PROPHET WITH WHOM THE LORD SPOKE "MOUTH TO MOUTH" (NUMBERS 12:8) · EXODUS & WILDERNESS

Moses. Sent from the bush to Pharaoh; Scripture says no prophet arose in Israel like him.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

Exodus & wilderness c. 1450–1400 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Pharaoh of the Exodus

BOOK

None bears the name

HOW THE WORD CAME

Exodus 3 · The bush at Horeb

THE CALL

Called, as four accounts tell it

“God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.”

Exodus 3:4 (KJV) →

HOW THE WORD KEPT COMING

  • Exodus says "the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend", and Deuteronomy closes with a prophet "whom the LORD knew face to face". Exodus 33:11 Deuteronomy 34:10
  • When Aaron and Miriam asked whether the LORD had spoken only by Moses, the LORD answered that he makes himself known to a prophet "in a vision" and speaks to him "in a dream", but with Moses "mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches". Numbers 12:6–8
  • At the tabernacle the LORD promised to speak with Moses "from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims", and Numbers says Moses heard the voice there. Exodus 25:22 Numbers 7:89
  • At Sinai the people asked Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us". Moses later said he "stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD". Exodus 20:18–21 Deuteronomy 5:4–5
  • From the textOur count in the KJV: "the LORD spake unto Moses" stands in 105 verses (Exodus 20, Leviticus 33, Numbers 51, Deuteronomy 1) and "the LORD said unto Moses" in 55 (Exodus 36, Leviticus 2, Numbers 13, Deuteronomy 2, Joshua 2). The phrase "the word of the LORD came", used of later prophets such as Elijah, is never used of Moses. Exodus 6:10 Exodus 4:19 1 Kings 17:2
  • The LORD told Moses to write a memorial against Amalek and the words of the covenant; Scripture says Moses wrote "all the words of the LORD", the stages of the journey, "this law", and a song taught to Israel. Exodus 17:14 Exodus 24:4 Exodus 34:27–28 Numbers 33:2 Deuteronomy 31:9 Deuteronomy 31:22 +1 more
  • He sang: the song at the sea, "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD", and the song he spoke "in the ears of all the congregation" before his death. Revelation speaks of "the song of Moses the servant of God". Exodus 15:1 Deuteronomy 31:30 Deuteronomy 32:44 Revelation 15:3

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before Pharaoh of the Exodus

KING OF EGYPT (NOT NAMED IN SCRIPTURE)

Pharaoh of the Exodus

“Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.”

Exodus 5:1 (KJV) →

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

The God who sends

“I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

Exodus 3:14 (KJV) →

Let my people go

“Israel is my son, even my firstborn”

Exodus 4:22 (KJV) →

The covenant words

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (KJV) →

Blessing and curse set before them

“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”

Deuteronomy 30:19 (KJV) →

A prophet like Moses, and how to know a true word

“The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken”

Deuteronomy 18:15 (KJV) →

“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken”

Deuteronomy 18:22 (KJV) →

The spirit shared

“would God that all the LORD’s people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit upon them!”

Numbers 11:29 (KJV) →

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO PHARAOH

“Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die”

Exodus 11:4–5 (KJV) →

TO KORAH’S COMPANY

“Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.”

Numbers 16:28 (KJV) →

TO JOSHUA

“Enviest thou for my sake?”

Numbers 11:29 (KJV) →

TO ISRAEL AT MERIBAH

“Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?”

Numbers 20:10 (KJV) →

TO THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL

“Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD”

Deuteronomy 33:29 (KJV) →

SIGNS

Signs and wonders

WONDER

The rod, the hand and the water

WONDER

The wonders in Egypt

WONDER

The sea divided

WONDER

Water from the rock

SIGN

The shining face

SIGN-ACT

The serpent of brass

WHAT CAME OF THE WORD

As Scripture reports it

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with him, and against him

Aaron

Miriam

Joshua

Jethro

Eldad and Medad

Korah

Jannes

Jambres: jambres-2ti-3-8

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • The LORD told Moses he would see the land but not enter it, because at Meribah "ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel". Numbers 20:12 Deuteronomy 32:48–52
  • "So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD." He was 120, "his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated"; "he buried him in a valley" over against Beth-peor, "but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day". Deuteronomy 34:5–8
  • Jude says the archangel Michael "disputed about the body of Moses" with the devil. Jude 1:9
  • At the transfiguration Moses and Elias appeared and talked with Jesus; Luke says they "spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem". Matthew 17:3 Luke 9:30–31

TRADITION SAYS

  • Origen speaks of "the work entitled The Ascension of Moses (a little treatise, of which the Apostle Jude makes mention in his Epistle)", in which the archangel Michael disputes "with the devil regarding the body of Moses". The book is not part of Scripture.[27] Who says so: Origen, De Principiis 3.2.1, first half of the 3rd century

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

The Messiah alone

"The prevailing opinion in the early Church", revived by Kurtz, Auberlen and Tholuck, as reported by Keil (1871)

Keil reports this as the early church’s main reading, which applied the promise directly and only to Christ, comparing Numbers 12:6–8, Deuteronomy 34:10 and Hebrews 3. Keil himself calls that use of those verses "unwarrantable".[11]

The Old Testament prophets only

von Hofmann, Baur and Knobel, as reported by Keil (1871)

Keil reports that these scholars restrict the promise to the prophets of the Old Testament, "to the exclusion of the Messiah". He rejects the limit.[11]

A line of prophets, with Christ included

Keil (1871); Driver (1895)

Both read "a prophet" as the prophets God would send whenever Israel needed a mediator, so that Israel need not turn to soothsayers. Keil adds that Christ, "in whom the prophetic character culminated", is included. Driver says the passage refers to "a prophetical order", and "may be reasonably understood as including" an ideal prophet in whom the line would culminate.[11][23]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 42

Exodus 3 Exodus 4 Exodus 5 Exodus 6 Exodus 7 Exodus 8 Exodus 9 Exodus 10 Exodus 11 Exodus 12 Exodus 14 Exodus 15 Exodus 19 Exodus 20 Exodus 24 Exodus 33 Exodus 34 Numbers 11 Numbers 12 Numbers 16 Numbers 20 Numbers 21 Deuteronomy 5 Deuteronomy 18 Deuteronomy 28 Deuteronomy 30 Deuteronomy 31 Deuteronomy 32 Deuteronomy 33 Deuteronomy 34 1 Kings 8 Daniel 9 Matthew 17 Luke 24 John 3 John 5 Acts 3 Acts 7 2 Timothy 3 Hebrews 3 Jude 1 Revelation 15

PASSAGES · 28

Exodus 3:1–4:31 Exodus 5:1–12:51 Exodus 14:1–15:21 Exodus 19:1–20:21 Exodus 24:1–8 Exodus 33:7–34:35 Numbers 11:16–30 Numbers 12:1–16 Numbers 16:28–35 Numbers 20:1–13 Numbers 21:8–9 Deuteronomy 5:1–5 Deuteronomy 18:9–22 Deuteronomy 28:1–68 Deuteronomy 30:15–20 Deuteronomy 31:1–34:12 1 Kings 8:56 Daniel 9:11–13 Matthew 17:1–8 Luke 24:44 John 3:14 John 5:45–47 Acts 3:22–26 Acts 7:20–44 2 Timothy 3:8 Hebrews 3:1–6 Jude 1:9 Revelation 15:3

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture names particular things Moses wrote (see "How the word came"), but the verses themselves do not say who wrote the five books as a whole.
  • Deuteronomy 34:6 says only "he buried him", and that "no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day".
  • John’s Gospel reports people asking about "that prophet" (John 1:21, 1:25; 6:14; 7:40), but does not cite Deuteronomy 18 at those places.
  • Exodus does not name the Pharaoh Moses faced, and Scripture gives no year BC for his call.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 1 (Genesis; Exodus 1–11) (1864), pp. 451–452 (Exodus 4:14–16).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 1 (Genesis; Exodus 1–11) (1864), p. 472 (Exodus 6:28–7:7).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 2 (1872 printing) (1872), p. 56 (Exodus 15:19–21).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 70–71 (Numbers 11:24–30).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 75–76 (Numbers 12:1–3).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), p. 136 (Numbers 20:22–29); pp. 244–245 (Numbers 33:30–33 and Deuteronomy 10:6).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 158–161 (Balaam and his prophecies, introduction).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), p. 165 (Numbers 22:5).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 168–169 (Numbers 22:20–22).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 192–194 (Numbers 24:17–18).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), pp. 394–396 (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch, vol. 3 (1871 printing) (1871), p. 492 (Deuteronomy 32:48–52); pp. 517–518 (Concluding remarks on the composition of the Pentateuch).
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth (1872 printing of the 1865 translation) (1872), p. 308 (Judges 5:1).
  • George Foot Moore, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges (International Critical Commentary) (1895), pp. 130–132 (Judges 5, the date and author of the song).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), p. xlvi (Introduction §15).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 113–115 (Numbers 11:25–29).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 120–121 (Numbers 12:1).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 325–326 (Numbers 22:5).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 332–333 (Numbers 22:22).
  • George Buchanan Gray, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Numbers (International Critical Commentary) (1903), pp. 369–371 (Numbers 24:17–18).
  • S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentary) (1895), p. xxvii (Introduction §3) and pp. xlv–xlvi (Introduction §4, the date of Deuteronomy).
  • S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentary) (1895), pp. 119–120 (Deuteronomy 10:6–7).
  • S. R. Driver, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy (International Critical Commentary) (1895), pp. 228–229 (Deuteronomy 18:15–19).
  • A. F. Kirkpatrick, The First Book of Samuel (Cambridge Bible for Schools) (1884), Introduction, ch. I, §§2–4 (the title, the author and the sources).
  • A. F. Kirkpatrick, The First Book of Samuel (Cambridge Bible for Schools) (1884), p. 219 (note on 28:11) and Appendix, Note VIII, pp. 244–245.
  • Origen, tr. Frederick Crombie, Against Celsus, book 1 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4) (1885), 1.59–60.
  • Origen, tr. Frederick Crombie, De Principiis (On First Principles), book 3 (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4) (1885), 3.2.1.
  • Tertullian, tr. Peter Holmes, A Treatise on the Soul (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 3) (1885), ch. 57.
  • Jerome, tr. W. H. Fremantle, G. Lewis and W. G. Martley, Against Vigilantius (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 6) (1893), ch. 5.
  • J. B. Lightfoot and J. R. Harmer (eds. and trs.), The Apostolic Fathers (one-volume edition): The Shepherd of Hermas (1891), introduction, pp. 293–294; Vision 2.3, p. 409.

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