Moses Biography

Moses (born approximately between the 13th and 14th centuries BC). Prophet and religious leader of Hebrew origin, who according to Judeo-Christian religions freed his people from the slavery of which he was a victim by the Egyptians, in order to lead him to what the sacred scriptures call “the promised land”, making them the people of Israel.

The mighty man who opened the sea in two

For its part, the Muslim religion also recognizes him as the first prophet of God, whose message would have been later perfected through Muhammad. Thus being the founding prophet for both Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

It is also the biblical figure to whom the writing of the Pentateuk is attributed, the first five books of the Old Testament, common to both Jews and Christians, as well as the human vehicle through which God brought his Ten to men Commandments.

Early life

Investigators lack evidence to prove its existence. The greatest source of references to his life are the biblical scriptures, so there are doubts about them.

Had Moses had existed, according to the Biblical Book of Exodus, as the son of Amram, who in turn would be the son of Coat, a descendant of Jacob and belonging to the first group of Hebrews who arrived in Egypt, so Moses would be part of the second gene wasration, born on Egyptian soil.

His mother would be called Lojebed, and he would have two brothers: Miriam, older than him for seven years; and Jacob, less than Moses by three.

As for the date of his birth, the researchers have taken for their calculation a biblical reference, from the book of Kings I (6:1) in which it is noted that the Exodus, led by Moses, would have occurred “480 years earlier” for King Solomon to begin the construction of the temp Jerusalem.

It is believed that the figure “480” refers to an account based on the 12 generations between Moses and Solomon, being a generation equivalent to 25 years, the most accurate date of the exodus would be in 1290 BC, then making the Pharaoh who reigned was Ramses II, locating Moses’ date of birth at the end of the 14th century BC.

According to the Bible, three months after he was born, Moses would have been placed by his mother – in a basket covered in tar –in the waters of the Nile, in order to save him from the Pharaonic decree, which ordered the slaughter of every newborn Hebrew male.

His sister Miriam would have followed the course of the basket, until it was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who upon discovering the baby adopted him and baptized him with the name Moses (saved from the waters). The princess, whose name is believed to be Bitia, sought a Hebrew slave to breastfeed him, choosing precisely Lojebed, with whom Moses remained for two years, at which point he began his life in the Palace.

As an adult, one day he witnessed the brutal repression of an Egyptian soldier towards a Hebrew slave, Moses killed the soldier, and fled Egypt. His path led him to Midian, where he saved a group of seven shepherds, gaining the appreciation of their father, Jetró.

Moses was adopted as a son, remaining in this town for 40 years, during which he was a pastor and married Sephora, one of the daughters of Jetró, with whom he had a son named Gerson.

Mission and liberation of the Hebrews

According to the Exodus (3:5-14) one day on Mount Horeb, Moses encountered a bush tree that burned unconsumed, from which God spoke to him, ordering him to return to Egypt and ask Pharaoh for the freedom of “the children of Israel.”

Moses returned and asked the Egyptian sovereign for the release of the Hebrews, obtaining a “no” as answers. After several negatives, God sent upon the Egyptians “The Ten Plagues”, a series of misfortunes, including a plague of locusts, the appearance of sores, and until the death of all the firstborn, within which pharaoh’s son was.

After his loss, the sovereign freed the Hebrews, who left Egypt, to the east in a great procession. However, Pharaoh repented and commanded his army to recover its slaves. The Hebrews tried to flee, getting caught between the soldiers and the Red Sea.

At that moment, the God of the Hebrews withdrew the sea waters, so that his people could escape, remaining so until the Egyptians tried to pass it too, drowning with the untimely return of the waters.

The Tables of the Law

The book of Exodus refers that, as they roamed the wilderness, Moses climbed the Mount of Sinai, where God dictated to him the Tables of Law, a series of ten rules, which according to these beliefs he wrote with his own finger, dictating to him the moral standards by which they were to the first of them being the belief in one God, a command that for some marks the beginning of a kind of monotheism, which would become the one we know today.

Legacy

It is believed that despite having fulfilled his mission, he failed to reach the Promised Land. When he died, he left his people liberated, transiting the desert. Whether it existed or not, Moses is one of the most influential men in history, being considered the liberator of the Hebrew people, the patriarch of Israel, and the first prophet of the three greatest religions in the world.

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