Acts 3:22

Act_3:22-26

For Moses truly said unto your fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you … like unto me.

The promised Prophet

Note--

I. The appropriateness of God revealing Himself through a human being. For man is the Divine image, and hence God reveals Himself to man through a man, otherwise we could have no knowledge of God. The office of prophet is the most appropriate way of revealing Gods will. When we carry on this line of thought we are landed in the idea that an incarnation of God alone could adequately convey to man the mind and nature of God.

II. A single prophet after the similitude of Moses is to be the mediator for the ages. Now, only one Person answers this description, and that is Christ. He is incarnate God. Gods Spirit He alone could take, and through its gift to men in the different ages make them the channel of Divine revelation (Act_3:24). As a matter of fact the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, and the prophets were His instruments in the history of the Church. God has spoken in these last days by His Son; and the prophets between Moses and Christ were really the inspired messengers of the one great Prophet. This is the idea of Peter (1Pe_1:11).

III. The life and death of Jesus, therefore, become the climax of Divine revelation. The previous revelations were but shadows of this. A human history became the embodiment of Divine thoughts, mercies, and self-sacrifice. The blaze of Divinity that was intolerable at Sinai becomes not only bearable but entrancing in the face of Jesus Christ. We beheld His glory, but it did not scare men as on the holy mount.

IV. Disregard of the words of Jesus is punishable by death (Act_3:23). If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. If disobedience to Moses was visited in many cases by death, how much more disloyalty to Christ (Heb_10:28-31). The gospel has penalties of the severest kind for its rejection, as well as bliss beyond compare for its reception. The alternative is thus clearly set before us. (R. M. Edgar, M. A.)

The Prophet like unto Moses

Christ and Moses were alike--

I. As founders of dispensations. It was the greatness of Moses that he was employed by God in inaugurating a new era in the history of His kingdom. In this respect he stood at the head of the Old Testament line of prophets, and in a sense apart from them (Joh_1:17). He had the ordering and settling of the house of God in the form in which it was to last till Christ came, who as Son over His own house would revise its arrangements and reconstitute it on a better basis (Heb_3:2-7). Prophets subsequent to Moses stood within the lines of economy already established. They could enforce and maintain, but while predicting the advent of a new age in which great changes would be wrought, they had no authority to introduce such changes. It was reserved to Christ to so remodel Mosaic institutions, or abolish and supersede them, as to place the Church upon a permanent basis, and adapt it for the reception of the Gentiles.

II. In the freedom and intercourse they enjoyed with God. Moses enjoyed, as was necessary, the freest intercourse with heaven. God spake with him, not in a vision, or dream, or in dark speeches, but mouth to mouth (Num_12:6-9), face to face (Deu_34:10). This is made a feature of distinction between Moses and the later prophets. In Christ this peculiarity appears in a higher form. Intercourse with the Father reaches the highest degree of closeness and intimacy (Joh_14:10). Christs insight into the Fathers will was perfect (Joh_5:20-21), His communion habitual and uninterrupted.

III. As mediating between the people and God. These points involve others. There was resemblance--

1. In the degree of authority with which they were clothed, and in the mighty signs which authenticated their mission.

2. In the fulness and grandeur of their revelations.

3. In the severe penalties attaching to disobedience to their words (Deu_18:19; Heb_2:1-5; Heb_10:28-29). (J. Orr, B. D.)

The resemblance between Christ and Moses

As Moses was born in a strange land, so was Christ born in a world and country which knew Him not, in a city which rejected Him. To preserve His life Moses was laid in an ark of bulrushes, as Christs life was preserved by the lowliness of the manger in which He lay. Both were of the house of Israel, and children, the one of a priestly, the other of the royal race. The jealousy of Pharoah put the life of Moses in jeopardy as soon as He was born, as Herod sought the life of Christ because of the same jealous fear, whilst both kings ordered the male children to be slain in order to preserve the stability of their respective thrones. Both were mediators between God and a sinful people, and as Moses pleaded for the children of Israel, so does Christ for mankind. Both Moses and Christ were legislators of Gods people, the former for those under the old covenant, the latter for those under the new. As Moses led the people from slavery into the land promised to their fathers, so did Christ deliver His people out of the power of Satan and go before them into heaven. Both Moses and Christ proved the truth of their mission by miracles and signs. As Moses sent forth the twelve to survey the land and encouraged the people to persevere and to enter into Canaan, so did Christ send forth the twelve to teach the people by what means they might take possession of the spiritual Canaan. (W. Denton, M. A.)

Reasons for repentance

Peter urged the Jews to repent because--

I. They believed the prophets. Those prophets had told of the Messiah and His claims, and in those prophets they professed to believe. But they had rejected Christ, and hence the necessity according to their own beliefs of repentance. This appeal is a pertinent one to-day.

II. They already claimed religious privileges (Act_3:25). Hence their guilt in rejecting Christ. Abraham, the patriarchs and prophets had all been believers, and the blessings of the covenant could be attained only by faith. But faith implied repentance. How many value their privileges under the Christian dispensation, and yet live in sin! But these privileges call them to repentance.

III. God had crowned all their former privileges by sending Jesus. Yet they had rejected Him. So now--

IV. Without repentance they must remain in a state of depravity. They would not be turned from their iniquities. Those who do not repent and receive Christ remain among the enemies of God and in the bond of iniquity.

V. Without repentance they must be excluded from the people of God (Act_3:23). (W. Hudson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 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 Deu 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, (Heb 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, (Joh 1:3; Col 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.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22-26. Peter now contemplates those prophecies—which are being fulfilled during the Saviour’s residence in heaven, namely, during these days of probation under the Christian dispensation—of a predicted, and once present, but now absent Christ.

22. For—This word connects 22-26 with Act_3:21. Jesus must stay in heaven while the prophecies of Moses, Samuel, and all are being fulfilled— that is, during the these days (Act_3:24) of Gospel probation.

A Prophet— Peter in this and the following verse gives the substance in brief of Deu_18:15-19, in which God by Moses promises a prophet yet to come like unto Moses. By Jews, and rationalists, semi-rationalists, and even, strange to say, by some evangelic divines, this prophecy has been held to predict, either solely or secondarily, not Christ nor any single prophet, but a line of prophets. Kuinoel asserts this to be proved conclusively by its context. On the contrary we submit:

1. The Jewish writers themselves maintained a single prophet to be meant, and he the Messiah, until the application of it to Jesus induced them to invent a different interpretation. The Samaritans, also, who, even to the present day, hold to a Messiah to come. (see note on Joh_4:25,) and who derived the doctrine from the Pentateuch. (since they rejected all the other Old Testament hooks,) must have drawn it from this passage. Candid rationalists would admit that such expressions as “the prophet,” Joh_7:40, “Messias cometh,” Joh_4:25, “that prophet that should come,” Joh_6:14, are good proof of the prevalent interpretation found at Christ’s first coming. We may therefore assume that a single prophet, and he the Messiah, was found in this text by the ancient Jewish Church.

2. A single prophet, and not a line of prophets, is the undeniable import of the words of the text, Deu_18:15-19. The singular alone, and the singular repeated in various forms and connexions, is in express terms used. Not the slightest hint is given of a collective or plural sense. “A prophet,” “a prophet like unto me,” “him,” “his mouth,” “he,” etc. In saying that a single prophet is meant, we only say that what is said is meant.

3. But, it is replied, the context shows that Jehovah is warning Israel against necromancers and other false foretellers, Act_3:9-14, and as against them he promises a line of true prophets, Act_3:15-19, and a test of false prophets, Act_3:20-22. But, asks Kuinoel, in warning them against soothsayers, what force was there in telling them that God would hereafter raise up a Messiah? Very great force, we reply. Moses assures them that, 1. That prophet would be not like the ordinary prophets, such as existed during his own day (Num_11:24-29) and formerly, (Gen_20:7; Jud_1:14,) but one like unto himself; a mediator-prophet, standing thee to face with God, and so a standard prophet, the expectation of whom should be a conserving rule and regulation for their faith, and a test against all pretenders. A Messiah future should be their regulator, as Messiah past is ours. 2. God would “raise him up unto thee,” “from the midst of thee, of thy brethren.” That is, the faith-ruling standard prophet should be an Israelite and in Israel; therefore need they never go to foreign nations, whose predictions were not to be authenticated by any mediator-prophet, and were therefore unreliable and dangerous. And so even at the present day Christ, the true God incarnate, and his Church of all ages from Moses until now, with their holy revelation, furnish our standard and test by which we decide that all miracles not agreeing with them are either juggles, or works of Satan or satanic beings, human or otherwise. The grand antidote to all demonism in both Jewish and Christian Church is Christ.

And then in Act_3:20-22 Moses furnishes the test by which they should judge an ordinary Jewish prophet; just as in Act_3:9-14 he had given a sweeping warning against all the predictions of the foreign sort. It is plain that the “a prophet” of Act_3:22 means any prophet, and not the prophet “like unto me” of Act_3:15.

4. By a prophet “like unto me” cannot merely be meant “a prophet just as I am one,” but a prophet of extraordinary nature. He must be a prophet that could face the very blaze and thunder of Horeb, before which, even in the distance, Israel, with all her ordinary prophets, trembled and shrunk. He must be no prophet of mere inspiration, or vision, or dream; but a prophet looking in the face of Jehovah. Other prophets might be disobeyed with impunity; but whoso obeys not this one, dies.

5. If, then, as is unquestionably the case, a one great personage, a Messiah, is predicted by many passages in the Old Testament, there can be no just excuse for declining to assign this passage to that class. And how wonderfully the position and character of Moses do shadow forth those of the human Jesus is shown in Bishop Newton’s chapter on this passage with great force, but at too great length for our space. If such a thing as true supernatural prediction ever existed this is one, truly applied by Peter in his present words.

Like unto me—Christ was mainly, like Moses, the founder of a dispensation. Under each, the theocracy or kingdom of God was in form, and largely in spirit, reconstructed. There arose nothing like either between their two existences on earth. And hence, reasoning from a Christian standpoint, we could hardly fail to expect that there should be, as it were, a divine sympathy between them, and that there should be vouchsafed to the former some prophetic anticipations of the latter.

Shall ye hear—So that Peter has an order from Moses enjoining upon these Jews to hear Jesus. And the adducing this prophecy was a powerful stroke in the Christian argument. The claim of the Jews against Jesus would be that his miracles infringed against Moses and the law and were, therefore, demoniac. This prophecy avers that Jesus is not only in the line of Moses, but was personally predicted by Moses as the second highest founder, who was to be obediently heard. He is not to be tested by any other thing or being, but is the supreme test for all.

All things—Even should he in fulfilling render obsolete something of Moses.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:22 Jesus fulfills the ancient promise of a Prophet like Moses (see Deut 18:15, 18; cp. John 6:14; 7:40).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 3:22. Προφήτην, κ.τ.λ.) Deu 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: Num 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;” Deu 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: Heb 3:2-3; Heb 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. Num 12:7. Likeness does not hinder excellence, Mat 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, Mat 5:48, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father” etc., and the greater, with the less: Mal 3:4.—αὐτοῦ, Him) more than me.—ἀκούσεσθε, ye shall hear) It will be your duty, and ye shall be able to hear.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_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. Rom_10:19), has announced to the people the advent of the Messiah, and the necessity of obedience to Him, Act_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., Act_3:24.

Μωυσῆς] The passage is Deu_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. Act_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 Act_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 Gen_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 Joh_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 Hengels (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 Heb_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., Act_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 Act_3:22-24 serve as a reason for the call to repentance in Act_3:19 whereas it is evident that ὧν ἐλάλησεν κ.τ.λ., Act_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. Heb_1:1 f.

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

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 3:22 . μὲν : answered by, or rather connected with, καὶ πάντες δὲ (Act 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 Deu 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 , Act 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, Act 7:37 , it would certainly seem that in the conversation of our Lord with the Samaritan woman, Joh 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 Deu 18:15 , and its Messianic fulfilment, Messianic Prophecy , p. 110 ff.). On other allusions in St. John’s Gospel to the anticipation in Deu 18:15 see Bishop Lightfoot, Expositor , 1 (fourth series), pp. 84, 85; there are, he thinks, four passages, Joh 1:21 ; Joh 1:25 ; Joh 6:14 ; Joh 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. Joh 6:14 , and also Weber, ubi supra , p. 354, for the view that Jeremiah was ὁ προφ ., in Joh 1:21 ; Joh 1:25 ; Joh 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, Deu 18:18 . But ὡς is found in the LXX in Act 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).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This promise was of an excellent and singular Prophet.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

a prophet . . . like unto me--particularly in intimacy of communication with God (Num 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 (Psa 1:1).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. Moses truly said unto the fathers] On this subject the reader is requested to refer to the note, See Clarke on De 18:22. From this appeal to Moses it is evident that Peter wished them to understand that Jesus Christ was come, not as an ordinary prophet, to exhort to repentance and amendment, But as a legislator, who was to give them a new law, and whose commands and precepts they were to obey, on pain of endless destruction. Therefore they were to understand that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was that new law which should supersede the old.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. By this argument he proveth that he goeth not about to cause them to revolt from Moses, because it is a part of the law to take heed to and obey this chief teacher. Here might a doubt arise, why Peter thought it more convenient to cite this testimony of Moses than others, seeing there were many others in readiness far more plain; but he did this for this cause, because he intreateth in this place of the authority of doctrine; and this was the best way to bring the Jews to be Christ’s disciples. For he should have preached in vain of all other things, unless they had been persuaded that his doctrine was reverently to be received. This is therefore the thing which Peter aimeth at, to bring them to hear Christ willingly, as the master whom God hath appointed to teach them.

But here ariseth a question, which hath in it great difficulty; to wit, in that Peter applieth that unto the person of Christ which Moses spoke generally of the prophets. For although he make mention of a prophet in the singular number, yet the text [context] doth plainly declare, that he speaketh not of one alone; but that this word is put indefinitely. For after that Moses had forbidden the people to give themselves unto the superstitions of the Gentiles, by turning aside unto enchanters and soothsayers, he showeth them therewithal a remedy, whereby they may avoid all vanity; to wit, if they depend wholly upon the Word of God alone. By this means he promiseth that God will be careful at all times to send them prophets, that they may teach them aright. As if he should say, God will never suffer you to be destitute of prophets, of whom you may learn whatsoever shall be profitable for you to know. And Moses saith expressly, of thy brethren, to the end the Jews may know that the oracles of God are to be sought and set no where else, seeing that God had appointed unto them teachers of the kindred of Abraham. He addeth further, like unto me that they may know that they were not to hear God only at one time, or by the mouth of one man; but as God proceedeth to teach us by divers ministers throughout the continual course of time, so must we hold on in the obedience of the word. Now, the Jews were wont to reverence Moses; therefore, he will have them to give like honor to the prophets. I know that many would fain restrain it unto Christ. They catch at this word, whereas Moses doth testify that the prophet shall be like unto him, (Deuteronomy 18:15,) whereas, notwithstanding, it is written, that there arose none like unto Moses. I confess that there is in both places the same note of likeness, yet in a diverse sense. For, in the second place, the likeness or equality is expressed, as it doth plainly appear. They catch also at another thing, that the prophet shall far excel Moses, of whom he beareth witness as a crier or herald. But this is never a whit stronger, because Moses goeth about to bring to pass that the word of God may be believed by whomsoever it be brought.

Therefore, there is no cause why we should set ourselves to be laughed to scorn by the Jews, by wresting the words of Moses violently, as if he spoke of Christ alone in this place. Yet we must see whether Peter doth cite the testimony fitly, whose authority ought to serve for a sound reason. I say; that in Peter’s speech there is nothing which is not most convenient. For he saw that which all men ought to grant, that this testimony doth so appertain unto the other prophets, that yet notwithstanding it doth chiefly commend Christ, not only because that he is the prince and chief of all the prophets, but because all other former prophecies were directed toward him, and because God did at length speak absolutely by his mouth, For God spoke in divers manners, and at sundry times in times past3 unto our fathers by the prophets, he addeth the conclusion at length, in the last days in his only begotten Son, (Hebrews 1:1, 2.) Therefore, it came to pass, that they wanted prophets for a certain years before his coming; which thing is plainly gathered out of the words of Malachi, who, after he hath commanded the people to be mindful of the law, he passeth over by and by unto John Baptist and unto Christ, as if he should say, that the prophecies are now ended until the last revelation come, (Malachi 4:4-6;) according to that,

“The law and the prophets prophesied until John; after that the kingdom of God is preached,” (Matthew 11:13.)

And that was so common amongst the people, that the woman of Samaria could say, according to the common fame and opinion,

“We know that the Messias shall come, who will teach us all things,” (John 4:25.)

Therefore, we know that after the return of the people all the prophets ceased, to the end they might be made more attentive to hear Christ, by that silence or intermission of revelations. Therefore, Peter did not wrest this place, or abuse the same through ignorance, but he took that doctrine which all men had received for a principle; that God had promised to teach his people at the first by his prophets as by means, but at length principally by Christ, at whose hands they were to hope for the perfect manifestation and laying open of all things. And to this purpose serveth that excellent testimony or commendation wherewith his Father setteth him forth, “Hear him,” (Matthew 17:5.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(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 Deu_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?” (Joh_1:21; Joh_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Deu_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 Ecc_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 (Exo_4:20), ‘And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass,’ so of the latter: for it says (Zec_9:9), ‘He is lowly and riding upon an ass.’ And while the former redeemer brought down manna, as it says (Exo_16:4), ‘Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you,’ so the latter redeemer will bring down manna. For it says (Psa_72:16), ‘There shall be abundance of corn in the land.’ And as the former redeemer caused the well to spring up (see Num_21:17), so the latter redeemer shall also cause the waters to spring up. For it says (Joe_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.”

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Deu 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 Deu 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 Deut. xviii. 15. (d) Aben Ezra in loc. (e) R. Abraham Seba in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 127. 4. & 143. 4. Baal Hatturim in Deut. xviii. 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,

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Ver. 22. Like unto me] 1. A man, as I Amo 2:1-16. A prophet, and more than a prophet, the archprophet, to whom Moses must bow.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 Deu 18:15-19.

A Prophet - Literally, one who foretells future events. But it is also used to denote a religious teacher in general. See Rom 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 Act 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. Act 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, Act 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 Joh 1:21; Joh 6:14; Joh 7:40; Mat 21:11; Luk 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 Joh 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, Heb 2:11, Heb 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 Deu 18:15, Deu 18:18.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Moses said. He brings them this testimony of Moses concerning the Messias, to shew the punishment they deserve for not receiving him. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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 Deu_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?", (Joh_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". (Joh_6:14 Joh_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 Heb_1:1, Heb_1:2)

Vers. 22-26. The greatness of Jesus Christ.

These verses may be regarded as attesting the unapproachable greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ; they invite us to think

I THAT HE WAS LIKE UNTO THE GREATEST OF ALL WHO PRECEDED HIM, BUT WAS GREATER THAN HE. (Ver. 22.) A greater Legislator than Moses, for his laws should last as long as time itself; a better Man, for he was absolutely without sin; a worthier Leader, conducting out of a harder bondage into a truer freedom, unto a land of greater promise.

II THAT HIS RELATION TO MANKIND IS SUCH THAT THE REFLECTION OF HIM IS THE RUIN OF OURSELVES. (Ver. 23.) To be ignorant of some human teachers is to lose a valuable heritage, a precious treasure, excellent and elevating enjoyment; but to refuse his friendship, to reject his service, is to cut ourselves off from the source of eternal truth, is to abandon ourselves to the course which ends in spiritual death.

III THAT HE IS THE ONE GREAT HERO OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. (For. 24.) "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rightly read, "all the prophets" testified of him, and pointed on to those days in which he lived, suffered, died, and rose again.

IV THAT HE BLESSES WHOM HE SERVES WITH THE SUPREME BLESSING. (Ver. 26.) What would we give to those whom we would fain serve? Health, fortune, power, fame, human love? Jesus Christ blesses by "turning away every one from his iniquities." What a transcendent blessing is this! Consider:

1. How much it involves; viz. the removal of the penalty and the power of sin from each individual soul.

2. How much it implies; viz. the restoration of each soul to God (for to fear him, to love him, and to strive to please him, is the only way to escape from a state of sin), and entrance upon eternal life (for the sphere of sin is the region of death, and to be delivered from the former is to enter the kingdom of life, the life which is spiritual and eternal).

3. By what means it is effected; viz.

(1) by the sacrifice of himself, (Heb_9:26) and

(2) by attracting us to himself and his service. (Joh_12:32 1Jn_3:5, 1Jn_3:6)

V THAT, COMING TO REDEEM THE RACE, HE OFFERS HIS SALVATION FIRST TO THOSE WHO HAD REJECTED HIM. (Vers. 25, 26.) They to whom Peter spoke were "the children of the prophets;" but they had "denied the Holy One and the Just," and "killed the Prince of life." Yet to those who had so shamefully abused their privileges the apostle said, To you first," etc. Jesus came to "call sinners to repentance," to restore those who had fallen the furthest, to cleanse the most leprous, to raise the spiritually dead, to win those most utterly estranged and most bitterly opposed to himself. So great a Conqueror is he. C.

Vers. 22, 24. Moses" witness to the Christ.

The first reference of Moses in the words used (Deu_18:15) should be carefully noticed. "The higher Messianic references of the Old Testament usually underlie an immediate relation to historical events or individuals. "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 Deu_18:14; and, even with St. Peter"s interpretation before us, we may well admit those prophets as primary and partial fulfillments of them." It seems that the Jews were fond of comparing the promised Messiah with their great prophet and lawgiver, Moses. Of this one specimen may be given from the rabbinical writings. "Rabbi Berakhiah says, "As was the former redeemer, so shall the latter redeemer be." While of the former redeemer it is said, (Exo_4:20) "And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass;" so of the latter, for it, (Zec_9:9) "He is lowly and riding upon an ass." And while the former redeemer brought down manna, as it says, (Exo_16:4) "Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you;" so the latter redeemer will bring down manna, for it says, (Psa_72:16) "There shall be abundance of corn in the land." And as the former redeemer caused the well to spring up; (see Num_21:17) so the latter redeemer shall also cause the waters to spring up, for it says, (Joe_3:18) "A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Moses dwells upon the fact that the coming Messiah should be like him. This comparison may be opened in the following particulars:

I MESSIAH WAS TO BE "OF THE BRETHREN." Our Lord was born of Jewish race. And he was, as a fellow-man, able to understand and to sympathize with those whom he led. He was a "man of like passions;" "in all points tempted as we are; able to succor them that are tempted." The importance of the actual humanity of our Lord in the theological systems of St. Paul and St. John should be fully unfolded. And the additional interest of his being a Jew may be pointed out. The history of the Jews shows that they have a singular power of adapting themselves to all climes, languages, nations, and societies; and that which is true of them is true of our Lord"s gospel, as bearing, so markedly, the Jewish stamp. It can adapt to all the conditions of mankind, and be preached to every creature.

II MESSIAH WAS TO BE A REDEEMER. Like Moses in this, he was to bring a people out of bondage, deliver them in a glorious and Divine manner, and lead them until their full redemption was complete in the possession of Canaan. This comparison may be made more minute. And it may be urged that, as the Redeemer, our Lord asks the same surrender to him, in trust, that Moses asked.

III MESSIAH WAS TO BE A LAWGIVER. This was the great work of Moses. He took the entire person, life, and relations of the people into his regulations, settling rules for their moral, social, national, and ecclesiastical conditions. And so we come "under Law to Christ," who covers with his "new commandments" the whale of our lives and associations. "One is our Master, even Christ.

IV MESSIAH WAS TO BE A TEACHER. This is the permanent idea of the term "prophet one who comes between God and the people, as instructing them in the Divine will. Both Moses and the Lord Jesus taught the people concerning God, sin, duty, salvation, character, etc.

V MESSIAH WAS TO BE A JUDGE. This Moses was presiding at the chief national tribunal. And God has "committed all judgment to the Son." He "shall judge the quick and dead." "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ." Impress from Heb_10:28, Heb_10:29, "He that despised Moses" Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much Sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God? R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord shall raise you up a prophet 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 hear 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 had commanded him: so did Christ. But though he was like Moses, yet he was infinitely superior to him, in person, as well as in office. Deut. xviii, 15.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

A final exhortation:

v. 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.

v. 23. And it shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people.

v. 24. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.

v. 25. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

v. 26. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning a way every one of you from his iniquities.

That Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah appointed to the Jews, and that the prophecies were fulfilled in Him, Peter brings out in the last part of his discourse. Moses had made a clear statement in one of his last prophecies to the Israelites in the wilderness, one that did not refer to a mere human prophet, but to One whose words would demand absolute obedience. Moses had spoken of this Prophet that was to come as being like unto himself. As Moses was the mediator between God and the people, both in conveying God’s messages to them and in standing between the dead and the living, so Jesus is the true Mediator between God and sinful mankind; as Moses was the deliverer of his people when he led them out of the house of Egypt’s bondage, so Jesus had delivered all men from the bondage of sin, death, and damnation. The Prophet, therefore, whom Moses had in mind can be no one else than Jesus Christ. This greatest Prophet of all the Jews must obey, as the prophecy of Moses demanded, Deu 18:15-19, in all His teaching to them. The penalty of disobedience, as Moses had said, was that it would be required of every such defiant person, usually by the sentence of death, Exo 12:15-19; Lev 17:4-9. Peter here gives a transcription and explanation of the words of Moses by saying that every soul that was guilty of willfully disobeying this great Prophet should be utterly destroyed from the people, should be punished with eternal condemnation. And Moses does not stand alone with his testimony, but his prophecy is seconded and corroborated by that of all the prophets of old, beginning with Samuel, as the founder of the schools of the prophets. As many as spoke prophecies made proclamation of these days, the days of Christ and the Messianic kingdom with all their promises of salvation. All the comfort of these prophecies and promises, as Peter finally assured his hearers, was intended for them, and should be a source of rejoicing to them. The Jews were proud of their descent and of their nation, and in a way they had reasons to be. For they were children of the prophets and of the covenant which God had set forth and established with their fathers. They were heirs, above all, of the promise which God made to Abraham, Gen 12:3; Gen 18:18; Gen 22:18, to Isaac, Gen 26:4, and to Jacob, Gen 28:14, in which He stated that all families, kindreds, generations, or peoples should be blessed in their Seed, in their great Descendant, Jesus of Nazareth. In Jesus Christ the blessing of full salvation, of complete redemption, has come to all people in the entire world, not only to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles. But the Jews had been granted the first opportunity of enjoying the blessings of the risen Lord, just as Jesus had spent the time of His ministry exclusively in their midst. God, having raised up His Child, His Son, from the dead, and thus sealed the acceptance of the redemption made by Him, sent Him to bless, to bring the blessings of this redemption to, the Jews, through the work of the apostles. All the blessings and benefits of the Savior would be transmitted to them in and by conversion, in this, that He turns everyone from his iniquities. That is the will of God with regard to every sinner, that he turn from all his evil ways and transgressions and accept the blessings of Christ and His atonement.

Summary.Peter heals a lame man at the gate of the Temple, whereupon the astonishment of the people gives him occasion to speak to them of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and His atonement.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

These words are recorded, Deu 18:15. and here by St. Peter pertinently applied unto Christ, to convince the unbelieving Jews, that he is the true and only Messiah, the great Prophet and Teacher of his church, whose doctrine it was highly dangerous to condemn, though out of the mouth of such contemptible persons as he and St. John appeared to be unto them.

Where note, 1. Christ, according to his prophetic office is largely described, and that three ways.

1. By his title, a prophet; one that by his office is to declare the whole will of God to man.

2. By his type, a prophet like unto Moses: one that went between God and the people as Moses did; carrying God’s mind to them, and returning their mind to God.

As Moses was faithful in the execution of his office, so was Christ.

As Moses confirmed his doctrine by miracles, so did Christ.

As Moses brought Israel out of literal Egypt, so Christ brings us out of spiritual Egypt, whereof the Egyptian bondage was a figure.

3. By his stock and original, from which according to the flesh he sprang; I will raise him up from among thy brethren. Christ honoured the nation of the Jews, and the tribe of Judah with his nativity. Thus this great prophet is described.

Note, 2. A strict injunction to hear and obey this great prophet; hear him only, hear him universally. The word (him) is to be understood exclusively, him and none but him; that is, in the same manner that we hear him; him for his own authority’s sake; his ministers for his sake, as speaking from him and in his name: And we must hear him universally, in all things; every command is to be obeyed, none to be disputed, be the duty commanded never so difficult, and the sin forbidden never so tempting.

Note, 3. A severe commination. The soul that will not hear shall be cut off; that is, God will severely revenge himself upon the stubborn and disobedient.

Learn hence, 1. That the Lord Jesus Christ is constituted and appointed by God to be the great prophet and teahcer of his church: he reveals the will of God perfectly, powerfully, persuasively, plainly, and infallibly.

Learn, 2. That it is the duty of all to hear and obey the voice of this great prophet, and this under the penalty of eternal destructionn: Every soul that will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. “Indeed Moses said that our Lord God will raise up unto you a prophet from your brethren like unto me; him you will hear as to all things so many as he may speak unto you.” This prophet is none other than Jesus. Moses is the brightest type of the Mediatorial Christ, himself the honored mediator of the old dispensation, symbolizing so potently our Lord in His glorious mediatorial office in the new dispensation.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22, 23. For the twofold purpose of giving confirmation to the claims of Jesus, and warning his hearers as to the consequences of rejecting him, the apostle next introduces a well-known prophesy of Moses. (22) " For Moses, indeed, said to the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up for you, from among your brethren, like me: him shall ye hear in all things, whatever he shall say to you. (23) And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. " Whether Peter was right in applying this prophesy to Christ depends upon the likeness between him and Moses. This likeness may be traced in many subordinate incidents of his history, but lies chiefly in that which distinguishes both Moses and Christ from all other prophets. Moses as a deliverer of his people, and an original lawgiver. No prophet had been like him in these two particulars. The chief mission of the other prophets, so far as their cotemporaries were concerned, was to enforce the law of Moses. But Christ had now come, speaking by his our authority, offering a more glorious deliverance to the people than that from Egypt, and issuing new laws for the government of men. This proved that he, and he alone, was the prophet spoken of by Moses, and Peter's hearers now perceive that the authority of Moses himself binds them to the authority of Jesus, and that they must hear him, on the penalty of destruction if they refuse.

24. Not content with bringing to bear the testimony of Moses, Peter adds to it the combined voices of all the prophets: (24) " And, indeed, all the prophets, from Samuel, and those following in order, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. " This declaration is to be understood only of those prophets whose predictions are recorded in the Old Testament, for to those alone could Peter appeal in proof of his proposition. It was conceded by the Jews, that all the prophets had spoken of the days of the Messiah, and it was already proved, by Peter's preceding remarks, that Jesus was the Messiah; hence the argument is now complete.

25, 26. Having completed his argument, in which the Messiahship of Jesus was demonstrated by the miraculous cure they had witnessed, and by the testimony of all the prophets, from Moses and Samuel down to Malachi, Peter next makes a powerful appeal to his hearers, based upon their veneration for the fathers of their nation, and for the covenant which God had made with them. (25) " You are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kingdoms of the earth be blessed. (26) Unto you first, God, having raised up his son Jesus, has sent him to bless you, in turning away each one of you from his iniquities. " This was a tender appeal to their national sympathies, made more effective by the statement that to them first because of their relation to the prophets and to Abraham, God had sent his risen Son to bless them, before visiting the rest of the world.

The use here made of the promise to Abraham shows the true interpretation of it. It is to be fulfilled, according to Peter, in turning living men away from their iniquities. Those only, therefore, who, under the influence of the gospel, turn away from their iniquities, can lay claim to the blessings contemplated in this promise. That all the kindreds of the earth were to be blessed does not affect this conclusion, except to extend its application to those of all nations who should, at any period of time, turn from their iniquities. The Universalian view of this promise is contradicted by all the apostolic comments upon it; for they all unite in denying the blessing to any but those who in this life believe and turn to the Lord.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up. See Deut. 18:15–19. Like me. In that he is the Mediator of the New Covenant as Moses was of the Old.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

22. Omit γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας with אABC. Vulg. ‘Moses quidem dixit.’

22. Μωϋσῆς μέν, Moses indeed said. Here the Apostle cites the prophecies to which he has been alluding. First from Deu 18:15 (though not quoting the LXX. quite exactly) 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 Ecc 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 (Exo 4:20), “And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an ass,” so of the latter: for it says (Zec 9:9), “He is lowly and riding upon an ass.” And while the former redeemer brought down manna, as it says (Exo 16:4), “Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you,” so the latter redeemer will bring down manna. For it says (Psa 72:16), “There shall be abundance of corn in the earth.” And as the former redeemer caused the well to spring up (see Num 21:17), so the latter redeemer shall also cause the waters to spring up. For it says (Joe 3:18), “A fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim.” ’

ὡς ἐμέ, like unto me. This is a rendering of the Hebrew כּ, and is very common in the LXX. Cf. Jdg 8:18 καὶ εἶπαν Ὡς σὺ ὤς αὐτοὶ, εἰς ὁμοίωμα υἱοῦ βασιλέως.

ἀκούσεσθε, 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.’

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22.] This citation is a free but faithful paraphrase of the text in Deut. See LXX.

That the words, as spoken by Moses, seem to point to the whole line of prophets sent by God, is not any objection to their being applied to Christ, but rather necessitates, and entirely harmonizes with, that application. See the parable Mat 21:33-41. And none of the whole prophetic body entirely answered to the ὡς ἐμέ, but Christ. The Jews therefore rightly understood it (though not always consistent in this, compare Joh 1:21 with 6:14) of the Messiah.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.