Testimonia Part of Learn Bible Together

Messianic Prophecies

The Prophet Like Moses

Strongly supported 1400 BC – AD 33 Deuteronomy · OT

30-second summary

In Deuteronomy 18, Moses promises Israel a prophet 'like himself,' who will carry the Lord's own words. About a century before Christ, Qumran's 4QTestimonia scroll (4Q175) quoted this passage alongside other end-times texts, and the Samaritans independently built a "Taheb" (Restorer) hope on the same figure - two pre-Christian, non-Christian witnesses that Israel was watching for this Prophet before Jesus was born. The apostle Peter identifies Jesus as that Prophet, preaching to the crowd at Solomon's Portico soon after Pentecost (Acts 3:22-23), a reading Stephen repeats (Acts 7:37) and the Fathers, including St. John Chrysostom, carry forward.

Scripture

Deuteronomy 18:15
The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear:

prophetam de gente tua et de fratribus tuis sicut me suscitabit tibi Dominus Deus tuus ipsum audies

Deuteronomy 18:18-19
I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.

prophetam suscitabo eis de medio fratrum suorum similem tui et ponam verba mea in ore eius loqueturque ad eos omnia quae praecepero illi qui autem verba eius quae loquetur in nomine meo audire noluerit ego ultor existam

Acts 3:22-23
For Moses said: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me: him you shall hear according to all things whatsoever he shall speak to you. And it shall be, that every soul which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

Moses quidem dixit quia prophetam vobis suscitabit Dominus Deus vester de fratribus vestris tamquam me ipsum audietis iuxta omnia quaecumque locutus fuerit vobis erit autem omnis anima quae non audierit prophetam illum exterminabitur de plebe

Prophecy & Fulfillment

Given
Moses' farewell address on the plains of Moab, delivered shortly before his death (Deuteronomy's own narrative setting, c. 1400 BC); the book reached its final written form by the 7th century BC (2 Kings 22)
Fulfilled
The expectation of 'the Prophet' is textually fixed by c. 100-75 BC in Qumran's 4QTestimonia and current throughout the 1st century AD; Peter proclaims Jesus its fulfillment before the crowd at Solomon's Portico soon after Pentecost, c. AD 33 (Acts 3:22-23)

Moses promises Israel a prophet 'like himself' from among their own brothers, carrying God's own authority in his words. Two pre-Christian, non-Christian witnesses show this was already read as naming a coming figure: Qumran's 4QTestimonia (4Q175) quotes the passage in an end-times anthology, and the Samaritans built their 'Taheb' (Restorer) hope on the same verse. The apostle Peter, preaching to the crowd at Solomon's Portico shortly after Pentecost, quotes Deuteronomy 18 directly and proclaims Jesus its fulfillment (Acts 3:22-23); Stephen repeats the identification before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:37), and the Fathers, including St. John Chrysostom, carry it forward.

Why this level?

The core claim rests on a solid, pre-Christian textual anchor plus the interpretive step the entry itself takes. Qumran's 4QTestimonia (4Q175), a Hasmonean-script scroll dated c. 100-75 BC, quotes Deuteronomy 18:18-19 in an end-times anthology - real, datable, non-Christian evidence that this passage named a coming eschatological figure before Christianity existed. The Samaritans independently reached the same reading, building their 'Taheb' hope on 'A Prophet Like Moses' out of a wholly separate textual and religious tradition. Those two witnesses - unrelated to each other and to the New Testament - corroborate that the expectation itself is pre-Christian and was read messianically outside any Christian influence. The further step this entry takes, identifying Jesus specifically as that Prophet, rests on Scripture's own testimony: Peter's proclamation in Acts 3:22-23 and Stephen's in Acts 7:37, carried forward by the Fathers. Two independent pre-Christian witnesses to the expectation, joined to the entry's own scriptural identification of the fulfillment, place this at level 2: a solid textual anchor plus the interpretive step the entry takes.

Dig deeper

A Prophet Like Moses

Near the end of his farewell address, Moses turns Israel away from pagan divination toward something better: "The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear" (Deuteronomy 18:15, DR). God confirms it to Moses directly - the coming prophet will carry God's own words "in his mouth," and whoever refuses to heed him answers to God himself (18:18-19). Deuteronomy presents this as Moses' own discourse on the plains of Moab; the book reached the form we have it in by the seventh century BC, when a law scroll was recovered during Josiah's temple reform (2 Kings 22).

A Pre-Christian Expectation

Israel was already watching for this figure long before Christianity. Qumran's 4QTestimonia (4Q175), copied in Hasmonean script around 100-75 BC, opens an end-times anthology by quoting Deuteronomy 5:28-29 and 18:18-19, followed by Balaam's star oracle (Numbers 24:15-17) and a priestly blessing - a Prophet grouped among the community's messianic hopes in a scroll no Christian hand touched. The Samaritans built the same expectation into their own tradition, naming their awaited Restorer, the Taheb, "A Prophet Like Moses" - an entirely separate community reading the same verse the same way. Two independent, non-Christian witnesses confirm that Deuteronomy 18 named a coming figure for Israel before Jesus of Nazareth was born.

Peter's Proclamation

Acts preserves the first Christian use of the text. Preaching to the crowd at Solomon's Portico shortly after Pentecost, Peter declares: "For Moses said: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me... And it shall be, that every soul which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people" (Acts 3:22-23, DR), applying the oracle to the risen Christ. Stephen repeats the identification before the Sanhedrin (Acts 7:37). The apostolic preaching names Jesus as the Prophet Moses foretold.

A Patristic Witness

St. John Chrysostom, commenting on Peter's sermon, marveled at how directly the apostle joined "low matters and high, side by side - that He Who was to go up into the heavens should be like Moses," adding that Jesus was more than simply like Moses, "if so be that every soul which will not hear shall be destroyed" (Homily IX on Acts).

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Citations

  1. Scripture

    Deuteronomy 18, Douay-Rheims

    Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (DR)

    Supports: Gives the exact Douay-Rheims wording of Moses' promise of a prophet like himself and the warning attached to it.

  2. Scripture

    Deuteronomy 18, Clementine Vulgate

    Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (Vulgate)

    Supports: Provides the Latin 'prophetam... suscitabit' underlying the Douay-Rheims text, confirming the exact Vulgate wording used.

  3. Scripture

    Deuteronomy 18:15 interlinear and commentary

    Deuteronomy 18:15 study notes

    Supports: Confirms the modern English rendering and cross-references to Acts 3:22, Acts 7:37, and John 6:14 as New Testament applications of the prophecy.

  4. Scripture

    Acts 3:22-23, Douay-Rheims

    Acts 3:22-23 (DR)

    Supports: Gives Peter's exact Douay-Rheims quotation of Deuteronomy 18 and its application to Christ before the Jerusalem crowd.

  5. Scripture

    Acts 3:22-23, Clementine Vulgate

    Acts 3:22-23 (Vulgate)

    Supports: Provides the Latin text of Peter's citation, 'prophetam vobis suscitabit Dominus Deus vester... tamquam me,' matching the Douay-Rheims rendering.

  6. Historical Source

    4Q175 (4QTestimonia) overview

    Wikipedia, '4Q175'

    Supports: Confirms that this Qumran scroll, copied in Hasmonean script (commonly dated c. 100-75 BC), quotes Deuteronomy 5:28-29 and 18:18-19 as the opening texts in a short collection widely read as messianic, followed by Numbers 24:15-17, a priestly blessing, and a fourth, unrelated text (Joshua 6:26); the sect's own Community Rule (1QS 9:11) treats the Prophet and the two Messiahs as three separate figures, not one.

  7. Historical Source

    The Samaritan Taheb and Deuteronomy 18

    Israelite Samaritan Information Institute, 'Prophets'

    Supports: Documents the Samaritan 'Taheb' (Restorer) hope, which the source describes in its own words as 'A Prophet Like Moses' - an independent, non-Christian application of the same Deuteronomy figure. Note: this source does not itself cite Deuteronomy 18:18 by chapter and verse or mention Mount Gerizim.

  8. Church Father

    St. John Chrysostom, Homily IX on the Acts of the Apostles

    St. John Chrysostom, Homily IX on Acts

    Supports: Patristic witness (honored in both Catholic and Orthodox tradition) commenting on Peter's citation of the Moses prophecy in Acts 3:22 and its application to Christ.

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