— Moses’ Name:
The biblical text explicitly etymologizes the name Mošeh משה as a derivation of the root mšh משה “to draw”, in Exodus 2:10:
"[...] she called his name Moses (משה): and she said, Because I drew him (משיתהו) out of the water." (KJV).[5]
The name is thus suggested to relate to drawing out in a passive sense, “the one who was drawn out”. Those who depart from this tradition derive the name from the same root but in an active sense, “he who draws out”, in the sense of “saviour, deliverer”.
In the septuagint the word for ‘drawing out’ is αναιρεω, whose primary senses, ‘to draw up’ and ‘to kill’, are both used –as well as oddly repeated– in Exodus 2:5-15 (perhaps meant to hint at something of the character of Moses?). A list:
2:5 pharoh’s daughter orders her maid to take up the ark in which Moses has been set.
2:10 Pharoh’s daughter names the child Moses because she took him up from the water.
1:14 (two mentions) A Hebrew asks Moses will he slay him as he yesterday slayed an Egyptian. *
5:15 Pharoh sought to slay Moses. …
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Wonder if αναιρεω operates as a contronym here. (Maybe “Moses” itself/ himself has that quality.) (Or — not just the passive/active sense described in the wikipedia article but — a confluence of passive/ active on top of a contrynimic idea — he who is saved and he who prevents being saved (through slaying.))
* When Moses actually slays the Egyptian, the word used is not αναιρεω but πατασσω (“hit, beat”).
.i`` * ^ / . . . . . ` `~ 