If you’ve ever tried to read the Bible from cover to cover, you probably got stuck somewhere around the middle of Leviticus. It’s dense. It’s also, quite frankly, a little confusing if you’re trying to keep a mental map of who lived when. One of the most common questions people ask—and honestly, it's a fair one—is was Moses before Abraham?
No.
Abraham came first. By a lot.
Usually, the confusion stems from the fact that both men are "Founding Fathers" of the faith. They both loom so large in history that they feel like they should be contemporaries, or at least neighbors on a timeline. But they weren't. In reality, several centuries and a massive geographical shift separate the two. Abraham is the pioneer who started the family; Moses is the leader who turned that family into a nation.
Why the order actually matters
Chronology isn't just for history buffs or people trying to win at trivia night. In the context of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh), the order of these two men defines the entire narrative arc. Abraham represents the Covenant of Promise. Moses represents the Covenant of Law.
Think of it like this: Abraham is the guy who buys the plot of land and says, "One day, my grandkids are going to build a skyscraper here." Moses is the guy who shows up 400 years later with the blueprints, the hard hats, and a very strict set of building codes. You can't have the building codes without the land.
✨ Don't miss: Why colorful images of flowers are actually changing your brain chemistry
Abraham: The Beginning of the Story
To understand why Abraham had to come first, we have to look at the world around 2000 BCE. Most historians and biblical scholars, like those at the Biblical Archaeology Society, place Abraham in the Middle Bronze Age. He was a nomad from Ur, in what is now modern-day Iraq.
The story of Abraham is localized. It’s about one man, his wife Sarah, and their immediate struggle to have a child. God makes a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. The gist? "I will make you a great nation, and I will give your descendants this land."
At this point in the timeline, there is no "Israel." There are no Ten Commandments. There isn't even a Tabernacle. There's just a guy wandering around Canaan with his flocks, building the occasional altar and trying to trust a God he’s just meeting for the first time.
The Long Gap: What Happened Between Them?
Between Abraham and Moses, there is a massive chronological gulf. People often forget that Abraham had a son (Isaac), who had a son (Jacob), who had twelve sons (the heads of the tribes of Israel). One of those sons, Joseph, got sold into slavery in Egypt, eventually rose to power, and moved the whole family there to survive a famine.
Then, the Bible says a "new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph."
This is where the clock starts ticking toward Moses. The Israelites stayed in Egypt for roughly 430 years according to Exodus 12:40. That is a long time. For context, 430 years ago from today, the Pilgrims hadn't even landed at Plymouth Rock yet. That’s the kind of time gap we’re talking about.
Moses: The Man Who Met the Burning Bush
So, was Moses before Abraham? Definitely not. Moses doesn't enter the scene until roughly 1446 BCE or 1250 BCE, depending on which scholarly "dating" method you subscribe to.
By the time Moses is born, the family of Abraham has grown from 70 people to a population of perhaps two million. They aren't free nomads anymore; they are state-owned slaves. Moses isn't starting a family; he’s liberating a people.
The "Mosaic" era is defined by the Exodus. This is the moment when the promises made to Abraham start to get some legal teeth. At Mount Sinai, Moses receives the Torah. This is the "Law." It’s the rulebook for how this massive group of people is supposed to live together now that they are becoming an actual nation.
A Quick Comparison of the Two Eras
If you need a quick way to keep them straight, look at their primary roles:
- Abraham (The Patriarch): He is about faith and lineage. He is the "Father of many nations." His story is found in the book of Genesis. He lived roughly 2100–1900 BCE.
- Moses (The Deliverer): He is about law and redemption. He is the "Lawgiver." His story starts in the book of Exodus. He lived roughly 1500–1300 BCE.
It’s also worth noting that Moses actually looks back to Abraham constantly. Throughout the book of Exodus, whenever God speaks to Moses, He identifies Himself as "The God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
Moses is essentially the executor of Abraham's will.
Common Misconceptions: Why do people get this mixed up?
Honestly, it’s probably because of how we consume media. When we watch movies like The Ten Commandments or Prince of Egypt, Moses feels very "ancient." And he is! But compared to Abraham, he’s practically modern.
Another reason for the mix-up is the way the Bible is structured. Genesis (Abraham's book) and Exodus (Moses' book) are right next to each other. If you flip through the pages quickly, it feels like one story leads directly into the next. In reality, there’s a four-century silence between the last page of Genesis and the first page of Exodus.
Archaeological Evidence and Scholarly Nuance
Now, if you talk to secular historians or archaeologists like Israel Finkelstein, they might tell you that the timelines are even more complex. Some scholars argue that the stories of the Patriarchs (Abraham) and the Exodus (Moses) were written down or edited much later, during the Babylonian exile.
However, even from a purely literary and historical-critical perspective, the character of Abraham is always treated as the ancestor. There is no version of the text where Moses comes first. The internal logic of the Hebrew Bible requires Abraham to be the foundation. You can't have a "Return to the Promised Land" (Moses) if no one was ever promised the land in the first place (Abraham).
The Theological Connection
For those who look at this from a religious perspective, the order is vital. In the New Testament, specifically in the writings of Paul (like the Book of Galatians), the fact that Abraham came before Moses is used as a major theological argument.
Paul argues that since God accepted Abraham based on his faith—long before the Law was given to Moses—then faith must be more fundamental than following rules. If Moses had come first, that whole argument would fall apart. The chronology is the backbone of the theology.
Key Takeaways for Keeping the Timeline Straight
If you want to make sure you never mix these two up again, remember the "Three Ls":
- Lineage: Abraham starts the family line.
- Location: Abraham moves to the land; Moses leads the people back to it.
- Law: Moses brings the Law; Abraham lived by a simple promise.
Basically, if you’re looking at a timeline of the world, Abraham is hanging out in the Early/Middle Bronze Age, while Moses is at the end of the Late Bronze Age, ushering in the start of the Iron Age.
Actionable Steps to Master Biblical Chronology
If you're trying to get a better handle on how these historical figures fit together without getting lost in the weeds, here is what you should do:
- Get a Chronological Bible: Most Bibles are organized by "type" of book (history, poetry, prophets). A chronological Bible rearranges the text in the order events actually happened. It’s a game-changer.
- Use a Timeline Map: Visual aids are your best friend. Look for a "Bible Timeline" poster or PDF. Seeing the 400-year gap in Egypt as a physical space on a timeline makes it much harder to forget the order.
- Read the "Bridge" Chapters: Read the last three chapters of Genesis and the first two chapters of Exodus back-to-back. You’ll see exactly how the narrative shifts from the death of Joseph to the rise of the Egyptian oppression that Moses eventually faced.
- Focus on the Covenants: Study the "Abrahamic Covenant" vs. the "Mosaic Covenant." Once you understand that one is a promise of a future and the other is a set of rules for the present, the order becomes intuitive.
Abraham laid the tracks. Moses drove the train. You can't have one without the other, but the tracks always have to be laid first.