Biblical Hebrew Forum

["K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Gary:

Actually, it depends on who was the pharaoh of the Exodus.

I read the story of the Exodus that the princess was not Egyptian, but
Hyksos. As Hyksos, she would have spoken a language very similar to
Hebrew, not Egyptian. Thus the name could have the same root as
Hebrew, as the story mentions.

If I remember correctly, about a year ago, there was a discussion on
this list about who was the pharaoh of the Exodus and the linguistic
ramifications of such a question (including the name Moses).

Karl W. Randolph.

On 1/8/07, Gary Hedrick <garyh AT cjfm.org> wrote:
>      I realize that most authorities say the name of Moses comes from
> ancient Egyptian ("mose," meaning "born" or "offspring," as in Thutmose) and
> not Hebrew.  This makes sense because the name was conferred on him by the
> Egyptian princess rather than by his own parents (Ex. 2:10).  Yet my Israeli
> friends who speak modern Hebrew say Moshe comes from the Hebrew LIMSHOT,
> meaning "to draw out," which is essentially the connection made in Ex. 2:10.
> They say you could say, "Gary Moshe et Ha-yeled meh-Hamayim," that is, "Gary
> is drawing out the boy from the water."  In this usage, Moshe functions more
> as a present active participle rather than as a passive, which I guess
> brings up yet another issue (the verb form).  So I'm wondering, is there
> anything in the B-Hebrew archives about this?
>
>
>
> Gary Hedrick
>
> San Antonio, Texas USA