Moses

The life of Moses

The great prophet and lawgiver of Israel. Saved as a baby from Pharaoh, he met God at the burning bush, led the people out of slavery in Egypt, received the Law at Sinai, and guided Israel through forty years in the wilderness.

Born

In Egypt, to a Levite family, at a time when Pharaoh ordered every Hebrew baby boy thrown into the Nile ScriptureExodus 1:22–2:2

Died

At 120, on Mount Nebo in Moab, after seeing the promised land from afar; no one knows where his grave is ScriptureDeuteronomy 34:1–7

Family

• Parents: Amram and Jochebed ScriptureExodus 6:20
• Brother and sister: Aaron and Miriam ScriptureExodus 7:7; 15:20
• Wife: Zipporah, daughter of Jethro (Reuel), priest of Midian ScriptureExodus 2:21; 3:1
• Sons: Gershom and Eliezer ScriptureExodus 18:3–4

1. Hidden for three months, then placed in a basket among the reeds of the Nile; Pharaoh’s daughter finds him, adopts him and names him Moses.

   ScriptureExodus 2:2–10

2. Grown up, he kills an Egyptian who is beating a Hebrew and flees to Midian, where he marries and keeps sheep.

   ScriptureExodus 2:11–22

3. At Horeb God speaks to him from a bush that burns but is not consumed: “I AM WHO I AM.”

   ScriptureExodus 3:1–14

4. With Aaron he stands before Pharaoh; after the plagues and the first Passover, Israel leaves Egypt.

   ScriptureExodus 7:7; 12:1–42

5. God parts the Red Sea and the people cross on dry ground.

   ScriptureExodus 14:21–31

6. God feeds the people with manna in the wilderness.

   ScriptureExodus 16

7. On Mount Sinai he receives the Ten Commandments and the covenant law.

   ScriptureExodus 19–20

8. While he is on the mountain the people make a golden calf; he pleads with God for them.

   ScriptureExodus 32

9. He lifts up a bronze serpent so that those bitten may look and live; Jesus later compares his own lifting up to it.

   ScriptureNumbers 21:8–9; John 3:14

10. At Meribah he strikes the rock instead of speaking to it, and is told he will not enter the land.

    ScriptureNumbers 20:1–12

11. He appears with Elijah, talking with Jesus at the Transfiguration.

    ScriptureMatthew 17:1–3

12. Jewish and Christian tradition has long held that Moses wrote the five books of the Law.

    Tradition

Sources: The Holy Bible (World English Bible).

Drafted from the Bible and Church tradition. Each line says where it comes from; anything marked Tradition or History is not in Scripture itself. Waiting for review by a priest or editor.

Sundays with Moses

1. 23 May 2027

   First Sunday after Pentecost

   Gospel: John 6:26–35

   Through whom God gave manna in the wilderness.

   In the story

   • Show us a sign John 6:30–31
   • The true bread from heaven John 6:32–33

About the icon

Moses, Saint Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai (detail). 13th century. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.