{"id":56280,"date":"2025-02-06T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T12:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=646"},"modified":"2025-02-05T10:43:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T15:43:41","slug":"who-was-moses-was-he-more-than-an-exodus-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/biblical-topics\/exodus\/who-was-moses-was-he-more-than-an-exodus-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Was Moses? Was He More than an Exodus Hero?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moses\u2019 story is told in the Book of Exodus<\/a>, but it starts in Genesis<\/a> with the story of Abraham and his family with whom God makes a covenant. Generations later the biblical Moses<\/a> draws the extended family together in the form of a nation with a structure and code of law, given to him on Mount Sinai<\/a>. Below, Peter Machinist explores the story of Moses, the Exodus hero, in \u201cThe Man Moses<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"beck-moses\"<\/a>

The Exodus hero Moses. The Biblical Moses, portrayed here as a shepherd in a print by contemporary Israeli artist Mordechai Beck, protectively clasps a sheep in his arms. Photo: Mordechai Beck.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Some might say that God himself was the Exodus hero, but in human terms the biblical Moses takes center stage throughout the whole Pentateuch. Who was Moses? A rather solitary leader, one with his people but set apart, even in his childhood, when he was raised by the pharaoh\u2019s daughter as if he were an Egyptian prince. Set apart also in that he married an alien wife\u2014Midianite or possibly Ethiopian. Even his physical characteristics\u2014a speech defect\u2014set him apart from others and is accommodated by God who arranges a leadership duo with Moses and his priestly brother Aaron<\/a>. His role was unique\u2014even to receiving the Law and seeing God, as evidenced by Moses\u2019 blinding countenance.<\/p>\n

The biblical Moses also has an unusual death. God says he must die alone on a mountaintop outside the promised land. Who was Moses? We might say he was a man who was a son of Abraham who led the people but was not typical of them.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Man Moses,\u201d Peter Machinist proposes that our Exodus hero is a type of anti-hero, outside the stereotype of a tribal or national leader. He might represent the people of Israel themselves, biblically portrayed as being outsiders. Further, Moses\u2019 otherness might also serve to turn the spotlight not on himself but on the message he delivers to the people: the Law. Who was Moses\u2014the biblical Moses? Who was the man chosen to meet God on Sinai and receive the Law on behalf of God\u2019s chosen people?<\/p>\n

Below, Peter Machinist explores the character of the Exodus hero\u2014the biblical Moses\u2014in \u201cThe Man Moses<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t

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FREE ebook: Ancient Israel in Egypt and the Exodus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t