Moses
traditional Israelite leader lawgiver and liberator in biblical tradition
The lawgiver who leads Israel out of Egypt in the Hebrew Bible; a traditional figure whose historicity is debated and unsupported by direct external evidence.
- Religion
- Israelite religion
Moses is the central human figure of the Torah, described as leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, receiving the law at Sinai, and guiding the people through forty years in the wilderness. He is foundational to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Like the exodus story itself, Moses is a scriptural and traditional figure; there is no direct archaeological or contemporary written evidence for him or for the exodus as described, and scholars debate whether any historical memory lies behind the narrative. This record presents him as the tradition portrays him and does not treat the biblical account as documented history.
In the timeline
- 1571 BCE Birth of Moses the figure of the narrative
- 1491 BCE The Exodus the leader in the biblical account
- 1491 BCE The Law Given at Sinai the lawgiver in the biblical account
- 1451 BCE Death of Moses the figure of the narrative