In all the poems (except Exodus 15), the main character (i.e., Jacob, Balaam, Moses) indicates that the fulfilment of these passages will take place in “days to come/the latter days” (Genesis 49:1 Numbers 24:14 Deuteronomy 31:29, cf. These poems carry the main theme of the narrative. The final book of the Torah also concludes with a poem (Deuteronomy 32–33) and is completed with an epilogue (Deuteronomy 34). This pattern continues throughout the Torah with the exodus and Sinai-wilderness narratives concluding with poetic sections (Exodus 15 Numbers 23–24). For example, the Torah begins with a narrative (Genesis 1–48), which is followed by a poetic section (Genesis 49) and ends with an epilogue (Genesis 50). Rather than a redactor piecing together multiple strands of sources (i.e., the Documentary Hypothesis) 6 in the postexilic period, the literary structure of the Torah shows it was intended to be read as a whole book. Rather than a redactor piecing together multiple strands of sources (i.e., the Documentary Hypothesis) in the postexilic period, the literary structure of the Torah shows it was intended to be read as a whole book. When Moses is mentioned in the rest of the Old Testament, he is connected to the Torah (Joshua 1:7, 8:31 Judges 3:1–4 1 Kings 2:3 2 Chronicles 23:18 Ezra 3:2 Nehemiah 8:1 Daniel 9:11 Malachi 4:4). Moses even wrote a song about Israel’s covenant history, which would serve as a witness against the nation in generations to come (Deuteronomy 31:19–22, cf. The geographical details in Numbers 33 assume the author had first-hand knowledge of those places. Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the LORD, and these are their stages according to their starting places” (Numbers 33:1-2). God even commanded Moses to record the steps by which he led his people Israel out of Egypt and to the Promised Land: “These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
5 It was not just legislation that Moses wrote about, as he also recorded historical material such as Israel’s defeat of the Amalekite army: “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). Deuteronomy 31:24 also implies that Moses at least wrote all of the legislation in Deuteronomy: “When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end.” 4 The phrase “words of this law” refer to Deuteronomy chapters 5–28, the central covenant text, to which chapters 1–4 provide the prologue and chapters 29–34 the epilogue. 3 The Torah asserts that the legislation within it was given by God to Moses: “And the LORD said to Moses, ‘Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel’” (Exodus 34:27). 2 Although there is no clear statement in any book of the Torah indicating that Moses wrote every word of all five books, this is far from the end of the story. Undoubtedly, Moses was the most-qualified candidate to write such a monumental work (including narratives, historical genealogies, law codes, speeches, and poetry), given he was educated in Egypt (Acts 7:22) during a time of great power and international prestige (1526–1486 BC). Traditional Attribution of the Torah to Moses The geographical details in Numbers 33 assume the author had first-hand knowledge of those places.įirst, the Torah (i.e., teaching) has historically been attributed to Moses (see Mark 12:26 Luke 16:29–31 John 1:45, 7:19–22 Romans 10:5 Hebrews 9:19), who led the people of Israel out of Egypt (Acts 7:40) and brought them to the Promised Land (Acts 7:45). Although this view is popular with many critical Old Testament scholars and among sceptics of the Bible, there are several lines of evidence that rule this out. For example, as part of his argument in denying the historicity of Adam, Old Testament scholar and theistic evolutionist Peter Enns stated, “The Pentateuch was not authored out of whole cloth by a second-millennium Moses but is the end product of a complex literary process-written, oral, or both-that did not come to a close until the postexilic period.” 1 This claim has had a massive impact on trust in the authority and accuracy of the Bible. Over the last two hundred years, critical scholars have claimed that the Pentateuch, or Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy), was not completed until the postexilic period (c.
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