National Geographic explores notable biblical figures in our ongoing series People in the Bible, as part of our coverage of the history of the Bible and the search for sacred texts.
Moses’s life was defined by miracles. From birth, the prophet was followed by acts of God that led Moses to become the savior of the enslaved Hebrew nation.
As the Book of Exodus opens, a new king has risen over Egypt, one concerned that the descendants of Jacob were becoming too numerous (Exodus 1:8-9). He forcefully conscripted them as slave labor, and ordered them to build “supply cities, Pithom and Ramses, for Pharaoh.”
When the Hebrews continued to multiply, Pharaoh ordered even more drastic measures: Every newborn male infant was to be drowned in the river (Exodus 1:22). Around this time, a young couple from the tribe of Levi, Amram and Jochebed, had a baby. To save him from the
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