And she named him Moses
Who named him? The daughter of Pharaoh, the King (and God figure) of ancient Egypt. And who is Moses? The founding figure of Judaism. It might seem passing strange that the history of the Hebrews as the people of God begins in Egypt and in a situation of uncertainty and tension, of slavery and infanticide.
With the exception of Sanatana Dharma, that is to say, Hinduism, all of the major religions of the world have a founding figure and all of them have birth narratives about their founding figures. There are the birth narratives of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha in Theravada Buddhism and in the various forms of Mahayana Buddhism and Vajrayana Buddhism. There are the birth narratives of Jesus in Matthew and Luke (and in a different and much more philosophical sense in John), narratives which reflect intentionally on aspects of the birth of Moses in Exodus. Then there are the Al-sira traditions within Islam that treat the birth and upbringing of Muhammad. They all point to the significance of the founding figure for what defines these religious and philosophical traditions and for what develops within them.
In the case of Moses, the birth narrative marks the beginning of Philo of Alexandria’s treatment of Moses as the great lawgiver and the embodiment of the truth of our humanity, a theme which will be taken up by Gregory of Nyssa’s consideration of Moses as embodying the path of spiritual perfection. In other words, Moses becomes an exemplar of the way of being human through his attention to the things of God.
Exodus is the Greek name given to the second book of the Bible, what has come to be known as the Second Book of Moses in the Torah, the first five books which are traditionally known as the Books of Moses. This does not imply authorship by Moses. Rather it shows the spiritual significance of Moses as the figure through whom God gives the Law to Israel and through Israel to the world.
Exodus begins with a major change in the attitude of the Egyptians towards the Hebrews. Joseph, the son of Jacob, had risen to prominence in the government of Egypt and the Hebrews were for a time a favoured people. But the government changed and a new ruler emerged who did not know the Hebrews. They come to be feared and the result is a kind of enslavement with Pharaoh imposing a policy of infanticide on male children born to Hebrew women; the opposite of policies which have more often than not sought the death of female children. The theme will underlie the Christian story of the Holy Innocents and the ‘fuga in Egyptum,’ the flight into Egypt of the Holy Family to escape Herod’s copycat scheme to kill all the boys of Bethlehem in the hopes of exterminating a possible rival to his throne, Jesus. It is in this context of extermination through a policy of infanticide that the birth of Moses takes place. He is hidden among the reeds in a basket made of bulrushes only to be found by the daughter of Pharaoh who takes him and, unbeknownst to her, arranges for his birth mother to be hired to nurse him. Thus he survives the policy of infanticide.
He is raised as Pharaoh’s daughter’s child and she names him. In the Egyptian language, his name derives from a word meaning ‘to beget a child’ but which in Hebrew refers to ‘one who is drawn out,’ drawn out of the reeds. But in a way, Moses as the one who is drawn out also becomes the leader who leads his people out of slavery in Egypt and into service and freedom to God, the God who reveals his will for his people in the Law delivered by the hand of Moses.
It is possible to see Exodus largely in terms of a conflict narrative but there is also the sense that there is something treasured and honoured about Egypt. The wisdom and learning of Egyptian culture is somehow passed on and becomes part of Israel just as Egyptian thought and culture influenced the ancient Greeks.
This sense of the interaction and interplay of cultures speaks to the life of our School with students coming from a great variety of backgrounds and cultures religiously and non-religiously. One of the great challenges of our contemporary world is how to think critically and compassionately about the differences that belong to our common humanity with dignity and respect and in a climate of gentleness and learning that befits a school. It is significant that the daughter of Pharaoh names Moses, the great founder of the Hebrew religion and who gives his name to the Mosaic covenant which is so significant to Jew, Christian and Muslim alike. Pharaoh is seen in the Egyptian view as being divine, something which is utterly repugnant and impossible in the Jewish, Christian and Islamic understanding as amply demonstrated in the contests between Pharaoh and Moses in Exodus. The story of the ten plagues is a kind of ancient ‘star wars’ contest between them but one in which there is really no contest, nor can there be.
But for Pharaoh’s daughter to name Moses suggests that she and her culture have a hold of something true and universal, something that they too are being drawn into through the figure of Moses. What is it that is universal and true? It is the idea of an exodus, the idea of being drawn out of ourselves and into the path of learning, the idea of education itself. Thus Exodus complements Homer’s Odyssey and becomes a central part of the spiritual pilgrimage or jihad of our souls. The birth of Moses signals the birth of our souls into understanding, an understanding about the mystery of God, about the Law as the moral code for our humanity, and about the journey from ignorance to wisdom in the world as wilderness. Such is itself a kind of constant rebirth and one in which we are drawn out of ourselves, to God and to one another.
(Rev’d) David Curry
Chaplain, English & ToK teacher
Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy