This essay reviews the evidence for the Moses story having been modelled on four other biblical stories. It is well known that the Moses story shares elements with the stories of Jeroboam, Elijah and Jacob. Few, however, have noted that the Moses story also appears to share elements with the story of King Joash of Judah. This essay presents an overview of the many elements which the Moses story shares with these four stories. It shows that most episodes in the life of Moses appear to have a parallel in the stories of these other biblical figures. After listing the many similarities, it presents a review of the evidence for direct dependence of the Moses story on the stories of the four other biblical figures.
AberbachMSmolarL (1967) Aaron, Jeroboam, and the Golden Calves. Journal of Biblical Literature86: 129–140.
2.
AlterR (1978) Biblical Type-scenes and the Uses of Convention. Critical Inquiry5: 355–368.
3.
AssmannJ (2015) Exodus and Memory. In LeviTESchneiderTProppWHC, Israel’s Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective. Text, Archeology, Culture and Geoscience. Cham: Springer, pp. 3–15.
4.
AuerbachE (1975) Moses. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1975.
5.
AvigadN (1980) The Chief of the Corvée. Israel Exploration Journal30: 170–173.
6.
BergSB (1979) The Book of Esther: Motifs, Themes and Structures. Missoula, MT: Scholars.
7.
BernerC (2011) The Egyptian Bondage and Solomon’s Forced Labor: Literary Connections between Exod. 1–15 and 1 Kgs 1–12? In DozemanTBRömerTSchmidK, Pentateuch, Hexateuch, or Enneateuch? Identifying Literary Works in Genesis through Kings. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 211–240.
8.
BernerC (2014) Gab es einen vorpriesterlichen Meerwunderbericht?Biblica95: 1–25.
9.
BernerC (2017) I am Yhwh your God, who brought you out of the Land of Egypt (Exod 20.2). In van OorschotJWitteM, The Origins of Yahwism. Berlin: De Gruyter, pp. 181–206.
10.
BrennerML (1991) The Song of the Sea: Ex 15:1–21. New York: W. de Gruyter.
11.
BrettlerMZ (2017) Identifying Torah Sources in the Historical Psalms. In ZevitZ, Subtle Citation, Allusion, and Translation in the Hebrew Bible. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing, pp. 73–90.
12.
BurnettJS (2010) “Going Down” to Bethel: Elijah and Elisha in the Theological Geography of the Deuteronomistic History. Journal of Biblical Literature129: 281–297.
13.
CarrDM (2001) Genesis in Relation to the Moses Story: Diachronic and Synchronic Perspectives. In WéninA, Studies in the Book of Genesis. Leuven: Leuven University Press and Uitgeverij Peeters, pp. 273–295.
14.
CarrDM (2012) The Moses Story: Literary Historical Reflections. Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel1: 7–36.
15.
CarrollMP (1985) A Structuralist Exercise: The Problem of Moses’ Name. American Ethnologist12: 775–778.
16.
CarrollR (1969) The Elijah-Elisha Sagas: Some Remarks on Prophetic Succession in Ancient Israel. Vetus Testamentum19: 400–415.
17.
ChildsBS (1965) The Birth of Moses. Journal of Biblical Literature84: 109–122.
18.
CoatsGW (1968) Despoiling of the Egyptians. Vetus Testamentum18: 450–457.
19.
CoatsGW (1988) Moses: Heroic Man, Man of God. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
20.
CohnRL (1982) The Literary Logic of 1 Kings 17–19. Journal of Biblical Literature101: 333–350.
21.
de PuryA (2006) The Jacob story and the beginning of the formation of the Pentateuch. In DozemanTBSchmidK, A Farewell to the Yahwist? The Composition of the Pentateuch in Recent European Interpretation. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 51–72.
22.
DijkstraM (1995) Is Balaam also among the Prophets?Journal of Biblical Literature114: 43–64.
23.
DozemanTB (2006) The Commission of Moses and the Book of Genesis. In DozemanTBSchmidK, A Farewell to the Yahwist? The Composition of the Pentateuch in Recent European Interpretation. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, pp. 107–129.
24.
FischH (1982) Ruth and the Structure of Covenant History. Vetus Testamentum32: 425–437.
25.
FleurantJ (2011) Phinehas Murdered Moses’ Wife: An Analysis of Numbers 25. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament35: 285–294.
26.
FrischA (2000) The Exodus Motif in 1 Kings 1–14. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament87: 3–21.
27.
GeogheganJC (2004) The Abrahamic Passover. In FriedmanREProppWHC, Le-David Maskil: A Birthday Tribute for David Noel Freedman. Winoka Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, pp 47–62.
28.
GeogheganJC (2008), The “Biblical” Origins of Passover. In DolanskyS, Sacred History, Sacred Literature: Essays on Ancient Israel, the Bible, and Religion in Honor of R. E. Friedman on His Sixtieth Birthday. Winoka Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, pp. 147–162.
29.
GinzbergL (1909) The Legends of the Jews, Vol. I. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America.
30.
GnuseRK (2000) Redefining the Elohist. Journal of Biblical Literature119: 201–220.
31.
GreensteinEL (2015) The Fugitive Hero Narrative Pattern in Mesopotamia. In CollinsJJLemosTMOlyanSM, Worship, Women, and War: A Festschrift for Susan Niditch. Atlanta: SBL Press, pp. 17–35.
32.
GregoryR (1990) Irony and the Unmasking of Elijah. In HauserA, From Carmel to Horeb. Sheffield: Almond Press, pp 144–147.
33.
GressmannH (1913) Mose und seine Zeit. Ein Kommentar zu den Mose-Sagen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.
34.
GrossmanA (2001) Pious and Rebellious: Jewish Women in Europe in the Middle Ages. Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History.
35.
GunkelH (1997) Genesis. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
36.
HarveyJE (2004) Retelling the Torah: The Deuteronomistic Historian’s Use of Tetrateuchal Narratives. London: T&T Clark International.
37.
HavrelockR (2011) River Jordan: The Mythology of a Dividing Line. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
38.
HendelRS (1987) The Epic of the Patriarch: The Jacob Cycle and the Narrative Traditions of Canaan and Israel. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
39.
HepnerG (2003) Jacob’s Servitude with Laban Reflects Conflicts between Biblical Codes. Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft115: 185–209.
40.
HoffmeierJK (1996) Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
41.
JeonJ (2017) The Visit of Jethro (Exodus 18): Its Composition and Levitical Reworking. Journal of Biblical Literature136: 289–306.
42.
KellyJR (2017) Identifying Literary Allusions: Theory, and the Criterion of Shared Language. In ZevitZ, Subtle Citation, Allusion, and Translation in the Hebrew Bible. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing, pp. 22–40.
43.
KingJR (1987) The Joseph Story and Divine Politics: A Comparative Study of a Biographic Formula from the Ancient Near East. Journal of Biblical Literature106: 577–594.
44.
KingsburyEC (1967) The Theophany Topos and the Mountain of God. Journal of Biblical Literature86: 205–210.
45.
KnoppersG (2009) The Synoptic Problem: An Old Testament Perspective. Bulletin for Biblical Research19: 11–34.
46.
KosmalaH (1962) The “Bloody Husband.”Vetus Testamentum12: 14–28.
47.
LeonardJM (2008) Identifying Inner-biblical Allusions: Psalm 78 as a Test Case. Journal of Biblical Literature127: 241–265.
48.
LeonardJM (2017) Identifying Subtle Allusions: The Promise of Narrative Tracking. In ZevitZ, Subtle Citation, Allusion, and Translation in the Hebrew Bible. Sheffield: Equinox Publishing, pp. 91–113.
49.
LeuchterM (2006) Jeroboam the Ephratite. Journal of Biblical Literature125: 51–72.
50.
LeuchterM (2018) The Royal Background of Deut 18,15–18. Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft130: 364–383.
51.
McCarthyDJ (1966) Plagues and Sea of Reeds: Exodus 5–14. Journal of Biblical Literature85: 137–158.
52.
McKenzieSL (1991) The Trouble with Kings: The Composition of the Book of Kings in the Deuteronomistic History. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
53.
MillerGD (2011) Intertextuality in Old Testament Research. Currents in Biblical Research9: 283–309.
54.
MitchellC (2002) Transformations in Meaning: Solomon’s Accession in Chronicles. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures4: Article 3.
55.
Niesiołowski-SpanòL (2009) The Broken Structure of the Moses Story: Or, Moses and the Jerusalem Temple. Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament23: 23-37.
56.
NoblePR (2002) Esau, Tamar, and Joseph: Criteria for Identifying Inner-biblical Allusions. Vetus Testamentum52: 119–252.
57.
NohrnbergJ (1995) Like unto Moses: The Constituting of an Interruption. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
58.
NothM (1962) Exodus. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.
59.
OblathMD (2000) Of Pharaohs and Kings – Whence the Exodus?Journal for the Study of the Old Testament87: 23–42.
60.
PardesI (1992) Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
61.
ProppWH (1993) That Bloody Bridegroom (Exodus IV 24–6). Vetus Testamentum43: 495–518.
62.
RaineyAF (1970) Compulsory Labour Gangs in Ancient Israel. Israel Exploration Journal20: 191–202.
63.
ReissM (2004) Elijah the Zealot: A Foil to Moses. Jewish Bible Quarterly32: 174–180.
64.
RobinsonBP (1986) Zipporah to the Rescue: A Contextual Study of Exodus IV 24–26. Vetus Testamentum36: 447–461.
65.
RömerT (2008) Moses Outside the Torah and the Construction of a Diaspora Identity. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures8: Article 15.
66.
RussellBD (2007) The Song of the Sea: The Date of Composition and Influence of Exodus 15:1–21. New York: Peter Lang.
67.
SchellekensJJ (2006) The Murderous Grandparent Motif: Myth as Political Discourse. Semiotica162: 245–261.
68.
SchellekensJJ (2009) Accession Days and Holidays: The Origins of the Jewish Festival of Purim. Journal of Biblical Literature128: 115–134.
69.
SchreinerDB (2018) The Annihilation of the Egyptian and Neo-Assyrian Armies: A Proposal of Inner-biblical Typology and Some Literary Critical Implications. Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft130: 529–544.
70.
Shalom-GuyH (2011) The Call Narratives of Gideon and Moses: Literary Convention or More?Journal of Hebrew Scriptures11: Article 4.
71.
Shalom-GuyH (2016) Textual Analogies and Their Ramifications for a Diachronic Analysis of 1 Samuel 13:1–14:46 and Judges 6:1–8:35. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures16: Article 10.
SimonU (1997) Reading Prophetic Narratives. Jerusalem: Mossad Bialik (in Hebrew).
74.
SmendR (1970) Yahweh War and Tribal Confederation: Reflections upon Israel’s Earliest History. New York: Abingdon Press.
75.
SmithSH (1990) “Heel” and “Thigh”: The Concept of Sexuality in the Jacob-Esau Narratives. Vetus Testamentum40: 464–473.
76.
ThompsonTL (1987) The Origin Tradition of Ancient Israel: I. The Literary Formation of Genesis and Exodus 1–23. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
77.
ToewsWI (1993) Monarchy and Religious Institution in Israel under Jeroboam I. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press.
78.
Van SetersJ (1994) The Life of Moses: The Yahwist as Historian in Exodus-Numbers. Kampen: Kok Pharos.
79.
Van SetersJ (2000) Creative Imitation in the Hebrew Bible. Studies in Religion29: 395–409.
80.
WatermanL (1940) Moses the Pseudo Levite. Journal of Biblical Literature59: 397–404.
81.
WattsJW (2011) Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch. Journal of Biblical Literature130: 417–430.
82.
WhiteMC (1997) The Elijah Legends and Jehu’s Coup. Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press.
83.
WhybrayRN (1987) The Making of the Pentateuch: A Methodological Study. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
84.
ZakovitchY (1985) Assimilation in Biblical Narratives. In TigayJH, Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia, pp. 175–196.
85.
Zlotnick-SivanH (2001) The Rape of Cozbi (Numbers XXV). Vetus Testamentum51: 69–80.
86.
Zlotnick-SivanH (2004) Moses the Persian? Exodus 2, the ‘Other’ and Biblical ‘Mnemohistory.’Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft116: 189–205.
