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Moses
Moses is the most important prophet in Judaism and is also important in Christianity and Islam. Moses led the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, miraculously crossing a divided Red Sea. At Mount Sinai he received the Ten Commandments. He led the Israelites through 40 years of desert wandering and finally to the Promised Land. He died there, within sight of his goal, at the age of 120.
1,252 Questions
What is the literary context of the Book of Numbers?
The Priestly Source was the major source, being primarily responsible for chapters 1-10:28, 15-20, 25-31 and 33-36, with shorter contributions elsewhere. The Priestly Source is generally considered to have lived during the Babylonian Exile, but there is also a good case for placing him early in the post-Exilic period, which probably means that there were actually two persons who contributed to this style and content. The Priestly Source, as the name implies, was interested in justifying the primacy of the priesthood, now that there was no longer a royal line of Judah. He also broadened the scope of stories to be more inclusive of Israel, not just Judah, perhaps to help justify the view that the inheritance of the Jews included the ancient kingdom of Israel.
The Yahwist was another important source, living in the southern Hebrew kingdom of Judah, in the ninth or eighth century BCE. He was a gifted story-teller and was interested in people.
The third source was the Elohist, living in the northern Hebrew kingdom of Israel, shortly before the destruction of Israel in 722 BCE.
In the Book of Numbers, Moses sent spies to search the land of Canaan, but the narrative is actually two versions of the same story, written by the Yahwist and the Priestly Source. The Yahwist Source was only interested in providing an account of the conquest of the future kingdom of Judah, and (Numbers 13:22-25) the spies travelled only as far north as Hebron in Judah. The spies returned and issued their report to Moses alone, stating that the land was 'flowing with milk and honey', but that the inhabitants were giants and and their cities fortified. Caleb alone tried to encourage the Israelites to proceed with the conquest; the spies countered Caleb's claim, stating that the land was unconquerable. (13:30-31,33). The people refused to enter Canaan and plotted to elect a new captain to lead them back to Egypt (14:1b, 4). The Priestly Source wanted to further Judah's interest in reclaiming the former kingdom of Israel and always included Israel in his stories, so his spies toured the entire Promised Land, 'from the Wilderness of Zin to the entrance to Hamath' (Numbers 13:21). The spies returned and displayed the land's fruit and issued their report to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. Their report stated that Canaan was not only unconquerable, but a 'land that devours its inhabitants' (13:32-33). The Israelites refused to enter Canaan (14:1a, 2-3). Joshua is closely identified with the traditions of the northern kingdom and, in the Priestly account, plays a much bigger part. The Priestly Source tells us that both Caleb and Joshua both tried to encourage the Israelites to proceed with the conquest, but the Israelites responded by calling for them to be stoned.
The Yahwist and the Priestly Source also give their accounts of the rebellion of Korah in Numbers chapter 16.
The story of God's warning to Balaam is also told twice. The Yahwist version is in Numbers 22:22-35 and the Elohist version in Numbers 22:9-12.
So, the context of the Book of Numbers is divided over the centuries and across the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. One source was a Judahite, only interested in the history of Judah; another was an Israelite, interested in what he believed was the history of Israel, while the last source, the Priestly Source, wrote at a time when the priestly class had taken political control of the Jews, either in the Babylonian empire or in Jerusalem after the Return.
Did Moses write about his death?
Biblical scholars say there is no doubt that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch - it even has different names in different places, for his own father-in-law. They say that the Pentateuch actually had four principal authors, all of whom were anonymous, and that it was written many centuries after the time attributed to Moses. He did not write the Pentateuch and did not write about his own death.
Did Moses have a map when he fled Egypt Had maps been drawn at that time?
According to the Bible, Moses was forced to flee Egypt after killing the Egyptian overseer who was beating an Israelite slave. The Bible does not mention any maps. Nor does it mention a direction or intended destination so a map would not have made any difference.
The Exodus, led by Moses, is commonly estimated to date to about 1250 BC. As no mention of maps is made it is not possible to know what Moses may or may not have had available. Also the Exodus story is a foundation-narrative of Israel and there is no archaeological evidence for any of its events, nor do any of the recorded histories of other peoples and nations in the area document events told in Exodus that would have obviously impacted them. Therefore it seems unlikely that the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt under the leadership of Moses happened as described, thus maps would probably not have even been useful.
Maps of cities based on survey data were in use in Babylon before 1750 BC, by the time of the rule of Hammurabi. "Maps" of local landmarks in cave paintings date back to 25000 BC (this is during the last ice age, which ended about 12000 BC).
- Evidence of the Exodus:
The plagues were also described by ancient historians, including Herodotus and Diodorus. The Exodus is mentioned by Strabo, Berosus, Artapanus, Numenius, Justin, and Tacitus.
But in any case, few nations are content to record embarrassing setbacks honestly. Even today, British and American textbooks describe the American Revolution in very different ways.
An example of the above principle:
The destruction of Sennacherib's army at the walls of Jerusalem was denied by secular theorists, because the Assyrians made no mention of it. But then it was found that Berosus and Herodotus both state that Sennacherib's military campaign in Judea ended in plague and defeat. It should not surprise us that the Assyrians themselves didn't record their own losses.
It is only the Hebrew Bible, because of its Divine origin, that exposes the faults of its own people and even magnifies them.
In no other religious text can one find such openness. None of the Israelites were immune to strong criticism: Abraham (Genesis 16:5), Reuben (Gen.ch.35), Simeon and Levi (Gen.ch.34 and 49), Judah (Gen.ch.38), Joseph's brothers (Gen.ch.37), Moses (Numbers ch.20), Aaron (Exodus 32:2-4), Samson (Judges 14:1-3), Eli's sons (1 Samuel 2:12), Samuel's sons (1 Samuel 8:1-3), Saul (1 Samuel ch.15), David (2 Samuel ch.11-12), Solomon (1 Kings ch.11), and many others.
"One city after another, one civilization after another, one culture after another, whose memories were enshrined only in the Bible, have been restored to their proper places in ancient history by the studies of archaeologists" (Prof. Gleason Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction).
No parchment, scroll, or inscription has ever been found that would support the Bible-critics' JEPD (different sources) hypothesis, which remains a set of postulates. And those ancient writers who mention, describe, summarize or translate the Torah (Josephus, Samaritans, Targum, Septuagint etc.), describe it in its complete form.
Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract specific claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in the Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the Documentary theorists have been proved to be without foundation."
What chapter in the Bible can I find where Moses broke the 10 commanment called stone tablets?
Exodus 32 (specifically, verse 19).
All of the Levites, and all of the women and children. Plus Joshua and Calev.
The Levites survived: Talmud, Bava Bathra 121.
The women survived: Rashi commentary, Numbers 26:64.
The children survived: because the decree of dying in the wilderness applied only to men aged twenty and over (Rashi, Numbers 14:29).
All of the above is based upon Israelite tradition going all the way back.
See also:
His rod turned into serpent. The Egyptians did imitate that but Moses serpent ate the other serpents.
What was Moses' wife Tzippora's ethnicity?
I believe she was a Midianite.
Answer #2
Zipporah is described as an Cushite or Ethiopian woman in Numbers 12:1.
How many years from Abraham to Moses?
From the birth of Abraham to the birth of Moses, 420 years elapsed.
No. A nationalist is someone who believes that based on the common ethnicity of a group that they should have a ethnic nation-state. This is an idea that only came into existence in the mid-1700s and early 1800s. Moses, assuming he lived, would have been a religious leader and a statesman, but not a nationalist. He would probably be considered a theocrat by today's standards.
Sensational (and unsubstantiated) claims notwithstanding, the answer is that we don't have an exact answer.
When you here the name Moses, the first thing that comes to your mind is, "oh! Moses is that old dude that parted an ocean!" YES! that s true, butttttt, that is not the answer to "who is moses read?" No....the answer is much more intense than that. Moses Edward Read is 14 years old, and was born on Feb. 16, 1995. He currently lives in Poulsbo, Washington and attends North Kitsap Highschool. He is one of the coolest people to have ever lived, and hopes that you agree. Thanks for wasting your time reading all this when its just random stuff about me!! Please follow me on facebook. THANKS!! :)
When moses returned from mount sinai did the Israelites repent?
Yes. The sinners were dealt with (Exodus 32:26-28, and 32:35), Moses prayed for them (Exodus 34:9, Deuteronomy 9:17-18), and they repented (Ramban commentary on Exodus 33:6). Had they not repented, God would never have made the promise of Exodus 34:10.
He lived until the age of eighty in the region (not city) of Goshen, in or near the Nile Delta, presumably not far from one of the two towns, Pithom or Raamses. See also:
Did Jesus take his ensalved people out of Egypt?
Yes. But, that was a thousand years, before He Became Incarnated in the Womb of His Mother, the Virgin Mary.
What was the importance of Moses?
Moses is important because
1) As a political leader he led his people out of bondage in Egypt to the "promised Land".
2) HaShem gave the Jewish people the Torah through Moses. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) This is the basis of their law and beginning history from the creation of the world to their existence of a nation.
Where was the Law given to Moses?
God spoke various portions of the Torah to Moses in different places, beginning in Egypt (Exodus ch.12) and ending on the east bank of the Jordan (Numbers 33:50), with additional places in between during the Israelites' 40 years in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. Moses had written all the Torah between the time of the Exodus [1446BC Ussher] and his death 40 years later [1406BC Ussher]. This included when the Law was given to Moses by God on Mt Sinai.
Leviticus 26
46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
However, although the Bible it is called Mt Sinai, and also called 'Horeb', it is NOT the Mt Sinai of today in the Sinai Peninsula: it is actually 'Jebel el Lawz' in Saudi Arabia.
[Co-ordinates 28 deg. 39min. 11.48sec North, 35deg 18min 18.13sec South]
See "Jebel el Lawz - Mount Sinai" on Google Maps at
"http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&t=h&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=100534173371681539906.00043504ffeeea04bbc9d"
