At the end of this period, a new era with new challenges of settling in the land is waiting for the people. Deuteronomy here imagines that a new leader might better facilitate this process, enabling the people to begin a new stage released from their past bonds. These supplements reflect the development of certain mythical dimensions of Moses, requiring that he did not die as a regular man.
Thus chapter 1, followed by ch. While here, in Deuteronomy 1 and 4, this sin was related to the people, alternative traditions such as the one of P attributed the sin to Moses himself. In contrast to these, the main narrative of Deuteronomy attributed to Moses the experience of death as common to all mortals. He died in a ripe old age, no longer able or allowed to be active Deut , though he was as fresh as a young man His mission ends at the climax of his life, closing the period of the wilderness wandering.
Please support us. For modern engagements, see, George W. Sotah 13b; Sifre Deuteronomy Mark —8; Luke —36]. Mendenhall eds. Herbert B. Huffmon et al. Following Martin Noth, scholars have noted the strong connection between the book of Deuteronomy and the historical books, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, which he called the Deuteronomistic History.
Moreover, he argued that chapters 1—3 4 in Deuteronomy are not part of the core book — made up of a block of laws chs. Instead, chs. See: Andrew D. Exod ; Deut. See similarly: Samuel R. Driver, Deuteronomy, 3 rd ed. McKenzie suggests understanding the divine anger with Moses as a reaction to the initiative of sending out the spies v. But these suggestions go beyond what is suggested in the text. Loewenstamm argues that the expression indicates an extension in the text Samuel E.
But the multiple occurrences of the the expression in the sequence six times! A hint to this concept is also found in von Rad, Deuteronomy , This idea was indeed my initial assumption in approaching this investigation. But as the research proceeded, the conclusions changed. She holds a Ph. I would like to receive new essays When published Before Shabbat. Torah Portion.
This Week's Torah Portion. Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy. Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur Yom Kippur. Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the Israelites heeded him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses. Additional Torah Reading on Simchat Torah. Shemini Atzeret and Simhat Torah in the Community. Rejoicing with the Torah. Jewish Holidays. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and bring you ads that might interest you.
Then the tsunami arrived one mile further down the river and swept away a 6, ton barge lying on the shore. The mega-tsunami which hit the Nile delta was a thousand times more devastating than this one.
Moses' appearance marks a kind of new beginning in the biblical story. Israel's ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in the past. In time of famine their descendants went down to Egypt, the largest and wealthiest neighbouring country, and settled there. These Hebrews became numerous, but Egypt's ruler, the Pharaoh, decided that they would be a good source of cheap labour, and began to exploit them in building projects; he also decided to make them less dangerous by keeping their numbers down through killing their male children at birth Exodus 1.
When Moses was born, his mother sought to protect him by putting him in a basket to float on the river Nile. Here he was providentially found by the Pharaoh's daughter who took pity on him and brought him up as her own child Exodus 2. One day Moses saw an Egyptian and a Hebrew fighting.
He intervened and killed the Egyptian. But when this became known he fled for his life. In the land of Midian, probably somewhere in the Sinai peninsula, he married the daughter of a priest, had two children, and settled down to life as a shepherd.
That might have been the end of his story - except that his compatriots were still enslaved in Egypt, and God resolved to do something about it. The Bible contains astonishing accounts of God and Moses speaking face to face begin when Moses is quietly minding his own business as a shepherd. God appears to Moses in a burning bush. Moses sees a bush which burns without being consumed - a symbol of the presence of God which defies usual human experience of things. And he hears a voice which calls him by his own name Exodus The point is that God has chosen to effect his plan through a human agent, Moses.
It is for this reason that Moses is called the greatest prophet in Israel, for a prophet is someone who speaks and acts on God's behalf. God is calling Moses to embody the pattern of human response to God that becomes basic within the Bible.
The other great face to face encounter with God is when Moses has brought the Israelites out of Egypt and has returned with them to Sinai where he first met God. The encounter is awesome. When God appears to the people of Israel, a whole mountain burns; for when God comes, Sinai becomes like a volcano not an actual volcano, but God's coming is so awesome that the only way to depict it is in the language of the most overwhelming of known phenomena :.
God then gives the Ten Commandments to Moses as a kind of basic constitution or charter for Israel, together with some more detailed laws that apply the Commandments within everyday situations. Israel responds by promising obedience Exodus As soon as Moses has rescued Israel from Egypt and brought them to Sinai where they become God's people, things almost unravel.
For while Moses is on the mountain with God receiving the law the people persuade his brother Aaron, who had clearly been left in charge, to make a golden calf to symbolize God's presence. They want to worship the calf, instead of God. Consequently the new relationship between God and Israel almost comes to an end. When Moses comes down from the mountain he symbolically smashes the stone tablets which contain the Ten Commandments, Israel's charter.
Yet even so Moses does not give up on Israel, but prays for them and asks God to be merciful. He persists in this, and God responds favourably. Exodus But even Moses gets caught up in a failure to heed God.
The story of his failure is told in Numbers The consequence is that Moses is prohibited from entering the Promised Land with Israel. So he gives a long series of addresses in the book of Deuteronomy, explaining in depth the dynamics of God's relationship with Israel. Then, he ascends Mount Nebo, east of the river Jordan, from where God gives him a panoramic vision of the whole of the Promised Land; and there he dies, as he had lived, in God's presence Deuteronomy Moses has an understanding of God that perhaps his ancestors didn't have.
So he hides in a cleft in a rock, and God passes by. As He passes, he defines himself in 13 ways. Moses understanding of God is that we can only see what God does after the event, we can look back and understand.
Moses has a much closer relationship to God than anyone ever had, but it's still an elusive one. We understand through Moses that although we can get very, very close, God remains always beyond us.
We can never define God. We discover that he owes a lot to women. He would not be alive had five women not defied male authority to allow him to exist. The women are two midwives, his mother, his sister and Pharaoh's daughter. He is also a displaced person. He is the son of a Hebrew slave who grows up in an Egyptian palace so he never really fits in anywhere.
Probably because of his accent and his bearing, he's not seen immediately as a natural Hebrew. He doesn't really fit well within the Egyptian camp, and he's also treated as a kind of royal prince.
He also has a stammer and is a murderer and he has gone on the run. We can see that God chooses people not for their problematic nature, but because of the potential which He sees in them.
Liberation Theology is from Latin America. Ordinary communities use worship and reflection on scripture with the aim of improving health care, human rights and provision for children, women workers. Moses is seen as the leader of the Liberation movement. He is brought up in the court of King Pharaoh and changes from being on the side of the Egyptian king to siding with the poor slaves. That's one of the most important paradigms for Liberation Theology: the idea of opting for the poor.
The Church in Latin America changed sides, just as Moses changed sides, moving from supporting the status quo, supporting the state, to siding with the poor and the marginal. The story of Moses was a very powerful example for them. The Exodus is also important as a model of liberation from slavery. One of the interesting aspects of the Exodus story however is that entering the Promised Land meant kicking out the other nations. That's something that Liberation Theology tends not to make much of at all.
It tends to concentrate much more on coming out of slavery as a popular movement and having the opportunity to explore the possibilities of a different way of living. Liberation Theology concentrates at how biblical laws offer a vision of a more egalitarian society. There's legacy within Christian theology of looking at the laws in the Bible and thinking that they are very oppressive, but if you talk to a Jew, they will say that these laws enable them to have a sense of freedom.
In Deuteronomy there is an attempt there to regulate society to create equality among more people. For instance, the release of debts and other mechanisms prevent the growth of an unequal society. The Exodus story is of fundamental importance to black people, because within it we find a group of people who are enslaved and suffering from both economic and political bondage as well as, at times, genocide and infanticide. They call upon God to help, and what God does is respond by liberating them, crushing their oppressors and leading them into freedom.
So the Exodus story has functioned as a paradigm for black people throughout slavery. Also in the contemporary world where the black people have found themselves in bondage, they've called upon God to free them as God freed the Israelites in the Exodus account.
The Exodus event, and the life of Moses within it, is a central paradigm for black Christian communities. The reason for this is simple. Within the exodus we have an example of socio-political and economic oppression. We have a people who are enslaved and they cry out to God for help and God doesn't turn away he sends Moses. This story is the story of African people of the last years: the story of slavery and the quest for redemption through belief and faith in God.
The vision of God that we have within the Bible is shaped by who we are as people. So if you're someone who is on the top, if you're part of the ruling elite, then God is generally going to be read through elitist eyes and you're going to see God as someone who supports the status quo rather than someone who wants to dismantle the elitism. The converse is also true. If you're dispossessed or part of the underclass you're going to see things within it which support your quest for justice and inclusion and that's true in terms of black communities when you read the Bible and the Old Testament.
Looking at the Old Testament in the light of the history of slavery, colonialism and its overcoming, then God is a liberator, one who takes enslaved people out of bondage and into land flowing with milk and honey. We read the Bible in response to our own social location and that influences how we understand God. I'm a black political theologian so I'm concerned with the ways in which politics and culture gets played out within the Biblical text.
When I read the Bible I often try and read against the dominant narrative. If the dominant story is the story of conquest, I'm interested in the people who are being conquered and trying to work out how they understood the process of conquest.
A good example of this is to look at the story of Joshua. When I read about Joshua going into the Promised Land I read it from the perspective of the Canaanite in order to get a fuller picture of what's going on.
I often encourage my students to read against the Bible - to look for the stories and individuals who are made almost invisible by the dominant narrative and the dominant traditions that have glorified certain people within the Bible and forgotten the significance of others. Search term:. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience.
Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Find out more about page archiving. Moses Last updated The escape of the Jews from Egypt is remembered by Jews every year in the festival of Passover. At the same time, God gave the Jews a set of rules that they should live by. The story The story of Moses According to the Bible, the descendants of Jacob had lived in Egypt for more than years, during which time they grew into a nation: the nation of Israel.
The evidence The book of Exodus says that after crossing the Reed Sea, Moses led the Hebrews into the Sinai, where they spent 40 years wandering in the wildnerness. Evidence - Moses' beginnings Were the Hebrews in Egypt? The tale of the basket The story of the infant Moses being set adrift in a basket bears remarkable similarities to an old Babylonian myth about a great King called Sargon who was discovered as a baby in a basket in a river.
Jim Hoffmeier, Egyptologist. Clinton Bailey, expert on Bedouin folklore. Evidence - the Exodus Evidence for the ten plagues and the Exodus Epidemiologist Dr John Marr believes most of the ten plagues could have been caused by polluted water in the Nile poisoning fish and setting off a tragic chain of events.
The ten plagues In the Bible, the ten plagues and the parting of the Red Sea are miracles — acts of God working through nature.
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