Muhammad & The Prophet Like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) - Part 1
​Overview
According to the Quran (7:156-157), prophecies about Muhammad can be found in both the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. However, the Quran does not cite specific Bible passages to support this claim, which leaves Muslims having to speculate and search for these references to Muhammad for themselves. Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy (18:15-19), about a prophet who will be like Moses and will come after him, is commonly cited by Muslims as pointing to Muhammad.
​In Deuteronomy 18:15-19, God speaks to the nation of Israel about the coming of a prophet who will resemble Moses. God states that this individual will emerge from “their brethren”, meaning that he will be an Israelite who will arise from within the nation or community of Israel. According to Muslims, Muhammad was a descendant of Ishmael, which means that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 cannot be applied to Muhammad due to his non-Israelite lineage.
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The error that Muslims make is to assume that the word “brethren” refers to non-Israelite communities that are closely connected with Israel through family ties. This would include groups like the Ishmaelites, for instance, who also derive their ancestry from Abraham and who were a neighbouring community to Israel. However, a contextual reading of Deuteronomy 18:15-19 as well as considerations from the Gospel of John, show that the word “brethren” refers to Israelites rather than non-Israelites.
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Deuteronomy
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In Deuteronomy 18:1-2, the word “brethren” is used to refer to the community of Israel. When speaking to the Levites about their inheritance among the Israelites, God specifies that the Levites as the appointed priests of Israel will not be given a land inheritance among “their brethren”. Rather, the Levites will be sustained by the gifts offered in sacrifice to the Lord. The Lord Himself will therefore be the inheritance of the Levites as the Levites receive from the Lord part of the sacrificial offerings made by the nation of Israel.
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(1) The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. (2) Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. (Deuteronomy 18:1-2 - KJV)
Deuteronomy 17:14-15 also uses the word “brethren” to refer to the community of Israel. After entering the promised land, God foretells that the Israelites will request to be governed by an earthly king. As a precaution, God warns that whoever is selected as a king must be from “thy brethren” and must not be “a stranger” or non-Israelite.
(14) When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; (15) Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. (Deuteronomy 17:14-15 - KJV)
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It is significant that when God appointed a king to rule over Israel, God selected an Israelite named Saul from the tribe of Benjamine. God therefore interpreted Deuteronomy 17:14-15, and by implication the phrase "thy brethren", as referring to an Israelite.
Both Deuteronomy 17:14-15 and 18:1-2 consequently show that the word “brethren” is used to describe the community or nation of Israel. In Deuteronomy 17:14-15 the Israelites are instructed to select a king from within their Israelite community and in Deuteronomy 18:1-2 the Levites are told that their inheritance among the Israelites will be received from the sacrifices made to the Lord. Deuteronomy 18:15 also specifies that the prophet like Moses will come “from the midst of thee, of thy brethren", meaning from within the community of Israel.
The language of brethren or brothers to describe the nation of Israel fits well when it is remembered that the Israelites derive their lineage from twelve brothers and are therefore a community of brothers to one another, and this language is further strengthened when only one tribe within Israel is being addressed (such as the Levites in Deuteronomy 18). The context of Deuteronomy thus shows that the prophet like Moses will be an Israelite like Moses, which necessarily excludes Muhammad from candidacy.
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The Gospel of John
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The Israelites during the lifetime of Jesus also believed that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 would be fulfilled by an Israelite. The following are three examples from the Gospel of John.
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First, when the Jewish Religious Leaders sent a delegation to John the Baptist to inquire about his identity and ministry, they asked John whether he was the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (John 1:19-28). John stated that he was not, but the fact that the Jewish Religious Leaders posed this question to John is revealing. It shows that they were expecting Deuteronomy 18:15-19 to be fulfilled by an Israelite, hence their willingness to entertain John as a potential candidate.
Second, after Jesus miraculously fed a Jewish crowd of five thousand by multiplying a small amount of bread and fish, a miracle that the crowd perceived as similar to Moses miraculously feeding the Israelites in the desert through the provision of manna, the crowd began to express their belief that Jesus must be the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (John 6:1-15). Again, the opinion of the crowd reveals their expectation that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 will be fulfilled by an Israelite ministering within the community of Israel.
Third, while teaching in Jerusalem at a Jewish religious festival, some of the Jews who heard Jesus were persuaded that Jesus must be the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (John 7:37-43). Their understanding of Jesus again stresses their belief that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 will be fulfilled by an Israelite living and ministering among Israelites.
The Gospel of John therefore highlights the widespread belief among the Jews that an Israelite was being referred to in Deuteronomy 18:15-19. This is clear from the fact that the Jews during Jesus’ lifetime were looking inward and to their community for the fulfilment of Deuteronomy 18:15-19. As such, both the context of Deuteronomy 18 and Jewish expectations expressed in the Gospel of John, show that the prophet like Moses will be an Israelite like Moses. This means that Deuteronomy 18:15-19 cannot be applied to Muhammad if Muslims are correct about Muhammad’s non-Israelite and Ishmaelite lineage.
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Bible & Quran Passages
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Deuteronomy 18:15-19 (KJV)
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(15) The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
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(16) According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
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(17) And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.
(18) I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
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(19) And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.​
John 1:19-28 (NIV)
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(19) Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. (20) He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
(21) They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
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He answered, “No.”
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(22) Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
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(23) John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
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(24) Now the Pharisees who had been sent (25) questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
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(26) “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. (27) He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
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(28) This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John 6:1-15 (NIV)
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(1) Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), (2) and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. (3) Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. (4) The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
(5) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (6) He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
(7) Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
(8) Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, (9) “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
(10) Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). (11) Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
(12) When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” (13) So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
(14) After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” (15) Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
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John 7:37-43 (NIV)
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(37) On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. (38) Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (39) By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
(40) On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
(41) Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? (42) Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” (43) Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
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The Quran 7:156-157 (Abdul Haleem)
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(156) ... God said, “I bring My punishment on whoever I will, but My mercy encompasses all things. I shall ordain My mercy for those who are conscious of God and pay the prescribed alms; who believe in Our Revelations; (157) who follow the Messenger - the unlettered prophet they find described in the Torah that is with them, and in the Gospel - who commands them to do right and forbids them to do wrong, who makes good things lawful to them and bad things unlawful, and relieves them of their burdens, and the iron collars that were on them. So it is those who believe him, honour and help him, and who follow the light which has been sent down with him, who will succeed.”
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