Session 5 – Did Moses Write?
In this session we will look at one of the
most questioned beliefs in Conservative
Christianity, that Moses authored the first
five books of the Old Testament
The following sources were used (among
others) for this PowerPoint
http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2010/09/24/thedocumentary-hypothesis.aspx#Article
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/moses.html
As Christians we were all
taught that Moses wrote the
first five books of the Old
Testament (Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy)
This view has come under heavy fire in
recent days, and outside of conservative
evangelical circles, the view is that Moses
did not write those books
The Documentary Hypothesis
The dominating view in the minds of secular
historians (and many Christians now today)
is what’s known as the Documentary
Hypothesis (or J.E.P.D. theory, or GrafWellhausen theory)
This theory says that the first five books of
the Old Testament were written long after
the life of Moses, and were compiled into
what we have today even later than that
It proposes that these writings can be split
into atleast four different groups (associated
with certain times) and were meshed
together around the time of Ezra and
Nehemiah into what we have today
According to this view, the letter "J" stands
for the Yahwist ("J" from the German
Jahweh) narrative, coming from the period
of the early Jewish monarchy, about 950 B.C.
(around 500 years after Moses)
"E" stands for the Elohist narrative from the
region of the Northern Kingdom dating from
about 750 B.C.
"D" is best represented by the book of
Deuteronomy and is said to have originated
in the Southern Kingdom of Israel around 650
B.C. or later.
"P" is the priestly document that comes from
the period after the fall of Israel in 587 B.C.
It wasn’t until recently (in the grand scale of
things) that people started questioning
Moses as the author
Jewish Historians, the Bible itself, and the
early church seemed solid on the idea that
Moses was the author
People understood though that there were a
few difficulties, like the death of Moses
being recorded in Deuteronomy, how does
that work if he wrote the book?
Origins of the theory
Ibn Ezra was a Jewish rabbi in the 12th
Century, who (we think) believed Moses was
the author of the Pentateuch, but noticed a
few phrases that confused him when looking
at parts of Genesis
About five centuries later, Jewish
philosopher Baruch Spinoza picked up on Ibn
Ezra’ work and argued that Ezra rejected
Mosaic authorship (debated at the time)
Spinoza was later excommunicated from the
Jewish Community (and denounced by
Christians) for his pantheistic beliefs
More attacks on Mosaic authorship came
later on in France after Jean Astruc
published his book on the topic in 1753
Astruc was on the side of Mosaic authorship,
but his work was used to support the attacks
on Mosaic author
Astruc questioned, like others had, how
Moses knew what happened prior to his life
How did he have that information for the
book of Genesis, creation, flood, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, etc.
He noticed that Elohim was the name for
God in Genesis 1:1-2:3, but then the text
switches after that and uses the name
Yahweh (Jehovah) in chapter 2
Astruc claimed these name changes shows
that Moses was using multiple sources
when he was compiling Genesis
Astruc thought that Genesis 1:1–2:3 was one
creation account and Genesis 2:4–24 was a
different creation account.
Because of that we have Elohim and
Jehovah sections (or E and J documents)
originate at that time
Johann Eichhorn took the next step by
applying the ideas of Astruc to the
whole book of Genesis
At first, in his 1780 Introduction to the Old
Testament, Eichhorn proposed that Moses
copied previous texts, in later editions he
decided that J-E division can be applied to
the entire Pentateuch, which he said was
written after the time of Moses
It didn’t end there
In 1802, Johann Vater said that Genesis was
compiled from 39 (or more) fragments
In 1805, Wilhelm De Wette said that
nothing in the Pentateuch was written
before the time of King David and that
Deuteronomy was written around the time
of King Josiah (Hence the D document)
Later on it was proposed Leviticus and some
other portions were work of Jewish priests
(hence the P-Document)
The most popular view held today was
originated by Julius Wellhausen which was
proposed in 1895
He not only had the four sources (J. E. P. D.)
but put dates to them
Gleason Archer said, "Although Wellhausen
contributed no innovations to speak of, he
restated the documentary theory with great
skill and persuasiveness, supporting the JEDP
sequence upon an evolutionary basis."
Here’s an example where they really break
down the text in Genesis
Oswald T. Allis breaks down the beginning of
Genesis in his book this way:
J
5:29
P
5:1-28
Text of Genesis
v. 28, "And Lamech lived one hundred and eightytwo years, and became the father of a son."
v. 29, "Now he called his name Noah, saying, 'This
one shall give us rest from our work and from the
toil of our hands arising from the ground which the
Lord has cursed.'"
5:30-32 v. 30, "Then Lamech lived five hundred and ninetyfive years after he became the father of Noah, and
he had other sons and daughters."
6:1-8
6:9-22
7:1-5
7:6
7:7-10
7:11
v. 5, "And Noah did according to all
that the Lord had commanded him."
v. 6, "Now Noah was six hundred
years old when the flood of water
came upon the earth."
v. 7, "Then Noah and his sons and his
wife and his sons' wives with him
entered the ark because of the water
of the flood."
v. 11, "In the six hundredth year of
Noah's life, in the second month, on
the seventeenth day of the month,
on the same day all the fountains of
the great deep burst open, and the
floodgates of the sky were opened."
The theory does not do this detailed of
cutting to the entire five books
But Genesis 1-7 is cut into these tiny pieces
that are then attributed to different authors
(sometimes sentences are cut in half and
attributed to different people)
What is the evidence for the documentary
hypothesis? Why do so many people believe
that Moses did not write?
Foundational Assumptions to the Theory
1. An evolutionary, unilinear approach to
Israelite history
2. The possibility of dividing the Pentateuchal
texts on the basis of stylistic criteria
3. A simple joining or fusing (conflation) of
documents by redactors
4. Easily determine the purposes and methods
behind the documents and redactions:
In reference to this last point, Duane A.
Garrett explains: “The early framers of the
Documentary Hypothesis thought they
could deduce the purposes and methods
of the redactors, despite the fact that
enormous cultural differences existed
between the scholars who studied Genesis
and the men who wrote it. More than that,
scholars came to have strange perceptions
of the writers of the documents over
against the redactors.
In particular, it was assumed that each writer
aimed to produce a single, continuous
history but would tolerate no inconsistency,
repetition, or narrative digressions. The
redactors, on the other hand, were said to
be utterly oblivious to every kind of
contradiction and repetition.”
These four points were (and are still today)
foundational to the development of the
documentary hypothesis
The evidence offered
1. Text using different names for God
As mentioned earlier, in the beginning of
Genesis, some text use Elohim for God’s
name while others use YHWH
Rebuttal: This standard is not consistent.
Genesis 22:11, an E text, uses the
name Yahweh (when it should only be using
the name Elohim for God)
In Genesis 2-4 (J source) we see the names
YHWH and Elohim used together
Genesis 2:4: “These are the generations of
the heavens and the earth when they were
created, in the day that the LORD
(YHWH) God (Elohim) made the earth
and the heavens.”
Outside Genesis, M.H. Segal notes that those
names for God are used interchangeably in
texts that cannot have different athors
The idea that the writers of E and P texts
avoided using the name YHWH until the time
of Moses in their writings is unnecessary
There would be no reason why they couldn’t
use the name unless they were quoting a
patriarch who wouldn’t have used that name
There are several reasons why Moses may
have used these different names for God in
different verses
The different names describe different
attributes of God
According to some theologians, Elohim is
used to refer to God as a universal God, over
all creation (Example: Genesis 1)
While YHWH speaks more to God as a
covenant savior
Moses may also use it for variety, while
others think he interchanges them
unconsciously as he is writing
2. Genesis contains some duplicate stories
and repetitions
One example would be Genesis 12:10–20
(Abraham goes to Pharaohs house) and
20:1–18 (he goes to Abimelech’s house)
Many readers today would see these two
stories as being the same story, with a few
differences which can be attributed to the
story being handed down in different
communities over time (it changes a little)
Rebuttal: The idea that similar stories or
structures in telling stories means different
authors is a modern perception
Duane A. Garrett: “In an ancient text, there
is no stronger indication that only a single
document is present than parallel accounts.
Doublets, that is, two separate stories that
closely parallel one another, are the very
stuff of ancient narrative. They are what the
discriminating audience sought in a story.”
This type of repetition, or similar accounts is
common in ancient Near Eastern literature
The Bible uses this method quite often
In Genesis 24, the Bible tells us how
Abraham’s servant prayed for guidance and
then meets the future wife of Isaac at a well
(Gen 24:12–27). It then gives the servant’s
account of all this to Laban, but it quotes
almost verbatim the previous material
In the New Testament book of Acts a have
three complete accounts of Paul’s vision on
the way to Damascus (9:1–19; 22:3–16;
26:9–18).
At the time Moses was writing, if you had
two accounts similar to each other, it was
normal to give them in the same format
In the Book of Kings, it summarizes the
reigns of each king of Israel and Judah, and
tends to employ a number of formulas.
Often times when we have repetitious
accounts in the Bible, the second account
goes on to explain things in more detail
Some point to the example of Genesis 1:1
compared to the rest of chapter 1
Another example would be the creation
events on day six (Genesis 1:24-31) and then
given in more detail in Genesis 2:4-24
It’s not evidence for different authors
3. The different styles in writing
Rebuttal: It’s not hard to explain the
different writing styles when they do appear,
and it’s important to note that even within
the different J. E. P. D. documents, different
styles exist
Moses did not sit down and write the whole
thing at once, he wrote at different times for
different reasons, and the writing style of an
individual can develop over time
A detailed linguistic study was done by
Radday and Haim, in their book “Genesis: An
Authorship Study” They concluded:
“All these reservations notwithstanding, and
with all due respect to the illustrious
Documentarians past and present, there
is massive evidence that the pre-Biblical
triplicity [i.e., of J, E, and P] of Genesis,
which their line of thought postulates to
have been worked over by a late and gifted
editor into a trinity, is actually a unity”
Other “evidences” do exist for the theory,
but we only have time to deal with the most
popular ones you’ll see
One more question that needs answering if
Moses is the author
Deuteronomy 34:4-6: “And the LORD said to
him, “This is the land of which I swore to
Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it
to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with
your eyes, but you shall not go over there…
So Moses the servant of the LORD died there
in the land of Moab, according to the word of
the LORD, 6 and he buried him in the valley in
the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no
one knows the place of his burial to this day.”
Who’s writing this? It can’t be Moses
One explanation is that the division in
chapters is off here, and that originally
chapter 34 of Deuteronomy was the first
Chapter of Joshua (the following book)
Another view says that it’s where it’s
supposed to be in the book of Deuteronomy,
and just because someone wrote the end to
the life of Moses doesn’t mean the previous
33 chapters were written by someone else
It’s not uncommon for the death of a writer
to be recorded by someone else at the end
of his work
The most popular view would be that Joshua
was the one who recorded his death
What does the Bible say about all this?
The Old Testament attributes the writings to
Moses in multiple places
Bear with me, we want to make a point here
and will read quite a few verses
Exodus 17:14: “Then the LORD said to Moses,
"Write this for a memorial in the book and
recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will
utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven."
Numbers 33:2: “Now Moses wrote down the
starting points of their journeys at the
command of the LORD. And these are their
journeys according to their starting points:”
Joshua 8:31: “As Moses the servant of
the LORD had commanded the children of Israel,
as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses:
"an altar of whole stones over which no man
has wielded an iron tool." And they offered on
it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed
peace offerings. ”(see Exodus 20:24–25)
Joshua 23:6: “Therefore be very courageous
to keep and to do all that is written in the
Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn
aside from it to the right hand or to the left.”
1 Kings 2:3: “And keep the charge of
the LORD your God: to walk in His ways, to
keep His statutes, His commandments, His
judgments, and His testimonies, as it is
written in the Law of Moses, that you
may prosper in all that you do and
wherever you turn.”
Daniel 9:11: “Yes, all Israel has transgressed
Your law, and has departed so as not to obey
Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath
written in the Law of Moses the servant of
God have been poured out on us, because
we have sinned against Him.”
See also: Joshua 1:7–8, 2 Kings 14:6,
1 Chronicles 22:13, Ezra 6:18, Nehemiah
13:1, Malachi 4:4
That’s just the OT passages
The Old Testament attributes the writings to
Moses in multiple places
Mark 12:26: “But concerning the dead, that
they rise, have you not read in the book of
Moses, in the burning bush passage, how
God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob"? (see Exodus 3:6)
John 5:46: “For if you believed Moses, you
would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.”
Luke 24:27: “And beginning at Moses
and all the Prophets, He expounded to
them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.”
Acts 3:22: “For Moses truly said to the
fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for
you a Prophet like me from your brethren.
Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He
says to you.” (see Deuteronomy 18:15)
Romans 10:5: “For Moses writes about the
righteousness which is of the law, "The man
who does those things shall live by
them." (see Leviticus 18:1–5)
Romans 10:19: “But I say, did Israel not
know? First Moses says: "I will provoke you
to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I
will move you to anger by a foolish
nation." (see Deuteronomy 32:21)
2 Cor 3:15: “But even to this day, when
Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.”
See also: Matthew 8:4, Luke 16:29, Luke
24:44, John 7:22, Acts 15:1, Acts 28:23,
1 Corinthians 9:9
The witness of scripture is rather
overwhelming that Moses wrote those
books in the Bible, if you believe in Biblical
inerrancy, it’s not that hard to figure out
There is no good reason to reject Moses as
the author of these five books
The Biblical witness is clear that Moses is the
author, nothing in history goes against that
As Gleason Archer states, "For want of a
better theory . . . most non-conservative
institutions continue to teach the
Wellhausian theory, at least in its general
outlines, as if nothing had happened in Old
Testament scholarship since the year 1880."
Memory Verse
John 5:46: “For if you believed Moses,
you would believe Me; for he wrote
about Me.”