Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 10. Moses. No prophet ever appeared with greater dignity, in the old law, than Moses. He behaved in all respects as the envoy of God, who has been pleased to give his character and eulogium. Numbers 12:6. Sirach 45:1. His miracles were most astonishing, performed in the presence both of friends and of enemies, not for a short time, but for a continuance of many years. Calmet.—But when we compare Moses with the Messias, his person and law must be regarded indeed as illustrious figures, but infinitely beneath the reality. Moses was liable to failings, which caused him to be debarred from entering the land of promise; and he wore a veil, to shew that his law was only a shadow of the better, and that it could bring nothing to perfection. He works miracles in the name of the Lord, and with a rod: Jesus performs all by the word of his own power, (Hebrews 1:3) as the sovereign of the world. But though Moses must sink in a comparison with Christ, yet no other personage sustained a more exalted character, or shone with greater splendour, as lawgiver, priest, prophet, ruler of a great and ungovernable people, and a sacred writer of the highest antiquity. Hence the Jews almost adore him. The Mahometans place him next to Jesus and their false prophet. Bible.—The pagans have very probably ascribed many parts of his history to their idols, Bacchus, Mercury, and Typhon; and their greatest philosophers, Pythagoras, Plato, and so forth have borrowed many things from his writings. “What, said Numenius, is Plato, but Moses in the Attic language?” See Exodus 34:29. Clem. Strom. 1. and 5. Joseph. c. Ap. i. Bochart, and so forth Calmet.—In a word, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Saint Ambrose, (de Cain 2,) and Philo, represent Moses as the most perfect example of a great and pious leader and legislator. Salien. A. 2583. Bible.
JOSUE
THE BOOK OF JOSUE