The Key to Understanding Moses

 

The Key to Understanding Moses

You already know that the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai is among the most famous in the Bible. But we don’t know much else about this mysterious time other than Moses neither eating bread nor drinking water (Ex. 34:28). 

When we turn to the Book of Deuteronomy, though, we learn an additional detail: “I lay prostrate before the Lord those forty days and forty nights” (Deut. 9:25). The original Hebrew word for “lay prostrate” is etnapal אֶתְנַפַּל from the root N-P-L (“to fall”). This is an extremely rare word in the Bible, literally meaning, “I threw myself down”.

We learn that Moses did not merely lie down on the ground waiting for the forty days to end. It was quite the contrary... He actively devoted himself to prayer and fasting, to atone for the sins of the people. See how this single Hebrew word contains a much deeper meaning? It not only tells the story of what was happening at that time, but it's also the key to understanding the spiritual character of Moses!