Shemot,
Shemoth, or
Shemos (שמות —
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Culturally, it is considered a Jewish language. Hebrew in its modern form is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel while Classical Hebrew has been used for prayer or study in Jewish communities around the world for over...
for “names,” the second word, and first distinctive word, of the parsha) is the thirteenth weekly Torah portion (
parsha) in the annual
JewishJudaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts...
cycle of
Torah readingTorah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the first in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus
1:1–6:1. JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s in the
DiasporaThe Jewish diaspora , the presence of Jews outside of the Land of Israel, is a result of the expulsion or emigration of Jews from Israel...
read it the thirteenth
SabbathShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night...
after
Simchat TorahSimchat Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in late December or January.
Affliction in Egypt
Seventy descendants of
JacobJacob , also known as Israel , was the third Biblical patriarch and ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel, named after ten of his twelve sons, as well as the two sons of his son Joseph.The Bible says...
came down to
EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
, and the
IsraeliteIn the Bible, the Israelites were the descendants of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. They were divided into twelve tribes, each descended from one of twelve sons or grandsons of Jacob....
s were fruitful and filled the land.
JosephJoseph or Yosef , was the eleventh son of Jacob and first son of Rachel according to the Hebrew Bible...
and all of his generation died, and a new
PharaohPharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt. This was true only during the New Kingdom, specifically during the middle of...
arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He told his people that the Israelites had become too numerous and required shrewd dealing, lest they multiply and in a war join Egypt’s enemies. Therefore the Egyptians set taskmasters over the Israelites to afflict them with burdens — and the Israelites built store-cities for Pharaoh,
PithomPithom also called Per-Atum or Heroöpolis or Heroonopolis Pithom also called Per-Atum or Heroöpolis or Heroonopolis Pithom also called Per-Atum or Heroöpolis or Heroonopolis (Greek: or , Strabo xvi. 759, 768, xvii. 803, 804; Arrian, Exp. Alex. iii. 5, vii. 20; Joseph. Ant. Jud. ii. 7. § 5;...
and
RaamsesAvaris , was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward and the delta sedimented up and moved with the river, its position at the hub of Egypt's delta emporia made it a major administrative capital of the Hyksos...
— but the more that the Egyptians afflicted them, the more that they multiplied. The Egyptians embittered the Israelites’ lives with hard service in brick and mortar and in the field.
Pharaoh told the Hebrew
midwivesMidwifery is an allied health care profession in which providers give prenatal care to expecting mothers, attend the birth of the infant, and provide postpartum care to the mother and her infant. A practitioner of midwifery is known as a midwife, a term used in reference to both women and men...
, who were named
ShiphrahShiphrah was one of two midwives who helped prevent the genocide of Hebrew children by the Egyptians, according to Exodus 1:15-21. The name is found in a list of slaves in Egypt during the reign of Sobekhotep III. This list is on Brooklyn 35.1446, a papyrus scroll kept in the Brooklyn...
and
PuahPuah is a name given to two persons in the Bible:* One of the two midwives who feared God, and helped prevent the genocide of Hebrew male children by the Egyptians, according to Exodus 1:15-21. Her colleague was Shiphrah....
, that when they delivered Hebrew women, they were to kill the sons, but let the daughters live. But the midwives feared
GodIn Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people...
, and disobeyed Pharaoh, saving the baby boys. Pharaoh asked the midwives why they had saved the boys, and the midwives told Pharaoh that the Hebrew women were more vigorous than the Egyptian women and delivered before a midwife could get to them. God rewarded the midwives because they feared God, and God made them houses. The Israelites continued to multiply, and Pharaoh charged all his people to cast every newborn boy into
the riverThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world....
, leaving the girls alive.
Baby Moses
A
LeviteIn Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe who received cities but no tribal land "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
couple had a baby boy, and the woman hid him three months. When she could not longer hide him, she made an ark of bulrushes, daubed it with slime and pitch, put the boy inside, and laid it in river. As his sister watched,
Pharaoh’s daughterBithiah, in Hebrew Bitya was the daughter of a Pharaoh of Egypt. The name of her father is not in the Bible, but Rabbinic Midrash makes her the daughter of one of the Pharaohs of the Exodus....
came to bathe in the river, saw the ark, and sent her handmaid to fetch it. She opened it, saw the crying boy, and had compassion on him, recognizing that he was one of the Hebrew children. His sister asked Pharaoh's daughter whether she should call a
nurseA wet nurse is a woman who breast-feeds a baby that is not her own. These children may be known as milk-siblings and in some cultures share a special relationship...
from the Hebrew women, and Pharaoh's daughter agreed. The girl called the child's mother, and Pharaoh's daughter hired her to nurse the child for her. When the child grew, his mother brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her son, calling him
MosesMoses was, according to biblical texts, a religious leader, lawgiver, and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed. Also called Moshe Rabbeinu in Hebrew Moses was, according to biblical texts, a...
, because she drew him out of the water.
When Moses grew up, he went to his brethren and saw their burdens. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, he looked this way and that, and when he saw no one, he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the second day, he came upon two Hebrew men fighting, and he asked the wrongdoer why he struck his fellow. The man asked Moses who had made him king, asking him whether he intended to kill him as he did the Egyptian, so Moses realized that his deed was known. When Pharaoh heard, he sought to kill Moses, but Moses fled to
MidianMidian is generally thought to have been a land in northwest Arabia on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba although some have argued that it was not a specific geographical area but a league of tribes derived from a common ancestory in Abraham's son Midian by Keturah-Biographical Midian:Midian...
, where he sat down by a well.
Moses in Midian
The priest of Midian’s seven daughters had come to water their father's flock, but shepherds drove them away. Moses stood up and helped the daughters, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father
ReuelReuel or Raguel is a Hebrew name associated with several Biblical and/or religious figures.Biblical persons with this name are:* Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, who also went by the name "Reuel" . It has been suggested that Reuel was his proper name, and "Jether" or "Jethro" was his official title...
, he asked how they were able to come home so early, and they explained how an Egyptian had delivered them from the shepherds, and had also drawn water for the flock. Reuel then asked his daughters why they had left the man there, and told them to call him back to join them for a meal.
Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter
ZipporahZipporah or Tzipora , is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Jethro, a priest of Midian.- Biblical references :...
to marry. Moses and Zipporah had a baby boy, whom Moses called
GershomAccording to the Bible, Gershom was the firstborn son of Moses and Zipporah. The name appears to mean a sojourner there , which the text argues was a reference to Moses' flight from Egypt; biblical scholars regard the name as being essentially the same as Gershon, and it is Gershom rather than...
, saying that he had been a stranger in a strange land.
The calling of Moses
The Pharaoh died, and the Israelites groaned under their bondage and cried to God, and God heard them and remembered God’s
covenantCovenant is an "agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith as it is used in the Hebrew Bible, thus it is important to all Abrahamic religions...
with
AbrahamAbraham is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples, as described in the book of Genesis. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims....
,
IsaacIsaac or Ishak ) was the only child of Abraham and Sarah, and the father of Jacob and Esau, described in the Hebrew Bible. He is regarded as one of the three patriarchs of the Jewish people...
, and Jacob.
When Moses was keeping his father-in-law
JethroIn the Hebrew Bible, Jethro is Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of El Shaddai. In Islam, Jethro is identified with Shuaib or Shoaib, one of the prophets in the Qur'an...
’s flock at the mountain of God, Horeb (another name for the
Biblical Mount SinaiThe Biblical Mount Sinai is an ambiguously located mountain at which the Hebrew Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God. In certain biblical passages these events are described as having transpired at Horeb...
), the
angelAngels are spiritual beings found in many religious traditions. They are broadly viewed as messengers of God, sent to do God's tasks. Traditions vary as to the precise nature and role of these messages and tasks...
of God appeared to him in a flame in the midst of a
bush that burnedThe burning bush is an object described by the Book of Exodus as being located on Mount Horeb; according to the narrative, the bush was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name...
but was not consumed. God called to Moses from the bush, and Moses answered: “Here I am.” God told Moses not to draw near, and to take off his shoes, for the place on which he stood was
holyHoliness, or sanctity, is in general the state of being holy or sacred...
ground. God identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, reported having seen the Israelites’ affliction and heard their cry, and promised to deliver them from Egypt to
CanaanCanaan is an ancient term for a region encompassing modern-day Israel and Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, plus adjoining coastal lands and parts of Jordan, Syria and northeastern Egypt...
, a land flowing with milk and honey. God told Moses that God was sending Moses to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, but Moses asked who he was that he should do so. God told Moses that God would be with him, and after he brought them out of Egypt, he would serve God on that mountain.
Moses asked God whom he should say sent him to the Israelites, and God said “I Will Be What I Will Be” (
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh), and told Moses to tell the Israelites that “I Will Be” (
Ehyeh) sent him. God told Moses to tell the Israelites that the Lord (
YHVHTetragrammaton refers to the Hebrew term ', the name of the God depicted in the Bible....
), the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had sent him, and this would be God’s Name forever. God directed Moses to tell
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
’s elders what God had promised, and predicted that they would heed Moses and go with him to tell Pharaoh that God had met with them and request that Pharaoh allow them to go three days' journey into the
wildernessWilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
to
sacrificeKorban , in Judaism, is the term for a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. Such sacrifices were offered in a variety of settings by the ancient Israelites, and later by the Jewish priesthood, the Kohanim, at the Temple in Jerusalem...
to God. God knew that Pharaoh would not let them go unless forced by a mighty hand, so God would strike Egypt with wonders, and then Pharaoh would let them go. God would make the Egyptians view the Israelites favorably, so that the Israelites would not leave empty handed, but every woman would ask her neighbor for jewels and clothing and the Israelites would strip the Egyptians.
Moses predicted that they would not believe him, so God told him to cast his rod on the ground, and it became a
serpentSerpent is a word of Latin origin that is commonly used in a specifically mythic or religious context, signifying a snake that is to be regarded not as a mundane natural phenomenon nor as an object of scientific zoology, but as the bearer of some potent symbolic value.-Cross-cultural symbolic...
, and Moses fled from it. God told Moses to take it by the tail, he did so, and it became a rod again. God explained that this was so that they might believe that God had appeared to Moses. Then God told Moses to put his hand into his bosom, he did, and when he took it out, his hand was
leprousLeprosy , or Hansen's disease , is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external symptom...
, as white as snow. God told him to put his hand back into his bosom, he did, and when he took it out, it had returned to normal. God predicted that if they would not heed the first sign, then they would believe the second sign, and if they would not believe those two signs, then Moses was to take water from the river and pour it on the land, and the water would become blood. Moses protested that he was not a man of words but was slow of speech, but God asked him who had made man's mouth, so Moses should go, and God would teach him what to say. Moses pleaded with God to send someone else, and God became angry with Moses. God said that Moses’ well-spoken brother
AaronIn the Bible, Aaron , sometimes called Aaron the Levite , was the brother of Moses, and represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Hebrews...
was coming to meet him, Moses would tell him the words that God would teach them, he would be Moses’ spokesman, and Moses would be like God to him.
Moses returned to Jethro and asked him to let him return to Egypt, and Jethro bade him to go in peace. God told Moses that he could return, for all the men who sought to kill him were dead. Moses took his wife and sons and the rod of God and returned to Egypt. God told Moses to be sure to perform for Pharaoh all the wonders that God had put in his hand, but God would harden his
heartThe heart has long been used as a symbol to refer to the spiritual, emotional, moral, and in the past also intellectual core of a human being. As the heart was once widely believed to be the seat of the human mind, the word heart continues to be used poetically to refer to the soul, and stylized...
, and he would not let the people go. And Moses was to tell Pharaoh that Israel was God’s firstborn son, and Pharaoh was to let God’s son go to serve God, and should he refuse, God would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son.
Circumcision on the way
At the lodging-place along the way, God sought to kill him. Then
Zipporah took a flintThe tale of Zipporah at the inn, is one of the more unusual, curious, and much-debated, passages of the Pentateuch.When Moses and Zipporah reach an inn:On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the LORD met him and tried to kill him...
and
circumcisedMale circumcision is the removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
her son, and touched his legs with it, saying that he was a bridegroom of blood to her, so God let him alone.
Meeting the elders
God told Aaron to go to the wilderness to meet Moses, and he went, met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him. Moses told him all that God had said, and they gathered the Israelite elders and Aaron told them what God had said and performed the signs. The people believed, and when they heard that God had remembered them and seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshipped.
Moses before Pharaoh
Moses and Aaron told Pharaoh that God said to let God’s people go so that they might hold a feast to God in the wilderness, but Pharaoh asked who God was that he should let Israel go. They said that God had met with them, and asked Pharaoh to let them go three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to God, lest God fall upon them with pestilence or the sword. Pharaoh asked them why they caused the people to rest from their work, and commanded that the taskmasters lay heavier work on them and no longer give them
straw to make brickBricks without straw is a phrase which refers to a task which must be done without appropriate resources.-Origin:In Exodus 5 , Moses and Aaron meet with Pharaoh and deliver God's message, "Let my people go"...
but force them to go and gather straw for themselves to make the same quota of bricks. The people scattered to gather straw, and the taskmasters beat the Israelite officers, asking why they had not fulfilled the quota of brick production as before. The Israelites cried to Pharaoh, asking why he dealt so harshly with his servants, but he said that they were idle if they had time to ask to go and sacrifice to God. So the officers met Moses and Aaron as they came from meeting Pharaoh and accused them of making the Israelites to be abhorrent to Pharaoh and his servants and to give them a weapon to kill the people. Moses asked God why God had dealt so ill with the people and why God had sent him, for since he came to Pharaoh to speak in God’s name, he had dealt ill with the people, and God had not delivered the people. And God told Moses that now he would see what God would do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand would he let the people go, and by a strong hand would he drive them out of his land.
Exodus chapter 1
Rabbi Simon ben Yohai deduced from that the
ShechinahShekhinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew language word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling presence of God Shekhinah (alternative transliterations Shekinah, Shechinah, Shekina, Shechina, Schechinah, שכינה) is the English...
was with the Israelites when they were exiled to Egypt, and that it demonstrated how beloved the Israelites were in the sight of God that wherever they were exiled, the Shechinah went with them. (Babylonian
TalmudThe Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
Megillah 29a.)
The
ToseftaThe Tosefta is a secondary compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah . The Mishnah is the basic compilation of the Oral law of Judaism; it was compiled around 200 CE...
deduced from that so long as Joseph and his brothers were alive, the Israelites enjoyed greatness and honor, but after Joseph died (as reported in ), a new Pharaoh arose who took counsel against the Israelites (as reported in ). (Tosefta Sotah 10:10.)
RabAbba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
and Samuel differed in their interpretation of One said that the “new” Pharaoh who did not know Joseph really was new, reading the word literally. The other said that only the Pharaoh’s decrees were new, as nowhere does the text state that the former Pharaoh died and the new Pharaoh reigned in his stead. The
GemaraThe Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra) (from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
interpreted the words “Who knew not Joseph” in to mean that he issued decrees against the Israelites as if he did not know of Joseph. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Israelites' affliction
The Tosefta deduced from that Pharaoh began to sin first before the people, and thus God struck him first, but the rest did not escape. (Tosefta Sotah 4:12.) Similarly, a
BaraitaBaraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
taught that Pharaoh originated the plan against Israel first in , and therefore was punished first when in frogs came “upon [him], and upon [his] people, and upon all [his] servants.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Gemara noted that in Pharaoh said, “Come, let us deal wisely with
him,” when he should have said “with
them.” Rabbi Hama ben Hanina said that Pharaoh meant by that: “Come, let us outwit the Savior of Israel.” Pharaoh then considered with what to afflict them. Pharaoh reasoned that if the Egyptians afflicted the Israelites with fire, then indicates that God would punish the Egyptians with fire. If the Egyptians afflicted the Israelites with the sword, then indicates that God would punish the Egyptians with the sword. Pharaoh concluded that the Egyptians should afflict the Israelites with water, because as indicated by God had sworn not to bring another flood to punish the world. The Egyptians failed to note that while God had sworn not to bring another flood on the whole world, God could still bring a floor on only one people. Alternatively, the Egyptians failed to note that they could fall into the waters, as indicated by the words of “the Egyptians fled towards it.” This all bore out what Rabbi Eleazar said: In the pot in which they cooked, they were themselves cooked — that is, with the punishment that the Egyptians intended for the Israelites, the Egyptians were themselves punished. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Simai that
BalaamBalaam is a diviner in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers. The etymology of his name is uncertain, and discussed below. Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor, though Beor is not so clearly identified...
, Job, and Jethro stood in Pharaoh’s council when he formulated this plan against the Israelites. Balaam devised the plan and was slain; Job acquiesced and was afflicted with sufferings; and Jethro fled Pharaoh’s council and thus merited that his descendants should sit in the
Hall of Hewn StonesThe Hall of Hewn Stones was the meeting place of the Sanhedrin during the Second Temple period. The Talmud deduces that it was built into the north wall of the Temple, half inside the sanctuary and half outside, with doors providing access both to the temple and to the outside...
as members of the
SanhedrinThe Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Land of Israel.The Talmud states:GEMARA. Whence is this derived? — R...
. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Gemara questioned why in Pharaoh expressed concern that “when war befalls us,” the Israelites would “leave the land.” The Gemara reasoned that Pharaoh’s concern should have been that “we [the Egyptians] will leave the land.” Rabbi Abba bar Kahana concluded that the usage was like that of a man who fears a curse on himself but speaks euphemistically in terms of a curse on somebody else. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Gemara noted that used the singular in “they set taskmasters over
him,” when the text should have read “over
them.” The School of Rabbi Eleazar ben Simeon deduced from this that the Egyptians hung a brick mold round Pharaoh's neck, and whenever an Israelite complained that he was weak, they would ask him, “Are you weaker than Pharaoh?” The Gemara tus noted the similarity between the Hebrew word “taskmasters” (“
missim”) and something that forms (“
mesim”). (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Gemara noted that used the singular in “to afflict
him with their burdens,” when the text should have read “
them.” The Gemara deduced from this that the verse foretold that Pharaoh would be afflicted with the burdens of Israel. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
Rab and Samuel differed in their interpretation of the words in “and they built for Pharaoh store cities (
miskenot).” One said that they were called that because they endangered (
mesakkenot) their owners, while the other said it was because they impoverished (
memaskenot) their owners, for a master had declared (as reported in Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 63a) that whoever occupies himself with building becomes impoverished. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
Rab and Samuel differed in their interpretation of the names “Pithom and Raamses” in One said that the single city’s real name was Pithom, but it was called Raamses because one building after another collapsed (
mitroses). The other said that its real name was Raamses, but it was called Pithom because the mouth of the deep (
pi tehom) swallowed up one building after another. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Gemara questioned why the words “the more they afflicted him, the more he
will multiply and the more he
will spread abroad” in were not expressed in the past tense as “the more they
multiplied and the more they
spread abroad.” Resh Lakish interpreted the verse to teach that at the time, the Divine Spirit foretold to them that this would be the result of the affliction. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
The Gemara interpreted the words “And they were grieved (
wa-yakuzu) because of the children of Israel” in to teach that the Israelites were like thorns (
kozim) in the Egyptians’ eyes. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
Rabbi Eleazar interpreted the words “with rigor (
parech)” in to mean that Pharaoh lulled the Israelites into servitude “with a tender mouth (
peh rak).” But Rabbi
Samuel bar NahmaniSamuel ben Nahman or Samuel Nahmani was a rabbi of the Talmud, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel from the beginning of the 3rd century until the beginning of the 4th century. He was a pupil of R. Jonathan ben Eleazar and one of the most famous haggadists of his time...
interpreted the words to mean “with rigorous work (
perikah).” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a–b.)
RabaRava was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270, and one of the most often-cited Rabbis in the Talmud. He studied at the yeshiva of Pumbedita: see Talmudic Academies in Babylonia. There he became famous for his debates with his study-partner Abaye...
interpreted to teach that at first, the Egyptians made the Israelites’ lives bitter with mortar and brick, but finally it was with all manner of service in the field. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of
Rabbi JonathanRabbi Jonathan was a Tanna of the 2nd century and schoolfellow of R. Josiah, apart from whom he is rarely quoted. Jonathan is generally so cited without further designation; but there is ample reason for identifying him with the less frequently occurring Jonathan b. Joseph Rabbi Jonathan...
that the Egyptians assigned men's work to the women and women's work to the men. And even Rabbi Eleazar, who explained “rigor (
parech)” as meaning “with tender mouth” in admitted that at the close of
parech meant “with rigorous work.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
The righteous midwives
Rav Awira taught that God delivered the Israelites from Egypt as the reward for the righteous women who lived in that generation. When the righteous women went to draw water, God caused small fish to enter their pitchers. When they drew up their pitchers, they were half full of water and half full of fishes. They set two pots on the fire, one of water and the other of fish. They carried the pots to their husbands in the field. They washed, anointed, and fed them, gave them to drink, and had relations with them among the sheepfolds, as reflected in (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
The Gemara interpreted to teach that as the reward for lying among the sheepfolds, the Israelites merited the Egyptians’ spoils, noting that speaks of “a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with yellow gold.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
The Gemara taught that when the Israelite women conceived, they returned to their homes, and when the time for childbirth arrived, they delivered beneath apple trees, as reflected in God sent an
angelAngels are spiritual beings found in many religious traditions. They are broadly viewed as messengers of God, sent to do God's tasks. Traditions vary as to the precise nature and role of these messages and tasks...
to wash and straighten the babies as a midwife would, as reflected in The angel provided the infants cakes of oil and honey, as reflected in When the Egyptians discovered the infants, they came to kill them, but the ground miraculously swallowed up the infants, and the Egyptians plowed over them, as reflected in After the Egyptians departed, the infants broke through the earth like sprouting plants, as reflected in When the children grew up, they came in flocks to their homes, as reflected in (reading not “ornaments (
ba'adi ‘adayim)” but “flocks (
be'edre ‘adarim)”). And thus when God appeared by the sea, they were the first to recognize the Divine, saying in the words of “This is my God and I will praise Him.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
Rab and Samuel differed about the identity of the midwives Shiphrah and Puah, to whom Pharaoh spoke in One said that they were mother and daughter, and the other said that they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. According to the one who said that they were mother and daughter, they were
JochebedAccording to the Torah, Jochebed was the mother of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam, and the wife of Amram. Jochebed is also described as being related to Amram prior to her marriage to him, although the exact relationship is uncertain; some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Septuagint state that...
and Miriam; and according to the one who said that they were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, they were Jochebed and
ElishebaElisheva or Elisheba was the wife of Aaron, the forefather of The Kohanim, the Jewish priests, in The Bible. According to later Jewish tradition, she is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs in Tiberias....
, who married Aaron. A Baraita taught in accordance with the one who said that they were mother and daughter, teaching that Jochebed was called Shiphrah because she straightened (
meshapperet) the limbs of the newborns. Another explanation was that she was called Shiphrah because the Israelites were fruitful (
sheparu) and multiplied in her days. Miriam was called Puah because she cried out (
po'ah) to the unborn children to bring them out. Another explanation was that she was called Puah because she cried out (
po'ah) with the Divine Spirit to say: “My mother will bear a son who will save Israel.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
The Gemara interpreted that words that Pharaoh spoke in “When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, you shall look upon the birthstool (
obnayim). Rabbi Hanan taught that Pharaoh gave the midwives a sign that when a woman bent to deliver a child, her thighs would grow cold like stones (
abanim). Another explained that the word
obnayim referred to the birthing stool, in accordance with which says: “Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was at his work on the stones.” Just as a potter would have a thigh on one side, a thigh on the other side, and the block in between, so also a woman giving birth, would have a thigh on one side, a thigh on the other side, and the child in between. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
Rabbi Hanina deduced from the words “If it is a son, then you shall kill him” in that Pharaoh gave the midwives a sign that when a woman was to give birth to a son, the baby’s face was turned downward, and if a daughter, the baby’s face was turned upward. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Hanina deduced from the words “to them (
alehen)” in that Pharaoh propositioned the midwives, but they refused him. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
A Baraita interpreted the words “but saved the boys alive” in to teach that not only did the midwives not kill the boy babies, but they supplied them with water and food. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
The Gemara interpreted the midwives’ response to Pharaoh in that the Israelite women “are lively (
chayot)” to mean that they told him that the Israelites were like animals (
chayot), for called Judah “a lion's whelp,” called Dan “a serpent.” called
NaphtaliNaphtali was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Jacob and Bilhah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Naphtali; however some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the...
“a hind let loose,” called
IssacharIssachar/Yissachar was, according to the Book of Genesis, a son of Jacob and Leah , and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Issachar; however some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
“a strong ass,” called Joseph “a firstling bullock,” called
BenjaminBenjamin in the Book of Genesis, is a son of Jacob, the second son of Rachel, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Benjamin; in the Biblical account, unlike Rachel's first son – Joseph, the father of Ephraim and Manasseh – Benjamin was born after Jacob and Rachel arrived in Canaan...
“a wolf that devours,” and called the mother of all of them “a lioness.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
Rab and Samuel differed in their interpretation of the report in that “because the midwives feared God,” God “made them houses.” One said that God made them the ancestors of the priestly and Levitical houses, as Aaron and Moses were children of Jochebed. And the other said that God made them the ancestors of the royal house of Israel, teaching that
CalebCaleb is a male given name.-Caleb son of Jephunneh:Caleb, son of Jephunneh, is an important figure in the Hebrew Bible, noted for his faith in God when the Hebrews refused to enter the promised land of Canaan.When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them...
married Miriam, whom calls
EphrathEphrath or Ephratah is the name of a Biblical place or tribe.The first mention of Ephrath occurs in Genesis, in reference to where Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried on the road from Bethel...
, and reports that
DavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Bible. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet .The biblical chronology sets his life c.1037–970 BCE, his reign over Judah c.1007–1000 BCE,...
was the son of an Ephrathite. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11b.)
The Tosefta deduced from that the Egyptians took pride before God only on account of the water of the Nile, and thus God exacted punishment from them only by water when in God cast Pharaoh’s chariots and army into the Reed Sea. (Tosefta Sotah 3:13.)
Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Hanina deduced from the words “Pharaoh charged all his people” in that Pharaoh imposed the same decree on his own people as well as the Israelites. Rabbi Jose thus concluded that Pharaoh made three successive decrees: (1) in Pharaoh decreed “if it be a son, then you shall kill him”; (2) in Pharaoh decreed “every son that is born you shall cast into the river”; and (3) in Pharaoh imposed the same decree upon his own people. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
Exodus chapter 2
Reading the words “And there
went a man of the house of Levi” in the Gemara asked, where did he go? Rav Judah bar Zebina taught that he followed the counsel of his daughter. A Baraita taught that when
AmramIn the Book of Exodus, Amram , is the father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam and the husband of Jochebed-In the Bible:In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed prior to the marriage, although the exact relationship is uncertain;...
heard that Pharaoh had decreed (as reported in ) that “every son that is born you shall cast into the river,” Amram concluded that having children was in vain, he divorced his wife, and all the Israelite men followed suit and divorced their wives. But Amram’s daughter told him that his decree was more severe than Pharaoh's, as Pharaoh’s decree affected only sons, while Amram’s decree affected both sons and daughters. Pharaoh’s decree affected only this world, but Amram’s decree deprived children of both this world and the world to come. And doubt existed whether Pharaoh’s decree would be fulfilled, but because Amram was righteous, it was certain that his decree would be fulfilled. Persuaded by her arguments, Amram took back his wife, and the Israelite men followed suit and took back their wives. The Gemara thus asked why reported that Amram “took to wife” Jochebed when it should have read that he took her back. Rav Judah bar Zebina taught that Amram remarried Jochebed as though it were their first marriage; he seated her in a
sedan chairThe litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of persons. Examples of litter vehicles include jiao , sedan chairs , palanquin , gama and tahtırevan...
as was the custom for first brides, Aaron and Miriam danced before her, and the ministering angels called her (in the words of ) “A joyful mother of children.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
Reading literally the words “a daughter of
LeviLevi was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite tribe of Levi .-Biblical account:...
” in Rabbi Hama ben Hanina deduced that Jochebed was conceived during Jacob’s family’s journey to Egypt (as did not list her among those leaving for Egypt) and was born within the walls of Egypt (as reports that Jochebed “was born to Levi in Egypt”). Even though this would thus make her by the Gemara’s calculation 130 years old, Rav Judah taught that she was called “a daughter” because the characteristics of a young woman were reborn in her. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
Interpreting the words “she hid [the baby] three months” in the Gemara explained that she was able to do this because the Egyptians only counted the time of her pregnancy from the time when Amram and Jochebed were remarried, but by then, she had already been pregnant three months. The Gemara ask how then should report “the woman conceived and bare a son” when she had already been pregnant three months. Rav Judah bar Zebina explained that thus meant to compare Jochebed’s delivery of Moses to his conception; as his conception was painless, so was his birth. The Gemara deduced that Providence excluded some righteous women from the decree of on
EveEve was, according to the Book of Genesis and the Quran, the first woman created by God, and an important figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Her husband was Adam, from whose rib God created her to be his companion...
that “in pain you shall bring forth children.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
Interpreting the words “and when she saw him that he was good” in
Rabbi MeirRabbi Meir or Reb Meir Baal Haneis was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the second generation. According to a legend, his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism...
taught that his name was Tov, meaning “good.”
Rabbi JudahRabbi Judah ben Ilai, also known as Rabbi Judah or Rabbi Judah bar Ilai, was a Tanna , who lived in the 2nd Century. Of the many Rabbi Yehuda's in the Talmud he is the one referred to simply as Rabbi Yehuda....
said that his name was Tobiah, meaning “God is good.”
Rabbi NehemiahRabbi Nehemiah was an Israelite, circa AD 150 .He wrote the Mishnat ha-Middot , the earliest known Hebrew text on geometry...
deduced from the word “good” that Jochebed foresaw that Moses could be a prophet. Others said that he was born needing no further improvement, and thus that he was born circumcised. And the Sages noted the parallel between which says, “and when she saw him that he was good,” and which says, “And God saw the light that it was good,” and deduced from the similar use of the word “good” that when Moses was born, the whole house filled with light. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
The Gemara asked why it was (as reported in ) that “she could not longer hide him.” The Gemara explained that whenever the Egyptians were informed that a child was born, they would take other children into the neighborhood so that the newborn should hear the other children crying and cry along with them, thus disclosing the newborn’s location. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
Rabbi Eleazar explained that Jochebed’s choice of bulrushes — a cheap material — for the ark (as reported in ) demonstrated that righteous people’s money is dearer to them than their bodies, so that they should not be driven to steal. Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani explained that she chose bulrushes for the ark because they provided a soft material that could withstand encounters with soft and hard materials alike. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
A Baraita taught that Jochebed “daubed it with slime and with pitch” (as reported in ) with the slime on the inside and the pitch on outside so that the righteous baby Moses would not be subjected to the bad odor of the pitch. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a.)
Interpreting the words “she put the child therein and laid it in the reeds (
suf)” in Rabbi Eleazar read
suf to mean the Red Sea (called the
Yam Suf). But Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said that
suf means “reeds,” as it does in where it says, “the reeds and flags shall wither away.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 12a–b.)
The
MishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah" and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
cited for the proposition that Providence treats a person measure for measure as that person treats others. And so because, as relates,
MiriamMiriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, and the daughter of Amram and Jochebed...
waited for the baby Moses, so the Israelites waited seven days for her in the wilderness in (Mishnah Sotah 1:7–9.) The Tosefta taught that a reward for good deeds is 500 times greater than the punishment for retribution. (Tosefta Sotah 4:1.)
AbayeAbaye was a Rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia [בבל], known as an amora [אמורא] born about the close of the third century; died 339 . His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his...
thus said that in connection with good deeds, the principle of measure for measure does not apply strictly with equivalence. Raba replied that the Mishnah taught, “It is the same in connection with the good,” so the Mishnah must mean that Providence rewards good deeds with the same sort of measure, but the measure of reward for good is greater than the measure of punishment. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
Rabbi Isaac noted that used several words associated elsewhere in Scripture with the Shechinah, and deduced that the Divine Presence thus stood with Miriam as she watched over the baby Moses. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a.)
Rabbi Judan said in the name of Rabbi Isaac that God saved Moses from Pharaoh’s sword. Reading Rabbi Yannai asked whether it was possible for a person of flesh and blood to escape from a government. Rather, Rabbi Yannai said that Pharaoh caught Moses and sentenced him to be beheaded. Just as the executioner brought down his sword, Moses’ neck became like an ivory tower (as described in ) and broke the sword.
RebbiRabbi Judah haNasi, , also known as Rebbi and Rabbeinu HaKadosh , was a key leader of the Jewish community of Judea toward the end of the 2nd century CE, during the occupation by the Roman Empire. He is best known as the chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah...
said in the name of Rabbi Evyasar that the sword flew off of Moses’ neck and killed the executioner. The Gemara cited to support this deduction, reading the words “and delivered me” as superfluous unless they were necessary to show that God saved Moses but not the executioner. Rabbi Berechyah cited the executioner’s fate as an application of the proposition of that a wicked ransoms a righteous one, and Rabbi Avun cited it for the same proposition applying In a second explanation of how Moses escaped,
Bar KapparaShimon Bar Kappara was a Jewish rabbi of the late second and early third century CE, during the period between the tannaim and amoraim. He was active in Caesarea in the Land of Israel, from around 180 to 220 CE. His name, meaning “Son of Kapparah”, was taken from his father, Elazar Ha-Kappar...
taught a baraita that an angel came down from heaven in the likeness of Moses, they seized the angel, and Moses escaped. In a third explanation of how Moses escaped, Rabbi
Joshua ben LeviJoshua ben Levi or Yehoshua ben Levi was an amora who lived in the land of Israel of the first half of the third century. He headed the school of Lydda in the southern Land of Israel. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and Resh Lakish, who presided over the school in Tiberias...
said that when Moses fled from Pharaoh, God incapacitated Pharaoh’s people by making some of them mute, some of them deaf, and some of them blind. When Pharaoh asked where Moses was, the mutes could not reply, the deaf could not hear, and the blind could not see. And it was this event to which God referred in when God asked Moses who made men mute or deaf or blind. (
Jerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi , often the Yerushalmi for short, is a collection of Rabbinic notes about the Jewish Oral tradition as detailed in the 2nd-century Mishnah...
Berakhot 87a.)
Exodus chapter 3
The
SifraSifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
cited along with for the proposition that whenever God spoke to Moses, God first called out to him. (Sifra 1:1.) And the Sifra cited and for the proposition that when God called the name of a prophet twice, God expressed affection and sought to provoke a response. (Sifra 1:4.)
A Baraita taught that a person should not enter the
TempleThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a future Temple features in Jewish eschatology. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acts as...
Mount either with a staff in hand or shoe on foot, or with money tied up in a cloth, or with a money bag slung over a shoulder, and should not take a short cut through the Temple Mount. The Baraita taught that spitting on the Temple Mount is forbidden a fortiori from the case of wearing a shoe. While the wearing of a show does not show contempt, in God instructed Moses, “Put off your shoes.” The Baraita deduced that the rule must apply all the more to spitting, which does show contempt. But Rabbi Jose bar Judah said that this reasoning was unnecessary, for says, “none may enter within the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.” And thus one may deduce a fortiori that if that is the rule for sackcloth, which is not in itself disgusting, and before an earthly king, how much more would that be the rule with spitting, which is in itself disgusting, and before the supreme King of Kings! (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 62b.)
A Baraita taught in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Korhah that God told Moses that when God wanted to be seen at the burning bush, Moses did not want to see God’s face; Moses hid his face in for he was afraid to look upon God. And then in when Moses wanted to see God, God did not want to be seen; in God said, “You cannot see My face.” But Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that in compensation for three pious acts that Moses did at the burning bush, he was privileged to obtain three rewards. In reward for hiding his face in his face shone in In reward for his fear of God in the Israelites were afraid to come near him in In reward for his reticence “to look upon God,” he beheld the similitude of God in (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7a.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in and
17, 13:5, and
33:3, and
14:8, and
11:9, 26:9 and
15, 27:3, and
31:20. Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited
Bnei BrakBnei Brak is a city located on Israel's central Mediterranean coastal plain, just east of Tel Aviv, in the Dan metropolitan region and Tel Aviv District....
, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from
LodLod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2007, it had a population of 67,000, roughly 80 percent Jewish and 20 percent Arab....
to
OnoOno - a town of Benjamin, in the "plain of Ono" ; now Kiryat-Ono, 5 miles north of Lydda , and about 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Not succeeding in their attempts to deter Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah resorted to stratagem, and pretending to wish a...
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of
SepphorisTzippori , also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel...
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two
parasangThe parasang is a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance comparable to the European league.In antiquity, the term was used throughout much of the Middle East, and the Old Iranian language from which it derives can no longer be determined...
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
The Tosefta equated God’s visitation with God’s remembrance in verses such as (Tosefta Rosh Hashanah 2:13.)
Exodus chapter 4
The Mishnah counted the miraculous rod of among ten things that God created at twilight at the end of the sixth day of creation. (
Mishnah Avot 5:6.)
A non-Jew asked
ShammaiShammai was a Jewish scholar of the 1st century, and an important figure in Judaism's core work of rabbinic literature, the Mishnah....
to
convertConversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
him to Judaism on condition that Shammai appoint him
High PriestKohen Gadol or Kohen ha-Gadol is the title of High Priest of early Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
. Shammai pushed him away with a builder’s ruler. The non-Jew then went to
HillelHillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
, who converted him. The convert then read Torah, and when he came to the injunction of
3:10, and
18:7 that “the common man who draws near shall be put to death,” he asked Hillel to whom the injunction applied. Hillel answered that it applied even to
DavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Bible. He is depicted as a righteous king, although not without fault, as well as an acclaimed warrior, musician and poet .The biblical chronology sets his life c.1037–970 BCE, his reign over Judah c.1007–1000 BCE,...
, King of Israel, who had not been a priest. Thereupon the convert reasoned
a fortiori that if the injunction applied to all (non-priestly) Israelites, whom in God had called “my firstborn,” how much more so would the injunction apply to a mere convert, who came among the Israelites with just his staff and bag. Then the convert returned to Shammai, quoted the injunction, and remarked on how absurd it had been for him to ask Shammai to appoint him High Priest. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 31a.)
Exodus chapter 5
While the
House of ShammaiThe House of Shammai was the school of thought of Judaism founded by Shammai, a Jewish scholar of the 1st century...
argued that the requirement for the appearance
offeringKorban , in Judaism, is the term for a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. Such sacrifices were offered in a variety of settings by the ancient Israelites, and later by the Jewish priesthood, the Kohanim, at the Temple in Jerusalem...
was greater than that for the festival offering, the House of
HillelHillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud...
cited to show that the festival offering applied both before and after the revelation at
Mount SinaiThe Biblical Mount Sinai is an ambiguously located mountain at which the Hebrew Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God. In certain biblical passages these events are described as having transpired at Horeb...
, and thus its requirement was greater than that for the appearance offering. (Tosefta Chagigah 1:4.)
The
PhariseesThe word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "set apart" . The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era...
noted that while in Pharaoh asked who God was, once God had smitten him, in Pharaoh acknowledged that God was righteous. Citing this juxtaposition, the Pharisees complained against heretics who placed the name of earthly rulers above the name of God. (Mishnah Yadayim 4:8.)
Commandments
According to
MaimonidesMoses Maimonides, also known as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon or the acronym the Rambam , was born in Cordoba, Spain on March 30, 1135, and died in Egypt on December 13, 1204....
and
Sefer ha-ChinuchSefer ha-Chinuch is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th Century Spain. The work's enumeration of the commandments Sefer ha-Chinuch (ספר החינוך Hebrew: "Book of Education", often simply "the Chinuch") is a work which...
, there are no
commandmentsThis article is about commandments in Judaism. For the Jewish rite of passage, see Bar Mitzvah and Bat MitzvahMitzvah is a word used in Judaism to refer to the 613 commandments given in the Torah and the seven rabbinic commandments instituted later for a total of 620...
in the parshah. (Maimonides.
Mishneh TorahThe Mishneh Torah , subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Chazaka , is a code of Jewish religious law by one of the important Jewish authority Maimonides...
.
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides.
The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 2 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.
Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:93. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
Haftarah
The
haftarahThe haftarah or haftorah is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is:
- for Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley and northern France...
: IsaiahThe Book of Isaiah is a book of the Bible traditionally attributed to the Prophet Isaiah, who lived in the second half of the 8th century BC. In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God. The last 27 chapters prophesy the...
27:6–28:13 & 29:22–23
- for Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews.-Definition:A...
: JeremiahThe Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah , is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism's Tanakh, and later became a part of Christianity's Old Testament...
1:1–2:3
Ashkenazi — Isaiah 27
The parshah and haftarah in both address how Israel could prepare for God’s deliverance.
RashiShlomo Yitzhaki, better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh .Acclaimed for his ability to present the basic meaning of the text in a...
in his
commentary on Isaiah 27:6–8 drew connections between the fruitfulness of and between the killings of and God’s slaying of Pharaoh’s people in, e.g., and between the winds of and those that drove the
Reed SeaThe Reed Sea , is a possible translation of the Hebrew phrase Yam Suph which occurs many times in the Bible. This may refer to a large lake close to the Red Sea, which has since dried up due to the Suez Canal. It was in Egypt, specifically in the Suez valley next to the Sinai Peninsula, and north...
in
Sephardi — Jeremiah 1
The parshah and haftarah in both report the commissioning of a prophet, Moses in the parshah and
JeremiahJeremiah was one of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. His writings are put together in the Book of Jeremiah and traditionally, authorship of the Book of Lamentations is ascribed to him...
in the haftarah. In both the parshah and the haftarah, God calls to the prophet , the prophet resists, citing his lack of capacity , but God encourages the prophet and promises to be with him.
In the liturgy
The “cry” (
tza’akah) of the Israelites that God acknowledged in appears in the
Ana B’khoah, prayer for deliverance recited in the Kabbalat Shabbat
prayer serviceJewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism...
between and
Lekhah DodiLekhah Dodi is a Hebrew-language Jewish liturgical song recited Friday at dusk, usually at sundown, in synagogue to welcome Shabbat prior to the Maariv...
. (
Reuven HammerReuven Hammer is a rabbi and author, affiliated with the Masorti movement in the United Kingdom and in the State of Israel. The Masorti movement is a part of Conservative Judaism....
.
Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim ShalomSiddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 20. New York: The
Rabbinical AssemblyThe Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
The Weekly Maqam
In
the Weekly MaqamIn Sephardic Middle Eastern Jewish prayer services, each Shabbat the congregation conducts services using a different maqam. A maqam , which in Arabic literally means 'place', is a standard melody type and set of related tunes. The melodies used in a given maqam aims effectively to express the...
, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For Parshah Shemot, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Rast, the maqam that shows a beginning or an initiation of something. In this case it is appropriate because we are initiating the Book of Exodus.
Ancient
- Satire of Trades. Papyrus Sallier II, column VI, lines 1-3 Middle Kingdom Egypt. (life of bricklayers).
- The Legend of Sargon
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great "The Great King" , was an Akkadian emperor famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned from 2334 to 2279 BC...
. AssyriaAssyria was a civilization centered on the Upper Tigris river, in Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times in history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
, 7th century B.C.E. Reprinted in e.g. James B. PritchardJames Bennett Pritchard was an American archeologist whose work explicated the interrelationships of the religions of ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon....
. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 119. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0691035032. (child upon the water).
Biblical
- Genesis 15:13–16 (sojourn in Egypt); 17:7–14 (circumcision); 21:14–16 (abandoned infant); 24:10–28 (courtship at the well); 29:1–12 (courtship at the well). 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart).
- Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy or Devarim is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament, and the fifth of five books of the Jewish Torah or Pentateuch....
2:30 (hardening of heart); 15:7 (hardening of heart); 33:16 (bush).
- Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in both the Hebrew Tanakh and the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book stands as the first in the Former Prophets covering the history of Israel from the possession of the Promised Land to the Babylonian Captivity.The book of Joshua contains a...
11:20 (hardening of heart).
- Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is a book of the Hebrew Bible named after the prophet Ezekiel, a prophet from the sixth-century BC. This book records Ezekiel's preaching. His name means "God strengthens" or "May God strengthen". Ezekiel lived out his prophetic career among the community of exiled Judeans in...
16:3–5 (abandoned infant).
- Job
The Book of Job is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It relates the story of Job, his trials at the hands of Satan, his theological discussions with friends on the origins and nature of his suffering, and finally a response from God...
38–39 (God asking who created the world).
Early nonrabbinic
- Ezekiel the Tragedian
Ezekiel the Tragedian, also known as Ezekiel the Poet, was a Jewish dramatist who wrote in Alexandria during the second Century B.C.E. His work survives only in fragments found in the writings of Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria, and Pseudo-Eustathius...
. Exagōgē. 2nd Century B.C.E. Translated by R.G. Robertson. In The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Volume 2: Expansions of the “Old Testament” and Legends, Wisdom and Philosophical Literature, Prayers, Psalms, and Odes, Fragments of Lost Judeo-Hellenistic works. Edited by James H. CharlesworthJames H. Charlesworth is the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is noted for his research in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Dead Sea Scrolls,...
, 808–15. New York: Anchor BibleThe Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
, 1985. ISBN 0-385-18813-7.
- Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Although sometimes credited to the Apostle Paul, the letter is anonymous. It has carried its traditional title since Tertullian described it as Barnabae titulus ad Hebraeos....
11:23-27. Late 1st Century.
- Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth...
2:16–18. Late 1st Century. (slaughter of the innocentsThe Massacre of the Innocents is an episode of mass infanticide by the King of Judea, Herod the Great, that appears in the Gospel of Matthew . The author, traditionally believed to be Matthew the Evangelist, reports that King Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of...
).
- Romans
The Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, also known as Romans, is the sixth book in the New Testament. Biblical scholars agree that it was written by the Apostle Paul to explain that Salvation is offered through the Gospel of Jesus Christ...
9:14–18. 1st Century. (hardening Pharaoh’s heart).
- 2 Timothy
The Second Epistle to Timothy is one of the three Pastoral Epistles, traditionally attributed to Saint Paul, and is part of the New Testament.-Composition:...
3:8–9. Rome, 67 C.E. (magicians opposing Moses).
- Revelation
The Book of Revelation, also called the Revelation of St. John, the Apocalypse of John, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ, is the last book of the New Testament. It may be shortened to Revelation but never Revelations...
17:17. Late 1st Century. (changing hearts to God’s purpose).
- Josephus
Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70...
. Antiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the Jews was a work published by the important Jewish historian Flavius Josephus about the year 93 or 94. Antiquities of the Jews is a history of the Jewish people, written in Greek for Josephus' gentile patrons...
2:9:1–2:13:4. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam Whiston , was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism.-Biography:Whiston was born to Josiah Whiston and Katherine Rosse at...
, 66–73. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
- Qur'an
The Qur’an is the central religious text of Islam...
20:9–48; 26:10–29; 27:7–12; 28:3–35; 79:15–19. Arabia, 7th Century.
Classical rabbinic
- Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah" and the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Sotah 1:9; Avot 5:6; Yadayim 4:8. 3rd Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 449, 686, 1131. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
- Tosefta
The Tosefta is a secondary compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah . The Mishnah is the basic compilation of the Oral law of Judaism; it was compiled around 200 CE...
: Rosh Hashanah 2:13; Chagigah 1:4; Sotah 3:13, 4:12, 10:10. 3rd–4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 615, 665, 841, 848, 877. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
- Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud or Talmud Yerushalmi , often the Yerushalmi for short, is a collection of Rabbinic notes about the Jewish Oral tradition as detailed in the 2nd-century Mishnah...
Berakhot 87a. 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi: Tractate Berachos. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vol. 2. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006. ISBN 1-4226-0235-4.
- Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
: Berakhot 7a, 55a; Eruvin 53a; Pesachim 39a, 116b; Megillah 29a; Sotah 11a–13a, 35a, 36b; Kiddushin 13a; Bava Batra 120a; Sanhedrin 101b, 106a; Chullin 92a, 127a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
1:1–5:23. 10th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus. Translated by S. M. Lehrman. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
- Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki, better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh .Acclaimed for his ability to present the basic meaning of the text in a...
. Commentary. Exodus 1–6. TroyesTroyes is a commune, the préfecture of the north-eastern Aube département in France and is located on the Seine river. It is around south-east of Paris...
, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 2:1–51. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-027-7.
- Judah Halevi
Judah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Toledo, Spain in 1085 or 1086, and died enroute to Jerusalem around 1140. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets, celebrated both for his religious and secular poems, many of which appear in present...
. KuzariThe Kuzari is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. Divided into five essays , it takes the form of a dialogue between the pagan king of the Khazars and a Jew who was invited to instruct him in the tenets of the Jewish religion...
. 4:3, 15. ToledoToledo is a municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha...
, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 202, 221. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
- Zohar
The Zohar is widely considered the most important work of Kabbalah, or . It is a mystical commentary on the Torah , written in medieval Aramaic...
2:2a–22a. Spain, late 13th Century.
Modern
- Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher, writer, and is considered one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, musician, and playwright, but, foremost, he was a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
. The PrinceIl Principe is a political treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Originally called De Principatibus , it was originally written in 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death...
, ch. 6. FlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence...
, Italy, 1532.
- Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, remembered today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory.Hobbes also contributed to a diverse array of fields,...
. LeviathanLeviathan, The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly called Leviathan, is a book written by Thomas Hobbes which was published in 1651. It is titled after the biblical Leviathan...
, 3:36, 37; 4:45. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. MacphersonCrawford Brough Macpherson O.C. M.Sc. D. Sc. was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.-Life:...
, 456, 460, 472, 671. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
- Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto , also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL , was a prominent Italian Jewish rabbi, kabbalist, and philosopher.-Biography:Born in Padua at night, he received classical Jewish and Italian educations, showing a...
Mesillat YesharimThe Mesillat Yesharim is an ethical text composed by the influential Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto . It is quite different from Luzzato's other writings, which are more philosophical....
, ch. 2. Amsterdam, 1740. Reprinted in Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Just, 31. Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1966. ISBN 0-87306-114-4.
- J. H. Ingraham
Joseph Holt Ingraham was an American author.- Brief biography :Ingraham spent several years at sea, then worked as a teacher of languages in Mississippi...
. The Pillar of Fire: Or Israel in Bondage. New York: A.L. Burt, 1859. Reprinted Ann Arbor, Mich.: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library, 2006. ISBN 1425564917.
- Dorothy Clarke Wilson
Dorothy Clarke Wilson was an American author and playwright.Dorothy Clarke was born in Gardiner, Maine in 1904. She attended Bates College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1925 and married classmate, Elwin L. Wilson...
. Prince of Egypt. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1949.
- Arthur E. Southon. On Eagles' Wings. London: Cassell and Co., 1937. Reprinted New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954.
- Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology...
. Moses and MonotheismMoses and Monotheism is a book by Sigmund Freud. It was first published in 1939. In it, Freud hypothesizes that Moses was actually born into Ancient Egyptian nobility and was perhaps a follower of Akhenaten, an ancient Egyptian monotheist...
. 1939. Reprint, New York: Vintage, 1967. ISBN 0-394-70014-7.
- Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
. Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
. Translated by John E. WoodsJohn E. Woods is a translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of Arno Schmidt and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and Christoph Ransmayr...
, 101, 492–93, 729, 788, 859. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.
- Thomas Mann. "Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me." In The Ten Commandments, 3-70. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943.
- Sholem Asch
Sholem Asch born Szulim Asz , also written Shalom Asch was a Polish-born American Jewish novelist, dramatist, and essayist in the Yiddish language....
. Moses. New York: Putam, 1951. ISBN 999740629X.
- Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship.Born in Vienna, Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish...
. Moses: The Revelation and the Covenant. New York: Harper, 1958. Reprint, Humanity Books, 1988. ISBN 1573924490.
- Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast was a Jewish American novelist and television writer, who wrote also under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
. Moses, Prince of Egypt. New York: Crown Pubs., 1958.
- Martin Buber. On the Bible: Eighteen studies, 44–62, 80–92. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.
- Samuel Sandmel. Alone Atop the Mountain. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973. ISBN 0-385-03877-1.
- A. M. Klein
Abraham Moses Klein was a Canadian poet, journalist, novelist, short story writer and lawyer. He was born in Ratno, Ukraine on 14 February 1909 and died in Montreal, Quebec on 20 August 1972. Best known for his poetry, Klein also published one novella entitled The Second Scroll in 1951, along with...
. “The Bitter Dish.” In The Collected Poems of A. M. Klein, 144. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1974. ISBN 0-07-077625-3.
- James S. Ackerman. “The Literary Context of the Moses Birth Story (Exodus 1–2).” In Literary Interpretations of Biblical Narratives. Edited by Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, with James & Thayer S. Warshaw, 74–119. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1974. ISBN 0-687-22131-5.
- David Daiches
David Daiches was a Scottish literary historian and literary critic, scholar and writer. He wrote extensively on English literature, Scottish literature and Scottish culture.-Early life:...
. Moses: The Man and his Vision. New York: Praeger, 1975. ISBN 0-275-33740-5.
- Elie Wiesel
Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE is a writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, the best known of which is Night, a memoir that describes his experiences during the Holocaust and his imprisonment in several concentration camps...
. “Moses: Portrait of a Leader.” In Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits & Legends, 174–210. New York: Random House, 1976. ISBN 0-394-49740-6.
- Aaron Wildavsky
Aaron Wildavsky was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management....
. Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel, 1, 8, 13–15. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1993. ISBN 1-56000-081-3.
- Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
. Dreams from My FatherDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance is a memoir by President of the United States Barack Obama. It was first published in 1995 after Obama was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review, but before his political career began...
, 294. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995, 2004. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3. (Moses and Pharaoh).
- Jan Assmann
Jan Assmann is a German egyptologist who was born in Langelsheim.-Education and teaching:He went to school in Lübeck and Heidelberg before going on to study Egyptology, Classical Archeology and Greek Studies in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris and Göttingen...
. Moses the Egyptian: The Memory of Egypt in Western Monotheism. Harvard University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-674-58738-3.
- Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card
is an American author, critic, public speaker and conservative political activist. He writes in several genres, but is primarily known for his science fiction...
. Stone Tables. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1998. ISBN 1-57345-115-0.
- Jonathan Kirsch
Jonathan Kirsch is a Biblical scholar, an attorney, and columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He is a bestselling author of books on religion, the Bible, and Judaism. He earned a B.A. degree in Russian and Jewish history from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a J.D. degree from Loyola...
. Moses: A Life. New York: Ballantine, 1998. ISBN 0-345-41269-9.
- Jacob Milgrom
Jacob Milgrom is a scholar and professor emeritus in the field of Biblical Studies at the University of California. He is most known for his research on the book of Leviticus and the purity regulations of the Torah.- Works :...
. Leviticus 1–16, 3:747. New York: Anchor Bible, 1998. ISBN 0-385-11434-6. (bridegroom of blood).
- Brenda Ray. The Midwife's Song: A Story of Moses' Birth. Port St. Joe, Fla.: Karmichael Press, 2000. ISBN 0965396681.
- Ogden Goelet. “Moses’ Egyptian Name.” Bible Review
Bible Review was a publication that sought to connect the academic study of the Bible to a broad general audience. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, Bible Review presented critical and historical interpretations of biblical texts, and “reader-friendly Biblical scholarship” from 1985 to...
19 (3) (June 2003): 12–17, 50–51.
- Joel Cohen. Moses: A Memoir. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press, 2003. ISBN 0-8091-0558-6.
- Joseph Telushkin
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin is an American Modern Orthodox rabbi, lecturer, and author.-Biography:Telushkin attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush, was ordained at Yeshiva University, and studied Jewish history at Columbia University....
. The Ten Commandments of Character: Essential Advice for Living an Honorable, Ethical, Honest Life, 150–52, 290–91. New York: Bell Tower, 2003. ISBN 1-4000-4509-6.
- Marek Halter
Marek Halter is a French-Jewish novelist. He was born in Poland in 1936. During World War II, he and his parents escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto and fled to the Soviet Union, spending the remainder of the war in Ukraine, Moscow and later in Kokand, Uzbekistan...
. Zipporah, Wife of Moses, 1–245. New York: Crown, 2005. ISBN 1400052793.
- Rebecca Kohn. Seven Days to the Sea: An Epic Novel of the Exodus. New York: Rugged Land, 2006. ISBN 1-59071-049-5.
- Lawrence Kushner
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is currently the scholar-in-residence at Temple Emanu-el of San Francisco.-Biography:Born in Detroit, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Cincinnati, after which he went on to receive his rabbinical ordination from Hebrew Union College in...
. Kabbalah: A Love Story, 78, 112. New York: Morgan Road Books, 2006. ISBN 0-7679-2412-6.
External links