The life of moises from his birth until he gave joshua control of the Term Paper

The life of moises from his birth until he gave joshua control of the israelites - Term Paper Example Because Moses led the people of Israel out of bondage, and this was helped along with a series of miracles, Moses deserves the moniker of being the greatest leader of all time. The Life of Moses According to Feldman (2007), at the time that Moses was born, around 1592 B.C. by the Christian calendar, and 1391 B.C. by the Jewish calendar, the Pharaoh was afraid of an Israelite revolution against him, so he ordered that all the male infants be put to death. That said, Feldman (2007) cites scholars who question this, stating that it does not make sense that the Pharaoh would order this, as Israelites were important as slaves to the Egyptians, and males, especially, were important, because they were stronger and could do more work than the females could. That said, the Bible, in Exodus 1:10, according to Feldman (2007), clearly states that the Pharaoh was afraid that the Israelites were getting too numerous, and that they would try to take over the country. Therefore, to hide Moses from t he Pharaoh’s edict regarding Israelite male children, Moses’ family decided to put him in a basket and float him down the river, where the Pharaoh’s daughter was, as she had decided to go to the river to bathe at this time. She sent her maidservant to pick up the basket, and she rescued Moses out of the river (Feldman, 45). According to Cohen (2007), Moses, because of the circumstances of his birth and adoption, was of two different worlds. This was because, even after he was pulled from the river by the Pharaoh’s daughter, he continued to be with his mother while the boy was nursed. As Beegle (1972) notes, the Pharaoh’s daughter had to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the boy, and Moses’ mother presented herself for this task. The Pharaoh’s daughter paid Moses’ mother to nurse him, and the Pharaoh’s daughter adopted the beautiful Moses (p. 52). At this point, according to Cohen, the Biblical story of Moses jumps ahead a few years to the point where Moses has grown up, and decided to visit his own people, the Hebrews (p. 55). At this time, Moses was around 40 years old, so, assuming the Christian calendar, the date was around 1552 B.C. during this event. Cohen (2007) notes that this was a hallmark of leadership, because Moses experienced luxury when he lived with his adoptive mother, the Pharaoh’s daughter, but, as leaders often do, he decided to take on a lifestyle which is more burdensome. This is because he wanted to serve his people and his community. Moreover, Cohen (2007) notes that Moses had an intense desire to connect with his brothers and sisters, and this was another reason why he was driven to visit his birth family. Moses did not see that these people were any different from him, even though he had lived the life of luxury, and this was because he was able to see that his family, and the enslaved Hebrews in general, were his brothers and sisters, his kin (p. 9). As Cohen (2007) note s, because Moses, after visiting his birth family, saw that the Hebrews were his brothers and sisters, he could not stand to see the way that they were treated by the Egyptians. Therefore, he struck down an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave.