Kommentar zu Dewarim 34:11

IN ALL THE SIGNS. This is connected with the [preceding] verse, And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel — in all the signs etc. Or the verse may be stating that the Eternal knew Moses face to face through the signs and wonders as they were all done with His Great Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton], just as he said, and He brought thee out with His Presence, with His great power.³¹⁹Above, 4:37.
Now, I have already explained³²⁰Ibid., 4:32 and 13:2. that signs are the matters about which Moses warned [the Egyptians] before they took place, such as, by tomorrow shall this sign be,³²¹Exodus 8:19. and the term is used for any phenomenon which the prophet forecasts saying, “Thus will it come and happen in the future.” Wonders imply a change in the natural order, such as the rod which was turned to a serpent.³²²Ibid., 7:15. Now, signs and wonders were also performed for the rest of the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha who brought about many wonders [why is then the special significance attached to the signs and wonders of Moses]! However, the distinction of those [signs and wonders] of Moses our teacher is explained by the Rabbis in the Midrash:³²³The source is unknown to me. “All the prophets wrought miracles through prayer, such as the [halting of the] sun for Joshua,³²⁴Scripture relates, Then ‘spoke’ Joshua to the Eternal etc. (Joshua 10:12), which R’dak interprets as “prayed.” and [the revival of] the Zarephathite woman’s son,³²⁵I Kings 17:21. and the withholding of the rain by Elijah,³²⁶Ibid., Verse 1. and the [revival of the] Shunammite woman’s son by Elisha.³²⁷II Kings 4:33. But Moses performed [signs and miracles] immediately [without prayer].” Yet this Midrash is not clear.
And the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] stated in Moreh Nebuchim³²⁸Guide of the Perplexed II, 35. that “the distinction of Moses our teacher was that he spoke [publicly] to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,³²⁹In Verse 11 before us. and in the sight of all Israel,³³⁰Verse 12. for they [his signs and wonders] were in full view of his opponents and his followers. The rest of the prophets, however, performed them [the signs and wonders] in the presence of a few individuals, as it is said, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha had done.”³³¹II Kings 8:4. This was said by the king of Israel to Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. The fact that the king was unaware of the prophet’s great things indicates that they were not performed publicly in the presence of friend and enemy. But this does not appear to me to be correct [for the following reasons]: The withholding of the rain by Elijah — both the cessation and the coming³³²I Kings 18:41-45. — were very much publicized. It [the cessation of rain] was by his [Elijah’s] decree [rather than through prayer] as it is said, As the Eternal, the G-d of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.³²⁶Ibid., Verse 1. And during its three year duration, the matter became very well known,³³³In his defense of Rambam’s theory, Ritba in his Sefer Hazikaron (see Preface to Ramban Vol. I, p. XI, Note 18) points out that the miracles performed by Moses were done in presence of all people, or a multitude of them, whereas those done by other prophets were performed only in presence of a few people. Thus Elijah’s oath about the cessation of rain was given in the presence of King Ahab, and through him, it became known to others. and heard among the nations for it is written, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord [Ahab] hath not sent to seek thee etc.³³⁴Ibid., 18:10. And the climax of the affair occurred publicly in the presence of his opponents and his followers at one assembly, as it is written, Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty etc.³³⁵Ibid., Verse 19. So, too, the halting of the sun for Joshua was certainly in view of all Israel,³³⁶Although in the case of Joshua Scripture states only that the miracle was done ‘before’ the children of Israel (Joshua 10:12) and it does not specify “in the sight of ‘all’ Israel” as in the case of Moses — nevertheless Ramban points out that the very nature of the miracle dictates that it occurred “in view of all Israel,” etc. and all the kings of Canaan saw it — those who fought against him [on that day] as well as the remaining ones. Our Rabbis also mention that people saw it from one end of the earth to the other.³³⁷Abodah Zarah 25a. Scripture also lauds it exceedingly, saying, And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Eternal hearkened to the voice of a man.³³⁸Joshua 10:14. The splitting of the Jordan, like the splitting of the Red Sea, was not done for individuals, but for all Israel, and furthermore it is written, And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard that the Eternal had dried up the waters of the Jordan.³³⁹Ibid., 5:1.
But in line with the simple meaning of Scripture it is all tied and connected [with the preceding verse, And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses etc.], Scripture stating that no prophet has ever appeared in Israel like Moses whom the Eternal knew face to face and to perform signs and wonders with a mighty hand and great terror like Moses. If they brought about some of them [the signs and the wonders], they did not approach the number or great distinction of those [performed by Moses], for there was never a day like Sinai, before it or after it. So, also, the signs of the prophets did not extend for as long a period as did those of Moses, peace be upon him — for the sign of the manna continued steadily for forty years,³⁴⁰Exodus 16:38. as did the pillar of fire and the cloud,³⁴¹Ibid., 13:21. and, in the opinion of our Rabbis, so did the well,³⁴²Taanith 9a. See Ramban to Numbers 21:18 (Vol. IV, p. 239). and the quail.³⁴³Yoma 75b. And their walking through the great and dreadful wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water,³⁴⁴Above, 8:15. and yet they lacked nothing.³⁴⁵See ibid., 2:7.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse is stating that the signs and wonders of Moses were done face to face, as I have explained.³⁴⁶Numbers 24:1.

לכל האותות, the occasion when Moses experienced this type of communication from G’d described as פנים אל פנים occurred when he was called upon to perform the many supernatural miracles in Egypt. Clearly, his experience at the burning bush had not been of that calibre. Otherwise, why would the Torah have told us that he was afraid to look at the spectacle? (Exodus 3,6) This had been the very opposite of what G’d told Miriam and Aaron about his quality of prophecy in Numbers 12,8 i.e. that Moses can look without hesitation at visual images G’d shows him.

לכל האותות, “as evident by all the miracles, etc.” According to Nachmanides verses 10 and 11 have to be understood as sequential, i.e. there had never arisen another prophet who performed so many miracle, etc.” Alternately, the words לכל האותות refer back to the words אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, meaning that there had never been another prophet who performed so many miracles in the name of Hashem and that the people all heard about. The fact is that we know about many other prophets performing אותות and מופתים, different categories of miracles; to mention only the many miracles performed by the prophet Elijah. The main difference between the miracles performed by Moses and those performed by other prophets, has been defined by the Midrash as being that all the other prophets were not able to perform their miracles without first having prayed to Hashem to enable them to perform whatever miracle they wanted to perform. A case in point is the occasion when Joshua arrested the orbit of the moon and the sun in order to successfully complete the pursuit of the defeated Canaanites. (Joshua 10,12) The same was true of Elijah’s encounter with the woman from Tzorfat, his decreeing the absence of rainfall, or Elisha’s reviving the son of the Shunamit. Moses, on the other hand –according to that Midrash- performed the miracles ביד ה'. This wording is obscure. Maimonides (Moreh Nevuchim 2,35) explains that a major difference between Moses’ kind of prophecy, including his performing miracles to establish his authenticity as prophet, or G’d’s authenticity as the Creator and controller of nature, was, that whatever he did was designed to silence all those who had doubted his veracity, and to do so in full view of all the Israelites. Other prophets performed miracles for individuals, or in the case of Elijah at Mount Carmel before a select audience. Nachmanides rejects this definition by Maimonides, as how can one describe the arrest of rainfall over a period of three years, something Elijah had decreed, as a miracle performed for the benefit of individuals? (Compare Kings I 17,1) Besides, Joshua’s plea to arrest the sun’s orbit was made in front of the whole Jewish nation. [In his notes on his commentary on Nachmanides, Rabbi Chavell quotes a Rit’va who points out that Maimonides’ wording referred to the immediacy of Moses’ miracles coming true, whereas absence of rainfall to be interpreted as proof of something decreed by a prophet takes months or years to impress the parties concerned as due to the prophet who decreed it his holding the key to rainfall. Besides, both the miracle of the sun’s orbit being temporarily halted, and the rainfall being halted were not performed for an audience who disputed the prophet’s power or ability, as did the Egyptians to whom Moses had to prove himself and his G’d over and over again. Ed.] According to tradition, the splitting of the sea was witnessed in the respective waterways throughout the world. According to the plain meaning of the text, all these words describing Moses’ activities as a prophet and miracle worker are directly connected to what is written in verse 10, i.e. ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל וגו', that there never arose another prophet in Israel comparable to Moses. We must look at Moses’ career as a whole, including the revelation at Mount Sinai, his repeated lengthy stay on that Mountain without food or drink as we understand the term, and the period of 40 years during which he led the people without a visible sign of aging, etc. Not only that, but some of his miracles continued as such for the entire forty years, such as the manna, the heavenly bread, for instance. All of this made him incomparable throughout history up until now.

לכל האותות as evident by all the signs, etc. This verse is part of the previous verse in which the relationship between Moses and G'd is described as one where they talked to each other face to face. The reason this was so was to enable Moses to perform all the miracles he had performed. In other words, G'd had informed Moses face to face when instructing him to perform the miracles.

We may also understand these words in light of what Maimonides wrote in chapter 10,1 of his Hilchot Yesodey HaTorah that when a prophet arises in Israel there is no need for him to legitimise himself through the performance of miracles such as the ones performed by Moses in which the laws of nature were changed. It suffices if he correctly predicts events which will take place in the future. You will find that the Torah wrote something reflecting the people's belief in Moses as a prophet on two separate occasions. One occasion is in Exodus 14,31 where the Torah reports that "the people believed in G'd and in Moses His servant." The second occasion is Exodus 19,9 where G'd promised Moses that the people would have faith in him on an ongoing basis.

Please refer to what I have written on Exodus 20,16 in connection with the words: "speak with us and we will listen." I explained there that the meaning is that the Israelites expressed their willingness to accept whatever Moses would tell them in G'd's name. This proves that they had previously accepted him as a prophet.

This is why the Torah writes here that no prophet like Moses arose again amongst the Israelites, i.e. no other prophet enjoyed the complete trust of the people as had Moses. ולכל היד החזקה. These words refer to the miracles of splitting the sea of reeds, which was one of the miracles that caused the people to believe in Moses; the words ולכל המוראה הגדול refer to the revelation at Mount Sinai and Moses' share in it. At that time the people realised there would never be another prophet who would be able to do this.

The Torah concludes with the words לעיני כל ישראל, before the eyes of the whole nation of Israel. This means these people all were eye witnesses to the miracles performed by Moses. They did not have to rely on reports by other later prophets who would tell them about this. They knew that Moses the prophet of G'd was true, that his Torah was true, and that the living G'd was a true fact.