Moses 的词源

这是一个男性专有名词，指的是希伯来先知和立法者。在中古英语中写作 Moises，源自拉丁语，进一步追溯到希腊语 Mouses，最终来自希伯来语 Mosheh，其具体起源尚不明确。

Most scholars see in it the Hebraization of Egyptian mes, mesu 'child, son,' which is often used in theophorous names. According to this derivation the words of Pharaoh's daughter in Ex. 2:10, 'For out of the water I drew him' are not the explanation of the Hebrew name Mosheh, but express the idea that the Egyptian name given by Pharaoh's daughter resembles in sound, and therefore, reminds us of, the Hebrew verb mashah 'he drew out,' which is suggestive of the words spoken by Pharaoh's daughter. [Ernest Klein, "A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language"]

大多数学者认为，这个名字可能是埃及语 mes, mesu（意为“孩子，儿子”）的希伯来化形式，这类词常用于神名。根据这种说法，法老女儿在《出埃及记》2:10中的话“我从水中把他拉出来”并不是希伯来名字Mosheh的解释，而是表达了法老女儿所起的埃及名字在发音上与希伯来动词 mashah（意为“他拉出”）相似，因此让人联想到她所说的话。[厄尼斯特·克莱因，《英语语言综合词源词典》]

作为感叹词或誓言，Oh, Moses 出现于1840年；而 Holy Moses 则可追溯到1877年。