ ἐχρημάτισας.<br>
 
::Μωσῆ ἔνδοξε, Χριστὸν τὸν Θεὸν ἱκέτευε, δωρήσασθαι ἡμῖν τὸ μέγα ἔλεος.
 
  
:'''Κοντάκιον. Ἦχος πλ. δ’. Τῇ ὑπερμάχῳ.'''<br>
+
[[Troparion]] (Tone 2)
::Ὡς θεωρὸν τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐνανθρωπήσεως<br>
 
::Καὶ μυστογράφον τῆς αὐτοῦ συγκαταβάσεως<br>
 
::Μακαρίζομεν Θεόπτα σε ἐπαξίως.<br>
 
::Ἀλλ’ ὡς πέφυκας μεσίτης ἀξιόθεος<br>
 
::Ἐκ παντοίων ἡμᾶς λύτρωσαι κακώσεων,<br>
 
::Ἵνα κράζωμεν• χαίροις μάκαρ Μωσῆ σοφέ.
 
 
 
:'''Μεγαλυνάριον.'''<br>
 
::Τὸν χρηματισθέντα ἐν τῷ Σινᾷ,<br>
 
::καὶ ἐξαγαγόντα, ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τὸν Ἰσραήλ,<br>
 
::τὸν ὑπερκοσμίων, ἐπόπτην θεαμάτων,<br>
 
::Μωσέα τὸν θεόπτην, ὕμνοις τιμήσωμεν.</ref><br>
 
[[Apolytikion]] (Tone 3)<ref name=GOARCH>''[http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=192 Moses the Prophet & Godseer].'' Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.</ref>
 
 
:The memory of Your prophet Moses,
 
:The memory of Your prophet Moses,
 
:We celebrate today, O Lord.
 
:We celebrate today, O Lord.
Line 443: Line 55:
 
:O Christ God, save our souls!
 
:O Christ God, save our souls!
  
[[File:Prophitis kai Nomothetis Moysis.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The Holy Prophet and Lawgiver Moses the God-seer.]]
+
[[Kontakion]] (Tone 2)
[[Troparion]] (Tone 2)<ref name=OCA-HYMNS>''[http://oca.org/FStropars.asp?SID=13&ID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses - Hymns].'' Orthodox Church in America.</ref>
+
:The company of the prophets rejoices with Moses and Aaron,
:You ascended to the heights of the virtues, Prophet Moses;
+
:For their prophecy is fulfilled
:therefore, you were deemed worthy to see the glory of God.
+
:As the Cross by which you have saved us shines forth.
:Having received the grace-filled tablets of the Law,
+
:Save our souls by their prayers, O Christ our God!
:and bearing the grace of the writing within yourself,
 
:you were the honorable praise of prophets,
 
:and a great mystery of piety.
 
  
[[Kontakion]] (Tone 2)<ref name="OCA-HYMNS"/>
+
'''[http://goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=192 Greek:]'''
: The choir of prophets rejoices with Moses and Aaron today,
+
 
: for the fulfillment of their prophecy is in our midst.
+
[[Apolytikion]] (Third Tone)
: The Cross, by which You have saved us, shines forth today.
+
:As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Moses,
: By their prayers, O Christ God, have mercy on us.
+
:O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.
<br>
+
 
<br>
+
[[Kontakion]] (Fourth Tone)
===Moses in the Pentecostarion===
+
:With the divine and righteous Moses and Aaron, the Prophets' choir today rejoiceth with gladness,
'''Ode 1: Canon in the Fourth Tone.'''<br>
+
:seeing their prophecy fulfilled now in our midst;
'''Heirmos:'''<br>
+
:for Thy Cross, O Christ our God, whereby Thou hast redeemed us,
:Covered by the divine cloud,<br>
+
:shineth in the sight of all as the end and fulfilment of that which they foretold in ancient times.
:he that was slow of tongue Proclaimed the Law written by God;<br>
+
:By their entreaties, have mercy upon us all.
:For having shaken off the impurity from the eye of his mind,<br>
 
:He beholdeth Him, That Is, and he is initiated into the knowledge of the Spririt,<br>
 
:While giving praise with God-inspired songs.<ref>''The Pentecostarion.'' Transl. from the Greek by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Boston, Mass.: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1990. p.409.</ref>
 
  
'''Ode 8: Canon in the Grave (7th) Tone.'''<br>
 
'''Heirmos:'''<br>
 
:The bush that was unconsumed by fire on Sinai<br>
 
:spake unto the tardiloquent and inarticulate Moses,<ref group="note">[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204:10&version=NKJV Exodus 4:10].</ref><br>
 
:and made God know unto him;<br>
 
:and zeal for God showed forth the three Children<br>
 
:who chanted hymns to be unconsumed by fire.<br>
 
:O all ye His works, praise ye the Lord<br>
 
:and supremely exalt Him unto all the ages.<ref>''The Pentecostarion.'' Transl. from the Greek by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Boston, Mass.: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1990. p.414.</ref>
 
<br>
 
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
* [[Israel]]
 
* [[Burning Bush]]
 
* [[Theotokos the Unburnt Bush icon]]
 
* [[Exodus]]
 
* [[Mount Sinai]]
 
 
* [[Passover]]
 
* [[Passover]]
* [[Pentateuch]]
 
* [[Judaism]]
 
* [[Judaism and Early Christianity]]
 
* [[Sabbath]]
 
* [[St. Catherine's Monastery (Sinai)]]
 
* [[Tabernacle (biblical)]]
 
* [[Typology]]
 
'''Wikipedia'''
 
* [[w:Christian views on the old covenant|Christian views on the old covenant]]
 
* [[w:Catholic doctrine regarding the Ten Commandments|Roman Catholic doctrine regarding the Ten Commandments]]
 
* [[w:Aaron's rod|Aaron's rod]]
 
* [[w:Plagues of Egypt|Plagues of Egypt]] (Ten Plagues)
 
* [[w:The Exodus|The Exodus]]
 
* [[w:Pillar of Fire (theophany)|Pillar of Fire (theophany)]]
 
* [[w:Pillar of Cloud (theophany)|Pillar of Cloud (theophany)]]
 
* [[w:Crossing the Red Sea|Crossing the Red Sea]]
 
* [[w:Manna|Manna]]
 
* [[w:Burning bush|Burning bush]]
 
* [[w:Golden calf|Golden calf]]
 
* [[w:Ki Tisa|Ki Tisa]]
 
* [[w:Tablets of Stone|Tablets of Stone]]
 
* [[w:Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic script]]
 
* [[w:Ten Commandments|Ten Commandments]] (Decalogue)
 
* [[w:Ritual Decalogue|Ritual Decalogue]]
 
* [[w:Covenant Code|Covenant Code]]
 
* [[w:613 commandments|613 commandments]] (613 Mitzvot)
 
* [[w:Great Commandment|Great Commandment]]
 
* [[w:Law of Moses|Law of Moses]]
 
* [[w:Mosaic covenant|Mosaic covenant]] (Sinaitic Covenant)
 
* [[w:Mosaic authorship|Mosaic authorship]]
 
* [[w:Nehushtan|Nehushtan]]
 
* [[w:Midian war|Midian war]]
 
* [[w:Three Pilgrimage Festivals|Three Pilgrimage Festivals]] (''Pesach ([[Passover]]); Shavuot (Weeks/Pentecost); Sukkot (Tents or Booths)'')
 
* [[w:The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments (1956 film)]].
 
 
==Notes==
 
<references group="note" />
 
  
 
==References==  
 
==References==  
 
<div><references/></div>
 
<div><references/></div>
  
==Sources==
+
==External Links and Sources==
'''Orthodox Sources'''
+
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses] from the [[Orthodox Church in America]] website
* "September 4: The Holy God-seer Moses the Prophet and Aaron His Brother". In: ''The [[Menaion]]: Volume 1, The Month of September.'' Transl. from the Greek by the [[Holy Transfiguration Monastery (Brookline, Massachusetts)|Holy Transfiguration Monastery]]. Boston, Massachusetts, 2005. pp.61-70. ISBN 9780943405124
+
*[http://www.oca.org/FStropars.asp?SID=13&ID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses: Troparion and Kontakion] from the [[Orthodox Church in America]] website
* ''The [[Pentecostarion]].'' Transl. from the Greek by the Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Boston, Mass.: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1990. 487pp. ISBN: 0-943405-02-5 Library of Congress No. (LCCN): 90-080886.
+
*[http://goarch.org/en/chapel/saints.asp?contentid=192 Moses the Prophet and Godseer] from the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]] website
* Fr. George Mastrantonis. ''[http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7115 The Ten Commandments].'' [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]], 1990-1996.
+
*[http://saintgeorge.org/news_and_events/church_calendar/saint_of_the_day/09sep/sep_04_moses.php Moses] from the website of the Saint George [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian]] Orthodox Church in Washington, DC
* Fr. [http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/affiliates/rca/biography/poulos_george George Poulos]. ''"September 4 - Moses".'' In: Orthodox Saints: Spiritual Profiles for Modern Man: July 1 to September 30. Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1991. pp.169-170.
+
*[http://www.comeandseeicons.com/m/yhp12.htm Icon of Prophet Moses]
* [[Nikolai Velimirovic]]. ''[[Prologue from Ohrid|Prologue from Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies for Every Day of the Year]].''  1928.
+
*[http://www.comeandseeicons.com/m/pds04.htm Icon of Prophet Moses and the Burning Bush]
* Fr. Ambrose Young. ''[http://theotokos-skete.org/files/Fr%20Ambrose%20Files/Fr%20Ambrose%20Sunday%20Sermons/Sep42011FeastMoses.pdf 12th Sunday of Mathew - The Feast of the Holy and Righteous Prophet Moses the God-seer].'' Entrance of the Theotokos Skete, September 4, 2011.
+
*[http://www.comeandseeicons.com/m/phn70.htm Icon of the Passing Through the Red Sea]
* ''[http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=192 Moses the Prophet & Godseer].'' Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
 
* ''[http://oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=102490 Holy Prophet and God-seer Moses].'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.
 
* ''[http://www.stmichaeleoc.org/The_Ethiopian_Synaxarium.pdf Synaxarium: The Book of the Saints of The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church].'' Transl. Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. Printed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Debre Meheret St. Michael Church, Garland, TX USA. pp.17-18.
 
* Coptic Orthodox Church Network (CopticChurch.net). ''[http://www.copticchurch.net/synaxarium/1_8.html 2. The Departure of Moses the Prophet.]'' St. Mark Coptic Church, Jersey City, NJ. Retrieved: 2012-12-10.
 
'''Non-Orthodox Sources'''
 
* ''"Moses".'' In: Who's Who in the Bible: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary. Reader's Digest Association, 1994. pp.300-311. ISBN 0895776189
 
* ''"Moses".'' Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009 Ultimate Reference Suite.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009.
 
* Reilly, Thomas à Kempis. ''"[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10596a.htm Moses]."'' The Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent). Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.
 
* ''[http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11049-moses#0 MOSES].'' Jewish Encyclopedia (The unedited full-text of the 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia).
 
* Rev. [[w:John McClintock (theologian)|John McClintock]], D.D., and Dr. [[w:James Strong (theologian)|James Strong]], [[w:Doctor of Sacred Theology|S.T.D.]]. ''"Mo'ses."'' In: [[w:Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature|Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]]. Vol. VI.— ME-NEV. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1882. pp.677-687.
 
* The Benedictine Monks of [[w:Historic_buildings_in_Ramsgate#Churches|St. Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate]] (Comp.). ''[http://archive.org/details/bookofsaintsdict00stau The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God Canonised by the Catholic Church: Extracted from the Roman & Other Martyrologies].'' London: A & C. Black Ltd., 1921. 275 pp.
 
* ''[http://archive.org/details/romanmartyrology00cathuoft The Roman Martyrology].'' Transl. by the Archbishop of Baltimore. Last Edition, According to the Copy Printed at Rome in 1914. Revised Edition, with the Imprimatur of His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons. Baltimore: John Murphy Company, 1916.
 
* Rev. Professor [[w:Nathaniel Schmidt|Nathaniel Schmidt]], Ph.D.. "Moses: His Age and His Work. II." ''The Biblical World.'' Vol. 7, No. 2 (Feb., 1896), pp. 105-119.
 
* Professor Milton S. Terry, D.D., LL.D.. "The Old Testament and the Christ." ''The American Journal of Theology.'' Vol. 10, No. 2 (Apr., 1906), pp.233-250.
 
* ''[[w:Moses|Moses]].'' Wikipedia.
 
* ''[http://www.conservapedia.com/Moses Moses].'' Conservapedia.
 
* ''[http://creationwiki.org/Moses Moses].'' Creation Wiki.
 
'''Other Languages'''
 
* Great [[Synaxarium|Synaxaristes]]: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/552/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Προφήτης Μωϋσῆς].'' 4 Σεπτεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
 
* {{el icon}} [http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C%CF%89%CF%85%CF%83%CE%AE%CF%82 Μωυσής]. Greek Wikipedia.
 
* {{ru icon}} [http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B5%D0%B9 Моисей]. Russian Wikipedia.
 
 
==External Links==
 
* [http://www.comeandseeicons.com/m/yhp12.htm Icon of Prophet Moses]. Come and See Icons.
 
* [http://www.comeandseeicons.com/m/phn70.htm Icon of the Passing Through the Red Sea]. Come and See Icons.
 
 
 
==Further Reading==
 
===Orthodox===
 
* [[Gregory of Nyssa]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=wAJ6fwFAligC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false The Life of Moses].'' Transl. Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson. Preface by [[John Meyendorff]]. The Classics of Western Spirituality. Paulist Press, 1978. 208 pp. ISBN 9780809121120
 
: <small>Gregory frames an immensely significant synthesis of the earlier Hellenistic and Jewish traditions in this work. He describes the spiritual ascent as taking place in three stages, symbolized by the Lord's revelation of Himself to Moses, first in light, then in the cloud and, finally, in the dark.</small>
 
===Heterodox - Moses in the New Testament===
 
* [[w:Dale Allison|Allison, Dale C.]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_new_Moses.html?id=ntzYAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y The New Moses: A Matthean Typology].'' Fortress Press, 1993. ISBN 9780800626990
 
 
 
* D'Angelo, Mary Rose. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses_in_the_Letter_to_the_Hebrews.html?id=wJm_QgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses in the Letter to the Hebrews].'' Issue 42 of Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series. Scholars Press, 1979. ISBN 9780891303336
 
: <small>A study of how Christology has influenced the interpretation of Moses.</small>
 
 
 
* Donaldson, Terence L. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses_Typology_in_the_Proclamation_and_P.html?id=1CjzNwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses Typology in the Proclamation and Polemic of the Early Church: A Study in Rhetoric of Church-synagogue Separation].'' Thesis (Th.M.) - Wycliffe College and Toronto School of Theology, 1978.
 
 
 
* Harris, W. Hall. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=ZVU8ejgbZE4C&dq=subject:Moses&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Descent of Christ: Ephesians 4:7-11 and Traditional Hebrew Imagery].'' Volume 32 of Arbeiten Zur Geschichte Des Antiken Judentums Und Des Urchristentums. BRILL, 1996. ISBN 9789004103108
 
: <small>The central portion of the book deals with the ascent-descent imagery associating Ps. 68:19 with Moses as found in Targum Psalms, the rabbinic literature, and other early sources.</small>
 
 
 
* Lierman, John. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=Zdam8_8t5x8C&dq=subject:%22Moses+%28Biblical+leader%29+in+the+New+Testament%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s The New Testament Moses: Christian Perceptions of Moses and Israël in the Setting of Jewish Religion].'' Mohr Siebeck, 2004. ISBN 9783161482021
 
: <small>A study of the NT witness to how Jews and Jewish Christians perceived the relationship of Moses with Israel and with the Jewish people.</small>
 
 
 
* Ponessa, Fr. Joseph (S.S.D.) and Laurie Watson Manhardt (Ph.D.). ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=1AgtbRbclcIC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Moses and The Torah: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy]''. Come and See: Catholic Bible Study. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2007. ISBN 9781931018456
 
 
 
* Theophilos, Michael P.. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Jesus_As_New_Moses_in_Matthew_8_9.html?id=dYiItwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y Jesus as New Moses in Matthew 8-9: Jewish Typology in First Century Greek Literature].'' Volume 4 of Gorgias Studies in Philosophy and Theology. Gorgias PressLlc, 2012. ISBN 9781463200862
 
 
 
====Articles====
 
* Bruns, J. Edgar. “The "Agreement of Moses and Jesus" in the 'Demonstratio Evangelica' of Eusebius”. ''Vigiliae Christianae.'' Vol. 31, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 117-125.
 
 
 
* Skeel, David & Tremper Longman. "[http://ssrn.com/abstract=1903928 The Mosaic Law in Christian Perspective]." ''U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 11-25.'' June 30, 2011.
 
 
 
===Heterodox - Moses in the Old Testament===
 
* [[w:William F. Albright|Albright, William Foxwell]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=xYcIAQAAIAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions From the Stone Age to Christianity - Monotheism and the Historical Process].'' Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1940. 2nd Ed. 1957. pp.11–17, 200–272.
 
: <small>A classic synthesis of Israel's history and religion in the setting of the ancient Middle East.</small>
 
 
 
* Albright, William Foxwell. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Biblical_period_from_Abraham_to_Ezra.html?id=mz1MAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y The Biblical Period from Abraham to Ezra].'' Harper & Row, 1963. pp.1–23.
 
: <small>A popular historical survey.</small>
 
 
 
* Albright, William Foxwell. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Yahweh_and_the_Gods_of_Canaan.html?id=qa2AMXzHUAwC&redir_esc=y Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: A Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths].'' Volume 7 of Jordan lectures in comparative religion. Eisenbrauns, 1968. pp.64–109, 153–182. ISBN 9780931464010
 
: <small>A technical analysis contrasting Israelite and Canaanite religion. Reissued 1990.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:Albrecht Alt|Alt, Albrecht]]. “The God of the Fathers.” In his ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=D8XYAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions Essays on Old Testament History and Religion].'' Blackwell, 1966. pp.1–86.
 
: <small>A classic article. Originally published in German, 1953–59.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:Jan Assmann|Assmann, Jan]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses_the_Egyptian.html?id=nJv0oyQ-9_AC Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism].'' Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 9780674587397
 
 
 
* Auerbach, Elias. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses.html?id=07zYAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses].'' Wayne State University Press, 1975. 
 
: <small>Originally published in German, 1953. A search for the historic Moses.</small>
 
 
 
* Beegle, Dewey M.. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses_the_servant_of_Yahweh.html?id=AbjYAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses, the Servant of Yahweh].'' Eerdmans, 1972. ISBN 9780802834065
 
: <small>A wide-ranging account both for the general reader and for students.</small>
 
 
 
* Beyerlin, Walter. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Origins_and_history_of_the_oldest_Sinait.html?id=iu3YAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y Origins and History of the Oldest Sinaitic Traditions].'' Blackwell, 1965.
 
: <small>Originally published in German, 1961. A technical study of biblical sources in Exodus 19–20, 24, 32–34.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:John Bright (biblical scholar)|Bright, John]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/A_history_of_Israel.html?id=-45tAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y A History of Israel].'' 4th ed. Westminster aids to the study of the Scriptures. Westminster J. Knox Press, 2000. ISBN 9780664220686
 
: <small>A standard work mediating scholarly extremes.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:Martin Buber|Buber, Martin]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=U1wQAQAAIAAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions Moses].'' East and West Library, 1946.
 
: Reissued as: ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses.html?id=j1wQAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant].'' Humanities Press International, 1988.
 
: <small>A sympathetic treatment with philosophical emphasis but weak in details of the ancient Middle East.</small>
 
 
 
* Coats, George W.. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Rebellion_in_the_wilderness.html?id=e4IQAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y Rebellion in the wilderness: The Murmuring Motif in the Wilderness, Traditions of the Old Testament].'' Abingdon Press, 1968.
 
 
 
* Coats, George W.. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses.html?id=bk7_CMIAQOsC&redir_esc=y Moses: Heroic Man, Man of God].'' Volume 57 of Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1988. ISBN 9781850750956
 
 
 
* [[w:Laurence Jonathan Cohen|Cohen, Jonathan]], (Rabbi). ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=p_y8lr0jmIoC&dq=subject:%22Moses+%28Biblical+leader%29+in+rabbinical+literature%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Origins and Evolution of the Moses Nativity Story].'' Volume 58 of Studies in the History of Religions. Numen Book Series. BRILL, 1993. ISBN 9789004096523
 
: <small>Traces the development of the Moses nativity story from pre-Biblical sources through its Biblical formulation, and continues to trace its evolution in post-Biblical literature, from the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, and Jewish Hellenistic writings, through Rabbinic literature, and up to Medieval Jewish exegesis.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:Frank Moore Cross|Cross, Frank Moore]], Jr.. “Yahweh and the God of Patriarchs.” ''Harvard Theological Review'', 55:225–259 (1962).
 
: <small>A scholarly treatment of issues raised by Alt's classic article cited above.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:David Daiches|Daiches, David]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses_the_man_and_his_vision.html?id=EfstAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses: The Man and his Vision].'' New York: Praeger, 1975. ISBN 9780275337407
 
 
 
* Hillers, Delbert R.. ''[http://books.google.co.in/books/about/Covenant.html?id=F8YWAAAAIAAJ Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea].'' Johns Hopkins Press, 1969.
 
: <small>An excellent popular study.</small>
 
 
 
* Hort, Greta. “The Plagues of Egypt.” ''Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft.'' 69(1957):84–103; and 70(1958):48–59.
 
: <small>A landmark study. The historical basis of the plagues.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:Yehezkel Kaufmann|Kaufmann, Yehezkel]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_religion_of_Israel_from_its_beginnin.html?id=4orXAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y The Religion of Israel, from its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile].'' University of Chicago Press, 1960. 
 
 
 
* [[w:Jonathan Kirsch|Kirsch, Jonathan]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses.html?id=nVsMUIUC5aIC&redir_esc=y Moses: A Life].'' Random House Digital, Inc., 1999. ISBN 9780345412706
 
 
 
* [[w:George E. Mendenhall|Mendenhall, George E.]]. “The Mask of Yahweh.” In: ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_tenth_generation.html?id=ZOXYAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition].'' Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. ISBN 9780801812675
 
 
 
* Newmann, Murray Lee. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_people_of_the_covenant.html?id=_fVLAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y The People of the Covenant: A Study of Israel from Moses to the Monarchy].'' Abingdon Press, 1962. pp.13–101.
 
 
 
* [[w:Martin Noth|Noth, Martin]]. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_history_of_Israel.html?id=-rY9AAAAIAAJ The History of Israel].'' 2nd ed. Harper, 1960. pp.110–138.
 
: <small>Originally published in German, 1950. A basic study but with radical treatment of Hebrew history prior to the conquest.</small> 
 
 
 
* Noth, Martin. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/A_history_of_Pentateuchal_traditions.html?id=j9bYAAAAMAAJ A History of Pentateuchal Traditions].'' Prentice-Hall, 1972. pp.156–188. ISBN 9780133912357
 
: <small>Originally published in German, 1948. A technical study of the biblical sources in the Pentateuch that doubts its accuracy.</small>
 
 
 
* Rowley, Harold Henry. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/From_Joseph_to_Joshua.html?id=4XFAAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y From Joseph to Joshua: Biblical traditions in the Light of Archaeology].'' The Schweich lectures of the British Academy. Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press, 1950.
 
 
 
* Silver, Daniel Jeremy. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Images_of_Moses.html?id=ZL7YAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y Images of Moses].'' Basic Books, 1982. ISBN 9780465032013
 
: <small>An examination of literary, artistic, and historical treatments of Moses.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:Arthur Eustace Southon|Southon, Arthur E]].. ''On Eagles' Wings.'' London: Cassell and Co., 1937. (Reprinted New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954).
 
: <small>An English minister in the Methodist Church, this book was used as the basis for the 1956 movie ''[[w:The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]].''</small>
 
 
 
* Stamm, Johann J. and M.E. Andrew. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Ten_Commandments_in_recent_research.html?id=Tbp-AAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y The Ten Commandments in Recent Research].'' 2nd Ed. Rev. and Enlarged. S.C.M. Press, 1967.
 
: <small>Originally published in German, 1958.</small>
 
 
 
* Suomala, Karla R.. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses_and_God_in_dialogue.html?id=nwGOkejzQqwC Moses and God in Dialogue: Exodus 32-34 in Postbiblical Literature].'' Volume 61 of Studies in Biblical Literature. Peter Lang, 2004. ISBN 9780820469058
 
: <small>Discusses the relationship between Moses and God, as well as the extent to which the Divine could be swayed by human reason and passion.</small>
 
 
 
* [[w:John Van Seters|Van Seters, John]]. ''[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=qOOZgbPQlxUC&dq=Seters+Life+of+Moses&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Life of Moses: The Yahwist as Historian in Exodus-Numbers].'' Volume 10 of Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology. [http://www.peeters-leuven.be/ Peeters Publishers], 1994. 524 pp. ISBN 9789039001127
 
 
 
* [[w:Elie Wiesel|Wiesel, Élie]]. “Moses: Portrait of a Leader.” In: ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Messengers_of_God.html?id=r2Mkwdy7wXMC&redir_esc=y Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits & Legends].'' New York: Random House, 1976. pp.174–210. ISBN 9780671541347
 
 
 
* [[w:Aaron Wildavsky|Wildavsky, Aaron]]. ''The Nursing Father: Moses as a Political Leader.'' University of Alabama Press, 1984. ISBN 9780817301682
 
 
 
*  Zeligs, Dorothy F.. ''[http://books.google.ca/books/about/Moses.html?id=_73YAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y Moses: A Psychodynamic Study].'' Human Sciences Press, 1986. ISBN 9780898852363
 
 
 
====Articles====
 
* Feldman, Louis H.. “Josephus' Portrait of Moses”. ''The Jewish Quarterly Review.'' New Series, Vol. 82, No. 3/4 (Jan. - Apr., 1992), pp.285-328.
 
 
 
* Martin, Jerry. "[http://ssrn.com/abstract=1975063 The Scandal of Divine Presence]." ''University of Colorado at Boulder, National Endowment for the Humanities.'' December 20, 2011.
 
 
 
* Rapoport. David C.. “Moses, Charisma, and Covenant”. ''The Western Political Quarterly.'' Vol. 32, No. 2 (Jun., 1979), pp. 123-143.
 
 
 
* Reiss, Moshe (Rabbi). "[http://www.moshereiss.org/messenger/06_moses/06_moses.html Moses]." ''Messengers of God: A Theological And Psychological Perspective.'' Retrieved: 2012-07-07.
 
 
 
* Ullendorff, Edward. “The 'Death of Moses' in the Literature of the Falashas”. ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.'' Vol. 24, No. 3 (1961), pp. 419-443.
 
: <small>(Apocryphal / Pseudepigraphal Literature)</small>
 
 
 
* Watts, James W.. “The Legal Characterization of Moses in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch”. ''Journal of Biblical Literature.'' Vol. 117, No. 3 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 415-426.
 
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[[Category:Old Testament]]
 
[[Category:Old Testament]]
 
[[Category:Biblical Saints]]
 
[[Category:Biblical Saints]]
[[Category:Elders]]
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[[Category:Saints]]
 
[[Category:Prophets]]
 
[[Category:Prophets]]
[[Category:Saints]]
 
[[Category:Wonderworkers]]
 
  
 
[[ro:Moise]]
 
[[ro:Moise]]

Latest revision as of 01:43, February 1, 2015

Holy Prophet Moses

The glorious Prophet Moses, God-seer, is the pinnacle of the lovers of wisdom, the supremely wise lawgiver, the most ancient historian of all. His name means one who draws forth, or is drawn from, that is, from the water. His life is narrated in the Bible (Exodus 2 through Deuteronomy 34:12). The Orthodox Church celebrates his feast day on September 4.[1]


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Life

Birth

According to the Book of Exodus Moses was born in the thirteenth century BC. He was born of a Hebrew family who came from the tribe of Levi. His parents were Amran and Yocheved. Because Pharaoh ordered that all Hebrew infant boys be slain or thrown into the river his mother hid him in her home for three months. When it was no longer possible to hide him, she hid him in a reed basket by the banks of the river. The infant’s sister Miriam, watched over it from afar, to see what would happen.

By God's providence, the daughter of Pharaoh came to the river to bathe with her servants. She noticed the basket and when she found the child inside, she raised him as her own.

Seeing that her brother had been discovered by the princess, Miriam approached her and negotiated for Moses' mother Yocheved to nurse the child.

When the infant grew up, his mother brought him to the princess. The princess took him with her, and treated him like a son as she did not have any children. She gave him the name Moses, which means, “taken up from the water”.

Moses grew up in the royal palace and was taught all of the wisdom of Egypt and raised in the same manner as all Egyptian boys.

Once, Moses saw an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew. He intervened in order to defend the Hebrew and killed the Egyptian. On another occasion Moses saw one Hebrew beating another Hebrew. Moses wanted to stop him but he brazenly replied, “Do you intend to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was frightened when he saw that people knew what he had done and so he fled from Egypt and from Pharaoh into a different country, Arabia, in the land of Midian. He settled there, in the home of the priest Jethro, also known as Reuel, after he saved Jethro’s seven daughters from the abuse of Midianite shepherds. He lived in the land of Midian and married Jethro’s daughter Zepphora. He worked as a shepherd, looking after his father-in-law’s flocks.

The Burning Bush

Once, while shepherding his flocks, Moses was led by an angel of the Lord to the top of Mount Horeb. There he saw a bush that was burning but was not being consumed by the flames; that is, it was enveloped in flames but did not burn up.

Moses decided to come closer to investigate. Here he heard a voice from the midst of the bush saying, “Moses, Moses… Do not come any closer, take off your shoes from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

The Lord said to him, “I have seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry… and I am come down to deliver them out of the land of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land… unto the place of the Canaanites… I will send you unto Pharaoh that you might bring forth My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” At the same time, God granted Moses the power to perform miracles. The Lord gave him his brother Aaron as a helper, who would speak publicly on his behalf.

The bush that did not burn up that Moses saw through God’s revelation to him, received the name ‘Burning Bush’. The symbolism of the miracle is powerful. In a world in which nature itself is worshiped, God shows that He rules over it. The burning bush depicted the state of the chosen Hebrew people, which was persecuted but did not perish.

The burning bush is also significant and relevant to Christianity as it foreshadowed the plight of the early Christians who although persecuted and suffered terribly at the hands of the pagan emperors maintained steadfast faith in Jesus Christ and were not eradicated, despite the efforts of the godless authorities. It was also a foreshadowing or pre-figuration of the All-holy Mother of God, who was not burned by the fire of the divinity of the Son of God when He came down through her from heaven to earth, and was born of her.

Pharaoh and the Plagues of Egypt

Passover and the Parting of the Red Sea

Wandering in the Desert

The Ten Commandments and the Ark of the Covenant

Seeing the Promised Land

Theological considerations

Moses' role as a prophet is complex and diverse, but one of the predominant themes of relevance to the Early Church is prefigured in Deut 18:15. The Gospel writers make an effort at several points to highlight the role of Jesus as the "new Moses," the fulfillment of the prophecy.

(Consider for starters... http://www.direct.ca/trinity/moses.html )

Hymns

Russian:

Troparion (Tone 2)

The memory of Your prophet Moses,
We celebrate today, O Lord.
By his prayers, we beseech You,
O Christ God, save our souls!

Kontakion (Tone 2)

The company of the prophets rejoices with Moses and Aaron,
For their prophecy is fulfilled
As the Cross by which you have saved us shines forth.
Save our souls by their prayers, O Christ our God!

Greek:

Apolytikion (Third Tone)

As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Moses,
O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.

Kontakion (Fourth Tone)

With the divine and righteous Moses and Aaron, the Prophets' choir today rejoiceth with gladness,
seeing their prophecy fulfilled now in our midst;
for Thy Cross, O Christ our God, whereby Thou hast redeemed us,
shineth in the sight of all as the end and fulfilment of that which they foretold in ancient times.
By their entreaties, have mercy upon us all.

See also

References

  1. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Προφήτης Μωϋσῆς. 4 Σεπτεμβρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.

External Links and Sources