Exodus 1:21
The Pharaoh gave
this order to all his people, “Every boy that is born [of the Hebrews} you must
throw into the Nile; but let every girl live.”
Exodus 2: 1-2a, 3-7
Now a man of the
house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to
a son. But when she could not hide him any longer, she got a papyrus basket for
him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed it among the reeds of the
Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s
daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking
along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave
girl to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt
sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. Then his sister
asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse
the baby for you?”
NOTE: There are several things to
consider, namely, why would Pharaoh’s daughter defy a royal order to kill any
Hebrew male, and even if she did feel pity for the infant, would she have
someone nurse the baby instead of sending it back down the Nile to meet
whatever fate was waiting? Also, it was quite fortuitous for the infant’s older
sister to be not only nearby but be able to walk up to Pharaoh’s daughter and
suggest that she take care of this abandoned and lonely Hebrew boy who has a death
sentence hanging over his head. Was the older female sibling the same slave
girl to Pharaoh’s daughter?
Exodus 2: 8-9a, 10
She [Pharaoh’s
daughter] said, “Yes, go,” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby’s
mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and raise him for
me, and I will pay you.” When the child grew older she took him to Pharaoh’s
daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I
drew him out of the water.”
NOTE: The name Moses is apparently
Egyptian and not from any Israelite tribe or clan name. In fact, the Egyptian
word Moses is depicted as a hieroglyphic symbol translated as mose (s) which means “to give birth to”
as stated by Stephane Rossini in her book, EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS How to
Read and Write Them (p. 6). For instance, the name Rameses (Cp. Exodus 1: 1b) would be shown as the
solar disc representing the sun followed by the glyph or character for mose (s);
meaning the son of or born of the Sun [Ra-meses/Ra-mose (s)]. The narrator or
editor in Exodus may or may not have been aware of the Egyptian meaning of the
word and interpreted it according to the circumstances and placed those words in
the mouth of Pharaoh’s daughter, it seems.
Exodus 2: 11a, 12a,
15a
One day after Moses
had grown up he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
Glancing this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid
him in the sand. When Pharaoh heard about it he tried to kill Moses, but Moses
fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian.
Exodus 2: 16a, 18,
19a, 20
Now a priest of
Midian had [only??] seven daughters. When the girls returned to Reuel their
father, he asked them, “Why have you returned so early today?” They
answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds.” Moses agreed to stay
with the man who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.
Exodus 3: 1a
Now Moses was
tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.
Exodus 6: 20
Amram married his
father’s sister [Amram’s Aunt??] Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.
NOTE: Why wasn’t Miriam mentioned?
Numbers 10: 29
Now Moses said to Hobab
son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law.
NOTE: Didn’t Reuel only have seven
daughters (Cp. Exodus 2: 16a)?
Numbers 12: 1
Miriam and Aaron
began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite [Ethiopian] wife, for he
married a Cushite.
Judges 4: 11
Now Heber the
Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab Moses’
brother-in-law.
NOTE: I would think there is a
distinction between a Cushite, Midianite, or a Kenite, for that matter.
Numbers 26: 59
The name of Amram’s
wife was Jochebed; a descendant of Levi, who was born to the Levites in Egypt.
To Amram she bore Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.
1 Chronicles 4:
17b, 18b
One of Mered’s
wives gave birth to Miriam (??). These were the children of Pharaoh’s
daughter Bithnia, whom Mered had married.
NOTE: It is unlikely that Bithnia was
the Egyptian mane of Pharaoh’s daughter, just like Esther was the Persian name
of Mordecai’s cousin Hadassah (Cp. Esther
2: 7). If the real name of Pharaoh’s daughter were known then it would have
helped to know the identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus who came after him.
Acts 7: 22-23
Moses was educated
in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and deeds.
When Moses was forty years old he decided to visit his fellow Israelites.
Exodus 4: 10
Moses said to the
Lord, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past [in
Egypt??] nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and
tongue.”
CONCLUSION:
So, is Moses a real
person and if he was, are the things attributed to him, including the adoption
of Pharaoh’s daughter and raised by her in defiance of a death decree on all
Hebrew males a plausible scenario? The proximity to Pharaoh’s daughter by Moses’
older sister Miriam who could have been one of the attendants or the lone
mentioned slave girl, and the events that transpired which changed the course
of Moses’ life (literally) and certainly the Israelites who were slaves in
Egypt, an historical fact or not? Also, let’s consider Moses’ talking with God,
where in Exodus 3: 20, it says, But
the Lord said to Moses, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me [my
face] and live.” However, it says in verse
11a, The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his
friend (Cp. Numbers 12: 8). Be that
as it may the main thing that can be gleaned from the story of Moses and his
subsequent impact upon the major World Religions as Moshe in Judaism, Moses in Christianity,
and Islam (Musa in the Koran) is the certainty and unwavering faithfulness of
God, and having the confidence to trust in him no matter how dire and hopeless
the circumstances might appear to be; because God never fails nor does his
promises not come to pass if we keep on believing; and oftentimes God will
still rescue us even when we have given up on him.776 Commerce St. Apt B11
Tacoma, WA 98402
March 25, 2016
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
