Deuteronomy 34:10

And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.—Probably these words are later than the time of Joshua, when longer experience gave men the power to see how far inferior the prophets were to their great predecessor in this respect. The difference is most clearly set forth in Numbers 12:7-8. (See Notes on that passage.)

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 34:10. There arose not a prophet since — like unto Moses — And yet it is said (Deuteronomy 18:15) that God would raise up a prophet, from the midst of Israel, like unto Moses. Whence it follows, that this promise was not fulfilled either in Joshua or Samuel, and the best of the Jews confess, that it should not be fulfilled till the Messiah came. From these words it plainly appears that this chapter, at least this verse, could not have been written till long after Moses’s death, when a great number of prophets had been known in Israel. Whom the Lord knew face to face — Whom God did so freely and familiarly converse with. This was the pre-eminence of Moses above all the prophets, that he enjoyed a nearer and more familiar intercourse with God than any of them did. See on Numbers 12:8.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

34:9-12 Moses brought Israel to the borders of Canaan, and then died and left them. This signifies that the law made nothing perfect, Heb 7:19 It brings men into a wilderness of conviction, but not into the Canaan of rest and settled peace. That honour was reserved for Joshua, our Lord Jesus, of whom Joshua was a type, (and the name is the same,) to do that for us which the law could not do, Ro 8:3. Through him we enter into the spiritual rest of conscience, and eternal rest in heaven. Moses was greater than any other prophet of the Old Testament. But our Lord Jesus went beyond him, far more than the other prophets came short of him. And see a strong resemblance between the redeemer of the children of Israel and the Redeemer of mankind. Moses was sent by God, to deliver the Israelites form a cruel bondage; he led them out, and conquered their enemies. He became not only their deliverer, but their lawgiver; not only their lawgiver, but their judge; and, finally, leads them to the border of the land of promise. Our blessed Saviour came to rescue us out of the slavery of the devil, and to restore us to liberty and happiness. He came to confirm every moral precept of the first lawgiver; and to write them, not on tables of stone, but on fleshly tables of the heart. He came to be our Judge also, inasmuch as he hath appointed a day when he will judge all the secrets of men, and reward or punish accordingly. This greatness of Christ above Moses, is a reason why Christians should be obedient and faithful to the holy religion by which they profess to be Christ's followers. God, by his grace, make us all so!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

There arose not a prophet since in Israel - Words like these can only have been written some time, but not necessarily a long time, after the death of Moses. They refer more particularly to the wonders performed by the hand of Moses at the exodus and in the desert; and do but re-echo the declaration of God Himself (Numbers 12:6 ff). They may naturally enough be attributed to one of Moses' successors, writing perhaps soon after the settlement of the people in Canaan.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

10-12. there arose not a prophet since—In whatever light we view this extraordinary man, the eulogy pronounced in these inspired words will appear just. No Hebrew prophet or ruler equalled him in character or official dignity, or in knowledge of God's will and opportunities of announcing it.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Like unto Moses, in the privileges here following.

Whom the Lord knew face to face, i.e. whom God did so freely, and familiarly, and frequently converse with. See Poole "Exodus 33:11". See Poole "Numbers 12:8". See Poole "Deu 5:4".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses,.... Not in the times of Joshua, who wrote this chapter, at least the last eight verses, Deuteronomy 34:5, as say the Jews (p); nor to the times of Samuel, whom others take to be the writer: of them; nor to the times of Ezra, as others; nor even throughout the whole Old Testament dispensation to the times of Christ, the great Prophet, like to Moses, that was to arise; and the Messiah is by the Jews owned, as by Maimonides (q), to be equal to him, and by others to be above him: it is a well known saying of theirs (r), that"the Messiah shall be exalted above Abraham, and extolled above Moses, and made higher than the ministering: angels;''but as to all other prophets he excels them, and therefore they call him the prince, master, and Father of the prophets, and say, that all prophesied from the fountain of his prophecy (s): the difference between him and them is observed, by Maimonides (t) to lie in many things; as that they prophesied by a dream or vision, but he awake and seeing; they prophesied by the means of an angel, and saw what they did in parables and dark sayings; but Moses not by means of an angel, but the Lord spake to him face to face; they trembled and astonished, but not so Moses; they could not prophesy when they would, but he at any time, nor did he need to dispose and prepare his mind for it; some of which will not hold good, especially the last; the instances in which he really exceeded them follow:

whom the Lord knew face to face; owned, took notice of, and familiarly conversed with face to face, as a man with his friend; none were permitted to such familiarity with God as he; see Numbers 12:6; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase it,

"whom the Word of the Lord knew.''

(p) T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 15. 1.((q) Hilchot Teshuvah, c. 9. sect. 2.((r) Tanchuma in Yalkut in Isaiah 52.13. (s) Maimon. Yesode Hatorah, c. 7. sect. 6. & Vorst. in ib. (t) lb. sect. 6, 7, 8, 9.

Geneva Study Bible

And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew {f} face to face,

(f) To whom the Lord revealed himself so plainly as in Ex 33:11.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. The phraseology now becomes deuteronomic. See on Deuteronomy 18:15; Deuteronomy 18:18.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - (Cf. Exodus 33:11.) Whom the Lord knew. "For the Lord was revealed to him face to face" (Onkelos). The knowledge here referred to was not merely that cognizance which God as the Omniscient has of all men, but that special knowledge by which men, being known of God, are made to know him (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:3). The statement in this verse could only have been inserted some time after the death of Moses, and after the people had had manifestations of God's presence with them, both by communications from him through the prophets and by the successes which he had given them over their enemies. But it is not necessary to suppose that a long period during which a lengthened succession of prophets had arisen had elapsed. "Moses was the founder and mediator of the old covenant. As long as this covenant was to last, no prophet could arise in Israel like unto Moses. There is but One who is worthy of greater honor than Moses, namely, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who is placed as a Son over all the house of God, in which Moses was found faithful as a servant (comp. Hebrews 3:2-6 with Numbers 12:7), Jesus Christ, the Founder and Mediator of the new and everlasting covenant" (Keil).



Deuteronomy 34:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Joshua now took Moses' place as the leader of the people, filled with the spirit of wisdom (practical wisdom, manifesting itself in action), because Moses had ordained him to his office by the laying on of hands (Numbers 27:18). And the people obeyed him; but he was not like Moses. "There arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," i.e., so far as the miracles and signs were concerned which Moses did, by virtue of his divine mission, upon Pharaoh, his servants, and his land, and the terrible acts which he performed before the eyes of Israel (Deuteronomy 34:11 and Deuteronomy 34:12; vid., Deuteronomy 26:8, and Deuteronomy 4:34). "Whom Jehovah knew:" not who knew Him, the Lord. "To know," like γινώσκειν in 1 Corinthians 8:3, relates to the divine knowledge, which not only involves a careful observance (Deuteronomy 2:7), but is also a manifestation of Himself to man, a penetration of man with the spiritual power of God. Because he was thus known by the Lord, Moses was able to perform signs and wonders, and mighty, terrible acts, such as no other performed either before or after him. In this respect Joshua stood far below Moses, and no prophet arose in Israel like unto Moses. - This remark concerning Moses does not presuppose that a long series of prophets had already risen up since the time of Moses. When Joshua had defeated the Canaanites, and conquered their land with the powerful help of the Lord, which was still manifested in signs and wonders, and had divided it among the children of Israel, and when the tribes had settled down in their inheritance, so that the different portions of the land began to be called by the names of Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah, as is the case in Deuteronomy 34:2; the conviction might already have become established in Israel, that no other prophet would arise like Moses, to whom the Lord had manifested Himself with such signs and wonders before the Egyptians and the eyes of Israel. The position occupied by Joshua in relation to this his predecessor, as the continuer of his work, would necessarily awaken and confirm this conviction, in connection with what the Lord had said as to the superiority of Moses to all the prophets (Numbers 12:6.). Moses was the founder and mediator of the old covenant. As long as this covenant was to last, no prophet could arise in Israel like unto Moses. There is but One who is worthy of greater honour than Moses, namely, the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, who is placed as the Son over all the house of God, in which Moses was found faithful as a servant (compare Hebrews 3:2-6 with Numbers 12:7), Jesus Christ, the founder and mediator of the new and everlasting covenant.