The verse describes Moses as a man of God. The Sages provide several explanations for this term, which expresses different aspects of Moses’ personality.

“This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel with” (Deuteronomy 33:1). Rabbi Tanhuma said: If God, why is he called man; if man, why is he called God? This teaches that at the moment when Moses was cast into the Nile in Egypt, he was vulnerable like a mere man, and at the moment that the Nile was transformed into blood with his staff, he was powerful like God. Alternatively: When he fled from Pharaoh he was like a man, and when he drowned Pharaoh and the Egyptians with his staff, he was like God. Alternatively: When he ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, he was like a man. And what is meant by his being like a man? Relative to the angels, who are all fire. And when he descended from Mount Sinai he was like God. From where is it derived? As it is written concerning the Israelites: “They feared to approach him” (Exodus 34:30). Alternatively: When he ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, he was like an angel of God; just as the angels do not eat and drink, so too, he did not eat and drink. (Devarim Rabba 11)