The Story of Moses

Definition:

Moses is a central figure in Abrahamic religions, revered as a prophet, lawgiver, and leader who delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. His story is primarily written in the Bible (Torah in Judaism and Old Testament in Christianity) and is mentioned in the Quran as well. Moses is known for leading the Exodus, receiving the Ten Commandments, and establishing the covenant between God and the Israelites.

Etymology:

The name “Moses” is derived from the Hebrew name “Mosheh” (מֹשֶׁה), which is traditionally understood to mean “drawn out” or “rescued,” referencing the biblical story where he was drawn out of the Nile River as an infant (Exodus 2:10). The name may also have Egyptian origins, where “mes” or “mose” means “son” or “child,” commonly seen in the names of Egyptian pharaohs like Thutmose or Ramses.

Description:

Moses was born as a Hebrew boy of the tribe of Levi, one of the twelve tribes of Israel. At the time, the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and Pharaoh had decreed that all Hebrew baby boys were to be killed at birth to limit the Hebrew population.

Moses’ mother, Jochebed, hid him for three months. When she could no longer keep him hidden, she placed him in a basket and set it adrift on the Nile. He was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him and raised him as her own son in the Egyptian court.

One day, as an adult, Moses went out to his people and saw their suffering under forced labor. He witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking around and seeing no one, Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

The next day, Moses tried to mediate a quarrel between two Hebrews. When one of them said, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses realized that his actions were known. Pharaoh learned of the incident and sought to kill Moses, prompting Moses to flee to the land of Midian to avoid punishment.

In Midian, Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, and became a shepherd, tending Jethro’s flock. (This experience gave Moses leadership skills. In the Bible, “shepherd” often carries a deeper, metaphorical meaning. Shepherds symbolize leaders who care for and protect their people, often referred to as “sheep” in biblical language.)

Years later, while Moses was tending Jethro’s sheep near Mount Horeb (also known as Sinai), God appeared to him in a burning bush. (This encounter symbolized Moses fabricating a narrative.) God introduced Himself as the God of the Israelites and expressed awareness of their suffering, commanding Moses to lead them out of Egypt.

God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites that He was with him. When they asked for God’s name, Moses was to say, “I am that I am.” God sent Aaron to assist Moses in speaking and performing miracles to convince the Israelites. (These miracles were metaphors for lies.)

God instructed Moses and Aaron to show Pharaoh signs of God’s power to persuade him to release the Israelites. Aaron threw down his staff, which turned into a snake (a metaphor for a lie). Pharaoh’s magicians replicated the trick, turning their staffs into snakes as well (representing their understanding of the lie). However, Aaron’s staff-snake swallowed theirs (symbolizing that Moses and Aaron could deceive at a higher level than Pharaoh’s magicians). Despite this demonstration, Pharaoh remained unyielding (which implies he was not convinced by the lie).

To convince the Israelites, Moses turned the Nile and all the water in Egypt into blood. Pharaoh witnessed this but was still unconvinced, as his magicians could replicate the trick on a smaller scale. Thus, Pharaoh refused to free the Israelites.

Another trick Moses performed to persuade the Israelites, but not witnessed by Pharaoh, involved his hand becoming leprous and then being healed. Moses placed his hand inside his cloak, and when he withdrew it, it was white with leprosy (a serious, visible, and feared condition at the time). When he placed his hand back into his cloak and withdrew it again, it was restored to normal.

Turning the Nile’s water into blood and killing the fish was just one of the ten plagues God sent to demonstrate His power and compel Pharaoh to release the Israelites. (Although God is omniscient and knew what it would take to convince Pharaoh, He chose to use violent events that harmed animals and people, including):

• Killing livestock: (A plague that killed all Egyptian animals.)
• Hail: (Devastating storms that killed humans and animals outdoors.)
• Boils: (Painful sores on humans and animals.)
• Death of the firstborn: (Every firstborn in Egypt, both human and animal, died overnight, except among the Israelites, who protected themselves by marking their doorposts with lamb’s blood. In biblical language, “death” often symbolizes spiritual death, representing the end of belief in Pharaoh’s deceptions. Thus, the death of Egypt’s firstborn is a metaphor for the first recipients of Pharaoh’s lies realizing the truth and ceasing to believe them.)

After this final plague, Pharaoh relented and allowed the Israelites to leave Egypt.

Once Pharaoh realized that all his slaves were gone, he changed his mind and pursued them with his army. The Israelites, encamped by the Red Sea, saw Pharaoh’s army approaching. (The sea symbolizes a language of deception.) God instructed Moses to stretch out his staff over the sea. The waters parted, creating a dry path with walls of water on both sides. The Israelites crossed safely, but when Pharaoh’s army followed, God told Moses to stretch out his hand again. The waters returned, drowning the entire army. (This symbolizes Pharaoh’s army being confounded by the deceptive language.)

This pivotal event demonstrated God’s power and protection over the Israelites, marking the end of their escape from Egypt. After this, they began their long journey toward the Promised Land, a pledge God had made to the Israelites. (This promise was first given to Abraham, their ancestor, and later reaffirmed to his descendants, Isaac and Jacob, also called Israel. The land was often described as “a land flowing with milk and honey,” symbolizing abundance and blessing.)

The key detail to understand about the conclusion is that the Promised Land was merely a promise (a fictional concept). (As “promises from God” inherently lack substance, the narrative underscores that God does not exist and cannot fulfill such promises. This story remains a cause of conflict in Israel to this day.)

Moses led the Israelites into the wilderness, where they were punished with 40 years of wandering for their disbelief (a metaphor for their struggle to adapt to Moses’ deceptive language). Moses himself died before the 40 years were over. The Israelites eventually entered the land under Joshua’s leadership, who succeeded Moses.

The Promised Land is a metaphor for the afterlife (a promise given to slaves to encourage them to toil through life in hope of rewards beyond it). (However, the afterlife is, of course, merely a deception.)

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Symbolism:

The animated movie “The Prince of Egypt” (1998) incorporates one–eye symbolism throughout the ten plagues sequence, symbolizing the fantasy and lies behind the magic tricks in the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh. The motif recurs visually, from Moses gripping his staff, obscuring his right eye, to Pharaoh’s elbow covering an advisor’s left eye, subtly illustrating their deceptive ways. As chaos unfolds, characters are often shown in profile or partially obscured, such as the advisors turning their heads, revealing only their right eyes as they witness the plague of frogs. This symbolism deepens with intense close-ups, like the fear-stricken awakening of an eye in shock and the statues of Pharaoh, seen from the side with one eye ominously visible under stormy skies. The glowing right eye of Pharaoh’s statue, struck by fiery debris, further emphasizes the overarching theme of trickery. The climactic moments between Moses and Pharaoh are bathed in stark blue and orange lighting, with their profiles showing only one eye each, reflecting their polarized views and internal conflicts. Even Moses’ reflection at the cracked wall captures his side profile, leaving only his left eye visible, reinforcing the theme of partial vision amidst chaos. Through this recurring motif, the film underscores the fractured perspectives and transformative journeys of its central characters during the plagues. Click to watch the video clip.

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Religion:

The story of Moses spans several books of the Bible, primarily in the Book of Exodus, but elements of it extend into Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Moses’ Birth and Early Life (Exodus 1:22–2:10):

Exodus 1:22: “Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: ‘Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.’”

Exodus 2:1–3: “Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.”

Exodus 2:5–6: “Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave 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.”

Pharaoh’s daughter adopted Moses, raising him as her own in the Egyptian court.

Moses’ Flight to Midian (Exodus 2:11–25):

Exodus 2:11–12: “One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”

Exodus 2:14–15: “The man said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?’ Then Moses was afraid and thought, ‘What I did must have become known.’ When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.”

Moses married Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, and became a shepherd in Midian.

The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1–12):

Exodus 3:2–4: “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.’ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’”

God commanded Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, reassuring him, “I will be with you.”

The Plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7:14–12:30):

God performed signs and sent plagues to compel Pharaoh to release the Israelites.

Exodus 7:20: “Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.”

Pharaoh’s magicians replicated some of the signs, but the plagues intensified, culminating in the death of Egypt’s firstborn.

Exodus 12:29: “At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well.”

The Exodus and Crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 12:31–15:21):

Exodus 12:31: “During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested.’”

Exodus 14:21–22: “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

Pharaoh’s army pursued them, but the waters returned and drowned them.

Exodus 14:27–28: “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.”

Wandering in the Wilderness and Moses’ Death (Numbers 14:26–35, Deuteronomy 34:1–8):

Numbers 14:33–34: “Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness. For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.”

Moses himself did not enter the Promised Land. He viewed it from Mount Nebo.

Deuteronomy 34:4–5: “Then the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.’ And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.”