According to the Bible, Moses was crucial in liberating the Israelites from slavery. He is one of the most outstanding prophets of Yahweh, considering the many miracles he performed, including parting the Red Sea and being entrusted with the Ten Commandments by God at Mount Sinai. Besides his unforgettable and well-documented accomplishments, here are some lesser-known facts about Moses.
In the 4th Century, Jerome of Stridon (an early Christian priest, confessor, translator, and theologian) translated the Bible into Latin from Greek. According to his translation, Jerome described Moses as “cornuta esset facies,” which means his face was horned. Also, Moses’ sculpture at the St. Peter-in-Chains church in Rome . Later versions of the Bible do not imply that Moses had horns. Instead, they say his face was “glorified” after encountering God.
Biblical scholars claim that , also known as the Pentateuch. However, Jerome, the church father, mentions that Ezra, the Priest, was the one who wrote the Pentateuch using notes written by Moses. Interestingly, if indeed Moses wrote these books, it is possible that he foresaw his death and burial.
In the Quran, Moses, who is also known as Mūsā ibn ʿImrān, is the most mentioned person. His name has been mentioned 136 times. According to the holy book, Moses is a prophet of God, along with others such as Isa, Adam, Harun, and Sulayman.
According to the Bible, Zipporah was Moses’ wife. Intriguingly, in the book of Numbers 12:1, Miriam and Aaron speak against . Cush was the name of modern-day Ethiopia, a place inhabited by a black community.
From the Bible, there is no doubt that Moses gave his all in leading the Israelites out of slavery and throughout the wilderness. However, he did not reach the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 3:26, the Lord told Moses he would not reach the Promised Land because he was angry with him.
Moses is iconic in the Abrahamic religions of , Christianity, and Judaism. In these three religions, Moses is credited for liberating the Israelites and being used by God to give his followers the Torah and teachings about the Lord.
Did you know that ? They were Aaron and Miriam, and Moses was actually the last-born member of the family.
After Moses grew up, he visited where his people worked and saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Out of anger, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He fled to Midian, where he was later called by God.
When Moses met God at the burning bush, he gave Him five excuses for why he thought he was not the right person for those tasks. He felt that he was not good enough, didn’t have all the answers, thought people wouldn’t believe him, had a stutter, and assumed he was not qualified. God allowed Moses to tag his brother Aaron along to counter these qualities that Moses thought he lacked.
Of the many things he accomplished, . Under God’s instructions, Moses wrote three songs in the Pentateuch. There is also a song of Moses written in Revelations 15:3-4 which will be sung in Heaven.
According to the Bible, Moses was buried by God Himself. When the prophet died, God buried him in a valley in the land of Moab. To this day, no one knows the location of Moses’ grave. He remains the only person in the Bible that was buried by God.
Moses’s life is divided into three. He spent the first 40 years in Egypt. For the second 40 years, he was a humble shepherd. In the last 40 years, he was God’s prophet, liberated the Israelites from slavery, and took them through the wilderness.
Besides the Bible and Quran, Moses appeared in other religious texts such as the Midrash and Mishnah in 200-1200 AD and 200 AD, respectively. In these texts, Moses is portrayed as an Egyptian priest who leads an army of lepers against the reigning Pharaoh.
In the book of Exodus 33:11, . However, in Exodus 33:20, the Lord says that Moses can’t see His face because he would die. These two scriptures have often confused most people on whether Moses saw God’s face. Either way, Moses was the prophet who came closest to being in direct contact with God when he saw the burning bush.
