An Atheist's Guide to the Bible

Moses

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Moses is the central character of the four books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In these books he leads the Israelites out of Egypt and to the border of the promised land. To the present day, he is the pre-eminent folk hero of Jewish religion.

Moses has a special relationship with the God Yahweh - "Yahweh spoke to Moses face to face, as a man talks to his friend" (Ex. 33:11). Later on in the same narrative, however, it is stressed that nobody can see God's face, not even Moses (Ex. 33:18-23). In this latter story, Moses is allowed to see God's back, but not his face. This sort of minor contradiction is a result of the story being edited together from various sources (see Pentateuch).

The god Moses is dealing with has a terrible power. Moses returns from his conversations with God with his face glowing, so that he has to wear a veil when he passes on the commandments to the people (Ex. 34:29-35).

As well as the central role he plays in the exodus and desert wanderings, Moses makes a small appearance in the New Testament in the scene known as the Transfiguration. Two disciples are with Jesus when he appears to commune with two supernatural beings, one of whom is Moses and the other is the prophet Elijah. Jesus' disciples are so bemused that they offer to put up tents for the three holy men to sleep in! (Mt 17:1-8, Mk 9:2-8, Lk 9:23-27)

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