Quote:
Originally Posted by pelathais
The Hebrew name was Moshe - "drawn out." The Egyptian phonetic equivalent was "Mosis" which means "a son." This happy coincidence in pronunciation was probably why the name stuck.
Exodus 2:10, is actually something of a problematic verse. Why would the daughter of Pharaoh use (or confuse) the Hebrew meaning of the name? |
Dennis Bratcher (who is usually very good) offers the following on his website:
"IV. The Name of Moses (
Exodus 2:10b)
10b She named him Moses, saying, "I drew him out of the water."
The biblical tradition has here connected the name Moses with the Hebrew verb mashah which means "to draw out." Actually, the name Moses is the Egyptian word mose (boy or son) written in Hebrew. The word can be seen in the names of several Egyptian Pharaohs (Thutmoses, Ahmose, Rameses). Many scholars agree that the connection of the Egyptian name with a Hebrew word was a later development in the tradition, added to the story by a narrator, perhaps unaware of the word's Egyptian origin. The explanation of names by reference to events is a common feature of Israelite narratives (
Gen 35:16-20;
1 Sam 4:19-22).
The developing story here in Exodus is something that we should not overlook since it will help us understand this passage. Initially this "rescue" of the infant from the Nile seems a positive development, and will prove to be so in the long run. But at this point in the narrative, it certainly seems like a setback.
People listening to this story for the first time would have expected that this child might provide relief from the oppression, that God might use him to fulfill the promises made many years earlier to Abraham (
Gen 12). Yet here, even though he has been saved from the Nile, he is in the household of the "enemy" with no indication of his future. The narrator has built into the story a subtle but delightful anticipation that if this young man is to accomplish anything, God will again have to work in his life
Of course, this child becomes Moses the Deliverer and Moses the lawgiver. But in the story, he has only disappeared into Pharaoh's court. Just as often in our own lives, we do not know how God is at work. Our initial hopes and plans may disappear under the power of those who would destroy us. And yet, it is only as we trust God, and remain faithful to him, that we come to understand that even when the Pharaoh seems to have won, God is not yet finished. And we learn that what may appear to be common and ordinary, or what may appear to be coincidence, God may in his providence turn into something wonderful."
http://www.crivoice.org/exod1.html
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