Moses and his family. Prophet Moses - the story of a biblical legend

Based on the narrative of the Pentateuch. A number of deviations from it (for example, Hosh. 12:14 or Micah 6:4) indicate, according to some researchers, traditions parallel to the story of the Pentateuch, but not entirely identical to it. Non-Jewish Near Eastern sources from the pre-Hellenistic period do not mention Moses.

Despite the contradictions caused by the fact that the biblical story includes texts from different historical periods, in the epic of Exodus the gigantic figure of Moses clearly emerges, powerful and purposeful, but not without human weaknesses, a personality often tormented by doubts and internal struggles, who left an indelible imprint not only on history , the imagination and thinking of the Jewish people, but also on the appearance of Christian and Muslim civilizations.

The Sinai revelation, the giving of the Law (Torah) and the conclusion of the Covenant are the culmination of the exodus and the apogee of the stormy and impetuous activity of Moses. However, this climax is almost immediately followed by a fall. Moses spends forty days on the mountain. People lose faith in Moses and demand that Aaron make a material god, “who would go before us, for we do not know what happened to this man who brought us out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 32:1). Aaron makes a golden calf, which the people declare to be the god who brought him out of Egypt, and organize cult festivals in his honor. Moses, outraged by the gross violation of the second of the Ten Commandments (“... you will have no other gods besides Me; you shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness... You shall not worship or serve them”), in anger breaks the tablets handed to him by God, on which these commandments are written. As punishment for irredeemable sin, God is ready to destroy the entire nation and make the descendants of Moses a great nation. Moses rejects this offer, intercedes for the Israelites, and God reverses His decision. The people are saved, but the punishment inflicted on them is severe: “The calf was burned, ground into dust,” and the dust was scattered in the water, which the Israelites were forced to drink; three thousand of those who worshiped the idol were executed (Ex. 32).

This event becomes a turning point in the history of the Exodus. Alienation begins between Moses and the people he freed from slavery. “Moses pitched himself a tent... far from the camp and called it the tabernacle of meeting... And when Moses went out to the tabernacle, all the people rose up and stood each one at the entrance of his tent and looked after Moses until he entered the tabernacle" ( Exodus 33:7, 8).

Moses again climbs the mountain, where, at the command of God, he writes down the words of the Testament on new tablets. He is awarded not only indirect proof of the presence of God, hearing God's voice, but also partially visible theophany, after which his face is illuminated with light. When Moses descends from the mountain to convey the words of God for the second time, the people, amazed by the radiance of his face, are afraid to approach him. Since then, appearing before the people after each conversation with God, Moses covers his face with a veil (Ex. 34).

The crisis caused by the worship of the golden calf was a shock to Moses and revealed the duality of his difficult relationship with the people. Fearing the Philistines, who had settled in the south of the coastal strip of Canaan, Moses leads the people in a roundabout way. The wanderings in the desert seem endless, the hardships and hardships are insurmountable, and the Promised Land is out of reach. The murmur and latent discontent do not stop and result in open rebellion against Moses and Aaron (the latter was appointed high priest). Moses' relative Korah (Korach) from the tribe of Levi and his accomplices Datan, Abiram and He from the tribe of Reuven dispute the authority of Moses and his brother, accusing them of autocracy. They are joined by 250 “eminent people” who claim the right to be priests. Moses calls the leaders of the rebellion to him, but they categorically refuse to appear before him. “Is it not enough that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to destroy us in the desert, and you still want to rule over us? Have you brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and have you given us fields and vineyards to possess? Do you want to blind the eyes of these people? Will not go!" (Num. 16:13–14).

This time, God decides to punish the rebels by resorting to a miracle, which should serve as a sign and warning: the instigators are swallowed up by the earth, and their followers are burned (Num. 16:17).

But even the most brutal measures cannot calm the people. Outbursts of indignation, distrust and disobedience are repeated repeatedly (Num. 20:1-13; 21:4-8; 25:1-9). Even Moses' brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, protest Moses' marriage to an Ethiopian woman (Num. 12:1-3), and they are both punished. In almost all of these cases, Moses tries to ward off or mitigate the punishment of God, but he himself cannot escape punishment for the fact that, contrary to the command of God, he struck the rock with a rod in order to draw water from it, when God ordered only to “say ... rock, and it will give water." According to traditional exegesis, God sees Moses' use of force as doubting His omnipotence and forbids him to enter the land of the fathers, to which he is leading the people. Moses is destined to die in the desert near the shore of the Promised Land in Transjordan (Num. 20:7–13). According to another version, Moses was punished for the sins of the people (Deut. 1:37; 3:26; 4:21).

But even more bitter disappointment befalls Moses when the scouts sent to Canaan return convinced that it is impossible to conquer this country, since its inhabitants, among whom are giants, are invincible. And although in fact the country flows with milk and honey, it “eats its inhabitants.” The indignant people rebel again and demand that he be returned to Egypt. Two of the scouts, who do not share the opinion of the others, try to exhort the people, but the crowd threatens to stone them. The angry God again decides to destroy the people of Israel, but this time Moses manages to obtain forgiveness from God and a commutation of the sentence: “All who have seen My glory and My signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me ten times already and have not If they listened to My voice, they will not see the land that I promised to their fathers with an oath...” (Num. 14:23-24). They will die in the desert, and only the next generation, raised in the desert, will be worthy of conquering the Promised Land and settling in it. The conquest of Canaan is entrusted to Moses' disciple Yeh hoshua bin Nun.

After forty years in the desert, the people approach Canaan. The generation of freed slaves of the “stiff-necked people” (Ex. 32:9; 33:35; 34:9; Deut. 9:6, 13) died out. Moses, despite his age (“one hundred and twenty years”; Deut. 31:2), is still full of strength (“his sight was not dull, nor his freshness exhausted”; Deut. 34:7). All his pleas and exhortations to change the fate prepared for him and to be allowed to enter the future Land of Israel are in vain: he is only allowed to look at it from the top of the Trans-Jordanian Mount Nebo.

The tragedy of Moses, deprived of the opportunity to complete the great work he began, is described in the last book of the Pentateuch - Deuteronomy. Sharply different from other books both in style and in the spirit characteristic of the period of its writing (much later than the epic of the Exodus), it is, from a compositional point of view, a brilliant epilogue to the story of the life and work of Moses. This is the testament of the leader, who with some bitterness sums up his activities, lists the successes and failures that accompanied the almost impossible mission, and gives the people a complete set of laws, largely repeating in the new edition the prescriptions of the previous code, but, unlike it, more adapted to future settled life in the newly found homeland.

Moses dies in the “land of Moab” after God himself shows him from Mount Nebo the entire Land of Israel (Deut. 34:1–5), “no one knows the place of his burial even to this day... And the children of Israel mourned him ... thirty days” (Deut. 34:6, 8).

Historicity of Moses. The absence of any information about the life of Moses in ancient sources of the pre-Hellenistic period (except the Bible) has caused some biblical scholars to doubt his historicity. Some researchers even came to the conclusion that Moses is a fictional, legendary figure, and the story about him is the fruit of mythological creativity. Nevertheless, most scholars admit that the basis of biblical traditions was historical events, in which a certain person played a decisive role, but the nature of her activities is difficult to establish with certainty due to folklore layers. However, the story about the birth of Moses (see above, the name Moses (apparently from the Egyptian ms - son), the activities of Moses in Egypt (competitions with Egyptian sorcerers; Ex. 7:10–12), work on the construction of the Egyptian cities of Pitom and Ramses (the city of Pi-ramses is mentioned in Egyptian sources) - these components of the narrative uniquely reflect the atmosphere of Egypt during the New Kingdom era.The same is evidenced by some features of the ancient Egyptian story about the adventures of Sinuhe, which echo the episode of Moses’ flight from Egypt and his stay in Midian. names are found in the Bible only in the cycle of stories about Moses. According to some historians, one can trace the influence of the religious and cult tendencies that existed in Egypt in the 14th century BC on the monotheistic ideas of Moses. Pharaoh Akhenaten proclaimed the sun god Aten as the only deity of all Egypt The monotheistic cult of Aten was very soon liquidated, but stories about it could reach Pharaoh Moses, who was brought up in the palace.

Some biblical scholars offer another argument for the historicity of Moses. All the institutions of the First Temple era were created historical figures: monarchy - Samuel and David; Temple - Solomon; religious reforms were carried out by kings (Hezkiyah u; Yoshiyah u). The introduction of the cult of Yahweh and the creation at the dawn of Jewish history of cult institutions, the memory of which was preserved in the consciousness of the people, leads by analogy to the postulate of the activity of a personality on the scale of Moses; Moreover, this personality cannot be a retrospective projection of a later time. The most compelling historical analogy is Muhammad. According to Muslim tradition, like Moses, he is a prophet, political and military leader, creator of a new cult and legislator. However, there is no doubt about the existence of Muhammad as a historical figure.

Moses in the post-biblical tradition(in Talmud, Midrash and rabbinic literature). The Talmud and Midrash continue, in hyperbolic terms, the biblical tradition of simultaneously exalting and belittling the personality of Moses.

From the time of the Talmud to the present day, Moses is usually called Rabbenu(`our teacher`). Moshe Rabbenu - great teacher Jewish people. He is not only the author of the Pentateuch, who gave the people the Torah, that is, the Written Law, but also the founder of the entire Oral Law. Everything that a sage or teacher of the law has ever established or will establish in the future has already been bequeathed by Moses, including such prescriptions that do not follow from the commandments of the Torah ( x Halakha le-Moshe mi-Sinai, see Halacha). The whole world exists thanks to the merits of Moses and Aaron (Chul. 89a). When Moses was born, the entire house of Amram was illuminated with light (Sotah 13b). Dying, Moses received a kiss from God himself (BB. 17a). It is even suggested that Moses did not actually die and continues to serve God as he once did on Mount Sinai (Wed. 38a).

The Haggadah and folk tales give Moses great wisdom, unprecedented virtues, incredible spiritual and physical strength, the ability to work miracles, bordering on sorcery. His youth is full of adventures and exploits. But it is against this background that his human traits and weaknesses stand out even more clearly. One of the most common legends tells that in early childhood, Moses, sitting on the lap of Pharaoh, tore the crown from his head and placed it on his own head. Pharaoh's advisors saw this as a bad omen. They advised to kill Moses, but Itro stated that the child did this out of thoughtlessness, and advised him to test his mental abilities, offering him a choice of hot coals and gold. The child reached for the gold, but an invisible angel directed his hand to the coals. Moses got burned and in fear raised the coal to his mouth. From then on he became tongue-tied (Ex. R. 1).

Another legend tells that when Moses was a shepherd, one lamb ran away from the flock. Moses chased after him, but when he saw him stop at a stream to drink, he realized that the tired lamb was suffering from thirst, and carried him back to the flock on his shoulder. Then God said to him: “He who shows such mercy to the sheep is worthy to shepherd My people” (Ex. R. 2).

In complete contradiction with such legends and with the texts of the Pentateuch, the Midrash talks about the vanity of Moses, who wished to found his own dynasty. During the dedication of the Tabernacle of the Covenant, Moses served as high priest. During his forty years of wandering in the desert, he was considered the king of Israel. Before his death, he asked God to preserve these two titles for him and pass them on as an inheritance to his descendants. God refused him, explaining that the title of high priest would go to the descendants of Aaron, and royal dynasty already intended for the descendants of David (Ex. R. 2:6).

Some statements even express doubt about Moses’ complete suitability for the role God chose for him: “The Holy One, blessed is He [see God. God in the Talmud, Midrash and rabbinic literature] said [seeing the people's worship of the golden calf]: Moses, come down from the heights of your greatness. After all, I gave you greatness only for the sake of Israel. But now that Israel has sinned, I have no need of you” (Br. 32a). Rabbi Yosi says that if Moses had not preceded the scribe Ezra, he would have been worthy to receive the Torah from God (Sankh. 21b).

Tractate Menachot gives a legend about Moses' visit to the yeshiva of Rabbi Akiva. After listening to the lecture of the great sage, Moses was confused because he did not understand anything. Only after Rabbi Akiva explained that his words - x Halakha le-Moshe mi-Sinai(see above), he calmed down (Men. 29b). Rabbinic literature contains different interpretations this story.

The colorful, dramatic description of Moses' plea for death to be taken away from him and for him to cross the Jordan River is one of the moving texts of the Haggadah. God did not heed his request, and Moses turns to heaven and earth, the sun and moon, stars and planets, mountains and hills, seas and rivers with a request to intercede for him before God, but they all find excuses to get rid of him. The sea, for example, says to him: “How can you demand this, who cut me apart when leaving Egypt?” (Deut. R. 6:11). In most versions of the Passover Haggadah, which is entirely dedicated to the Exodus, the name of Moses is absent, and in those rare versions in which it appears, it is mentioned only in passing. This emphasizes the personal tragedy of Moses. According to Talmudic tradition, Moses was born on the 7th of Adar and died on the same day at the age of 120.

In Hellenistic literature. In anti-Jewish Hellenistic literature, the Exodus is presented as the flight of a leper sect, Moses as a priest of the Egyptian god He, and the motive that prompted Moses to create a new doctrine is hatred of the Egyptians and their culture. Greek writers of Alexandria argued that Jews made no contribution to human culture. In contrast to such claims, Jewish Hellenistic literature emphasizes the great importance of Moses in this area. Ofolmos (2nd century BC) attributes to Moses the invention of alphabetic writing (see also Alphabet), which was adopted by the Greeks through the Phoenicians. Aristobulus (2nd century AD) claims that Greek philosophers and poets borrowed their wisdom and art from Moses. Artapan (2nd century) believes that Moses created the culture, civilization and religion of Egypt, and the teacher of Orpheus Musaios is none other than Moses. Artapan tells that Moses married an Ethiopian queen, who gave him the capital of her state (see above about the Ethiopian wife of Moses). Jewish apologetic literature in Greek lists Moses among the world's greatest lawgivers. Some writers say that the Egyptians revered him as the god Hermes - Thoth. Moses - main character tragedy of Ezekiel (2nd century) “Exodus from Egypt”. Philo of Alexandria left a colorful biography of Moses.

In Kabbalah. In the book of Zoch ar, Moses is one of the seven “faithful shepherds of Israel,” who passionately loves his people. “On Mount Sinai God revealed to him the 70 faces of the Torah in seventy languages.” Moses embodies one of the ten sefirot (see also Kabbalah) - modes of Divine emanation through which God is revealed to humanity. Some Kabbalists believe that the soul of Moses will transmigrate into the Messiah (see Gilgul). Moses is the groom of the Divinity, which in Kabbalah is identified with the tenth sephira (Malkhut), symbolizing the feminine principle.

In Jewish religious philosophy. In medieval Jewish philosophy, Moses is, first of all, the greatest of the Hebrew prophets. This is what Yeh uda ha-Levi considers him to be, in whose works the image of Moses does not go beyond the tradition of the Bible and the Haggadah.

According to Maimonides, Moses is superior to all other prophets because he is the only one who went beyond the laws of nature and penetrated into the realm of supernatural existence. Other prophets achieved perfection only within the limits accessible to the human mind and imagination. Yeh uda Liva ben Bezalel (Mach Aral) also considers Moses a superhuman being, standing halfway between the earthly and the upper world.

In modern Jewish thought. Modern Jewish thought has been greatly influenced by Ahad-h ha-'Ama's article “Moses,” in which the author distinguishes between two approaches: archaeological and historical. He calls archaeological the desire to restore the historical image of Moses from historical monuments and archaeological finds. He considers historical the image of Moses, which is imprinted in the consciousness of the people and not only played for centuries, but still plays a decisive role in the formation of its history. Moses is a symbol of the denial of the imperfect present. As the people of Israel, Moses lives in the past and the future, serving as the engine of moral progress for all mankind.

M. Buber in the book “Moses” basically recognizes the historicity of Moses, but draws a distinction between history and the saga, which he considers to a certain extent historical, since it correctly reflects the feeling of the people and their hero in dramatic moments of history that cannot be comprehended without the postulate of Divine intervention . Moses attributes all his achievements to God and demands from the Israelis unlimited loyalty to Him, that is, to the ideals of justice. The Israelites must become a holy people, living for God and for the whole world. Therefore, the identity of Moses turned out to be driving force in the history of mankind, which “in our days, perhaps, needs it more than in any other era.” I. Kaufman ardently advocates the historicity of Moses as a spiritual leader who, having founded Jewish monotheism, made a revolution in the history of mankind. The Jewish religion is fundamentally different from all other religions of the world in that it contrasts the will of the one transcendental God with the laws of nature to which the gods of all polytheistic and henotheistic religions were subject.

The founder of psychoanalysis, S. Freud, suggested that Moses was an Egyptian who, after an unsuccessful attempt to introduce the cult of the sun as a single god, “chose” the Jewish people to be the bearer of such monotheism. The people rebelled and killed him, repeating the act of the primitive horde, according to Freud, who killed their ancestor. Despite this, the monotheistic religion took root in the consciousness of the people, but its rooting and development was accompanied by a consciousness of guilt and the need for repentance, which are characteristic of all monotheistic religions originating from Judaism. Freud's psychoanalytic hypothesis is disputed by almost all historians, and its inconsistency is generally considered proven.

In Christianity. The Christian Church, which considers itself the heir of Judaism, gives pride of place to Moses in the Old Testament, but claims that the New Testament of Jesus replaced the laws of Moses. In the Epistle of Barnabas (first half of the 2nd century) the idea is expressed that, by breaking the tablets, Moses abolished the Covenant with the Jewish people. The raising of Moses' hand during the war with Amalek (see above) and the healing copper serpent (Num. 21:9) symbolize the crucified Jesus, who, according to Christian views, is superior to Moses - not a servant, but the son of God. The most important Christian work dedicated to Moses, “The Life of Moses,” belongs to the pen of one of the church fathers, Gregory of Nyssa.

In Islam. The story of Moses in the Koran is broadly similar to the biblical story, although it lacks some major events in Moses' life and work, such as his wanderings in the desert. On the other hand, tales from the post-biblical period and new legends are woven into it, for example, the journey of Moses in the company of a wandering sage (Sura 18:64). According to the Qur'an, Miriam, the sister of Moses, is the mother of Jesus, and in the Nile, Moses was found not by the daughter of Pharaoh, but by his wife (Sura 28:8).

In later Muslim traditions, the stories of the Koran are expanded and colored with fantastic folklore motifs. A special place in them is occupied by the staff (rod) of Moses, endowed with miraculous power. It was given to Moses by Jethro, who inherited it through the chain of prophets from Adam. These stories belong literary genre“Qisas al-anbiya” (“Stories about the Prophets”), of whose works only the works of A. al-Ta’labi (11th century) and M. al-Kisai (lived before the beginning of the 10th century?) have survived.

In art, music and literature. The life of Moses is one of the most common biblical themes in the world. fine arts. In early Christian art, Moses was often depicted as a beardless youth with a staff in his hand. Later, a canonical image was developed: a majestic old man with a beard, with tablets in his hands and horns on his head (a misunderstanding due to the fact that the word karnaim means "rays" and "horns" in Hebrew; see above about the radiance of Moses' face). Since the 5th century, scenes from the life of Moses often appear in illustrations to the Bible; they are found in the mosaics of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice (late 12th century - early 13th century) and the Church of Santa Maria Madecore in Rome (5th and 13th centuries). Episodes from the life of Moses served as the theme of numerous works of wall painting during the Renaissance in Italy (frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Camposanto covered cemetery in Pisa; S. Botticelli, Pinturicchio and L. Signorelli in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican). The painting of the Vatican loggias by Raphael and his students uses the theme of the Exodus. In the 16th century it is also used as the basis for the plot of paintings by B. Luini (Pinacoteca Brera, Milan) and C. Tintoretto (panels for the Scuola di San Rocco, Venice). “The Finding of Moses” is the theme of paintings by Giorgione and P. Veronese.

In the 17th century N. Poussin created a series of paintings dedicated to almost all the main events in the life of Moses. One of the most famous works of painting dedicated to Moses is Rembrandt’s painting “Moses Breaking the Tablets” (1659). The Russian artist F. Bruni painted a painting on the theme of the Exodus, “The Brazen Serpent” (1827–41).

Sculptural images of Moses were created both in the Middle Ages (for example, statues in Chartres) and during the Renaissance (for example, Donatello's statue in Florence). Outstanding works of art are the statue of Moses by K. Sluter for the so-called “Well of the Prophets”, or “Well of Moses in Dijon” (1406), as well as the most famous image of Moses - the statue of Michelangelo in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome (1515– 16). IN modern sculpture The works of A. Archipenko, I. Meshtrovic and others are dedicated to Moses.

In Jewish fine art, Moses appears already on the frescoes of the synagogue in Dura Europos. They depict the baby Moses in a basket floating on the Nile, the burning bush, the crossing of the Red Sea, Moses striking a rock with his rod, and other scenes. The image of Moses appears repeatedly in the Middle Ages in illuminated manuscripts, especially in H. A. Rubinstein “Moses” (1892); M. Gast “The Death of Moses” (1897); Y. Weinberg “The Life of Moses” (1955). A. Schoenberg's opera "Moses and Aaron" (1930, unfinished) - one of the most important works of atonal music - gives an original musical interpretation of the conflict between the leader-legislator and his people. The ballet “Moses” was written by the French composer D. Milhaud (1957). "Exodus" by Israeli composer I. Tal is the first piece of electronic music in Israel.

A number of Israeli songs that have become folk songs are dedicated to Moses. Some of them are adaptations of scenes from the X Haggadah. The most popular is the song of Jedidiah Admon (1894–1982) “U-Moshe hikka al-tzur” (“And Moses struck the rock”).

The African-American spiritual song “Let My People Go” has enjoyed international popularity for decades.

Already in the Hellenistic era, a number of literary works(see above). In medieval Christian drama, the theme of the Exodus occupies important place. In the 16th century interest in this topic is somewhat weakening; Only a few works are dedicated to her, including “The Childhood of Moses” by Mastersinger G. Sachs (1553). Although Moses was one of the biblical heroes who inspired 17th century Protestant writers, most of works dedicated to him were written by Catholic authors.

From the 18th century Poetic works are increasingly being dedicated to Moses, which is associated, in particular, with the development of the musical and poetic genre of oratorio. Thus, Charles Jennens’s drama “Israel in Egypt” (circa 1738) served as a source for the libretto of G. F. Handel’s oratorio (see above). F. G. Knopstock in the poem “Messiad” (1751–73) gave the image of Moses the features of a titanic hero. F. Schiller wrote in his youth the sketch “The Messenger of Moses” (1738).

In the 19th century The image of Moses attracted many outstanding poets, including V. Hugo (“Temple”, 1859). G. Heine in “Confession” (1854) enthusiastically praises Moses (“How small Mount Sinai seems when Moses stands on it!”). Heine calls Moses a great artist who built pyramids and obelisks not from stone, but from people who made up a great, eternal people. R. M. Rilke wrote the poems “The Death of Moses” and “Moses” (1922). Ukrainian poet I. Franko wrote the poem “Moses” (1905).

In Russian poetry, poems were dedicated to Moses by I. Kozlov (“The Promised Land,” 1821), V. Benediktov (“Exodus,” 1835), L. Mey (“The Desert Key,” 1861), V. Solovyov (“The Burning Bush,” 1891), F. Sologub (“The Copper Serpent,” 1896), I. Bunin (“Torah,” 1914), V. Bryusov (“Moses,” 1909) and others. The Russian-Jewish poet S. Frug dedicated it in the 1880s–90s. A whole series of poems to Moses (“Child on the Nile”, “Broken Tablets”, “Fireproof Bush”, “On Sinai”, “Tomb of Moses”).

The English Jewish poet Isaac Rosenberg (1890 - 1918) published the drama "Moses" (1916), in which the influence of Nietzsche's ideas about the superman is clearly felt. Dramas about Moses were written in English by I. Zangwiel (“Moses and Jesus”, 1903), in Italian by A. Orvisto (“Moses”, 1905), in Czech by E. Leda (“Moses”, 1919). The aggadic legends about Moses were processed in German by R. Kaiser (“The Death of Moses,” 1921) and in French by E. Fleg (“Moses in the Stories of the Sages of the Talmud,” 1925). Novels about the life of Moses were published in English by Lina Eckstein (“Tutankhatan: A Tale of the Past,” 1924), L. Untermeyer (“Moses,” 1928) and G. Fast Azaz in the prose poem “Hatan Damim” (“Bridegroom of Blood” , 1925) depicted peace of mind Moses' wife, suffering from her husband's preoccupation with his mission. M. Gottfried wrote the epic poem “Moshe” (“Moses”, 1919).

In Israeli literature, several works are dedicated to Moses: B. Ts. Firer “Moshe” (“Moses”, 1959); I. Shurun ​​“Halom Leil Stav” (“An Autumn Night’s Dream”, 1960); Shulamit Har’even “Sone h a-nissim” (“He who hated miracles”, 1983; Russian translation in the collection “In Search of Personality”, 1987); I. Oren “Kha-kh ar ve-kh a-‘akhbar” (“The Mountain and the Mouse”, 1972). In 1974, a dramatic poem in Russian by A. Radovsky “Exodus” was published in the Jerusalem magazine “Menorah” (No. 5, 6, 7).

KEE, volume: 5.
Col.: 404–422.
Published: 1990.

Etc.) - leader and legislator of the Jewish people, prophet and first sacred writer of everyday life. He was born in Egypt 1574 or 1576 years BC and was the son of Amram and Jochebed. When Moses was born, his mother, Jochebed, hid him for some time from the general beating of Jewish male infants by order of Pharaoh; but when it was no longer possible to hide it, she took him out to the river and placed him in a basket made of reeds and tarred with asphalt and resin near the bank of the Nile River in a reed, and Moses’ sister watched in the distance what would happen to him. Pharaoh's daughter, c. Egyptian, went out to the river to wash and here she saw a basket, heard the cry of a child, took pity on him and decided to save his life. Thus, taken from the water, he, at the suggestion of Moses' sister, was given to be raised by his mother. When the baby grew up, the mother introduced him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was with her instead of a son, and while in the royal palace, he was taught all the Egyptian wisdom (,). According to Josephus, he was even made commander of the Egyptian army against the Ethiopians who invaded Egypt as far as Memphis, and successfully defeated them (Ancient Book II, Chapter 10). Despite, however, his advantageous position under Pharaoh, Moses, according to the word of the apostle, He wanted to suffer with the people of God better than to have temporary sinful pleasure, and he considered the reproach of Christ to be greater wealth for himself than the treasures of Egypt(). He was already 40 years old, and then one day it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. Then he saw their hard work and how much the Jews suffered from the Egyptians. It happened one day that he stood up for a Jew who was being beaten by an Egyptian and, in the heat of battle, killed him, and there was no one there except the offended Jew. The next day he saw two Jews quarreling among themselves and began to convince them, like brothers, to live in harmony. But the one who offended his neighbor pushed him away: who made you a leader and judge over us? he said. Don't you want to kill me too, like you killed the Egyptian yesterday?(). Hearing this, Moses, fearing that rumors of this might reach Pharaoh, fled to the land of Midian. In the house of the Midian priest Jethro, he married his daughter Zipporah and spent 40 years here. While tending his father-in-law's flock, he walked with the flock far into the desert and came to the mountain of God, Horeb (). He saw an extraordinary phenomenon here, namely: a thorn bush all in flames, burning and not being consumed. Approaching the bush, he heard the voice of the Lord from the middle of the bush, commanding him to take off his shoes from his feet, since the place on which he stood was holy ground. Moses hastily took off his shoes and covered his face in fear. Then he was given a command from God to go to Pharaoh to free the Israelites. Fearing his unworthiness and imagining various difficulties, Moses several times renounced this great embassy, ​​but the Lord encouraged him with His presence and His help, revealing His name to him: Jehovah (Jehovah) and as proof of His power, He turned the rod that was in the hands of Moses into a serpent, and again turned the serpent into a rod; then Moses, at the command of God, put his hand in his bosom, and his hand turned white from leprosy like snow; according to the new command, he again put his hand in his bosom, took it out, and she was healthy. The Lord appointed his brother Aaron as an assistant to Moses. Then Moses unquestioningly obeyed the calling of the Lord. Together with his brother Aaron, he appeared before the face of Pharaoh, c. Egyptian, and on behalf of Jehovah they asked him to release the Jews from Egypt for three days to make sacrifices in the desert. Pharaoh, as the Lord predicted to Moses, refused them this. Then the Lord struck down the Egyptians terrible executions, of which the last was the beating by an angel in one night of all the firstborn of Egypt. This terrible execution finally broke the Pharaoh’s stubbornness. He allowed the Jews to leave Egypt into the desert for three days to pray and take their livestock, both small and large. And the Egyptians urged the people to quickly send them out of that land; for, they said, we will all die. The Jews, having celebrated the Passover on the last night, at the command of God, left Egypt among 600,000 men with all their property, and, despite all the haste, they did not forget to take with them the bones of Joseph and some other patriarchs, as Joseph had bequeathed. He himself showed them where to direct their path: He walked before them during the day in a pillar of cloud, and at night in a pillar of fire, illuminating their path (Ex. XIII, 21, 22). Pharaoh and the Egyptians soon repented that they had let the Jews go, and set off with their army to catch up with them and were already approaching their camp near the Red Sea. Then the Lord commanded Moses to take his rod and divide the sea so that the children of Israel could walk through the sea on dry land. Moses acted in accordance with the command of God, and the sea was divided, and a dry bottom was revealed. The children of Israel walked through the sea on dry ground, so that the waters became a wall to them on the right and on the left. The Egyptians followed them into the middle of the sea, but, dismayed by God, they began to flee back. Then Moses, when the Israelites had already reached the shore, again stretched out his hand to the sea, and the waters returned again to their place and covered Pharaoh with all his army and his chariots and horsemen; not a single one of them remained to speak in Egypt about this terrible death. On the seashore, Moses and all the people solemnly sang a song of thanksgiving to God: I sing to the Lord, for He was exalted on high, He cast horse and rider into the sea, and Mariam and all the women, striking the timbrels, sang: Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted(). Moses led the Jews to the Promised Land through the Arabian Desert. They walked through the desert of Sur for three days and found no water except bitter water (Merrah). sweetened this water, commanding Moses to put the tree He indicated into it. In the desert of Sin, as a result of the people's grumbling about the lack of food and their demand for meat food, God sent them many quails and from that time and for the next forty years God sent them manna from heaven every day. In Rephidim, due to a lack of water and the murmuring of the people, Moses, at the command of God, brought water out of the rock of Mount Horeb, striking it with his rod. Here the Amalekites made an attack on the Jews, but were defeated by the prayer of Moses, who throughout the battle prayed on the mountain, raising his hands to God (). In the third month after the exodus from Egypt, the Jews finally approached the foot of Mount Sinai and camped opposite the mountain. On the third day, at the command of God, the people were placed by Moses near the mountain, at some distance from it, with a strict prohibition not to approach closer to it. famous trait. On the morning of the third day there were thunderclaps, lightning began to flash, a strong trumpet sound was heard, Mount Sinai was all smoking, because the Lord descended on it in fire and smoke rose from it like smoke from a furnace. This was how the presence of God on Sinai was marked. And at that time the Lord spoke in the hearing of all the people the Ten Commandments of the Law of God. Then Moses ascended the mountain, received laws from the Lord regarding church and civil improvement, and when he came down from the mountain, he reported all this to the people and wrote everything in a book. Then, after sprinkling the people with blood and reading the book of the Covenant, Moses again, at the command of God, ascended the mountain, and spent forty days and forty nights there, and received detailed instructions from God about the construction of the Tabernacle and the altar and about everything related to worship, in conclusion two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments inscribed on them (). Upon returning from the mountain, Moses saw that the people, left to their own devices, had fallen into the terrible crime of idolatry before the golden calf, idolized in Egypt. In the heat of indignation, he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them, and burned the golden calf in the fire and scattered the ashes in the water, which he gave to drink. Moreover, by the command of Moses, three thousand men fell that day by the sword of the sons of Levi, the main culprits crimes. After this, Moses hurried back to the mountain to beg the Lord to forgive the people for their iniquity and again stayed there forty days and forty nights, did not eat bread or drink water, and the Lord bowed to mercy. Excited by this mercy, Moses had the boldness to ask God to show him His glory in the highest way. And once again he was ordered to ascend the mountain with the prepared tablets, and he again spent 40 days there in fasting. At this time, the Lord descended in a cloud and passed before him with His glory. Moses fell to the ground in awe. The reflection of the glory of God was reflected on his face, and when he came down from the mountain, the people could not look at him; why he wore a veil over his face, which he took off when he appeared before the Lord. Six months after this, the Tabernacle was built and consecrated with all its accessories with sacred oil. Aaron and his sons were appointed to serve in the Tabernacle, and soon the entire tribe of Levi was separated to help them (,). Finally, on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, a cloud rose from the Tabernacle, and the Jews moved on their further journey, staying at Mount Sinai for about a year (). Their further wandering was accompanied by numerous temptations, grumbling, cowardice and the death of the people, but at the same time it represented a continuous series of miracles and mercy of the Lord towards His chosen people. So, for example, in the Paran desert the people grumbled about the lack of meat and fish: Now our soul is languishing; there is nothing, only manna in our eyes, they said reproachfully to Moses. As punishment for this, part of the camp was destroyed by fire sent from God. But this did little to enlighten the dissatisfied. Soon they began to neglect manna and demanded meat food for themselves. Then the Lord raised strong wind , who brought huge quantities of quails from the sea. The people rushed greedily to collect quails, collected them day and night and ate until they were satiated. But this whim and satiety was the cause of the death of many of them, and the place where many people died from a terrible plague was called the tombs of lust, or whim. In the next camp, Moses experienced trouble from his own relatives, Aaron and Miriam, but exalted him as his faithful servant throughout His entire House (). Continuing their journey further, the Jews approached the Promised Land and could soon have taken possession of it if their unbelief and cowardice had not prevented this. In the desert of Paran, in Kadesh, the most outrageous murmur occurred when from 12 spies sent to inspect the Promised Land, the Jews heard about the great power, the great growth of the inhabitants of that land and its fortified cities. With this indignation, they wanted to stone even Moses himself and Aaron with two of the spies and choose a new leader for themselves to return to Egypt. Then the Lord condemned them for this to a 40-year wandering, so that all of them had to die in the desert for over 20 years, except for Joshua and Caleb (). Then followed a new indignation of Korah, Dathan and Abiron against Moses and Aaron himself, punished by the Lord with terrible executions, and the priesthood was again confirmed for the house of Aaron (). The Jews wandered through the desert for more than thirty years, and almost all those who left Egypt died. With the onset of the fortieth year after leaving Egypt, they appear in Kadesh, in the desert of Sin on the border of the land of Idumea. Here, due to the lack of water, the people again grumbled against Moses and Aaron, who turned to the Lord in prayer. The Lord heeded the prayer and ordered Moses and Aaron to gather the community and, with a rod in their hands, command the rock to give water. Moses struck the rock twice with his rod, and a lot of water flowed out. But since in this case Moses, as if not trusting one of his words, struck with the rod and acted contrary to the will of God, then for this he and Aaron were condemned to die outside the Promised Land (). On the further journey, Aaron died near Mount Hor, having previously transferred the high priesthood to his son, Eleazar (). At the end of the journey, the people again began to be faint-hearted and grumble. As punishment for this, God sent poisonous snakes against him and, when they repented, he commanded Moses to erect a copper serpent on a tree to heal them (,). Approaching the borders of the Amorites, the Jews defeated Sihon, c. Amorite, and Og, c. Bashan, and, having occupied their lands, they set up their camp against Jericho. For the fornication with the daughters of Moab and the idolatry in which the Jews were involved by the Moabites and Midianites, 24,000 of them died, and others were hanged by the command of God. Finally, since Moses himself, like Aaron, was not worthy to enter the Promised Land, he asked the Lord to show him a worthy successor, which is why he was shown a successor in the person of Joshua, on whom he laid his hands before Eleazar the priest and in front of the whole community. own(). Thus, Moses conveyed to him his title in front of all Israel, made orders for the possession and division of the Promised Land, repeated to the people the laws given by God at different times, inspiring them to keep them sacred and touchingly reminding them of the many different benefits of God during their forty-year wandering. He wrote all his admonitions, the repeated law and his final orders in a book and gave it to the priests to keep at the Ark of the Covenant, making it a duty to read it to the people every seventh year on the Feast of Tabernacles. The last time, being called before the Tabernacle, together with his successor, he received a revelation from God about the future ingratitude of the people and conveyed this to him in an accusatory and edifying song. Finally, he was called to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, having seen from afar the Promised Land shown to him by the Lord, and died on the mountain at the age of 120. His body was buried in a valley near Bethegor, but no one knows the place of his burial even to this day, says the writer of everyday life (). The people honored his death with thirty days of mourning. The saint commemorates the prophet and seer of God Moses on the 4th day of September. In the book. Deuteronomy, after his death, speaks of him in a prophetic spirit (perhaps this is the word of Moses’ successor, Joshua): And Israel no longer had a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face (). St. Isaiah says that centuries later, the people of God, during the days of their tribulations, remembered with reverence before God the times of Moses, when the Lord saved Israel by his hand (Isa. LXIII, 11-13). As a leader, legislator and prophet, Moses lived in the memory of the people at all times. His memory is the most later times always blessed, never dying among the people of Israel (Sir. XLV, 1-6). In the New Testament, Moses, as the great lawgiver, and Elijah, as the representative of the prophets, appear conversing in glory with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration (,). The great name of Moses cannot lose its important and for all Christians, and for the entire enlightened world: he lives among us in his sacred books, he was the first Divinely inspired writer.

Ref. 2:10“And she called his name Moses, because,” she said, “I took him out of the water.”

The holy prophet Moses was born to Amram and his wife Jochebed around 1526 BC. The Egyptians then decided to kill all newborn Jewish children in order to prevent the Israeli people from increasing their numbers. The father of the holy prophet had a vision that spoke of the great mission of this baby and of God’s favor towards him. Therefore, the parents, who sheltered their son until he was 3 months old, betrayed the child’s fate to God and, putting him in a basket, lowered him into the Nile River. This basket was found by the Pharaoh's daughter, Princess Termutis, who adopted the boy and gave him the name Moses, which means "taken out of the water." The word "mo" in Egyptian meant "water", and those rescued from the water were called "uzes", so the Egyptian version of the boy's name is "Moses".

Thus, Moses, having become adopted son daughter of Pharaoh, grew up among the Egyptian nobility, received a good education and was endowed with considerable power. It is known that he served as commander of the Egyptian army and helped the pharaoh defeat the Ethiopians who attacked him. He spent about 40 years at the court of Pharaoh until one day he committed a crime - in anger he killed the overseer who was torturing the Israelite slaves. After this, he was forced to flee into the desert and hide.

Moses settled in the land of Midian, located on the Sinai Peninsula. He married the daughter of the priest Jethro (another name is Raguel) and tended his cattle. In honor of Moses' father-in-law, the bed of Wadi Shaib is now also called Jethro's Valley. The prophet led such a life for another 40 years.

Moses heard the first call of God there, in Midian, when, while grazing cattle, he found himself near Mount Horeb.

Ref. 3:1-5:“He led the flock far into the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a thorn bush. And he saw that the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Moses said: I will go and look at this great phenomenon, why the bush does not burn up. The Lord saw that he was coming to watch, and called to him from the midst of the bush, and said: Moses! Moses! He said: here I am! And God said: Do not come here; put off your sandals from your feet; for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

Here Moses received his first revelation and instructions from God about the liberation of the people of Israel from Egypt.

In this place, at the foot of Mount Sinai, that same thorn bush, the Burning Bush, still grows.

After this, the holy prophet returned to the court of Pharaoh and, together with his brother Aaron, who was a more skillful speaker and about whom God told Moses “And he will speak for you to the people; so he will be your mouth" asked to release the Jewish people. The negotiations between Moses and Pharaoh lasted 9 months, and this time was the most difficult both for the Jews, since Pharaoh tightened the regime of slavery, and for the Egyptians, who suffered the supernatural 10 plagues of Egypt. After the last execution, which lasted only one night, but the most terrible - the death of all the firstborn, the Jews left Egypt.

The exact route along which the Exodus took place is now unknown. However, as God commanded at the Burning Bush, after three months of wandering, Moses led the people to Mount Sinai.

Prophet Moses on Mount Sinai

Ref. 19:1-3:“In the third month after the exodus of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, on the very day of the new moon, they came to the Sinai desert. And they journeyed from Rephidim, and came to the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped there in the wilderness; and Israel pitched there opposite the mountain. Moses went up to God [on the mountain], and the Lord called to him from the mountain..."

The people of Israel, who came with Moses, were frightened by the majestic phenomena accompanying the Divine appearance: Mount Sinai shook, was shrouded in smoke and flame, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the voice of God was heard by everyone. The people retreated from the mountain in fear and waited for the prophet to return. Moses delegated to his brother Aaron the authority to resolve the affairs and issues of the people remaining before the mountain.

Moses spent 40 days on the mountain of God and received from him the basic Law - the 10 Commandments, inscribed on stone Tablets. This time seemed too long to the people and they doubted the correctness of the prophet. Having gathered with Aaron, they demanded to show them the god who led them out of Egypt, and Aaron, frightened by their unbridledness, collected gold earrings and cast a golden calf from them. Moses, having descended from the mountain with the Tablets and seeing the celebration and worship of the idol, became angry and broke the Commandments given by God. Moses severely punished his people for their apostasy, killing about three thousand people, but asked God not to punish them. And God had mercy and spoke to Moses in the tabernacle, and showed him His glory, showing him a chasm, hiding in which the prophet could see God from behind, because the face of the Most High cannot be seen by man.

At the command of God, Moses made new tablets from stone, similar to the first ones, and again climbed Mount Sinai. There the Lord gave him more laws that the Jewish people needed to observe. It is believed that the book of Exodus lists the Commandments written on the first, broken tablets, and Deuteronomy lists what was written the second time. The second time the prophet Moses stayed on the mountain for 40 days, without food or drink. When he descended from the mountain with the new Tablets of the Covenant in his hands, an imprint of the radiance of divine glory remained on his face, as if bright rays were emanating from him. This forced the skeptical people to believe and accept the Law, which became the basis not only of their faith, but also of their entire life structure.

Ten Commandments

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, so that you may have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; six days thou shalt work and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: on that day thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger who is in your gates; For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
6. Dont kill.
7. Don't commit adultery.
8. Don't steal.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Traveling through the Sinai Desert

For another forty years the prophet Moses led his people to the promised land - Canaan. He remained a servant of God, but to enter new country he was not allowed to because of the lack of faith shown by both he and his brother Aaron at the waters of Meribah in Kadesh. The Prophet Moses died about 120 years old before the Israelites completed their hard way and entered the Promised Land. During forty years of wandering, not a single person remained alive from those who came out of Egypt with Moses, and who doubted God and sinned by worshiping the golden calf at Horeb. Thus a truly new people was created, living according to the Law, given by God in Sinai.

Veneration of the Prophet Moses

Among the Jews:

As Lennart Möller, a scientist who wrote a significant work on the study of the Pentateuch “The Case of the Exodus”, writes: “for the Jews, Moses is a symbol of the existence of all Jewish nation. It was during this period of time that a small tribe became the people of Israel called the Jews. The Pentateuch of Moses is an integral part of Israel’s national identity.”

The Jews call the prophet Moses Moshe Rabbeinu and consider him the main prophet who spoke directly with God and received the Torah for them on Mount Sinai.

Christians:

For Christians, the prophet Moses is also one of the greatest Old Testament prophets. The key point is not the historical consideration of the fact that the people of Israel were brought out of slavery, but the spiritual meaning of receiving the 10 Commandments.

Theologians interpret the figure of the holy prophet Moses as an Old Testament prototype of Jesus Christ: just as the Old Testament was given to people through the prophet Moses, so through Christ - New Testament; just as Moses led the Israelites from slavery to the Promised Land, so the Son of God helps humanity to free themselves from sin and achieve the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the New Testament, the prophet Moses and the prophet Elijah (who also received his first Divine revelation on Mount Sinai) appear to the disciples of Christ during the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.

The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the day of remembrance of the Prophet Moses on September 17 (new style.)

The iconography of the prophet Moses is quite rich. This is due to the long tradition of venerating this saint. The image of the prophet Moses is included in the prophetic order of the Russian iconostasis.

Muslims:

Prophet Musa (Muslim common transcription) is revered as a great prophet to whom the Taurat was revealed on the top of Mount Jebel Musa.

The tomb of the holy prophet Moses is located on Mount Nebo, but it is impossible to find it. God hid this place so that the people, who were not yet strong in faith, would not make a place of worship here. And therefore, the greatest prophet is still worshiped where he showed the power of his faith, where he was chosen by God - on the sacred Mount Sinai.

MOSES(13th century BC?), in the Hebrew Bible, the prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt, where they were in slavery; Through Moses, God communicated his Law, containing the terms of the covenant union of God with Israel, concluded at Mount Sinai. Moses is a key figure in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. He is often seen as the founder of Judaism as a religious system. The name "Moses" (Heb. Moshe) is apparently of Egyptian origin and means "child".

Ancient Egyptian written sources and archaeological finds do not contain any information about Moses. The only source of information about him is the biblical text. Some conservative Jews and Christians consider Moses to be the author of the Torah (the Pentateuch, i.e., the first five books of the Bible), although the Torah is silent as to its authorship, and most scholars agree that it was not compiled until the 5th century. BC. based on several earlier monuments.

According to the biblical account, Moses was born in Egypt into a Jewish family during a time when the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians. Frightened by the prophecy, Pharaoh ordered all Jewish male babies to be killed, and Moses' mother left him in a basket of reeds on the banks of the Nile, where he was discovered by Pharaoh's daughter and adopted by her. Moses was raised at the court of Pharaoh, but retained contact with his fellow tribesmen. One day he saw an Egyptian overseer beating a Jew; Having stood up for his fellow tribesman, he killed the offender. After this, Moses was forced to flee to the desert east of Egypt. There he married Zipporah, the daughter of the Midian priest Jethro (or Raguel).

Many years later, God appeared to Moses and spoke to him from a bush engulfed in flames on Mount Horeb. He entrusted Moses with the task of leading the Jews from Egypt to Palestine and revealed to him his name: “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). When Moses tried to evade his mission, citing his tongue-tiedness, God promised that his brother Aaron would be his “mouth.” After this, Moses met with Aaron and returned to Egypt with him.

The brothers turned to the pharaoh several times with a request that he allow the Jews to leave the country, but they were faced with stubborn refusal. As punishment for this, God struck the Egyptians with ten “plagues,” the worst of which was the death of all the Egyptian firstborns. The Israelites were delivered from all these misfortunes, and in memory of this the Easter holiday was established. After this, the Israelis were still allowed to leave. However, Pharaoh very soon changed his mind and set out to pursue the Jews. When the latter reached the Red Sea, Moses, with the power he received from God, forced the waters of the sea to part, and the Jews crossed it on dry ground, and the waves of the sea closed over the army of Pharaoh.

On Mount Sinai, God entered into a covenant with the children of Israel: “If you will obey My voice and keep My covenant... you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5-6). Part of this covenant were the Ten Commandments. In addition to them, the Law revealed to Moses by God contained hundreds of instructions and prohibitions of a moral and ritual nature. Under the direction of Moses, the ark of the covenant was made (to carry and store the tablets on which the Law was written); Aaron was appointed high priest.

The subsequent narrative parts of the Pentateuch deal primarily with the difficulties that Moses faced as the leader of a people not yet accustomed to obedience to the Law of God. When he discovered that the Israelites were worshiping the golden calf, he angrily broke the first two tablets of stone (Exodus 32). People in the desert ate the manna that fell from heaven, a gift from God, but they were tired of it (Numbers 11:6) and they complained. A rebellion arose against Moses led by Korah, Dathan and Abiron (Numbers 16). Under Meribah, the people, suffering from thirst, began to grumble, but Moses gave the people something to drink: from the blow of his rod, water began to gush out of the rock (Numbers 20). Despite everything, he managed to maintain unity among the people, in particular thanks to the support of his faithful assistant Joshua.

In Moab, on the east bank of the Jordan, God showed Moses the land of Palestine from the top of Mount Thisbah (or Nebo). However, God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land because of the sin he committed at Meribah. Apparently, the sin was that Moses and Aaron said: “Shall we bring water out of this rock for you?” (Numbers 20:10), rather than emphasizing that only God performs miracles. Moses died in Moab at the age of 120.

Numerous works of art and literature testify to how much the image of Moses has excited the imagination of people from ancient times to the present day. Philo of Alexandria and Gregory of Nyssa compiled detailed allegorical interpretations of the biography of the prophet. Moses Michelangelo is perhaps the greatest image of human power and maturity in all Western sculpture. G. Rossini and A. Schoenberg composed operas about Moses. Z. Freud wrote a book Moses and monotheism dedicated to psychoanalytic research life path Moses and his relationship with the Jewish people. However, the greatest monument to Moses remains the Jewish religion itself, since, as the Bible tells, it was through Moses that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was recognized as the God of Israel.

Moses is the greatest Old Testament prophet, the founder of Judaism, who led the Jews from Egypt, where they were in slavery, accepted the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai and united the Israeli tribes into a single people.

In Christianity, Moses is considered one of the most important prototypes of Christ: just as through Moses the Old Testament was revealed to the world, so through Christ the New Testament was revealed.

The name "Moses" (in Hebrew Mosheʹ) is believed to be of Egyptian origin and means "child". According to other instructions - “recovered or rescued from the water” (this name was given to him by the Egyptian princess who found him on the river bank).

The four books of the Pentateuch (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), which make up the epic of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, are dedicated to his life and work.

Birth of Moses

According to the biblical account, Moses was born in Egypt into a Jewish family during the time when the Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians, around 1570 BC (other estimates around 1250 BC). Moses' parents belonged to the tribe of Levi 1 (Ex. 2:1). His older sister was Miriam and his older brother was Aaron (the first of the Jewish high priests, the ancestor of the priestly caste).

1 Levi- the third son of Jacob (Israel) from his wife Leah (Gen. 29:34). The descendants of the tribe of Levi are the Levites, who were responsible for the priesthood. Since of all the tribes of Israel the Levites were the only tribe not endowed with land, they were dependent on their fellows.

As you know, the Israelis moved to Egypt during the lifetime of Jacob-Israel 2 (XVII century BC), fleeing famine. They lived in the eastern Egyptian region of Goshen, bordering the Sinai Peninsula and watered by a tributary of the Nile River. Here they had extensive pastures for their herds and could roam freely around the country.

2 JacoborYakov (Israel) - the third of the biblical patriarchs, the youngest of the twin sons of the patriarch Isaac and Rebekah. From his sons came the 12 tribes of the people of Israel. In rabbinic literature, Jacob is seen as a symbol of the Jewish people.

Over time, the Israelites multiplied more and more, and the more they multiplied, the more hostile the Egyptians were towards them. Eventually there were so many Jews that it began to inspire fear in the new pharaoh. He told his people: “The Israeli tribe is multiplying and can become stronger than us. If we have a war with another state, the Israelis can unite with our enemies.” To prevent the Israelite tribe from strengthening, it was decided to turn it into slavery. The pharaohs and their officials began to oppress the Israelites as strangers, and then began to treat them as a conquered tribe, like masters and slaves. The Egyptians began to force the Israelis to the most hard work in favor of the state: they were forced to dig the ground, build cities, palaces and monuments for kings, and prepare clay and bricks for these buildings. Special guards were appointed who strictly monitored the execution of all these forced labors.

But no matter how the Israelites were oppressed, they still continued to multiply. Then Pharaoh gave the order that all newborn Israeli boys should be drowned in the river, and only girls should be left alive. This order was carried out with merciless severity. The people of Israel were in danger of complete extermination.

During this time of trouble, a son was born to Amram and Jochebed, from the tribe of Levi. He was so beautiful that light emanated from him. The father of the holy prophet Amram had a vision that spoke of the great mission of this baby and of God's favor towards him. Moses' mother Jochebed managed to hide the baby in her home in within three months. However, no longer able to hide him, she left the baby in a tarred reed basket in the thickets on the banks of the Nile.

Moses being lowered by his mother onto the waters of the Nile. A.V. Tyranov. 1839-42

At this time, Pharaoh's daughter went to the river to swim, accompanied by her servants. Seeing a basket among the reeds, she ordered it to be opened. A tiny boy lay in the basket and cried. Pharaoh's daughter said, "This must be one of the Hebrew children." She took pity on a crying baby and on the advice of Moses’ sister Miriam, who came to her and was watching what was happening from afar, she agreed to call the Israeli nurse. Miriam brought her mother Jochebed. Thus, Moses was given to his mother, who nursed him. When the boy grew up, he was brought to Pharaoh's daughter, and she raised him as her son (Ex. 2:10). Pharaoh's daughter gave him the name Moses, which means "taken out of the water."

There are suggestions that this good princess was Hatshepsut, daughter of Thothmes I, later the famous and only female pharaoh in the history of Egypt.

The childhood and youth of Moses. Flight into the desert.

Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in Egypt, raised in the palace as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Here he received an excellent education and was initiated into “all the wisdom of Egypt,” that is, into all the secrets of the religious and political worldview of Egypt. Tradition says that he served as commander of the Egyptian army and helped the pharaoh defeat the Ethiopians who attacked him.

Although Moses grew up free, he never forgot his Jewish roots. One day he wanted to see how his fellow tribesmen lived. Seeing an Egyptian overseer beating one of the Israelite slaves, Moses stood up for the defenseless and, in a fit of rage, accidentally killed the overseer. Pharaoh found out about this and wanted to punish Moses. The only way to escape was to escape. And Moses fled from Egypt to the Sinai desert, which is near the Red Sea, between Egypt and Canaan. He settled in the land of Midian (Ex. 2:15), located on the Sinai Peninsula, with the priest Jethro (another name is Raguel), where he became a shepherd. Moses soon married Jethro's daughter, Zipporah, and became a member of this peaceful shepherd family. So another 40 years passed.

Calling of Moses

One day Moses was tending a flock and went far into the desert. He approached Mount Horeb (Sinai), and here a wondrous vision appeared to him. He saw a thick thorn bush, which was engulfed in a bright flame and was burning, but still did not burn out.

The thorn bush or “Burning Bush” is a prototype of God-manhood and the Mother of God and symbolizes the contact of God with a created being

God said He chose Moses to save the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Moses had to go to Pharaoh and demand that he release the Jews. As a sign that the time has come for a new, more complete Revelation, He proclaims His Name to Moses: "I Am Who I Am"(Ex.3:14) . He sends Moses to demand, on behalf of the God of Israel, to release the people from the “house of slavery.” But Moses is aware of his weakness: he is not ready for a feat, he is deprived of the gift of speech, he is sure that neither Pharaoh nor the people will believe him. Only after persistent repetition of the call and signs does he agree. God said that Moses in Egypt had a brother Aaron, who, if necessary, would speak in his place, and God himself would teach both what to do. To convince unbelievers, God gives Moses the ability to perform miracles. Immediately, by His order, Moses threw his rod (shepherd's stick) to the ground - and suddenly this rod turned into a snake. Moses caught the snake by the tail - and again there was a stick in his hand. Another miracle: when Moses put his hand in his bosom and took it out, it became white from leprosy like snow, when he put his hand in his bosom again and took it out, it became healthy. “If they don’t believe this miracle,- said the Lord, - then take water from the river and pour it on the dry land, and the water will become blood on the dry land.”

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh

Obeying God, Moses set out on the road. On the way, he met his brother Aaron, whom God ordered to go out into the desert to meet Moses, and they came together to Egypt. Moses was already 80 years old, no one remembered him. The daughter of the former pharaoh, the adoptive mother of Moses, also died long ago.

First of all, Moses and Aaron came to the people of Israel. Aaron told his fellow tribesmen that God would lead the Jews out of slavery and give them a land flowing with milk and honey. However, they did not immediately believe him. They were afraid of Pharaoh's revenge, they were afraid of the path through the waterless desert. Moses performed several miracles, and the people of Israel believed in him and that the hour of liberation from slavery had come. Nevertheless, the murmur against the prophet, which began even before the exodus, then flared up repeatedly. Like Adam, who was free to submit to or reject the higher Will, the newly created people of God experienced temptations and failures.

After this, Moses and Aron appeared to Pharaoh and declared to him the will of the God of Israel, so that he would release the Jews into the desert to serve this God: “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may celebrate a feast for Me in the wilderness.” But Pharaoh answered angrily: “Who is the Lord that I should listen to him? I don’t know the Lord and I won’t let the Israelites go.”(Ex.5:1-2)

Then Moses announced to Pharaoh that if he did not release the Israelites, then God would send various “plagues” (misfortunes, disasters) to Egypt. The king did not listen - and the threats of the messenger of God came true.

Ten Plagues and the Establishment of Easter

Pharaoh's refusal to fulfill God's command entails 10 "plagues of Egypt" , a series of terrible natural disasters:

However, the executions only embitter the pharaoh even more.

Then the angry Moses came to Pharaoh for the last time and warned: “This is what the Lord says: At midnight I will pass through the middle of Egypt. And every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh...to the firstborn of the slave girl...and all the firstborn of livestock.” This was the last and most severe 10th plague (Exodus 11:1-10 - Exodus 12:1-36).

Then Moses warned the Jews to slaughter a one-year-old lamb in each family and anoint the doorposts and lintel with its blood: by this blood God will distinguish the homes of the Jews and will not touch them. The lamb was to be roasted over a fire and eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Jews must be ready to hit the road immediately.

At night, Egypt suffered a terrible disaster. “And Pharaoh arose by night, he and all his servants, and all Egypt; and there was a great cry in the land of Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not a dead man.”

The shocked Pharaoh immediately summoned Moses and Aaron and ordered them, along with all their people, to go into the desert and perform worship so that God would take pity on the Egyptians.

Since then, Jews every year on the 14th day of the month of Nissan (the day falling on the full moon of the vernal equinox) Easter holiday . The word "passover" means "to pass by," because the angel who struck the firstborn passed by Jewish houses.

From now on, Easter will mark the liberation of the People of God and their unity in a sacred meal - a prototype of the Eucharistic Meal.

Exodus. Crossing the Red Sea.

That same night, the entire Israeli people left Egypt forever. The Bible indicates the number of those who left was “600 thousand Jews” (not counting women, children and livestock). The Jews did not leave empty-handed: before fleeing, Moses ordered them to ask their Egyptian neighbors for gold and silver items, as well as rich clothes. They also took with them the mummy of Joseph, which Moses searched for for three days while his fellow tribesmen collected property from the Egyptians. God himself led them, being in a pillar of cloud during the day and in a pillar of fire at night, so the fugitives walked day and night until they reached the seashore.

Meanwhile, Pharaoh realized that the Jews had deceived him and rushed after them. Six hundred war chariots and selected Egyptian cavalry quickly overtook the fugitives. There seemed to be no escape. Jews - men, women, children, old people - crowded on the seashore, preparing for inevitable death. Only Moses was calm. At the command of God, he extended his hand to the sea, struck the water with his staff, and the sea parted, clearing the way. The Israelites walked along the bottom of the sea, and the waters of the sea stood like a wall to their right and left.

Seeing this, the Egyptians chased the Jews along the bottom of the sea. Pharaoh's chariots were already in the middle of the sea when the bottom suddenly became so viscous that they could hardly move. Meanwhile, the Israelis made it to the opposite bank. The Egyptian warriors realized that things were bad and decided to turn back, but it was too late: Moses again extended his hand to the sea, and it closed over Pharaoh’s army...

The crossing of the Red (now Red) Sea, accomplished in the face of imminent mortal danger, becomes the culmination of a saving miracle. The waters separated the rescued from the “house of slavery.” Therefore, the transition became a prototype of the sacrament of baptism. A new passage through water is also a path to freedom, but to freedom in Christ. On the seashore, Moses and all the people, including his sister Miriam, solemnly sang a song of thanksgiving to God. “I sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; he threw his horse and rider into the sea..." This solemn song of the Israelites to the Lord underlies the first of the nine sacred songs that make up the canon of songs sung daily Orthodox Church at the service.

According to biblical tradition, the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years. And the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt took place, according to Egyptologists, around 1250 BC. However, according to the traditional point of view, the Exodus occurred in the 15th century. BC e., 480 years (~5 centuries) before the construction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem began (1 Kings 6:1). There are a significant number of alternative theories of the chronology of the Exodus, consistent to varying degrees with both religious and modern archaeological perspectives.

Miracles of Moses

The road to the Promised Land ran through the harsh and vast Arabian Desert. First, they walked for 3 days through the desert of Sur and found no water except bitter water (Merrah) (Exodus 15:22-26), but God sweetened this water by commanding Moses to throw a piece of some special tree into the water.

Soon, having reached the Sin desert, the people began to grumble from hunger, remembering Egypt, when they “sat by the cauldrons of meat and ate bread to their fill!” And God heard them and sent them from heaven manna from heaven (Ex. 16).

One morning, when they woke up, they saw that the entire desert was covered with something white, like frost. We started looking: white coating turned out to be small grains, similar to hail or grass seeds. In response to the surprised exclamations, Moses said: “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” Adults and children rushed to gather manna and bake bread. From then on, every morning for 40 years they found manna from heaven and ate it.

Manna from heaven

The collection of manna took place in the morning, since by noon it melted under the rays of the sun. “The manna was like coriander seed, the appearance of bdellium.”(Num. 11:7). According to Talmudic literature, when eating manna, young men felt the taste of bread, old people - the taste of honey, children - the taste of oil.

In Rephidim, Moses, at the command of God, brought water out of the rock of Mount Horeb, striking it with his rod.

Here the Jews were attacked by a wild tribe of Amalekites, but were defeated by the prayer of Moses, who during the battle prayed on the mountain, raising his hands to God (Ex. 17).

Sinai Covenant and 10 Commandments

In the 3rd month after leaving Egypt, the Israelites approached Mount Sinai and camped opposite the mountain. Moses first ascended the mountain, and God warned him that he would appear before the people on the third day.

And then this day came. The phenomenon in Sinai was accompanied by terrible phenomena: clouds, smoke, lightning, thunder, flames, earthquakes, and the sound of a trumpet. This communication lasted 40 days, and God gave Moses two tablets - stone tablets on which the Law was written.

1. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; Let you have no other gods before Me.

2. Do not make for yourself an idol or any image of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water below the earth; You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I am the Lord your God. God is jealous, punishing the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave without punishment the one who takes His name in vain.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; six days thou shalt work, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor yours, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor the stranger who is in your gates; For in six days the Lord created heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them, and rested on the seventh day; Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.

5. Honor your father and your mother, (so that it may go well with you and) so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6. Don't kill.

7. Do not commit adultery.

8. Don't steal.

9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor (any of his livestock), nor anything that is thy neighbor's.

The law that was given to ancient Israel by God had several purposes. First, he asserted public order and justice. Secondly, he singled out the Jewish people as a special religious community professing monotheism. Thirdly, he had to make an internal change in a person, morally improve a person, bring a person closer to God through instilling in a person the love of God. Finally, the law Old Testament prepared humanity for the adoption of the Christian faith in the future.

The Decalogue (ten commandments) formed the basis of the moral code of all cultural humanity.

In addition to the Ten Commandments, God dictated laws to Moses that outlined how the people of Israel should live. Thus the Children of Israel became a people - Jews .

The Wrath of Moses. Establishment of the tabernacle of the covenant.

Moses ascended Mount Sinai twice, remaining there for 40 days. During his first absence the people sinned terribly. The wait seemed too long to them and they demanded that Aaron make them a god who led them out of Egypt. Frightened by their unbridledness, he collected gold earrings and made a golden calf, in front of which the Jews began to serve and have fun.

Coming down from the mountain, Moses in anger broke the Tablets and destroyed the calf.

Moses breaks the tablets of the Law

Moses severely punished the people for their apostasy, killing about 3 thousand people, but asked God not to punish them. God had mercy and showed him His glory, showing him a chasm in which he could see God from behind, because it is impossible for man to see His face.

After that, again for 40 days, he returned to the mountain and prayed to God for the forgiveness of the people. Here, on the mountain, he received instructions about the construction of the Tabernacle, the laws of worship and the establishment of the priesthood.It is believed that the book of Exodus lists the commandments on the first broken tablets, and Deuteronomy lists what was written the second time. From there he returned with God's face illuminated by the light and was forced to hide his face under a veil so that the people would not go blind.

Six months later, the Tabernacle was built and consecrated - a large, richly decorated tent. Inside the tabernacle stood the Ark of the Covenant - a wooden chest lined with gold with images of cherubim on top. In the ark lay the tablets of the covenant brought by Moses, a golden container with manna, and Aaron’s rod that flourished.

Tabernacle

To prevent disputes about who should have the right of the priesthood, God commanded that a staff be taken from each of the twelve leaders of the tribes of Israel and placed in the tabernacle, promising that the staff of the one He had chosen would blossom. The next day Moses found that Aaron's rod had given flowers and brought almonds. Then Moses laid Aaron's rod before the ark of the covenant for safekeeping, as a testimony to future generations of the Divine election of Aaron and his descendants to the priesthood.

Moses' brother, Aaron, was ordained high priest, and other members of the tribe of Levi were ordained priests and "Levites" (in our opinion, deacons). From this time on, the Jews began to perform regular religious services and animal sacrifices.

End of wandering. Death of Moses.

For another 40 years Moses led his people to the promised land - Canaan. At the end of the journey, the people again began to be faint-hearted and grumble. As punishment, God sent poisonous snakes, and when they repented, he commanded Moses to erect a copper image of a serpent on a pole so that everyone who looked at it with faith would remain unharmed. The serpent lifted up in the desert, as St. Gregory of Nyssa - is the sign of the sacrament of the cross.

Despite great difficulties, the prophet Moses remained a faithful servant of the Lord God until the end of his life. He led, taught and mentored his people. He arranged their future, but did not enter the Promised Land because of the lack of faith shown by him and his brother Aaron at the waters of Meribah in Kadesh. Moses struck the rock twice with his rod, and water flowed out of the stone, although once was enough - and God became angry and declared that neither he nor his brother Aaron would enter the Promised Land.

By nature, Moses was impatient and prone to anger, but through Divine education he became so humble that he became “the meekest of all people on earth.” In all his deeds and thoughts, he was guided by faith in the Almighty. In a sense, the fate of Moses is similar to the fate of the Old Testament itself, which through the desert of paganism brought the people of Israel to the New Testament and froze on its threshold. Moses died at the end of forty years of wandering on the top of Mount Nebo, from which he could see the promised land from afar - Palestine. God told him: “This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob... I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not enter it.”

He was 120 years old, but neither his vision was dull nor his strength exhausted. He spent 40 years in the palace of the Egyptian pharaoh, another 40 with flocks of sheep in the land of Midian, and the last 40 wandering at the head of the Israeli people in the Sinai desert. The Israelites commemorated the death of Moses with 30 days of mourning. His grave was hidden by God so that the Israeli people, who were inclined at that time towards paganism, would not make a cult out of it.

After Moses, the Jewish people, spiritually renewed in the desert, were led by his disciple, who led the Jews to the Promised Land. For forty years of wandering, not a single person remained alive who came out of Egypt with Moses, and who doubted God and worshiped the golden calf at Horeb. In this way, a truly new people was created, living according to the law given by God at Sinai.

Moses was also the first inspired writer. According to legend, he is the author of the books of the Bible - the Pentateuch as part of the Old Testament. Psalm 89, “The Prayer of Moses, the Man of God,” is also attributed to Moses.

Svetlana Finogenova