Myth #74:

Pharaoh’s daughter gave Moses a Hebrew name.

The Myth: And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water. (Exod. 2:10)

The Reality: The name “Moses” comes from the Egyptian word “msy” meaning “is born.”

After the Egyptian princess adopted the infant found in the ark, she allegedly gave him the name Moses because she “drew him from the water.” In Hebrew, the name Moses is rendered “mosheh.” The biblical explanation for the origin of his name assumes that the Egyptian princess gave the child a Hebrew name derived from the Hebrew word “mashah,” meaning, “to draw out.”

This explanation for the name of Moses introduces several problems. First, “mosheh” and “mashah” are different words. Second, grammatically,“mashah” means,“to draw out,” not,“I drew out.” Third, it makes no sense for the Egyptian princess to give the child a Hebrew name because the king had ordered the deaths of all male Hebrew infants and drawing attention to his Hebrew origins would be the last thing the princess would want to do if she planned to raise him in the royal household.

The name Moses actually comes from the Egyptian word “msy,” meaning “is born,” which is usually appended to the name of a god, as in Thutmose or Ramose (i.e. , Thoth or Re is born). The Greeks transliterated the msy element as “mosis” and in English it became Moses. Since the names of other gods were taboo among the Hebrews, the front part of Moses’ name was dropped, leaving only the msy element.