Moses, Man of the Mountain

In her inimitable prose and deep insight into the experiences of slavery, freedom, and the nature of true leadership, Zora Neale Hurston makes Moses come alive. I didn’t know what to expect but after reading this, I feel like I’ve gotten a glimpse not only of Moses and the Exodus but also of what leading former slaves into freedom might have been like in the US 150 years ago.

A great read

As a 55+yr old man I'm ashamed to admit I had to first hear of this author only recently via the Google start up page. They were highlighting Ms. Hurston for black history month. I clicked on the info tab, for the first time ever, and viewed her accolades. I first noticed the time period in which she lived, and the relative current events during her time period. The script appears to be intentionally written to fit the colloquium of readers of the 1900's while depicting similar political cultures 30 centuries ago. It seems as if Ms Hurston had done some 'trav-lin' to NE Africa or at least heavily studied that ancient culture. Most of us are familiar with the Bible story of the Great Hebrew Escape, but we only know the cap points, of the table of contents, of the Cliff Notes, of the summarized essay, OWKA the Bible. We theologians are left sparing one another to surmise the fill-ins: how did the Hebrew live day to day amidst pharaoh's infanticide campaign; how did Moses interact with the priest of Midian for 40 yrs; why were Jethro's daughters left alone to fetch water if he, the Priest of Midian was head of the whole region; how did Moses get the slaves to listen his 'strange god'; were the miracles... feats of divine magic, or a divine miraculous intersection of natural events? Zora doesn't just clothe, but majestically adorns the literary skeleton of the biblical account with such realistic insulation fill-ins. The way she plays it makes so much common sense. Her rich perspective is head and shoulders above any biblical commentary I’ve read, in their attempts to enliven a 3,000 yr old culture in today’s perspective. The trans-generational human Diaspora of politics, administration, military strategy, gender roles, cultural sociology, psycho-pathology, telescopic prophetic thinking, biblical interpretation… Queen Zora reaches down into the depths of history, grabs the applicable ills of humanity, and flings them fittingly into her contemporary present, while splattering the hidden meanings into our own time; her future… SHE IS SO DEEP! This could have been appropriately written in 2014. For preachers, Christians, and historical fictionists, this is A Must Read!!! !!! !!!

What a lovely book! Ms. Hurston did a fabulous job with the Exodus story. I felt like I was there and that I really got to know Moses and the other characters. Excellent!

One of the best novels I've ever read. If you are interested in either the story of Moses, the Exodus, the parallels with the African-American slave experience, the quest for inner and outer freedom, building a relationship with the divine within and/or outside of us or all or some of the above than this book is for you. And Hurston writes about all of this in a rich, evocative, beautiful and soulful prose, the Hebrew characters among themselves speaking in the vernacular of working class African-Americans of her day. This book is a joy.

With the Jewish holiday of Passover only a few weeks away, I decided at last to read Zora Neale Hurston's 1939 novel, "Moses, Man of the Mountain". Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. Hurston's novel tells the story of the Exodus, drawihg freely on the Biblical account, but from her own perspective. I have long been an admirer of Hurston from "Their Eyes were Watching God", "Mules and Men" and other sources and wanted to hear what she had to say about Moses and Exodus.Passover is celebrated by a festive meal, called a Seder, at which a text, the Haggadah, is read and discussed. A striking feature of the Haggadah is that Moses is barely mentioned. The reason for this, as I understand, is to acknowledge God as responsible for redeeming the Jewish people from slavery and to avoid the temptation to idolatry that would occur by focusing on Moses as the redeemer.Hurston knew her Bible well, but I doubt if she knew the Haggadah. In her Introduction to "Moses, Man of the Mountain" she contrasts her approach with the understanding of Moses in Judaism and Christianity. Her approach, and what she sees as the approach to Moses in other cultures, was to focus on Moses as a man, not because he brought the Ten Commandments down from Sinai but "because he had the power to go up the mountain and to bring them down. " For people held in slavery, the story of Moses teaches his power and "the terror he showed before all Israel and to Pharoah and THAT MIGHTY HAND". It is valuable to see this difference at the outset in reading Hurston's novel.Hurston's novel begins with the edict of Pharoah to kill all newborn Jewish males, and it concludes as Moses goes to meet his death after leading the Israelites for 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The story uses the Biblical account with Hurston's changes and embellishments The book features a shifting and beautiful use of language and tone. The narrative portions of the book are written in an almost Biblical style. Portions in dialogue, particularly involving the Hebrew slaves, are written in the colloquial American Southern black vernacular that Hurston used in "Their Eyes were Watching God", thus combining the African American experience with the experience of the Hebrews.The portrayal of Moses is complicated, as it is in the Bible, and Hurston emphasizes his relationship to the Egyptians and to the Midianites and his father in law Jethro as well as to the Hebrews. There are ambiguities in the portrayal of race and of identity. The years Moses spent with Jethro and with Jetro's daughter and his wife, Ziporrah, in particular receive much attention in Hurston's story.The novel includes a great deal of discussion of women, beginning with the birth of Moses and continuing through the years in the desert. Moses' Egyptian mother, his sister Miriam, and his wife Zipporah receive a great deal of attention, much of which is unfavorable, as also is the case for Moses's brother Aaron.As Hurston's introduction suggests, the emphasis is on Moses' role as a leader, in bringing the Israelites out from Egypt and in keeping them together in the attempt to form a nation. A major theme of the book is that African Americans and other oppressed peoples need to be strong and take destiny into their own hands rather than blaming others for their plight. Hurston's view of the African American experience differed from many African American writers of her time, leading in part to a neglect of her writings for many years.The book is long and beautifully written but sometimes tends to wander. It is sometimes criticized for having no clear message or sense of direction. While something may be said for this view, Hurston was the rare writer who tried to think for herself. Her writing cannot be reduced to the feminist, black, or liberal stereotypes common to her day and to our own. Her novel resists easy attempts at moralizing or summation, as is also the case with the Biblical account.In "Their Eyes were Watching God", Hurston used focused on a discrete place, the African American town of Eatonville, Florida and described it and its residents with great sympathy and particularity. She wrote an unforgettable book using folklore and local life which is universal in its specifics. "Moses, Man of the Mountain" explores some of the same themes but in the context of the Biblical story. It is harder to get a handle and a clear sense of direction for this latter story. It is still an outstanding novel which encouraged me to think more both about Hurston's vision and about Passover.Robin Friedman

Outstanding work, by a talented and gifted writer. Beautiful rendition of the Moses Biblical story, told from an African and African-American perspective!

so gorgeously written and moving. and...it does, somehow, stick to the biblical telling. it's really beautiful and I would recommend it to one and all, no matter what your beliefs.