Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: Meaning of Moses name

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Meaning of Moses name
  • Date: Thu, 29 Oct 98 16:50:46


On Wed 28 Oct 98 (23:10:30), nor AT iol.ie wrote:
> As a new comer to biblical hebrew I am struck by the similarity between
> the name Moses and the hebrew verb 'mashah' which means 'to draw out'
> or 'to save/rescue'. When the vocalisation is not used the two words
> are identical in form and I wonder is there some possibility that the
> name Moses may have some link to this verb or indeed is the verb a
> possible source for the name.
>
> Could the name Moses be a personification of an ancient hebrew myth of
> a rescuer, and not one of the more traditional explanations?

Dear Noel

What an interesting question.
... WaYeHiY-LaHh LeBeN WaTTiQRa' SheMoW MoSheH WaTTo'MeR KiY MiN-HaMMaYiM
MeShiYTiHuW: (Exodus 2:10)

Amram and Jochebed called his name Manasseh (Numbers 26:59, Judges 18:30);
but Pharaoh's daughter made him "her son" (Exodus 2:10). I don't know any
Coptic, but could /Mesh/ be the word for "son", which with the 3rd pers fem
pronominal suffix -aHh makes a hybrid proper noun /MoSheH/? "Thutmose"
means "son of god" (=Thut+Mosheh?)

Josephus identifies Pharaoh's daughter as Princess Hatshepsut, daughter
of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmes (/Antiquities/ II.9.4-7). He calls her
Thermuthis after her father, but that's who she is. Josephus indulges in
a little pseudo-etymology himself on the LXX spelling of Moses (MWUSHS).

The consensus denies a 15th century BCE Exodus; but as "one of the more
traditional explanations" there is still a case to be made for it IMHO.

The story of Moses being drawn out of the river is paralleled by the
Mesopotamian /Legend of Sargon/, many centuries older than Moses and the
Exodus. Sargon (Sharru-Kenu) was the first historical king of the old
Babylonian period. His son Naram-Sin is mentioned in an inscription of
Nabonidus in connection with repairs made to the ancient temple of the
sun god at Sippar. I have no other details to hand, I'm afraid. 8-(

The name MoSheH could be construed as a variant of MaShiaCh, Messiah.
Deuteronomy 18:18 represents YHWH as promising Moses to raise up a Prophet
/NaBi'/ "like unto thee". John the Baptist denied he was "that Prophet"
(John 1:21, 25); but the Woman at the well (John 4:19, 25) and the Man born
blind (John 9:17) had their suspicions.

As for a "rescuer myth", the only character that springs to mind is the
enigmatic Go'a:LiY ChaY of Job 19:25. The Go'eL is a theme fully developed
in Ruth 3:9ff and Isaiah 41 thru 63, and alluded to in Psalms 19:15 & 78:35,
Proverbs 23:11 and Jeremiah 50:34. So it is a "myth" no longer. Or am I
off track here?

Shalom

Ben
--
Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
<ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page