There is a debate as to whether Deuteronomy 18:15 refers to the Messiah, or Joshua, or maybe even both or more. It seems to me that Messiah is in view here.
First, we will look at the verse in question, then we will consider the context and some related texts. Here is Deut 18:15:
נָבִ֨יא מִקִּרְבְּךָ֤ מֵאַחֶ֙יךָ֙ כָּמֹ֔נִי יָקִ֥ים לְךָ֖ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ אֵלָ֖יו תִּשְׁמָעֽוּן׃
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your own people, like myself; him you shall heed.
The big question here is what does the term, “like myself,” mean? In other words, in what way will this future prophet be like Moses?
Will he float the Nile in a wicker basket (Exod. 2:3–4)? Will he be raised by the Pharaoh’s daughter (Exod. 2:5–10)? Will he kill an Egyptian (Exod. 2:10–14)? Will he be “slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exod. 4:10)? Surely these are not the qualities that Moses had in mind when he described the future prophet of being like himself.
The rabbis of the Middle Ages had an array of theories about what Moses meant here. Ibn Ezra interpreted “like myself” to mean “that he is a prophet of Hashem, not a diviner.”1 Rashi held that this was not one prophet, but would carry on “from prophet to prophet”2 continuously. Rabbi Bahya ben Asher has “concerning Joshua he said that ‘him you shall heed’ and it is written in Joshua, ‘and the children of Israel listened to him’ (Joshua 22[:11]).”3
A difficulty with Rashi and Bahya ben Asher occurs in the final passage of Deuteronomy:
וִֽיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֗וּן מָלֵא֙ ר֣וּחַ חָכְמָ֔ה כִּֽי־סָמַ֥ךְ מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־יָדָ֖יו עָלָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁמְע֨וּ אֵלָ֤יו בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֔וּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃
Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the Israelites heeded him, doing as the LORD had commanded Moses.
וְלֹֽא־קָ֨ם נָבִ֥יא ע֛וֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל כְּמֹשֶׁ֑ה אֲשֶׁר֙ יְדָע֣וֹ יְהוָ֔ה פָּנִ֖ים אֶל־פָּנִֽים׃
Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses—whom the LORD singled out, face to face,
(Deuteronomy 34:9–10)
In the final chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses dies (34:1–8) and Joshua replaces him (v. 9). Apparently, someone finished Deuteronomy, probably in Joshua’s time, but some conservatives have suggested that it was Ezra who included this chapter. Whatever the case may be, Joshua was not “a prophet like Moses—whom the LORD singled out, face to face.”
But is the “singled out, face to face” attribute of Moses what was in mind earlier in Deuteronomy 18:15? I think it was. Consider the verses following in that context:
נָבִ֨יא מִקִּרְבְּךָ֤ מֵאַחֶ֙יךָ֙ כָּמֹ֔נִי יָקִ֥ים לְךָ֖ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ אֵלָ֖יו תִּשְׁמָעֽוּן׃
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your own people, like myself; him you shall heed.
כְּכֹ֨ל אֲשֶׁר־שָׁאַ֜לְתָּ מֵעִ֨ם יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ בְּחֹרֵ֔ב בְּי֥וֹם הַקָּהָ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר לֹ֣א אֹסֵ֗ף לִשְׁמֹ֙עַ֙ אֶת־קוֹל֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֔י וְאֶת־הָאֵ֨שׁ הַגְּדֹלָ֥ה הַזֹּ֛את לֹֽא־אֶרְאֶ֥ה ע֖וֹד וְלֹ֥א אָמֽוּת׃
This is just what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb, on the day of the Assembly, saying, “Let me not hear the voice of the LORD my God any longer or see this wondrous fire any more, lest I die.”
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יְהוָ֖ה אֵלָ֑י הֵיטִ֖יבוּ אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֵּֽרוּ׃
Whereupon the LORD said to me, “They have done well in speaking thus.
נָבִ֨יא אָקִ֥ים לָהֶ֛ם מִקֶּ֥רֶב אֲחֵיהֶ֖ם כָּמ֑וֹךָ וְנָתַתִּ֤י דְבָרַי֙ בְּפִ֔יו וְדִבֶּ֣ר אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲצַוֶּֽנּוּ׃I will raise up a prophet for them from among their own people, like yourself: I will put My words in his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command him;
וְהָיָ֗ה הָאִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־יִשְׁמַע֙ אֶל־דְּבָרַ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר יְדַבֵּ֖ר בִּשְׁמִ֑י אָנֹכִ֖י אֶדְרֹ֥שׁ מֵעִמּֽוֹ׃
and if anybody fails to heed the words he speaks in My name, I Myself will call him to account.
(Deuteronomy 18:15–19 JPS)
It was at Horeb that God singled Moses out face to face. “Horeb” is a generic term for the Sinaitic mountains and that is where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Immediately after the record of the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:1–17), the Book of Exodus tells us:
וְכָל־הָעָם֩ רֹאִ֨ים אֶת־הַקּוֹלֹ֜ת וְאֶת־הַלַּפִּידִ֗ם וְאֵת֙ ק֣וֹל הַשֹּׁפָ֔ר וְאֶת־הָהָ֖ר עָשֵׁ֑ן וַיַּ֤רְא הָעָם֙ וַיָּנֻ֔עוּ וַיַּֽעַמְד֖וּ מֵֽרָחֹֽק׃
All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blare of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they fell back and stood at a distance.
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה דַּבֵּר־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּ֖נוּ וְנִשְׁמָ֑עָה וְאַל־יְדַבֵּ֥ר עִמָּ֛נוּ אֱלֹהִ֖ים פֶּן־נָמֽוּת׃
“You speak to us,” they said to Moses, “and we will obey; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.”
(Exodus 20:15–16 JPS)
This is the particular event that Moses refers to in Deuteronomy 18:16. While Israel witnessed from a distance, Moses met with God on Mount Sinai as the mountain shook violently with smoke, thunder, lightning, and a terrifying trumpet (cf. Exod. 19:10–23).
On another occasion, Miriam and Aaron spoke out against Moses because he was married to a Cushite woman (Num. 12:1–2). This displeased God, so He called them out:
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֣א דְבָרָ֑י אִם־יִֽהְיֶה֙ נְבִ֣יאֲכֶ֔ם יְהוָ֗ה בַּמַּרְאָה֙ אֵלָ֣יו אֶתְוַדָּ֔ע בַּחֲל֖וֹם אֲדַבֶּר־בּֽוֹ׃
and He said, “Hear these My words: When a prophet of the LORD arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream.
לֹא־כֵ֖ן עַבְדִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה בְּכָל־בֵּיתִ֖י נֶאֱמָ֥ן הֽוּא׃
Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household.
פֶּ֣ה אֶל־פֶּ֞ה אֲדַבֶּר־בּ֗וֹ וּמַרְאֶה֙ וְלֹ֣א בְחִידֹ֔ת וּתְמֻנַ֥ת יְהוָ֖ה יַבִּ֑יט וּמַדּ֙וּעַ֙ לֹ֣א יְרֵאתֶ֔ם לְדַבֵּ֖ר בְּעַבְדִּ֥י בְמֹשֶֽׁה׃
With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the LORD. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!”
(Numbers 12:6–8 JPS)
Notice that God says of Moses, “With him I speak mouth to mouth” (Num. 12:8) and that this is unique to Moses. Speaking “mouth to mouth” (פֶּ֣ה אֶל־פֶּ֞ה) in Numbers 12:8 is synonymous with speaking “face to face” (פָּנִ֖ים אֶל־פָּנִֽים) in Deuteronomy 34:10; it is something unique to Moses’ ministry, not Joshua’s. Another important aspect is that Moses “beholds the likeness of the LORD” (Num. 12:8). This word, “likeness” (תְּמוּנָה), could also be translated as “form,” and is likely a reference to Exodus 33:12–34:35, in which Moses sees God’s glory. Moses does not see God’s face lest he die (Exod. 33:20), but he does see His back, and afterward, Moses’ face shines to the extent that he needs a veil when he speaks to Israel. This became the norm for Moses, to speak face to face, mouth to mouth, with God, and to wear a veil when speaking to Israel (34:29–35). Joshua had no such encounter. Nothing like this occurs anywhere else in the entire Old Testament.
John Metzger summarizes well, “The point that should not be missed is that the Prophet will speak face to face with HaShem, and secondly this Prophet will also behold the very form of HaShem.”4
Perhaps a theory could be developed in which the prophet like Moses is either one or both of the two witnesses who are to come during the apocalypse (Rev. 11:1–13), but biblical evidence is lacking for this view. While Joshua and others do not meet this description, these are attributes that are descriptive of the Messiah. Granted, first century Israel did not seem to equate this Prophet with the Messiah (John 1:19, 21, 25), but it turns out that the Messiah, being God the Son, has spoken face to face with God the Father and has beheld His form in a manner even greater than Moses to include the very face of God. This could be an aspect of what Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 4:12–16. If the Messiah is the Prophet like Moses, then when the Messiah came, so also came the unveiled, face to face, Word of God that communicates in a functional manner that was impossible for the previous prophets.
- :כמוני. שהוא נביא השם לא מנחש Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 15:18.
- :יקים לך תַּחְתַּי, וְכֵן מִנָּבִיא לְנָבִיא Rashi on Deuteronomy 18:15
- נביא מקרבך מאחיך כמוני. על יהושע אמר כן, זהו שאמר אליו תשמעון, ומצינו ביהושע שכתוב (יהושע כב) וישמעו אליו בני ישראל. Rabbeinu Bahya, Devarim 18:15.
- John Metzger, God In Eclipse, 93.