Moses Character Analysis in Leviathan

Moses is a biblical figure in the Old Testament. Hobbes repeatedly refers to Moses at Mount Sinai, where Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt on God’s command, after which the Israelites entered into a covenant with God via Moses to be God’s “peculiar people” on Earth. According to Hobbes, the Israelites were “peculiar” because they accepted God as their civil sovereign, over and above the spiritual power God already claims over all of humankind. Hobbes refers to Moses as God’s “first Lieutenant,” which gives Moses the authority to speak God’s words. In Hobbes’s opinion, Moses was a true prophet, and the work he did on God’s behalf in Egypt, like the parting of the Red Sea, can rightly be considered miracles. Moses is the prophet who spoke to God most directly, but, Hobbes points out, even Moses’s communication with God was mediated through an angel, which supports Hobbes’s argument that the voice of God cannot be comprehended by human ears.

Moses Character Timeline in Leviathan

The timeline below shows where the character Moses appears in Leviathan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Power, Common-wealths, and Monarchies Theme Icon

...concerning the rights of a monarch and sovereign power. The children of Israel said to Moses: “Speak thou to us, and we will heare thee; but let not God speak to... (full context)

Nature, War, and Civil Society Theme Icon

This covenant is again seen in the Book of Exodus with Moses at the Foot of Mount Sinai, in which God commands Moses to say to the... (full context)

...be all scripture, since all scripture is about God. For instance, when God says to Moses: “I am the Lord thy God,” these words are considered the “Word of God.” And,... (full context)

A prophet is someone who speaks God’s words, like Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, and Elijah. The Prophets made certain predictions as the name suggests, but they... (full context)

...he saw a ladder,” and Lot was visited by the ghost of two angels. Only Moses spoke more directly to God, and even that was mediated by angels. (full context)

...prophets in the Old Testament, some are “supreme” and others are “subordinate.” The supreme is Moses, and everyone else follows down a subordinate line. As the supreme, Moses is the prophet... (full context)

...While a solar eclipse is decidedly not a miracle, God’s works in Egypt done by Moses’s hand “were properly Miracles.” By definition, a miracle “is a work of God, […] done... (full context)

...ghostly spirit. In Holy Scripture, there is magic that seems like miracles. For instance, when Moses’s rod hits the ground in the Book of Exodus, it becomes a serpent. This seems... (full context)

...are likely to believe in “false Miracles.” Hobbes again points out what God says to Moses in Deuteronomy. Through Moses, God warns the people not to accept those prophets who teach... (full context)

...not renewed again after that until the Israelites were freed. Then, the covenant was with Moses at the Foot of Mount Sinai. This contract between God and Moses marks the beginning... (full context)

According to Hobbes, the people were not required to take Moses as God’s Lieutenant. As God spoke to Moses, not the people, the people were not... (full context)

In Moses’s time, there were no false prophets, as every prophet was authorized by Moses and had... (full context)

...according to his works.” Thus, Hobbes argues, Christ represents God to the people, just as Moses did, and every Lieutenant thereafter. (full context)

...one, and in this case, the Trinity more rightly signifies “three Persons.” God represented by Moses is one person, and God represented by Christ is another. God represented by the Apostles... (full context)

...piece of Holy Scripture to become law was the Ten Commandments, which God gave to Moses on tablets of stone. God delivered the Commandments to Moses, and Moses delivered them to... (full context)

Moses added different laws as the Israelites readied themselves for the land of Promise, and these... (full context)

...until after the captivity of the Jews, after which they entered into a covenant with Moses to accept the “Law of God.” The Old Testament was not law until this covenant,... (full context)

...in which they belong. This can be seen in Numbers 11, in which God commands Moses to select 70 Elders and infuse them with Moses’s spirit. As God’s Lieutenant, Moses was... (full context)

Next, Hobbes considers whom Christians must have faith in to ensure their salvation. Moses and the other prophets had faith in God, and the Apostles and the Disciples had... (full context)

Hobbes also considers the worshiping of images not instituted by Moses in the Old Testament or by Christ in the New Testament as another relic of... (full context)

...the Golden Calf for religious use and presented it to the people without God or Moses’s authority, this, too, was idolatry. Gentiles throughout history have worshiped Jupiter and others as gods,... (full context)

...Earth because God ruled them by consent, not by his natural power. In God’s Kingdome, Moses was Lieutenant on Earth and was appointed by God to punish those who broke the... (full context)

In Chapter 36, Hobbes says it is not known in what manner God spoke to Moses. However, Hobbes does not mean to say that God did not speak to Moses through... (full context)