Is Moses Unique?

Image via Wikipedia

Exodus Chapter 2:1-10

This is the story about how Moses was born to unknown slaves; at this point in the narration we do not know the names of his parents.  Somehow, his mother was able to hide him for three months.  I get the strongest feeling that the Egyptians responsible for killing babies did not search homes very often, a baby will make noises at the most inopportune times.  After this she puts him in the Nile just as commanded, with a twist…she builds a water tight basket for him to float in.  This miraculously floats by one of the Pharaohs many daughters.  I do mean many…Rameses the Great was known to have 60 daughters!  So would not be difficult for one of them to hide a baby from their father.  The oddest thing about the story is that she gives the baby Moses back to an Israelite slave until he was weaned or maybe later.  Again, how can an Israelite woman keep a baby boy from a ruler that wants to kill all baby boys not just Israelite boys?  Keep in mind Exodus 1:22.  This section ends with the Pharaoh’s daughter receiving the boy back and giving him an Israelite name!  She really is flaunting the whole thing in front of her father.  Maybe she was just trying to get his attention.

I want to discuss two things that Isaac Asimov brought to my attention in his guide to the Bible.  One is that monotheism was not new to Egypt.  Amenhotep IV was a monotheist at least 150 years before the Exodus of Israel.  The other point that I want to discuss is the story of Moses being set float down a river. 

Amenhotep IV was a believer in one god: Aten.  Since he came to rule while the Israelites were in Egypt, possibly when they were still “free”, his monotheism may have been the source of their own belief in one god.  You must remember, the Book of Genesis was written by Moses.  As a result, the first book of the Pentateuch is based on the religious views of Moses’ time.  Even when you use the Creationist timeline, the Exodus occurred 2500 years after the “creation” of the world.  Moses certainly did not have first or second or even 27^th hand (Kohath died early in Moses’ life) eyewitness to the story.  Moses was a 29^th generation child of YHWH.  Think about that for a minute.  Either concept is beyond our comprehension.  History of that magnitude is lost, twisted, or plainly fictional, very little about the 5^th and 6^th century CBE is well recorded.  The concept of monotheism was, as a result, most likely not Israeli composition. 

The other part that Asimov brings up is that of the escape of Moses from death.  Perseus was thrown into the sea at birth by his step-father later to be saved by Poseidon.  The legend of Perseus is slightly different because he was trapped in a chest with his mother. Romulus and Remus were also thrown into a river with no protection at all.  And one more legend that is nearly identical to the birth of Moses is that of Sargon of Agade.  He too was thrown into a river, he too was placed in a pitch covered basket, and he too grew up to lead his people.  All three of these myths are so similar to the birth of Moses that it makes an Atheist think that maybe all four are just Traditions of Men.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Naso (thejc.com)
• The Stranger in Your Midst (barbarany_9.blogspot.com)
• How to Know if They Are with Us or Against Us (5min.com)
• Bible 365 Project: May 13th: Deuteronomy 30, Isaiah 2 and Acts 28 (truthproject.quebecblogue.com)

This entry was posted on June 13, 2009, 6:24 am at 06:24 and is filed under Exodus, Traditions of Men. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print