A Single Escapee, Moses, The Lord calls to Moses, The Deliverer
Old Testament Miniatures with Latin, Persian, and Judeo-Persian inscriptions
Purchased by J.P. Morgan (1867–1943) in 1916
A Single Escapee
Pharaoh has ordered the slaughter of all male children born to the Hebrews. To save the life of her newborn son, a sorrowing mother has him placed in a basket made of bulrushes and set afloat in the river. (Exodus 2:1–3)
Moses
Pharaoh's daughter and her maids come down to the river to bathe. There they make a marvelous discovery: a Hebrew child afloat in a basket. The merciful princess spares the boy's life and turns him over to a nurse. He shall be called Moses, the princess decides, meaning "I drew him out of the water." (Exodus 2:5–10)
The Lord calls to Moses
Now a grown man, Moses has fled Pharaoh's wrath and lives in the desert among the Midianites. One morning, Moses is tending his father-in-law's flock at Horeb, the mountain of God, when he is witness to a miracle: a bush burns with fire but is not consumed. The Lord calls to the stunned Moses from the midst of the bush: "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." (Exodus 3:1–8)
The Deliverer
Following the Lord's commands, Moses has returned to Egypt to free the Hebrews. The Israelite elders are assembled before Moses and informed of the news. After years of oppression and slavery, the Lord has visited them, and will soon put an end to their affliction. The men understand the power Moses has been given, and fall to their knees in adoration of the deliverer. (Exodus 4:28–31)
Folio 7v (Latin)
Upper left: How, upon the birth of Moses, his mother fearing the king who had ordered that all newborn male Hebrews be killed, put him in a little ark woven of rushes on the river’s bank. (Exodus 2:1–3)
Upper right: How the daughter of the king had found the child, and, knowing him to be of the Hebrew’s children, had compassion for him and devised that he be nursed. (Exodus 2: 5–10)
Lower left: How, as Moses was tending his flock in the desert, there appeared to him that marvelous vision of a bush burning without being consumed, and God, talking to him in the midst of the bush and telling him to put off his shoes from his feet, and moreover to go to Pharaoh and to tell him to set the Israelites free. (Exodus 3:2–10)
Lower right: How the children of Israel, seeing Moses and hearing that God had compassion for them, leaned to the ground in worship. (Exodus 4: 29–31)
Folio 7v (Persian)
Persian foliation: 35
Upper left margin: And thereafter, Pharaoh ordered the killing of all the sons born to anyone in this tribe. At that time, His Excellence Moses was born and his mother was afraid and she placed him in a basket and cast it into the water entrusting him to God.
Upper right margin: And when they threw Moses into water, by chance Pharaoh’s daughter came by the river and suddenly saw a basket on it and they pulled it out. They saw a boy wrapped in stuff; Pharaoh’s daughter was pleased and took him in as her child.
Lower left margin: Moses’s occupation was that of a shepherd and [once] while in the desert a voice from His Excellence [God] the Exalted came that "O, Moses, We assist you to go and save the tribe of Joseph from Pharaoh’s oppression."
Lower right margin: Moses came to the tribe and said, "God has commanded [me] to deliver you from Pharaoh."
Folio 7v (Judeo-Persian)
Upper left, beneath Latin: Pharaoh decrees the killing of male [children from among the] Children of Israel. The birth of Moses, peace be upon him, and casting him into the water.
Upper right, beneath Latin: Bithiah’s coming to the river, her seeing Moses’ small basket, taking it and carrying it off.
Lower left, above Latin: In the desert when a voice came to the prophet saying: "Go to Egypt to bring out the Children of Israel, [Moses thought] "I wish He would not bring them out."
Lower right, above Latin: The entrance of the faithful prophet into Egypt in order to deliver the Children of Israel.
Italicized words are in Hebrew.
Content consultant: Richard Leson
Persian translated by Sussan Babaie
Judeo-Persian translated by Vera Basch Moreen
Latin translation by Eran Lupu
After the commentary volume accompanying the Fine Art Facsimile edition by Faksimile Verlag Luzern