A brief introduction to Moses' upbringing and the Exodus account for an Introduction to Old Testament course.

1. *

2. *
*Moses was born a Hebrew slave. And because there was an
order out to have all Hebrew newborn male children killed,
Moses’ mother hid him in a basket and floated him down a
river where Pharaoh’s daughter found him and adopted him
into the royal household.
*As such, Moses is brought up as an Egyptian rather than a
Hebrew slave.
*Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave and Moses
reacts by killing the Egyptian resulting in Moses fleeing his
home to Midian.

3. *
*In Exodus 2:24, “God heard the [Hebrews’] groaning, and
God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob.”
*At this point in the tale, the Hebrews, like most slavery tales, were
severely persecuted and worked by the Egyptians. It is the
Hebrews’ groaning from their plight that God hears in Ex. 2:24
*Moses encounters God in the tale of the Burning Bush in
Exodus 3:1-6
*God gives Moses his name in Ex. 3:13-15: “I am who I am”
*Moses is sent out to save the Hebrews from slavery

4. *
*God tells Moses that he will harden Pharaoh's heart (Ex.
4:21-33)
*What does this passage say or not say about God’s character in this
story? Was there a purpose for “hardening Pharaoh’s heart”?
*Read Ex. 4:24-26. This is a very intriguing passage that has
mystified many when reading the Moses narrative.
*The passage does not seem related to the overall story
*Why would God try to kill Moses, the one he just sent to rescue his
people, the Hebrews?
*Moses’ wife, Zipporah, cut off her son’s foreskin from his penis and
touched Moses’ feet with it. Feet is often a euphemism for
genitals/sex in the Bible. What is this about?

5. *
*Moses travels to Egypt and ten plagues are brought upon the
Egyptians:
*Turn water in the Nile into Blood / PHARAOH’S MAGICIANS WERE
ABLE TO REPRODUCE
*Frogs / PHARAOH’S MAGICIANS WERE ABLE TO REPRODUCE
*Gnats / PHARAOH’S MAGICIANS WERE NOT ABLE TO REPRODUCE –
WHY?
*Flies
*Pestilence on the livestock
*Boils
*Hail
*Locusts
*Darkness (Darkness that can be felt)
*Death of the firstborn son and animals

6. *
*During the final plague of the death of all firstborn sons and
animals, God instituted the Passover celebration for the Hebrews.
See Exodus 12:1-28. For those who observed the Passover, the
LORD passed over their homes during the final plague.
* The Passover is still one of the most important Jewish festivals to this
day.
* It was also during Passover that Jesus was arrested and crucified
*Exodus 12:37 states that over 600,000 men took part in the
exodus. Because this number did not include women, elderly,
children, or teenagers, historians place the number at roughly two
million Hebrews journeying.
*Historians believe this number to be a large exaggeration since the
land would not support this number of people in the wilderness.
Also, according to Ex 1:15-20, the Hebrews had two midwives – not
enough to support a group this size.
*The Hebrews then crossed over the “Reed Sea”

7. *The sea that the Hebrews are said to have crossed is called
yam suf:
*Yam = sea
*Suf = reed
*Most biblical translations have the Hebrews crossing over the
Red Sea. However, given that the Hebrews would not only
have had to cross over a very large body of water with the
waters parted, they would have first had to descend and
then ascend an extremely large and steep chasm – deeper
than even Arizona’s Grand Canyon.
*Historians believe instead that the Hebrews crossed over a
“sea of reeds” – a large marsh or lake. Some place the
crossing at the swampy region north of the Gulf of Suez.

8. *So why does the Bible say Red Sea when it was more than
likely the “Reed Sea”?
*The term “sea” was used in a wider sense than just a marshy
area by the time the Hebrew texts were being translated into
Greek with the Septuagint. So, some of the Septuagint
traditions used Red Sea in place of Reed Sea. It was from one
of those translations that the Latin Vulgate was translated from
there the King James Bible.
*Because of the immense popularity of the King James Bible and the
popularity of the Red Sea in modern culture, modern bible
translators typically include Red Sea within the biblical text but will
also provide a footnote that makes note of the original meaning of
the Hebrew: sea of reeds.
*Does it matter whether the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea or
Sea of Reeds?

9. Harris, Stephen L. The Old
Testament: An Introduction to the
Hebrew Bible. Boston: McGraw
Hill, 2003.

10. *
*While traversing in the wilderness, Moses is given the Ten
Commandments/ Decalogue. Means “Ten words” in Hebrew.
However, there are two separate traditions of the Ten
Commandments being given.
*Exodus 19:20 – 20:21 – Associated with Mount Sinai
*Deuteronomy 5:1-27 – Associated with Mount Horeb
* No other Gods before me
* You shall not make for yourselves an idol
* Shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord
* Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy
* The reasoning for this commandment differs between Ex. and Deut.
Accounts.
* Deut: Story of Exodus is included

11. *
* Honor your father and mother – probably was not intended for children in
the original setting. Rather, society was based around elders. So, this
commandment probably dealt with honoring one’s father and mother
specifically during their older age.
* Shall not murder
* Shall not commit adultery – originally meant that a man could not have
sex with another married woman since the lineage would be disrupted.
However, sex with an unmarried woman was not usually condemned
during this time period.
* Shall not steal
* Shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
* Shall not covet neighbor’s house, wife, slave, or animals