Search
Explanations
1. "i will raise up a prophet for them like you from among their brethren."
it is explicit that the prophet who would come must neither come from the children of israel nor from among themselves, but rather, would come from their brethren (from the descendants of ismael, pbuh).
2. " ...and i will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that i command him."
obviously, the prophet who would come could not speak by himself other than what he would be told to say. this process of putting the words in his mouth is for the listener to repeat or parrot the words exactly as he hears them from the speaker. in other words, someone echoes another's words (voices). this clearly indicates prophet muhammad (pbuh), god's words being revealed to him (through the agency of angel gabriel), had a unique and striking resemblance with another prophecy in the bible (isaiah 29:12): "or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say read this please, he will answer, i do not know how to read."
besides, this prophecy couldn't be attributed to prophet jesus (pbuh) because the bible says that "jesus grew in wisdom." whereupon, we read in the bible that as a young man, he used to argue among the pharisees and the teachers of the law.
3. "whoever will not give heed to my words which he shall speak in my name, i will require it of him."
this does not only point to a particular prophet, but also, describes specifically the kind of book (revelation) received by the prophet. that the words (commands) which the prophet would speak were conditioned as being "in the name of god". for one thing, no other book of revelation in the history of religion was written like that of the qur'an which is unique in itself because all the 114 chapters, except for one, are preceded by
"in the name of god, the beneficent, the merciful."
