Moses and Jesus: the birth of the Savior

Judaism, Wntr, 1993 by Allan Kensky

Moses' role as savior (moshiah) is predicted before he is born. In Josephus, Amram is told by God in a dream that the child to be born "will deliver the Hebrew race from their bondage in Egypt" (Antiquities II, 212, 215-216). This tradition is elsewhere ascribed to Miriam (and according to the Midrash this is the reason why she is called Miriam the prophet at the Song of the Sea). Miriam prophesies: "My mother will give birth to a son who will save Israel" (sheyoshia et Yisrael).

When Moses is born, he is immediately recognized as special. As was noted, his mother sees that he is a goodly child (ki tov). Various interpretations are offered: that his parents recognized that he was fit for prophecy, that he was born circumcised, and, according to the sages, that the entire house was filled with light when he was born (Sotah 12a), for the phrase ki tov alludes to an earlier usage during creation: "And God saw the light and it was good." According to Rabbi Nathaniel, in the Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 48), the form of the newborn child was as an angel of the Lord. Rabbi Jose ben Haninah relates that when Pharaoh's daughter opened the ark which contained the infant Moses, she saw the Shekhinah with him (Sotah 12b).

The similarities between the birth stories of Moses and Jesus are striking. Obvious parallels exist between the New Testament stories and the tale in Exodus:(2)

1. In Matt. 2:13-14, Herod was going to search for the child to destroy him, so Joseph took the child and his mother and went away. In Exodus 2:15, Pharaoh sought to do away with Moses, so Moses went away.

2. Herod's massacre of the boys in Bethlehem parallels Pharaoh's command to throw the Hebrew children into the Nile.

3. In Matt 2:19. Herod dies; in Ex 2:23, the king of Egypt dies.

4. In Matt 2:19-20, the angel of the Lord says to Joseph in Egypt, "Go back to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." The language is similar to Ex. 4:19, "The Lord said to Moses in Midian, 'Return to Egypt, for those who were seeking your life are dead.'"

The Midrashic tales of Moses offer additional parallels between the birth of Jesus and that of Moses:

1. The impending birth of each is announced to Herod and Pharaoh respectively, and both monarchs are filled with dread at the news.

2. Amram is told that his wife will give birth to a son who will save Israel; Joseph is told that Mary's son will be called Jesus "for he will save the people from their sins." (It should be noted that "from their sins" may be a later gloss.)(3)

3. The birth of Jesus is heralded by a star; at the birth of Moses there is great light.

4. From the start, both children are recognized as extraordinary.

5. Joseph espouses Mary while she is pregnant. This has an interesting parallel in a cryptic statement found in the Talmud that Amram married -- or rather remarried -- Yokheved while she was already pregnant. We will return to this statement later.

According to the late French midrashist, Renee Bloch, the parallels between Matthew's account of the birth of Jesus and the Midrashic traditions about the birth of Moses are not accidental, for "the author of Matthew had in mind constantly the story of Moses' birth according to the Midrashic tradition."(4) To the rabbis, Moses was the prototype of the Messiah. And, according to Rabbi Berakhiah, the final redeemer will be like the first (Eccl. Rabbah 1,9; Targum Lamentations 2,22). It is thus not surprising that the New Testament pictured so many of the patterns of Moses' birth as repeating themselves in the birth of Jesus.