Authorship of the Pentateuch
There is a question I never asked growing up. This question calls into uncertainty where the foundation of my belief in Christianity originates. The question: who wrote the first five books of the Old Testament (hereafter, the Pentateuch)? Growing up I had always been taught that Moses had written them and never considered any other possibility. However, I have learned that there is debate about this issue and have now conducted my own research. My taught belief that Moses physically wrote the Pentateuch is challenged by a theory called the JEDP theory. However, my research has shown that Moses is indeed the author of the Pentateuch; even though this does not necessarily mean he physically wrote all of it.
The JEDP theory claims that there are four main “source†documents that make up the Pentateuch (Elwell, 64). According to the theory, these four documents were written over a long period of time in different communities and later compiled by editors into what we have today. Proponents of the theory also claim that the different names referring to God and different writing styles used throughout the Pentateuch are proof that it was written by multiple authors. Another reason used to back up the JEDP theory is the existence of doublets, two renditions of the same story, within the Pentateuch. Main examples include the two creation stories in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, and the two stories of Sarah with a foreign king in Genesis 12 and 20. These are the main arguments for the JEDP theory.
However, this evidence is not conclusive and can be interpreted differently. The existence of distinct writing styles and doublets does not eliminate the possibility for a single author of the Pentateuch. Interestingly, most of the time when the writing style changes in the Pentateuch the subject matter also changes. For instance, a particular writing style was used when the words of the Law were being recorded. However, when the text is telling the story of the Israelites escaping from Egypt, a different writing style is evident. This does not mean multiple authors wrote the different sections. A single author could have switched styles to fit the type of material he was writing about. In the same way, one author could have used different names for God according to what characteristics of God he wanted to emphasize.
The most convincing evidence against the JEDP theory rests in the foundation of the theory itself. The theory suggests that the text of the Pentateuch evolved over time as it was written and edited by many different people. The final version supposedly was not finished until the time of Ezra, around 450 BC. This implies that the Israelites would have had no well-developed concepts of sin and sacrifice until that time (Elwall, 7). However, we know this to be false from the text of the Pentateuch itself. God gave the Israelites the Law through Moses before they entered the Promised Land, which was well before the Exile. G. J. Wenham in Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary says that the four source documents “cannot be written from widely differing time periods†as the JEDP theory claims (3). The final form of the Pentateuch was probably finished shortly after the life of Moses, and definitely before the time of Samuel (Hill, 82). All this evidence supporting the JEDP is not substantial enough to be conclusive unlike the evidence for Mosaic authorship.
Throughout the Pentateuch Moses is regarded as its source and author. Many verses support this, such as Exodus 17:24, 24:4, 34:28; Numbers, 33:2; Deuteronomy 31:9, 24 and others. In addition to the verses that indicate Moses physically wrote, the Pentateuch is filled with references of God relaying the Law to Moses. This strengthens the stance for Moses as the human author. Inversely, no verse in the Pentateuch indicates Moses was not the author. Walter Elwall, in his Evangelical Commentary on the Bible says, “As a methodical principle, one should accept the testimony of a literary work about itself unless it can be proven otherwise†(7). The Pentateuch claims its author was Moses and we have no reason to doubt this claim.
Throughout the rest of the Old Testament and the New Testament Moses is regarded as the author of the Pentateuch. Verses that exemplify this are Joshua 23:6; I Kings 2:3; Ezra 6:18; Nehemiah 8:1; Daniel 9:13; John 7:19; Acts 13:39; Hebrews 9:19 and others. Paul even goes as far as to equate the name of Moses with the Law. In II Corinthians 3:15 he says, “But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart.†Furthermore, no verse in the entire Bible indicates that Moses was not the author of the Pentateuch.
However, Moses did not necessarily physically write the Pentateuch in its entirety. We know that he did physically write at least some of the text, but we do not know exactly how much he wrote. Despite this debate, the fact remains that Moses did indeed write at least portions of the Pentateuch. We know from the text that God gave Moses a mandate to communicate the Law to the Israelites (Young, 42). Part of this mandate included speaking the Law to the people, but it probably included more. It makes sense that Moses himself would have provided a written form to ensure the Israelites would have a copy the Law (Archer, 122).
The fact that portions of the text were not written by Moses, but instead were probably dictated to a priest or scribe does not change the fact that Moses is the author of the Pentateuch. We know from Numbers 5:23 that a priest was designated to write down a portion of the Law. We also know that Moses had a history of designating tasks to others (Exodus 18). He set up men to govern groups of Israelites to ease his burden of being judge over them alone. It is logical that he would have designated the writing of some of the Law to others as well. In the New Testament we say Paul is the author of Romans, but we know that the letter was dictated by Paul and physically written by Tertius (Romans 16:22). It is also implied in Galatians that Paul dictated more of his letters. In the same way we still say Paul is the author of those letters, we can say that Moses is the author of the Pentateuch.
It is probable that there were limited edits made to the Pentateuch after Moses died (Hill, 63). Sections of the narrative naturally had to have been written by someone other than Moses, such as Deuteronomy 34, which talks about the death of Moses. A period of time must have passed before the final update to this chapter because of verse six, “but no man knows his burial place to this day.†It would have taken time for the people to forget where Moses was buried. Another noted edit is in Numbers 12:3 where the text states that Moses was the most humble man in the world. It would be contradictory to this statement if Moses wrote it himself, thus it was obviously added later. However, edits such as these do not make Moses any less the author, as he was still the source of the text.
Moses was clearly the author of the Pentateuch despite not having physically written the text in its entirety. All the evidence from the Bible backs this up while nothing in the Bible contradicts it. The alternative theory is not supported from inside the text or with outside evidence enough to offer a viable position. If the JEPD theory is true then it is harder to accept the Pentateuch as God-inspired. How could such a document, changed and evolved over a long period of time, still reflect what God wanted to communicate to His people? If the foundation of the Bible crumbles than the rest is sure to follow. If Moses was not the author, then where does that leave us as Christians?
