Gender Male
Script מֹשֶׁה (Hebrew)
From the Hebrew name מֹשֶׁה (Mosheh), which most likely comes from the Egyptian “mes” meaning “son,” but could also mean “deliver” in Hebrew. The suggested meaning in the Old Testament therefore is of “drawn out” from the Hebrew משה “mashah” (Exodus 2:10). In fact, the biblical Moses was drawn out of the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter, and adopted into the royal family at the time when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt.
With his brother Aaron, he asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites, which was done only after GOD sent the ten plagues upon Egypt, which forced Pharaoh to let the people led by Moses leave.
After crossing the Red Sea, on Mount Sinai the prophet received the Ten Commandments. For forty years the people of GOD wandered in the desert and then reached Canaan, the Promised Land. Moses, as promised, died shortly before entering it.
The Name Moses in the Bible
The name Moses is the Latin version of the Greek name Μωσης (Moses), which in turn is a transliteration of the Hebrew name משה (Moshe), probably of Egyptian origin since Moses was named after the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt.
Moses is the Old Testament patriarch most often mentioned in the New Testament, but his Greek name is spelled four different ways. This is curious because the world at the time of the New Testament was highly literate, and a name as important as Moses would certainly have gravitated toward a standardized spelling. That is, of course, unless the name Moses meant different things in different contexts.
Seventy-three times in the New Testament the name is spelled either as Μωσης (Moses) or Μωσευς (Moseus), in all four Gospels, Acts, the Pauline letters, Jude, and Revelation; four times as Μωυσευς (Mouseus), in Acts 15: 1 and 15:5, 2 Timothy 3:8, and Hebrews 9:19; and three times as Μωυσης (Mouses), in Acts 6:14, 7:35, and 7:37. Altogether, the name Moses appears eighty times in the New Testament.
Moses was therefore a Levite, son of Amram and Iochebed; brother of Aaron and Mary. He lived 120 years (Ex 6:16,18,20; De 34:7; 1Cr 6:3; 23:13-15). He is described as a humble man, beautiful in God’s eyes, faithful, the only one with whom God dealt face to face (Nu 12:3; De 34:10; Ac 7:20; Heb 3:2-5). He was a prophet and priest (De 18:18; Ps 99:6; Ac 3:22; 7:37). He survived the edict that the sons of the Israelites were to be killed, and was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter (Ex 2:1-10; Ac 7:20-22; Heb 11:23). From Egypt he fled to Midian when he killed an Egyptian, where he married Sephora and had two sons, Gersom (= Gersherson (1)) and Eliezer (2) (Ex 2:11-22; 18:2-6; Ac 7:23-29; Heb 11:24-27). He also had a second wife (perhaps after the death of Sephora), a woman from Ethiopia (Nu 12:1). At the burning bush he was called by God to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex 3; Ac 7:30-34). When Moses returned to Egypt, God sent ten plagues before Pharaoh let the Israelites depart (Ex 7-12; Josh 24:5; 1Sam 12:8; Ps 105:26-38; Mi 6:4; Ac 7:35-36; Heb 3:16; 11:28), and Moses led the nation through the Red Sea (Ex 14; Ps 77:19-20; Is 63:11-12; Ac 7:36). He went up Mount Sinai, and received the ten commandments and the new covenant from God (Ex 19-20; Josh 8:32-35; 1Kings 8:9; 2Kings 21:8; 1Cr 22:13; 2Cr 33:8; 34:14; Ne 1:7; Mal 4:4; Jn 7:19-23; Ac 7:38; Heb 11:29). For 40 years Moses led Israel as they wandered in the wilderness and rebelled against God (Nu 14; Ps 106; Ac 7:36, 39-44). Moses remained faithful, however, with one exception, whereby he could not lead Israel into Canaan (2) (Nu 20:1-13; De 3:24-27) and died on Mount Nebo (1) when Israel was about to cross the Jordan River (De 34). Thereafter, Moses’ name was always associated with the Old Testament and especially with the law (Josh 8:31; 23:6; 1Kings 2:3; 2Kings 14:6; 23:25; 2 Chr 23:18; Ez 3: 2; 7:6; Ne 8:1; Dan 9:11-13; Mk 12:26; Lu 2:22; 16:29-31; 24:27,44; Jn 1:17,45; 5:45-46; Ac 13:39; 15:1,5,21; 21:21; 26:22; 28:23; 1Cor 9:9; 2Cor 3:15; Heb 10:28). He appeared with Elijah (1) at the transfiguration of Jesus (Mt 17:3-4). He wrote a psalm (Ps 90).
In Islam
Mūsā ibn ʿImrān (Arabic: موسی ابن عمران, lit. Moses, son of Amram), is an important prophet and messenger of GOD (ALLAH) and is the most frequently mentioned individual in the Qur’ān, with his name mentioned as many as 136 times. His life is also narrated more than that of any other prophet in the Holy Text of Islam.
According to the Qur’an, Musa was born to an Israelite family. In his childhood, he was placed in a basket flowing to the Nile, and was eventually found by Pharaoh’s (Fir’awn) wife Asiya, who made the child his adopted son. After reaching adulthood, Musa resides in Midian, before leaving again for Egypt to threaten Pharaoh. During his prophecy, Musa is said to have performed numerous miracles, and is also said to have spoken personally with GOD, who bestows upon Musa the title of “Spokesman of GOD” (Kalīm ALLAH). The prophet’s most famous miracle is that he separated the waters of the sea.