Acts 3:22

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) For Moses truly said unto the fathers.—Better, For Moses indeed said, the word being one of the common conjunctions, and not the adverb which means “truthfully.” The appeal is made to Moses in his two-fold character as lawgiver and prophet. As the words stand, taken with their context, they seem to point to the appearance of a succession of true prophets as contrasted with the diviners of Deuteronomy 18:14; and, even with St. Peter’s interpretation before us, we may well admit those prophets as primary and partial fulfilments of them. But the words had naturally fixed the minds of men on the coming of some one great prophet who should excel all others, and we find traces of that expectation in the question put to the Baptist, “Art thou the prophet?” (John 1:21; John 1:25.) None that came between Moses and Jesus had been “like unto the former,” as marking a new epoch, the channel of a new revelation, the giver of a new law.

In all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.—The words are inserted by St. Peter as a parenthesis in the actual quotation, and suggest the thought of a quotation from memory.

Benson Commentary

Acts 3:22-23. For Moses — The first of these prophets, whose writings have come down to us; truly said unto the fathers — In his early days; A prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you — Namely, in after times; of your brethren — Of the posterity of Jacob; (see the note on Deuteronomy 18:15;) like unto me — And that in many particulars. Moses instituted the Jewish Church: Christ instituted the Christian. With the prophesying of Moses was soon joined the effect, the deliverance of Israel from Egypt: with the prophesying of Christ, that grand effect, the deliverance of his people from sin and death. Those who could not bear the voice of God, yet desired to hear that of Moses: much more do those who are wearied with the law, desire to hear the voice of Christ. Moses spake to the people all and only those things which God commanded him: so did Christ. Some other instances of similarity between Moses and Jesus, mentioned by the late Mr. Fletcher, in his letters to Dr. Priestley, are as follows: “Was the son of Amram saved in his infancy from the cruelty of a jealous tyrant, who had doomed him to die with a multitude of other children? So was the son of Mary. Was Moses the lawgiver of the Jews? So is Christ the legislator of the Christians. Was Moses remarkable for his meekness? So was He who says, Learn of me, for I am meek in heart. Both, being appointed as mediating prophets, stood in the gap to turn away the wrath of Heaven from a guilty people. Both, as shepherds of the Lord, led his straying sheep through a wilderness to a delightful land. Did Moses smite Pharaoh, king of Egypt; Sihon, king of the Amorites; and Og, king of Bashan? so will Christ wound kings in the day of his wrath. Did Moses heal the dying Israelites, by lifting up the serpent in the wilderness? so Christ heals believers, by being lifted up on the cross. Did Moses fast forty days, and receive the law on mount Sinai? so did Jesus fast forty days, and deliver his law on a mountain of Galilee. Was Moses rejected and almost stoned by the Israelites? so was Christ, by the Jews. Did Moses despise the glory of Egypt, that he might suffer for, and with, the people of God? so did our Lord despise all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, that he might suffer for, and with, his people. In a word, Is Moses the great prophet of the Old Testament? so is Christ of the New.” But, though Christ was like Moses in these respects, yet was he infinitely superior to him in person as well as in office: he was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as the author of the epistle to the Hebrews asserts, (Hebrews 3:3-6,) especially on two capital accounts: “1st, Moses was faithful as a servant in the house of him who had appointed him: but Christ was faithful as a Son over his own house. 2d, Moses was worthy of glory, inasmuch as he was a fundamental stone in the house of God; but Christ is worthy of more glory, inasmuch as he who builded the house hath more honour than the house, or any part of it; for every house is built by some man, but he who builded the Jewish Church, and all things, which Christ did, (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16,) is God.” See Fletcher’s Works, vol. 4. pp. 517, 518, Amer. 8vo. edit. Him shall ye hear — Him shall ye regard with obedient reverence; in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you — Persuaded of the certain truth and infinite importance of his doctrine; and every soul that will not hear that Prophet — And be directed by his words; shall be destroyed from among the people — Shall be made an example of the severest punishment, due to so much aggravated and ungrateful rebellion. One cannot imagine a more masterly address than this, to warn the Jews of the dreadful consequence of their infidelity, in the very words of their favourite prophet, out of a pretended zeal for whom they had rejected Christ.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

3:22-26 Here is a powerful address to warn the Jews of the dreadful consequences of their unbelief, in the very words of Moses, their favourite prophet, out of pretended zeal for whom they were ready to reject Christianity, and to try to destroy it. Christ came into the world to bring a blessing with him. And he sent his Spirit to be the great blessing. Christ came to bless us, by turning us from our iniquities, and saving us from our sins. We, by nature cleave to sin; the design of Divine grace is to turn us from it, that we may not only forsake, but hate it. Let none think that they can be happy by continuing in sin, when God declares that the blessing is in being turned from all iniquity. Let none think that they understand or believe the gospel, who only seek deliverance from the punishment of sin, but do not expect happiness in being delivered from sin itself. And let none expect to be turned from their sin, except by believing in, and receiving Christ the Son of God, as their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For Moses truly said - The authority of Moses among the Jews was absolute and final. It was of great importance, therefore, to show not only that they were not departing from his Law, but that he had actually foretold these very things. The object of the passage is not to prove that the heavens must receive him, but that he was truly the Messiah.

Unto the fathers - To their ancestors, or the founders of the nation. See Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

A Prophet - Literally, one who foretells future events. But it is also used to denote a religious teacher in general. See Romans 12:6. In the passage in Deuteronomy it is evidently used in a large sense, to denote one who would infallibly guide and direct the nation in its religious affairs; one who would be commissioned by God to do this, in opposition to the diviners Acts 3:14 on which other nations relied. The meaning of this passage in Deuteronomy is apparent from the connection. Moses is stating to the Hebrews Act 3:1-8 the duty and office of the priests and Levites. He then cautions them against conforming to the surrounding nations, particularly on the subject of religious instruction and guidance. They, said he, consult, in times of perplexity, with enchanters, and charmers, and necromancers, and wizards, etc. Acts 3:11-14, but it shall not be so with you. You shall not be left to this false and uncertain guidance in times of perplexity and danger, for the Lord will raise up, from time to time, a prophet, a man directly commissioned in an extraordinary manner from heaven, like me, who shall direct and counsel you. The promise, therefore, pertains to the serges or, prophets which God would raise up; or it is a promise that God would send his prophets, as occasion might demand, to instruct and counsel the nation. The design was to keep them from consulting with diviners, etc., and to preserve them from following the pretended and false religious teachers of surrounding idolatrous people. In this interpretation most commentators agree. See particularly "Calvin" on this place. Thus explained, the prophecy had no "exclusive" or even "direct" reference to the Messiah, and there is no evidence that the Jews understood it to have any such reference, except as one of the series of prophets that God would raise up and send to instruct the nation. If, then, it be asked on what principle Peter appealed to this, we may reply:

(1) That the Messiah was to sustain the character of a prophet, and the prophecy had reference to him as one of the teachers that God would raise up to instruct the nation.

(2) it would apply to him by way of eminence, as the greatest of the messengers that God would send to instruct the people. In this sense it is probable that the Jews would understand it.

(3) this was one of those emergencies in the history of the nation when they might expect such an intervention. The prophecy implied that in times of perplexity and danger God would raise up such a prophet. Such a time then existed. The nation was corrupt, distracted, subjected to a foreign power, and needed such a teacher and guide. If it be asked why Peter appealed to this rather than to explicit prophecies of the Messiah, we may remark:

(1) That his main object was to show their guilt in having rejected him and put him to death, Acts 3:14-15.

(2) that in order to do this, he sets before them clearly the obligation to obey him; and in doing this, appeals to the express command of Moses. He shows them that, according to Moses, whoever would not obey such a prophet should be cut off from among the people. In refusing, therefore, to hear this great prophet, and putting him to death, they had violated the express command of their own Lawgiver. But it was possible still to obey him, for he still lived in heaven; and all the authority of Moses, therefore, made it a matter of obligation for them still to hear and obey him. The Jews were accustomed to apply the name prophet to the Messiah John 1:21; John 6:14; John 7:40; Matthew 21:11; Luke 4:24, and it has been shown from the writings of the Jewish rabbis that they believed the Messiah would be the greatest of the prophets, even greater than Moses. See the notes on John 1:21.

The Lord your God - In the Hebrew, "Yahweh, thy God. "Raise up unto you." Appoint, or commission to come to you.

Of your brethren - Among yourselves; of your own countrymen; so that you shall not be dependent on foreigners, or on teachers of other nations. All the prophets were native-born Jews. And it was particularly true of the Messiah that he was to be a Jew, descended from Abraham, and raised up from the midst of his brethren, Hebrews 2:11, Hebrews 2:16-17. On this account it was to be presumed that they would feel a deeper interest in him, and listen more attentively to his instructions.

Like unto me - Not in all things, but only in the point which was under discussion. He was to resemble him in being able to make known to them the will of God, and thus preventing the necessity of looking to other teachers. The idea of resemblance between Moses and the prophet is not very strictly expressed in the Greek, except in the mere circumstance of being raised up. God shall raise up to you a prophet as he has raised up me - ὡς hōs ἐμέ eme. The resemblance between Moses and the Messiah should not be pressed too far. The Scriptures have not traced it further than to the fact that both were raised up by God to communicate his will to the Jewish people, and therefore one should be heard as well as the other.

Him shall ye hear - That is, him shall you obey, or you shall receive his instructions as a communication from God.

In all things, whatsoever ... - These words are not quoted literally from the Hebrew, but they express the sense of what is said in Deuteronomy 18:15, Deuteronomy 18:18.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22-26. a prophet … like unto me—particularly in intimacy of communication with God (Nu 12:6-8), and as the mediatorial Head of a new order of things (Heb 3:2-6). Peter takes it for granted that, in the light of all he had just said, it would be seen at once that One only had any claim to be that Prophet.

him shall ye hear in all things, &c.—This part of the prediction is emphatically added, in order to shut up the audience to the obedience of faith, on pain of being finally "cut off" from the congregation of the righteous (Ps 1:1).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

For Moses truly said unto the fathers; their ancestors in the wilderness, Deu 18:15, as also in the Deu 18:18. St. Peter names here but one of their prophets, but a most remarkable one.

Like unto me;

1. In wisdom.

2. In miracles.

3. In being a Mediator between God and his people.

4. In their being both and of their brethren,

i.e. of the seed of Abraham.

5. In that they were both sent from God after an

extraordinary manner.

Him shall ye hear in all things; if any prophet did come amongst them, and did foretell future things which came to pass, or did work a real miracle, they were bound to believe him, if he did not endeavour to draw them to worship a false god; and by consequence they were bound to have believed our Saviour, who taught them only to fear that true God, whom the law and all the prophets had spoken of.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For Moses truly said unto the fathers,.... The Jewish fathers, the Israelites in the times of Moses. The Ethiopic version reads, "our fathers". This phrase, "unto the fathers", is left out in the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions, and in the Alexandrian copy: the passages referred to are in Deuteronomy 18:15

a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you: which is not to be understood of a succession of prophets, as some of the Jewish writers (c) think; for the Jews never had a constant succession of prophets, and those they had, were not like to Moses: but of a single prophet, and so the Targums or Onkelos and Jonathan understood it; but not to be applied to Joshua, as some (d), or to Jeremiah (e) as others, or to David (f); but to the Messiah, and which is the Lord Jesus Christ, who answers to all the characters: he was a prophet in every sense, who brought a revelation of the divine will, taught the way, and explained the Scriptures of truth perfectly, and foretold things to come; he was raised up by the Lord God of Israel, and was anointed by his Spirit, and sent by him, and that to the people of the Jews, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; he was the minister of the circumcision:

of your brethren; in the Hebrew text in Deuteronomy 18:15 it is also said, "out of the midst of thee"; but as these phrases are synonymous, the apostle here only retains one of them, which suggests that this prophet, the Messiah, should be of Jewish extract; as Jesus was, of the seed of David, and a son of Abraham:

like unto me; that is, to Moses, who is, the person speaking, between whom and Christ there is an agreement; the law was given by Moses, and the Gospel came by Christ; Moses was a mediator between God and the people of Israel, and Christ is the Mediator between God and men; Moses, under God, was an instrument of redeeming the people of Israel out of Egypt, and Christ, he is the Redeemer of his people from sin, Satan, and the law, and all their enemies: the Jews (g) have a common saying,

"as was the first Redeemer, so shall be the last Redeemer;''

and they moreover observe (h), that,

"as Israel was redeemed in the month Nisan, so they shall be redeemed in the month Nisan;''

in the future redemption by the Messiah: let the Jews abide by this; the Messiah Jesus suffered in the month Nisan, and obtained eternal redemption for his people: one of their (i) writers has a notion, that when the Messiah comes, there will be the same disposition of the constellations, as when Moses brought the people out of Egypt, and gave them the law; and that the conjunction will be of Jupiter and Saturn, in the constellation Pisces: there was likewise between Moses and Christ, an agreement in the miracles they wrought, and in other things:

him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever he shall say unto you: all his doctrines are to be believed, embraced, and professed; and all his commands are to be obeyed, and all his ordinances submitted to; and this is hearing, or hearkening, to him in all things, delivered or enjoined by him.

(c) Jarchi in Deuteronomy 18.15. (d) Aben Ezra in loc. (e) R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 127. 4. & 143. 4. Baal Hatturim in Deuteronomy 18.15. (f) Herban. disp. cum Gregeut. p. 13. (g) Bemidbar Rabba, fol. 202. 2. Midrash Ruth, fol. 33. 2. Midrash Kohelet, fol. 63. 2.((h) T. Bab. Roshhasbana, fol. 11, 1. 2. (i) R. Abraham ben R. Chija apud Wolfii Hebr. Bibliothec. p. 51,

Geneva Study Bible

For Moses truly said unto the fathers, {g} A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.

(g) This promise referred to an excellent and singular Prophet.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Acts 3:22-24. Connection: What has just been said: “By the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning,” is now set forth more particularly in two divisions,—namely: (1) Moses, with whom all O. T. prophecy begins (comp. Romans 10:19), has announced to the people the advent of the Messiah, and the necessity of obedience to Him, Acts 3:22-23. Thus has he made a beginning in speaking of the ἀποκατάστασις πάντων, which in fact can only be brought about by obedience to all which the Messiah has spoken. (2) But also the collective body of prophets from Samuel onwards (that is, the prophets in the stricter sense), etc., Acts 3:24.

Μωυσῆς] The passage is Deuteronomy 18:15 f., 19,[149] which, applying according to its historical sense to the prophetic order generally which presents itself to the seer collectively as in one person, has received its highest fulfilment in Christ as the realized ideal of all the Old Testament interpreters of God, consequently as the ἀληθινὸς προφήτης.[150] Comp. Acts 7:37.

Ὡς ἘΜΈ] as He has raised up me by His preparation, calling, commission, and effectual communion. Bengel well remarks regarding the Messianic fulfilment: “Similitudo non officit excellentiae.”

ἔσται δέ] see on Acts 2:17.

ἘΞΟΛΟΘΡ. ἘΚ ΤΟῦ ΛΑΟῦ] In the LXX. it runs after the original text: ἘΓῺ ἘΚΔΙΚΉΣΩ ἘΞ ΑὐΤΟῦ. Peter, in order to express this threat according to its more special import, and thereby in a manner more deterrent and more incentive to the obedience required,[151] substitutes for it the formula which often occurs in the Pentateuch after Genesis 17:14 : נִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשּׁ הַהִיא מֵעַמֶּיהָ, which is the appointment of the punishment of death excluding forgiveness; see Gesen. Thes. II. p. 718; Ewald, Alterth. p. 419. The apostle, according to his insight into the Messianic reference and significance of the whole passage, understands by it exclusion from the Messianic life and ejection to Gehenna, consequently the punishment of eternal death, which will set in at the judgment. On ἘΞΟΛΟΘΡΕΎΩ, funditus perdo, frequent in the LXX., the Apocrypha, and in the Test. XII. Patr., also in Clem. Rom. (who has only the form ἘΞΟΛΕΘΡ.), only known to later Greek, see Kypke, II. p. 27; Sturz, Dial. Mac. p. 166 f.

καὶ … δέ] i.e. Moses on the one hand, and all the prophets on the other. Thus over against Moses, the beginner, who was introduced by ΜΈΝ, there is placed as similar in kind the collective body. See as to καὶ … δέ, on John 6:51, and observe that δέ is attached to the emphasized idea appended (πάντες); comp. Baeuml. Partik. p. 149.

All the prophets from Samuel and those that follow, as many as have spoken, have also, etc.,—evidently an inaccurate form of expression in which two constructions are mixed up,—namely: (1) All the prophets from Samuel onward, as many of them as have spoken, have also, etc.; and (2) All the prophets, Samuel and those who follow, as many of them as have spoken, have also, etc. Winer, p. 588 [E. T. 789]. The usual construction since Casaubon, adopted also by Valckenaer and Kuinoel, is that of the Vulgate: “et omnes prophetae a Samuel, et deinceps qui locuti sunt,” so that it is construed καὶ ὅσοι τῶν καθεξῆς ἐλάλ.; it yields a tautology, as those who follow after are already contained in ΠΆΝΤΕς ΟἹ ΠΡΟΦῆΤΑΙ ἈΠῸ Σ. Van Hengel’s (Adnotatt. in loca nonnulla N. T. p. 101 ff.) expedient, that after τῶν καθεξῆς there is to be supplied ἕως ʼΙωάννου, and after προφῆται, ἀρξάμενοι, is simply arbitrary in both cases.

After Moses Samuel opens the series of prophets in the stricter sense. He is called in the Talmud also (see Wetstein) magister prophetarum. For a prophecy from 2 Sam., see Hebrews 1:5. Comp. Hengstenberg, Christol. I. p. 143 ff.

Κ. ΤῶΝ ΚΑΘΕΞῆς] “longa temporum successione, uno tamen consensu,” Calvin.

ΤᾺς ἩΜΈΡΑς ΤΑΎΤΑς] i.e. those days, of which Moses has spoken what has just been quoted, namely, the χρόνοι ἀποκαταστ. πάντ., which necessarily follows from ὧν ἐλάλησεν ὁ Θεὸς κ.τ.λ., Acts 3:21. Hence we are not to understand, with Schneckenburger, Weiss, Hofmann (Schriftbew. II. 1, p. 140), the time of the present as referred to; in which view Hofmann would change the entire connection, so as to make Acts 3:22-24 serve as a reason for the call to repentance in Acts 3:19 whereas it is evident that ὧν ἐλάλησεν κ.τ.λ., Acts 3:21, must be the element determining the following appeals to Moses and the prophets.

[149] See on this passage and its different explanations, and also on its at any rate Messianic idea, Hengstenberg, Christol. I. p. 110 ff.; G. Baur, alttest. Weissag. I. p. 353 ff.

[150] Calvin appropriately says: “Non modo quia prophetarum omnium est princeps, sed quod in ipsum dirigebantur omnes superiores prophetiae, et quod tandem Deus per os ejus absolute loquutus est.” Hebrews 1:1 f.

[151] Comp. Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 146.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Acts 3:22. μὲν: answered by, or rather connected with, καὶ πάντες δὲ (Acts 3:24), “Moses indeed, yea and all the Prophets from Samuel”—not “truly” as in A.V., as if μὲν were an adverb. The quotation is freely made from Deuteronomy 18:15. On the Messianic bearing of the passage see Weber, Jüdische Theologie, p. 364 (1897), and Lumby, Acts, in loco. Wetstein sees no necessity to refer the word προφήτην, Acts 3:22, to Jesus, but rather to the succession of prophets who in turn prophesied of the Coming One. But “similitudo non officit excellentiæ” (Bengel, so Wendt), and the words in Deuteronomy were fulfilled in Christ alone, the new Law-giver; the Revealer of God’s will, of grace and truth, “Whom the Lord knew face to face,” Who was from all eternity “with God”. But the N.T. gives us ample reason for referring the verse, if not to the Messiah, yet at least to the Messianic conceptions of the age. To say nothing of St. Stephen’s significant reference to the same prophecy, Acts 7:37, it would certainly seem that in the conversation of our Lord with the Samaritan woman, John 4:19 ff., the conception of the Messianic prophet is in her mind, and it was upon this prediction of a prophet greater than Moses that the Samaritans built their Messianic hopes (Briggs, Messiah of the Gospels, p. 272, and see also for Deuteronomy 18:15, and its Messianic fulfilment, Messianic Prophecy, p. 110 ff.). On other allusions in St. John’s Gospel to the anticipation in Deuteronomy 18:15 see Bishop Lightfoot, Expositor, 1 (fourth series), pp. 84, 85; there are, he thinks, four passages, John 1:21; John 1:25; John 6:14; John 7:40, in all of which “the prophet” is mentioned (so R.V. in each place). But whilst in St. John the conception is still Jewish (that is to say, St. John exhibits the Messianic conceptions of his countrymen, who regard the Christ and the prophet as two different persons), in Acts it is Christian. St. Peter identified the prophet with the Christ (and so inferentially St. Stephen). (But see also Alford’s note on St. John 6:14, and also Weber, ubi supra, p. 354, for the view that Jeremiah was ὁ προφ., in John 1:21; John 1:25; John 7:40 (cf. 2Ma 15:14), whilst Wendt’s Teaching of Jesus, i., pp. 67–69, E.T., should also be consulted.)—ὡς ἐμέ: rendered by A.V. and R.V. “like me” (the meaning of the Hebrew, in loco), but in margin R.V. has “as he raised up me,” a rendering adopted as the only admissible one of the Greek by Page and Rendall; as no doubt it is, if we read ὥσπερ, as in LXX, Deuteronomy 18:18. But ὡς is found in the LXX in Acts 5:15. Certainly the rendering in A.V. and R.V. could not be applied to any one prophet so truly as to Christ, and the ὡς ἐμέ is a rendering of the familiar Hebrew כְּ (Lumby), which is so frequent in the LXX; see also Grimm-Thayer, sub v., and Delitzsch, Messianische Weissagungen, p. 46 ff., second edition (1899).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. For Moses truly said] Truly is here the rendering of the particle μέν, and is likely to be misunderstood, as though it meant verily. Read For indeed Moses said. Here the Apostle cites the prophecies to which he has been alluding. First from Deuteronomy 18:15 he points out that the prophet who had been promised was to be of their brethren, as Moses had been. This was a comparison which the Jews themselves were fond of making, and they often identified the prophet of whom Moses spake with the Messiah. Thus the Midrash Rabbah on Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “Rabbi Berakhiah in the name of Rabbi Yizkhak [Isaac] says: ‘As was the former redeemer so shall the latter redeemer be.’ While of the former redeemer it is said (Exodus 4:20), ‘And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass,’ so of the latter: for it says (Zechariah 9:9), ‘He is lowly and riding upon an ass.’ And while the former redeemer brought down manna, as it says (Exodus 16:4), ‘Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you,’ so the latter redeemer will bring down manna. For it says (Psalm 72:16), ‘There shall be abundance of corn in the land.’ And as the former redeemer caused the well to spring up (see Numbers 21:17), so the latter redeemer shall also cause the waters to spring up. For it says (Joel 3:18), ‘A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.’ ”

him shall ye hear] i.e. those who have “ears to hear” when the prophet comes and speaks. The next verse shews that all the nation were not included in the “ye.”

Bengel's Gnomen

Acts 3:22. Προφήτην, κ.τ.λ.) Deuteronomy 18:15, et seqq., LXX., προφήτην ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν σου ὡς ἐμὲ ἀναστήσει σοι Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, αὐτοῦ ἀκούσεσθε κατὰ πάντα,—καὶ λαλήσει αὐτοῖς καθʼ ὅ, τι ἂν ἐντείλωμαι αὐτῷ· καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος, ὃς ἐὰν μὴ ἀκούσῃ τῶν λόγων αὐτοῦ, ὅσα ἂν λαλήσῃ ὁ προφήτης ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι μου, ἐγὼ ἐκδικήσω ἐξ αὐτοῦ.—ἐκ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν, of your brethren) Moses does not say, of our brethren; for he speaks in the name of GOD. Nor was Christ ever promised to Moses; for He did not come of his tribe or posterity: and Moses and Christ are altogether opposed one to the other.—ὡς ἐμὲ, like unto me) The Israelites had no idea of a greater prophet than Moses, who was a prophet of an altogether unique kind in the Old Testament: Numbers 12:6-8, “If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make Myself known unto him in a vision and—in a dream: My servant Moses is not so—with him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord he shall behold;” Deuteronomy 34:10, “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” Therefore Jesus alone is like to him. Moses began the divinely-appointed Church of Israel: Christ began His own divinely-appointed Church. With the prophecy of Moses presently after was conjoined its effect, viz. the leading forth of the people from Egypt: with the prophecy of Christ was conjoined presently after its effect, viz. redemption. The people could not endure the voice of the Lord: they desired to hear Moses: to hear Christ is much more desirable. Moses spake to the people all things, and those alone which the Lord commanded, and that most fully: Christ did so in a much greater degree. And so Christ answers to Moses, so as to be even greater, in respect to His Divine Person and Gospel office: Hebrews 3:2-3; Hebrews 3:5-6, “This man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house—Moses as a servant—but Christ as a Son;” with which comp. Numbers 12:7. Likeness does not hinder excellence, Matthew 22:39 : and the particle ὡς, as, like unto, has the effect of comparing not only pair with pair, but also the less with the greater, Matthew 5:48, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father” etc., and the greater, with the less: Malachi 3:4.—αὐτοῦ, Him) more than me.—ἀκούσεσθε, ye shall hear) It will be your duty, and ye shall be able to hear.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Moses indeed said for Moses truly said unto the fathers, A.V. and T.R.; the Lord God for the Lord your God, A.V. and T.R.; from among for of, A.V.; to him shall ye hearken for him shall ye hear, A V. ; speak for say, A.V. Moses indeed said. Peter now verifies his assertion about the prophets in the previous verse by quoting from Moses, and referring to Samuel and those that came after. A prophet, etc. The quotation is from Deuteronomy 18:15-18. That this was understood by the Jews to relate to some one great prophet who had not yet come, appears from the question "Art thou that prophet?" (John 1:21), and from the saying of the Jews after the miracle of the loaves and fishes, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world" (John 6:14; John 7:40). St. Peter here teaches that that prophet was none other than Christ himself, who was like unto Moses in the fullness of the revelation given unto him, in his being a Mediator between God and the people, in being the Author of a new law - the law of faith and love, in building a new tabernacle for God to inhabit, even the Church in which he will dwell for ever and ever (see Hebrews 1:1, 2). Acts 3:22