Moses (meaning "drawn out") was a Hebrew-born "Egyptian" who was chosen by Yahweh to be the deliverer of Israel from the hands of Egypt and to bring them into the land of Canaan which was the land where the Israelites had originated from.
Biography
Early Life
Moses was born in Egypt to Levite parents[6]. Moses's parents hid him for three months in order to prevent his execution[7] due to the edict given by the Pharaoh that all Hebrew babies born male are to be drowned. When they were unable to hide him anymore, Moses' mother made a papyrus basket of and daubed it with mortar and pitch, placing the baby inside and floating it along the river side of the Nile with his sister watching to see what will happen to him[8]. The Pharaoh's daughter went to bathe herself in the river when she found the basket floating with the baby inside, and felt compassion for him[9]. Miriam, Moses' sister offered to find a women to nurse the child and so brought her mother to Pharaoh's daughter, who charged her to take care of the baby for whatever wages would be appropriate. Later on, when the child was old enough, Pharaoh's daughter adopted him as her own son and called him Moses because she drew him out of the water[10].
Fleeing to Midian
Moses was raised as Egyptian royalty until one day as he was grown up he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Making sure nobody would see, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand. Later on, Moses tried to peaceably mediate a fight between two Hebrew men, but one of them asked Moses if he was going to kill him like he did the Egyptian[11]. Realizing that he had been found out and that the Pharaoh would want him dead, Moses fled to the land of Midian where he became a shepherd for the priest Jethro, who gave his daughter Zipporah to him as a wife. Moses had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, through Zipporah.
Forty years later, as Moses was tending sheep, he saw a burning bush on a mountain that surprisingly wasn't consumed in the flames. As he went to investigate, Yahweh called out to Moses and told him to take off his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground. He then told Moses that He has heard the cries of His people in Egypt and is now going to send Moses back there to deliver them. Moses felt rather unsure that he was qualified for the task and that the people would even listen to him. Yahweh enabled Moses to perform some miraculous signs with His power as proof, and also sent Aaron to meet with him so that he would be Moses' spokesperson. Moses went back to Egypt with his wife and children, but on the way the LORD met Moses to kill him until Zipporah performed a circumcision on his child and called him "a bloody husband". It is at that point most likely when Moses sent Zipporah back to Midian.
In Egypt, after convincing the people of Israel through the signs that Yahweh has sent him as their deliverer, Moses spoke to the Pharaoh to let his people go into the wilderness to worship the LORD. The Pharaoh didn't acknowledge the LORD and refused to let them go, instead choosing to punish them by not letting them be given anymore straw but rather to go find straw for themselves while making the same amount of bricks as before. This made the people of Israel angry with Moses, but Yahweh told Moses that now He's going to show the people His power.
Etymology
Moses's name means "I drew him out of the water"[12]