Exodus 33:11

Hebrew Bible

9 And whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people, each one at the entrance of his own tent, would rise and worship. 11 The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, the way a person speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant, Joshua son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the tent. 12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have been saying to me, ‘Bring this people up,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. But you said, ‘I know you by name, and also you have found favor in my sight.’ 13 Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your way, that I may know you, that I may continue to find favor in your sight. And see that this nation is your people.”

Deuteronomy 34:10

Hebrew Bible

8 The Israelites mourned for Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of mourning for Moses ended. 9 Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had placed his hands on him; and the Israelites listened to him and did just what the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face. 11 He did all the signs and wonders the Lord had sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, all his servants, and the whole land, 12 and he displayed great power and awesome might in view of all Israel.

 Notes and References

"... The prophetic role of Moses is underscored in all of these traditions, from the language chosen in the judiciary tradition to depict Moses inquiring of God to the explicit use of the word “prophet” in Numbers 11:29, 12:6, and Deuteronomy 34:10. Yet assigning Moses the unqualified title “prophet” undercuts the way Numbers 12:6– 8 privileges Moses’s prophetic office, calling it one of a kind. Other prophets, it is said, receive divine communication mediated through dreams and visions (Numbers 12:6). Such mediation is implied in two of the key terms for “seers” used throughout the Hebrew Bible’s prophetic corpus. In contrast, Moses’ prophetic office is one mediated by direct auditory communication with the divine. Visions and dreams require interpretation, unlike direct speech from God. Here the auditory clearly trumps the visual. And yet Moses receives direct visual communication too, as he sees God’s “form” directly rather than in the mediated dreamlike visions of lesser prophets. Levine speaks of Moses as being “the sole person with oracular access to God ... There is nothing intervening between God and Moses in the transmission of God’s voice.” For Levine, phenomenologically, the Tent of Meeting in Exodus 33:7-11 is “an oraculum.” Were one to blend in the tradition of Numbers 12:8, one would conclude that even this oraculum is like no other, for Moses sees as well as hears the divine. Adding in the even later tradition of Deuteronomy 34:10 provides a “knowing” intimacy that is unparalleled ..."

Lewis, Theodore J. The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity (pp. 562-563) Oxford University Press, 2020

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