Deuteronomy 34:5
Deuteronomy 34:55So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, as the LORD had said.
— "Then Moses the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab" — is frequently cited by JWs to establish that Moses is dead, unconscious, and awaiting resurrection. Together with ("the dead know nothing") and the soul-sleep framework, it underwrites the claim that the transfiguration () was a "vision only," not a real appearance of conscious dead people.
The verse is exactly the fact it says — Moses died. That fact is what makes the transfiguration decisive. establishes the death; establishes the later appearance: "and look! there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, conversing with him." adds the content of that conversation — "his departure that he was destined to fulfil at Jerusalem." Moses is speaking about future events, in dialogue with Jesus, centuries after . If the dead are unconscious, Moses has nothing to say. Yet he spoke — and the "vision only" reply does not escape the force. 's Greek horama (vision) in biblical usage depicts real heavenly realities: Stephen's vision of the risen Christ standing at God's right hand () was not an illusion; Jesus was really there. If the transfiguration was a vision, it was a vision of something real: Moses alive and conscious. Elijah is the control case — he never died (2 Kings 2) — so his appearance is expected. Moses's appearance carries the argumentative weight.