There are many differences between the Exodus described in the Bible and the Exodus shown in the 2007 film The Ten Commandments. From how Moses found out that he was a Hebrew to the one responsible of making the Golden Calf, the stories within the movie accommodate to its audience; the children. In addition to the difference in names for the LORD, the film focuses on portraying Moses and Aaron as exceptional men in the eyes of God, while the Bible has a more bitter, realistic feeling to it. The contrasts between the two stories cause a great effect upon the intended audience that could affect the later generations’ knowledge of Biblical stories.
Before continuing, I would like to give some honorable mentions; the Ten Commandments and the Ten …show more content…
In the Bible it reads, “He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”. Some of the conclusions that can be drawn from this is that; one, Moses knew, probably from his mother, that he was a Hebrew and so committed murder while trying to defend one of his people. Two, the act was premeditated with the intention of keeping it a secret, therefore Moses was not necessarily and impeccable person. Obviously, having a young audience would make this difficult to explain, thus, the movie opts to have Moses accidentally kill the Egyptian in self-defense, and with many people around. That is when Aaron appears all of a sudden and tells him about his background urging him to leave Egypt while Moses shockingly responds “But I am a prince of Egypt” (Naha, 2007). To admit that Moses knew early on would admit deceit on Moses part and would stain the flawless image the movie is trying to convey. Consequently, children grow up thinking that Moses was a special person, worthy of God’s trust. Additionally, because the movie repeatedly describes him as “humble”, the children begin to see Moses as somehow holy from the beginning, instead of making a clear difference between the beginning and after God touches Moses (Naha, 2007). Not to mention that, by taking the imperfection of Moses, the movie falls short of conveying the great patience the LORD …show more content…
When Moses meets God for the first time and asks for his name, God responds “I AM WHO I AM” in both the film and the Bible (Naha, 2007). However, when it is time for Moses to tell Pharaoh God’s name, the movie Moses says “Jehovah” (Naha, 2007), while the Bible Moses calls him “LORD”. This difference initially aroused from the fear of saying God’s name derived from the Second Commandment. In order not to say the actual name, YHWH, and to not lift the LORD’s name in vain, the Israelites called him Adonai. So later, as the Catholic Answers Staff explains, the name, “‘Jehovah’ appeared when Christian scholars took the consonants of “Yahweh” and pronounced it with the vowels of “Adonai.” This resulted in the sound ‘Yahowah’”. Clearly, both the appearance of the name Jehovah in society, and the fact that this name appears as God’s name in the movie illustrate just how much humans can stray from the original story. Now we have people who continuously refer to God as Jehovah instead of YHWH, or LORD. And, there is no telling if this will ever stop given that the children will continue to pass on what they learned from a young age to future
Before continuing, I would like to give some honorable mentions; the Ten Commandments and the Ten …show more content…
In the Bible it reads, “He looked this way and that, and seeing no one he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”. Some of the conclusions that can be drawn from this is that; one, Moses knew, probably from his mother, that he was a Hebrew and so committed murder while trying to defend one of his people. Two, the act was premeditated with the intention of keeping it a secret, therefore Moses was not necessarily and impeccable person. Obviously, having a young audience would make this difficult to explain, thus, the movie opts to have Moses accidentally kill the Egyptian in self-defense, and with many people around. That is when Aaron appears all of a sudden and tells him about his background urging him to leave Egypt while Moses shockingly responds “But I am a prince of Egypt” (Naha, 2007). To admit that Moses knew early on would admit deceit on Moses part and would stain the flawless image the movie is trying to convey. Consequently, children grow up thinking that Moses was a special person, worthy of God’s trust. Additionally, because the movie repeatedly describes him as “humble”, the children begin to see Moses as somehow holy from the beginning, instead of making a clear difference between the beginning and after God touches Moses (Naha, 2007). Not to mention that, by taking the imperfection of Moses, the movie falls short of conveying the great patience the LORD …show more content…
When Moses meets God for the first time and asks for his name, God responds “I AM WHO I AM” in both the film and the Bible (Naha, 2007). However, when it is time for Moses to tell Pharaoh God’s name, the movie Moses says “Jehovah” (Naha, 2007), while the Bible Moses calls him “LORD”. This difference initially aroused from the fear of saying God’s name derived from the Second Commandment. In order not to say the actual name, YHWH, and to not lift the LORD’s name in vain, the Israelites called him Adonai. So later, as the Catholic Answers Staff explains, the name, “‘Jehovah’ appeared when Christian scholars took the consonants of “Yahweh” and pronounced it with the vowels of “Adonai.” This resulted in the sound ‘Yahowah’”. Clearly, both the appearance of the name Jehovah in society, and the fact that this name appears as God’s name in the movie illustrate just how much humans can stray from the original story. Now we have people who continuously refer to God as Jehovah instead of YHWH, or LORD. And, there is no telling if this will ever stop given that the children will continue to pass on what they learned from a young age to future