Moses
Moses is a founding prophet in Abrahamic religions. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was once a Prince of Egypt who later in life became a religious leader and lawgiver, to whom the authorship of the Torah, or acquisition of the Torah from Heaven is traditionally attributed. He is the most important prophet in Judaism. He is also an important prophet in Christianity, Islam, Bahá'í Faith as well as a number of other faiths.
Overview[]
Moses was born in a time when his people, the Israelites, an enslaved minority, were increasing in numbers within Egypt. In time, Pharaoh came to fear that the Hebrew slaves might ally themselves with Egypt's enemies in rebellion, toppling the great empire. In order to prevent this, Pharaoh ordained the mass genocide of all the male Hebrew infants, commanding his soldiers to toss them into the Nile so that they may be feasted upon by the crocodiles of Sobek.
Upon learning of this new edict, Moses' birth mother, Jochebed, hid her newborn son away for 3 months, until she could no longer risk him being discovered. Finally, she took a basket made of papyrus plants and coated it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in it and set it among the papyrus plants near the bank of the Nile River. The baby’s sister stood at a distance to see what would happen, and watched as the Nile river carried the basket through its turbulent waters until it finally came to rest at an entrance to the palace of the Pharaoh.
The Pharaoh's daughter, identified as Queen Bithia, upon discovering the Moses, adopted him and raised him alongside the Egyptian royal family. One day after killing an Egyptian slave-master because he had been beating an elderly slave, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian. Years later, Moses encountered the Angel of the Lord, speaking to him from within a burning bush on Mount Horeb; which he regarded as the Mountain of God. God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak with assurance or eloquence, so God allowed Aaron, his brother, to become his spokesperson.
After the Ten Plagues, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died within sight of the Promised Land on Mount Nebo.
