Moses : A Life

by Jonathan Kirsch

Lawgiver and liberator. Seer and prophet. The only human permitted to converse with God "face-to-face." Moses is the most commanding presence in the Old Testament. Yet as Jonathan Kirsch shows in this brilliant, stunningly original volume, Moses was also an enigmatic and mysterious figure--at once a good shepherd and a ruthless warrior, a spiritual leader and a magician, a lawgiver who broke his own laws, God's chosen friend and hounded victim. Now, in A Life, Kirsch accomplishes the wondrous feat of revealing the real Moses, a strikingly modern figure who steps out from behind the facade of Sunday school lessons and movie matinees.

Drawing on the biblical text and a treasury of both scholarship and storytelling, Kirsch examines all that is known and all that has been imagined of Moses. In these vivid pages, we see the marvels and mysteries of Moses's life in a new light--his rescue in infancy and adoption by an Egyptian princess; his reluctant assumption of the role of liberator; his struggles to wrest his people from the pharaoh's dominion; his desperate vigil on Mount Sinai. Here too is the darker, more ominous Moses--the sorcerer, the husband of a pagan woman, the military commander who cold-bloodedly ordered the slaying of innocent people; the beloved of God whom God sought twice to murder.

Jonathan Kirsch brings both prodigious knowledge and a keen imagination to one of the most compelling stories of the Bible, and the results are fascinating. A figure of mystery, passion, and contradiction, Moses emerges from this book very much a hero for our time.

Genres: Religion, History, Biography, Christianity, Nonfiction, Jewish, Judaism

415 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 1998

Reviews

[Kara Neal · Rating 1 out of 5]

While the information on from the rabbinical texts and from literature such as the writings of Flavius Josephus was interesting, the author's disdain for a divinely inspired Bible and mockery of God and Christianity was beyond distracting. In fact, I wonder why someone who puts forth such an attitude would then choose to write about Biblical figures such as Moses and David. He goes far beyond playing neutral or even an devil's advocate sort of role. I was interested in some of his other titles, but I think I'm offended enough by this one to set this author aside and choose something else.

[Mohit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 450+ pager that took me over 2 weeks to finish as it is extremely detailed, painstakingly researched and earnestly academic.

Moses has been an enigmatic figure in world mythology and my interest in him got piqued because of this wonderful series on Netflix called Testament followed by the movie The Ten Commandments. The book slowly traverses through the various stories about the birth and adoption of Moses and his long life split into 4 different stages - birth to youth, Exile to Mount Sinai, Return to Egypt to confront Pharaoh and eventual leading of Children of Israel from Egypt to Canaan, the Promised land. All this is covered under the Great Exodus. Being the only man to have the privilege of speaking to God (Yahweh) and therein dictating His (!) wishes to all.

The book very beautifully covers the fallacies and shortcomings of Moses and his brethren and takes no cover to hide their flaws.

The honesty in this work is remarkable and makes it a brilliant work of intellectualism and of academic importance.

Loved it and recommended.

[Lady Alexandrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful biblical commentary. At times surprising, at times chilling, at times funny. Jonathan Kirsch presents the up-to-date information on biblical scholarship along with insights from ancient rabbinical writings. The author encourages his readers to read the Bible with open eyes and open hearts. Then, even the biggest sceptics can discover a piece of valuable wisdom for themselves.

[Kyra Boisseree · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*? I spent most of this book thinking it would be a 3, but I was way too fed up with it by the end. I think this book was such a great idea. Why NOT try to write a biography of Moses? I just think Kirsch went about it completely wrong. He privileges the Biblical narrative first and foremost, so much so that when he does bring in actual arachaeology, it feels out of place and also kind of like, "Why didn't you mention this sooner?" And also, "If you're going to use these archaeological facts to make a point NOW, why can't you see that you can also use archaeology to explain a lot of the stuff you questioned/ridiculed about the Biblical narrative??" And that really is the other major problem. Not only does he not bring in archaeology as much as he should have, but Kirsch's tone is so disdainful. At first I thought he was just trying to make a book about the Bible more appealing to a lay (meaning non-academic as well as non-religious) audience, but after the first 100 pages, it was just grating. Does he really think his snide comments are actually earning him the final word in centuries of Biblical commentary? And the worst parts were when he would say something that was literally just his opinion as though it were a fact, like when he was explaining that the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant were not cute little babies, but "grotesque" creatures with the heads of men, the bodies of lions, and wings. Like I'm sorry, has he never seen ancient Near Eastern art before?? Has he ever bothered to wonder what the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia & the Levant were trying to communicate with this kind of statue? These kinds of creatures were meant to represent power and majesty and kingship, and just because he finds them grotesque now doesn't mean they ARE. That's a HIM problem. And I know it's a small thing to get worked up about, but by that point in the book, I was so done with his ridiculing & general disdain for his own subject matter that I just kind of lost it. Why even write this book if you're going to be so judgmental? And I don't even mean judgmental to religious people, because that honestly barely factored into this book, but judgmental to the ancient writers and interpreters of the Bible. If you're going to read every single source in bad faith, if you're going to come at this assuming that every Biblical writers' intentions must be self-serving or ill-willed, or at the best misguided or confused, literally what the fuck are you doing? There is so much BIAS in this book. This is not how you do history at all. This is even how you do "being a decent human being." Decent human beings don't make so many VALUE judgments about things, especially other people's cultures. Okay, I'm definitely going off the rails now, but this book just made me so mad. As a work of history, it made me mad. As a work of Bible commentary, it made me mad. I am so fucking glad to be done with this book.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kirsch recounts the life of Moses by not only using the Bible's Old Testament accounts but the additional stories of Moses in the Jewish Talmud as well. According to Kirsch, rabbis and Jewish scribes attempted to make sense of the numerous inconsistencies in the Old Testament by adding their own narrative anecdotes. Some of these are pretty fantastic and humorous. In addition, Christian fundamentalists have portrayed Moses as a hero (thanks to Hollywood interpretations), glossing over the Bible's accounts of God commanding him to commit genocide against the Canaanites.

In the end, after leading a complaining, ungrateful Jewish tribe for 40 years through the wilderness, God prevents Moses from entering the Promised Land due to a mistake Moses made in interpreting one of God's commands. While Moses suffers the inconsistencies and shortcomings of all men, God comes across as a petty overlord.

[Ellen Morris Prewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had two strengths: it focused on the exact story actually told in the Bible (free from the trappings we've wrapped around it in movies, etc.) and it organized the Moses story between Genesis, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I've read the 5 Books of Moses many times, so I needed something more, and this book provided it. I read it as research for my next novel, so I paid close attention to where the author seemed to be coming from (I put down another Moses biography I'd bought because the slant was condescending to the reader and too obviously intended to prop up belief.) Mr. Kirsch regularly preferred the unconventional explanation for admitted discrepancies in the Biblical story, which I'm sure some readers will find off-putting. Some I found interesting; some I dismissed. But that decision was left up to me, which I appreciated.

[Cara Spaccarelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read 75% of it - but it's really long and I didn't need to read the other 25% for the research I was doing. Jonathan Kirsch is an easy to read author, but this book was longer than it needed to be.

[Kimberley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept falling asleep. Not sure how I felt about the author constantly trying to discredit the Bible.

[Grindy Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I'm a remedial Bible reader, but I found this volume to be perspective-altering and thought-provoking. Well done.

[Philip Harrelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good material but very liberal in view of the Bible! Disappointing…

[Brandi Diamond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic.

[Ayşe Naz · Rating 4 out of 5]

bible musası çok garip bible ingilizcesi daha garip bible tanrısı çoook daha garip
hani NOLUYOOOO??!?!?!?!!!?!?!!!!!!!!!!????!??
freud babanın musa yorumları inanılmaz iyiymiş ona da bir göz atmak lazım

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were elements I loved. It was refreshing to read into the complexities of Moses as he appears in the bible. My primary issue was the author's tendency to allow his opinion to color what would have otherwise been a brilliant and objective work revealing the many facets of Moses life. His tendency to not treat the theological record without bias ruined the book for me, ultimately. And not because I am offended, but simply because his opinion on the veracity of the bible and its origins do not seem relevant outside of when he attempts to discern the actual Moses.

I won't give away too much but a stark example is the manner in which the author describes Moses' and his brother, Aaron's, meeting. After describing Moses' ascent to the burning bush, where God tells Moses to return to Egypt to free the Children of Israel, and to first meet his brother, Aaron, in the wilderness, we are informed that God ALSO speaks to Aaron, too, telling him to meet his long lost brother, Moses, in the wilderness. Both brothers, instructed by God to meet in a non-disclosed location of the wilderness, having possibly never met before, successfully do meet, and astoundingly, despite stating God speaks to both brothers separately only paragraphs before, the author is troubled enough to comment that Aaron's immediate compliance to Moses' declaration of being Israel's redeemer renders the event implausible. Whether one is a believer or not shouldn't matter in the biography. The goal seemed to create a picture of Moses from an array of sources, some well known, some eclectic. Why would Aaron, also instructed by God through prophecy to meet and receive Moses, question his brother's account so baldly?

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author draws on rabbinical literature and biblical scholarship to write this autobiography. Of course, nothing factual is known of Moses. Much of the information available about Moses comes from sources who tried to make sense of the Biblical inconsistencies concerning Moses. The inconsistencies are duly noted, legends that can be little more than fairy tales are cited as such. This is a very good, well-researched book. The author assumes intelligence and interest in his topic but does not assume Biblical expertise. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author tries to portray the historical Moses using Biblical text and sources...his conclusion is that Moses' existence really can't be proven. I don't agree with that premise but the book was still interesting.

[Ted Shaffner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty fascinating study not only of the Bible's Moses, but of the Moses of rabbinical tradition and midrash. At times it can be a bit overwhelming, but it is an important and impressive collection of all the lore surrounding this most influential of religious figures.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Based off of the first 20 or so pages, the author of this book is not a Christian, does not think Moses was a good man, and at the very least is misguided about God, but really it seems more like he actually dislikes God.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading this pre-pesach

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read!!!

[Stephie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice analysis of the, in my opinion, mythical Moses. Very enjoyable.