Encyclopedia entry · Person

Moses

Curator's research file

Subject · person

Moses

also called Moshe

041A.Moses Breaks the Tables of the Law · Gustave Doré

Identity

Name meaning: drawn out (Heb. mashah)

Family

Parent(s): —
Spouse: —
Children: —
Tribe / people: —

Era & origin

Era: c. 1500–1400 BC (traditional)
Region: —
Contemporary of: —

Role

Role: Prophet · Deliverer · Lawgiver
Notable for: Moses is the central figure of the Old Testament's first five books — Israel's deliverer, lawgiver, and the prophet to whom God spoke face to face.

Scripture

First mention: Exodus 2
Most cited: Leviticus 8
Key passages: Exodus 2
Exodus 3:14
Exodus 12
Exodus 20
Deuteronomy 34

Network

Referenced by: 255 entries
Voices: —

Read the full account →

Moses is the central figure of the Old Testament's first five books — Israel's deliverer, lawgiver, and the prophet to whom God spoke face to face. He was born in Egypt to Levite parents during Pharaoh's order to drown Hebrew newborn boys, drawn out of the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter, and raised in the Egyptian court. At forty, after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, he fled to Midian, where he kept his father-in-law Jethro's flocks for another forty years.

At eighty, the LORD met him at the burning bush and sent him back to lead Israel out of slavery. Through ten plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea, and forty years in the wilderness, Moses brought the people from Egypt to the edge of the Promised Land. At Sinai he received the Law — the Ten Commandments and the entire covenantal code that would shape Israel for the rest of its history.

Moses died on Mount Nebo, overlooking the land he could not enter, at the age of one hundred and twenty. The LORD himself buried him in a valley in Moab; no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. Deuteronomy ends by calling him the greatest prophet Israel ever knew — whom the LORD knew face to face.

Key passages

Exodus 2 I AM·Exodus 3:14 The Exodus·Exodus 12 Exodus 20 Deuteronomy 34

In the Bible

833

Verses where Moses is named. Berean Standard Bible (public domain).

1 Chronicles 6:3
The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
1 Chronicles 6:49
But Aaron and his sons did all the work of the Most Holy Place. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
1 Chronicles 15:15
And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.
1 Chronicles 21:29
For the tabernacle of the LORD that Moses had made in the wilderness and the altar of burnt offering were presently at the high place in Gibeon,
1 Chronicles 22:13
Then you will succeed, if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances that the LORD commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
1 Chronicles 23:13
The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.