Staff of Moses

"Rod of God" redirects here. For the proposed orbital strike weapon, seeKinetic bombardment.

Victory O Lord!,1871 painting byJohn Everett Millais,depicts Moses holding his staff, assisted byAaronandHur,holding up his arms during the battle againstAmalek.

TheStaff of Moses,also known as theRod of MosesorStaff of God,is mentioned in theBibleandQuranas awalking stickused byMoses.According to theBook of Exodus,the staff (Hebrew:מַטֶּהmatteh,translated "rod" in theKing James Bible) was used to produce water from a rock, was transformed into a snake and back, and was used at theparting of the Red Sea.Whether the staff of Moses was the same asthe staff used by his brother Aaronhas been debated by rabbinical scholars.

References to the staff

The staff is first mentioned in theBook of Exodus(Ex 4:2), when God appears to Moses in theburning bush.God asks what Moses has in his hand, and Moses answers "a staff" ( "a rod" in the King James Version (KJV)). The staff is miraculously transformed into a snake and then back into a staff. The staff is thereafter referred to as the "rod of God" or "staff of God" (depending on the translation).

"And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs". And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, "Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive". And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace". And the LORDsaid unto Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life". And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. – (KJV. Exodus chapter 4)

Moses and Aaron appear before the pharaoh, andAaron's rodis transformed into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers are also able to transform their own rods into serpents, but Aaron's rod swallows their rods (Exodus 7:10–12). Aaron's rod is again used to turn the Nile blood-red. It is used several times on God's command to initiate theplagues of Egypt.

During the Exodus, Moses stretches out his hand with the staff to part theRed Sea.While in the "wilderness" after leaving Egypt Moses follows God's command to strike a rock with the rod to create a spring for the Israelites to drink from (Exodus 17:5–7). Moses does so, and water springs forth from the rock in the presence of the Elders of Israel.

Battle with the Amalekites(Exodus 17:8–16) byJulius Schnorr von Carolsfeld,1860

Moses also uses the staff in the battle atRephidimbetween the Israelites and theAmalekites(Exodus 17:8–16).When he holds up his arms holding the "rod of God" the Israelites "prevail", when he drops his arms, their enemies gain the upper hand. Aaron andHurhelp him to keep the staff raised until victory is achieved.

Finally, God tells Moses to get water for the Israelites from a rock by speaking to the rock (Numbers 20:8). But Moses, being vexed by the complaining of the Israelites, instead of speaking to the rock as God commanded, strikes the rock twice with the staff. Because Moses did not obey God's command to speak to the rock, implying lack of faith, God punished Moses by not letting him enter into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

Musa's staff is referred to in theQuran('Asa,Arabic:عصا) with various applications and miraculous uses in ten differentverses.

Relation to Aaron's rod

Main article:Aaron's rod

Because Aaron's rod and Moses' rod are both given similar, seemingly interchangeable, powers, Rabbinical scholars have debated whether or not the two rods were one and the same. According to theMidrashYelammedenu(Yalḳ. on Ps. ex. § 869):

the staff with which Jacob crossed the Jordan is identical with that which Judah gave to his daughter-in-law, Tamar (Gen. xxxii. 10, xxxviii. 18). It is likewise the holy rod with which Moses worked (Ex. iv. 20, 21), with which Aaron performed wonders before Pharaoh (Ex. vii. 10), and with which, finally, David slew the giant Goliath (I Sam. xvii. 40). David left it to his descendants, and the Davidic kings used it as a scepter until the destruction of the Temple, when it miraculously disappeared. When the Messiah comes it will be given to him for a scepter in token of his authority over the heathen.

In later Jewish legend the rod was said to have been created at the beginning of the world on the sixth day of creation and to have been passed down through the hands of the major patriarchs before being inherited by Moses.

Traditions of its present location

The alleged staff of Moses in the Topkapı Palace Museum, Istanbul

There are many speculations about what has happened to Moses' staff.

TheMidrash(ahomileticmethod of biblicalexegesis) states that the staff was passed down from generation to generation and was in the possession of the Judean kings until theFirst Templewas destroyed in 587 BCE. It is unknown what became of the staff after the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were exiled from the land.

There is mention of the rod of Moses in a deposition of Nicolas, abbot of theIcelandic Benedictine monasteryofThingeyrar,who had seen it guarded in a chapel of a palace in Constantinople in c. 1150. According to this source, thearchbishop of Novgorod,Anthony, stated that it was in the church of St Michael in theBoukoleon Palace,among other precious relics. After thesack of Constantinoplein 1204 it was transported to France, whereNivelon de Quierzy,Bishop of Soissons, placed it inSoissons Cathedraland it then passed to thetreasury of the Sainte-Chapelle.

What was perhaps a different relic is recorded by the 7th-centuryChronicon Paschaleas kept in the Church of St Mary of Rhabdos, next to the Gate of Saint Aemilianus in thewalls of Constantinople.

According to an identifying document at theHagia SophiainIstanbul,Moses' staff is on display today within theSacred Relicscollection at theTopkapı Palace,Istanbul,Turkey.The Topkapı Palace holds other reputedly holy relics, most notablythose attributedto the Islamic prophetMuhammad(such as his bow, his sword, his footprint, and a tooth). Topkapı Palace was officially designated a museum in 1924, and the holy relics were placed on public view on 31 August 1962. It is said thatSultanSelim I(1512–1520) brought the holy relics to Topkapı Palace after conqueringEgyptin 1517.

Shia Islam

It is narrated inKitab al-KafithatJa'far al-Sadiqclaims that the "Tablets of Moses and the Staff of Moses are with us. We are the heirs of the Prophets".

See also

• Crosier
• Caduceus
• Nehushtan
• List of mythological objects
• Magic wand
• Margnaused by Mandaean priests