Download Many details of Moses` birth, childhood, and coming of age are not

Many details of Moses’ birth, childhood, and coming of age are not included in
the book of Exodus. Louis Ginzberg’s The Legends of the Jews contains a collection of
midrashes, or retellings/interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, that allow for insight into
Moses’ earlier years and how he came to be the man responsible leading the Israelites out
of Egypt.
Both Exodus and the midrash begin when Egypt began oppressing the Israelites
after the last of Jacob’s family had perished. Exodus tells, simply, of a new king of
Egypt and how he looked unfavorably on the growing number of Israelites and wanted to
control them. However, the midrash gives more insight for the Hebrews when it
discusses how the Israelites had been kind to the Egyptians and come to their aid; “but
instead of being grateful [the Egyptians] sought only the undoing of their benefactors”
(Beginning of Egyptian Bondage 5). The details allow Hebrews to question Egypt’s
cruel behavior toward them, when they had been kind to the Egyptians in the past.
When the Israelite population continued to grow under Egyptian oppression, the
king was perplexed and sought a way to control further growth in their numbers. The
king called for the two Hebrew midwives and instructed them to kill all male babies
during birth. The midwives, named Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus, and Jochebed and
Miriam in the midrash, were fearful of God and neglected to kill any child while it was
being birthed. The king, still wanting to control the Israelite population, then ordered that
“all the male children that shall be born in Israel from this day forward to be thrown into
the water” (Three Counselors 21).
Midrash
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According to the midrash, the Pharaoh took extreme measures of finding newborn
children in the homes of Israelites and ensuring that the pregnancies of the Israelite
women were watched over. Creating a success story from a deadly scenario, the midrash
exemplifies the details of Moses’ life: he was born three months early, allowing his
parents to hide his birth from the Egyptian bailiffs; he was able to walk and speak when
only one day old; he was placed in the Nile, in a basket which floated; he was found by
the Pharaoh’s daughter, who admired him immediately; and he was raised as a member
of the royal family.
In addition to providing Moses’ extenuating circumstances, the midrash also
provides smaller details about Moses that are not included in Exodus. For example, when
God tells Moses that he will bring the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses replies “O my Lord,
I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your
servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue" (Exodus 4:10). The reason behind
Moses’ slow speech is never explained in Exodus, but it is explained in the midrash.
According to the midrash, the speech impediment came when Moses, only three years old
at the time, grabbed the Pharaoh’s crown and placed it on his own head. Gabriel,
disguised as an Egyptian, convinces the king to test Moses’ wisdom using an onyx and a
hot coal. Gabriel guides Moses’ “hand away from [the onyx] and placed it upon the live
coal, and the coal burnt the child's hand, and he lifted it up and touched it to his mouth,
and burnt part of his lips and part of his tongue, and for all his life he became slow of
speech and of a slow tongue” (Rescued by Gabriel 65).
More insight into Moses’ life and personality is given when he sees the people of
Israel working and suffering. The midrash continues to provide scrupulous details about
Midrash
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Moses, including his thoughts, feelings, and actions, allowing the reader to feel
compassion for Moses and all that he does. In comparison, Exodus does not relay any of
Moses’ emotions at this turning point of his life, in fact, it is strictly to-the-point; “he went
out to his people and saw their forced labor” (NRSV, Ex. 2.11).
When detailing Moses’ plight in trying to find relief for his people, the midrash
makes an interesting connection with Moses and the Sabbath. In addition to physically
helping the Israelites with their manual labor, Moses also uses his connection to the
Pharaoh to give them time to rest. Moses told the king “that if a slave is not afforded rest
at least one day in the week, he will die of overexertion. Thy Hebrew slaves will surely
perish, unless thou accordest them a day of cessation from work" (Youth of Moses 72).
The king agreed with Moses and allowed the Israelites to rest one day of the week, which
was Saturday, later acknowledged by God as the Sabbath. Connecting Moses to the
Sabbath is one of the ways that the midrash is able to exalt him in the eyes of the
Israelites.
All the information provided in the midrash allows the reader to connect to
Moses, a mortal, who, against all odds survived as a male infant; gained valuable
knowledge while living with the Pharaoh, the enemy of his people; was saved by God’s
angels, once by Gabriel, once by Michael; and eventually led his people out of Egypt.
Unlike Exodus, which only provides one or two sentences for each of the turning points
in Moses’ life, the midrash’s history of Moses creates a scenario that brings him to life,
creating grounds for a personal connection and allowing the Israelites to find favor in
him.