Moses is typically depicted in modern scholarship as a prophet. There is reason for that, but in his monograph on Royal Motifs in the Pentateuchal Portrayal of Moses, Danny Mathews argues that the Pentateuch surrounds Moses with various royal symbolisms as well. 

He points to Deuteronomy 33:4-5, “Moses charged us with the Torah. . . . Thus he became king in Jeshurun,” and argues that the natural antecedent of “he became king” is Moses. From that starting point, he examines eight royal motifs in detai—Moses' birth, his flight from Pharaoh, his commissioning by Yahweh, his public emergence as leader, his exaltation along with Yahweh, his role as law-giver, his leadership of the building of the tabernacle, and the account of his death. On each of these, Mathews points to both internal biblical and extra-biblical evidence (e.g., accounts of the lives of Hammurabi, Esarhaddon, Cyrus, and other ancient kings) to demonstrate that these motifs form a portrayal of royalty.

It is a convincing argument. As Mathews realizes, royal and prophetic motifs need not be set in opposition. But he has uncovered an important and neglected thread of the Pentateuch.

I found a number of specific arguments especially illuminating. He notes, for instance, regular parallels between Moses and Joseph. Joseph, Moses, and David are specifically named as “shepherds” in the Old Testament (the only others are Abel and perhaps Amos). Mathews compares Genesis 37:12-14 with Exodus 3:1, 4, and 10. He observes, “Jacob's summoning and sending of Joseph sets in motion a chain of events that results in the abandonment of Joseph in the well and his subsequent royal exaltation among the Egyptians and his family in Egypt. In a similar way, the commissioning and sending of Moses also results in the exaltation of Moses in the sight of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians” (53-54). The fact that Yahweh is also a Shepherd of Israel points to one dimension of the Lord's designation of Moses as a “God” to Pharaoh” (54).

Mathews's discussion of Moses striking the Egyptian is very insightful. Modern interpretations get stuck on the morality of Moses' action, but Mathews observes that Exodus 2 hangs together as a passage about Moses' identity (98):

A. Born into a priestly family, 2:1-2

B. Recognized as a Hebrew by Pharaoh's daughter, 2:6

C. Is Moses ruler or judge? 2:14

B'. Recognized as Egyptian by Jethro's daughters, 2:19

A'. Marries into a Midianite priestly family, 2:19-22

Moses is a Hebrew among the Egyptians, and an Egyptian among the Midianites. (It is striking to recognize that the early life of Moses culminates with his marriage to a non-Israelite. It's a lovely Pauline narrative: Before the law, Moses is covenanting with Gentiles.)

In this context, the striking of the Egyptian identifies Moses in several ways. It links him with Yahweh, who, like Moses, “sees” the affliction of Israel in Egypt and “strikes” Egypt (95). The episode also “resolves the identity of Moses and the issue of where his loyalties lie. Although he is a member of an Egyptian court, his Hebrew identity . . . means that Moses is squarely on the side of the Hebrews in their oppression. Moses' action of rescuing his Hebrew ‘brother' by killing the Egyptian and attempting the next day to arbitrate an ostensible internal legal dispute” indicates that he is what the Hebrew says he is, not only “judge” but “ruler” in Israel (96). Moses' rescue of Jethro's daughters at the well has a similar role in the story—especially as the story begins with Moses “sitting” (enthroned) at the well, and the rising up to strike the shepherds who abuse the women (99).

Finally, Mathews's royal angle on the life of Moses provides a satisfying interpretation of Moses' role in interceding for Israel after the golden calf. He argues that Moses plays the role of king, making a covenant with Yahweh on behalf of Israel: “Based on the favored status between Moses and the Lord as ‘friends,' Moses becomes the sole party of the covenant and is the one who will be in Israel's midst. The partner of the covenant is left ambiguous in [34:10], but the Lord makes it clear in v. 27 that the covenant is established primarily with Moses and, by extension, with Israel” (121). Perhaps we could even say that when Moses takes on this representative role, he enters into his kingship. This interpretation makes a strong link to the Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7), under which the Davidic king plays precisely this Mosaic role, as the individual in whom the covenant with Israel is made.