“Who am I...?” (Ex 3,11)

Since the second half of the 20th century, form-criticism has assumed the existence of the genre of the call narratives, after a certain pattern was discovered in the biblical call stories. The pericope I examine in this paper (Ex 2,23–4,17) is considered a call story. However, Ex 2,23–4,17 contains many other features beyond the familiar elements of the call narratives, which raises questions about the appropriateness of this genre identification. The basis for my investigation of these questions is the findings of Erhard Blum on the development of the Torah, who, in his model of tradition-history, justifies the existence of two compositions in the Torah. The specific perspective of the two compositions is also valid in the story of Moses’ call, allowing the reconstruction of a distinctively Deuteronomistic base text, which serves as the starting point for my form-critical analysis. My thesis examines the call of Moses (Ex 2,23–4,17) from a literary-critical perspective, then from a form-historical perspective, and finally concludes with a biblical-theological evaluation of the “original” call narrative. To date, there is no consensus on the text’s main emphasis and message concerning the story’s main character. However, since the majority of prophets have a call narrative, the question arises whether Moses’ figure aligns with that of the prophets. The results of my research indicate that the text of Exodus 2:23–4:17* presents Moses’ calling as a prophetic calling, bringing his figure closer to the Deuteronomistic portrayal of prophets and shaping the text into a form characteristic of calling narratives associated with the Deuteronomistic literary tradition.