A. And its not at all out of character. But secondly, it could also be a comment added by a later editor working under divine inspiration. "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." John 1:45 KJV Copy Print Similar Verses Save. These books are named for their intended recipientswhether groups or individuals: Romans, 1 and 2 . These are the Yahwist (J), Elohist (E), and Priestly (P) sources which in turn reflect older oral traditions . Hence, we have the Elohim and Jehovah sections (or E and J documents).8 Thus, the first assumption of the documentary hypothesis became established: the use of different divine names means different authors of the text. By David P. Diaz, Ed.D. Who Wrote the Books of Moses? In 1805, Wilhelm De Wette contended that none of the Pentateuch was written before King David and that Deuteronomy was written at the time of King Josiah. From pistis; to have faith, i.e. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? In this paper we will present simple evidence from 20 th century archeological findings that leads us to the conclusion that Moses wrote Genesis, as asserted by all the Fathers. They may point out the faultiness of oral tradition or try to assert that multiple authors compiled the manuscript over centuries, borrowing from mythology of other religions. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, . In John 1:34, John the Baptist says, "I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.". Some of the most famous are the sacrifice of Isaac ( Gen. 22 ), the Passover Lamb ( Exodus 12 ), the Bread from Heaven ( Exodus 16) the Smitten Rock ( Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:1-12 ), the Bronze Snake ( Numbers 21:4-9) But perhaps the clearest is from Deut . The Book of Genesis (from Greek , Gnesis; Hebrew: Bret, "In [the] beginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The Spirit of Christ was directing him. John 1:45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Those writings were endorsed by Jesus and the New Testament apostles, who based their teaching and the truth of the gospel on the truths revealed in the books of Moses, including the truths about a literal six-day creation about 6000 years ago, the Curse on the whole creation when Adam sinned, and the judgment of the global, catastrophic Flood at the time of Noah. Lets close by looking at three of these. The editorial comment would in no way deny the Mosaic authorship of the book of Genesis. And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." (see Leviticus 14:1-32) . And there are others that would simply be awkward for Moses to write, which are referred to as amosaica (such as Numbers 12:4). Matthew 19:8). As noted before, my position is that "law of Moses" is an appropriate designation for the Torah/Pentateuch despite sound evidence that Moses did not write all or even most of it (see here).This position is akin to the phrase "Psalm of David" (le-dawid) very . Around; figuratively with respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips . In other words, where did Moses get information on the patriarchs? . . You can also sign up for our free print newsletter (US only). The internal evidence from Genesis is that it derives from oral traditions that predate Moses. So, to attack the Mosaic authorship of the first five books of the Old Testament then is to attack the truthfulness of the rest of the biblical writers and Jesus Himself. Moses wrote about me, and if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. From ekei; that one (neuter) thing); often intensified by the article prefixed. . "The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. Galatians 5:3. Help us share the truth of Gods Word and the gospel! Salem Media Group. We can answer this question in a number of ways. . - American Standard Version (1901) Furthermore, we have testimony from Jesus himself that Moses wrote these books. All of them. In John 5:23, Jesus says, Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. The Father and the Son are revealed in Scripture as such a unity that if you dishonor one, you dishonor the other. There is a literary invention of Moses 700 years after he supposedly lived. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc. 43 I have come in my Fathers name, and you do not receive me. (See above about Luke. Copyright 2020 HarperCollins Publishers. 15:43 - 1 - Moses wrote of the need for Christ. First, as this Answers in Genesis article explains, we have documentary witnesses. . 22 Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from . So the argument is that an author after Moses had to have written this statement to know that the Canaanites were removed in the days of Joshua who began judging the Canaanites for their sin after Moses died. By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. 35:02 - 4 - Moses wrote of Christ in types and prefigures. Among the authors used by God were those who actually walked with Jesus (Matthew, Peter, and John) and had seen Jesus in His post-resurrection form (St. Paul). . The implications of this for ourselves and for people of other religions are huge. How would he know about the events of Genesis and other events that happened hundreds (even thousands) of years before his time? Second, we also have evidence throughout Scripture, writes Don Stewart, of tradition being passed down from specific prayers of Abraham to the bones of Joseph. There he was trained in "all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds" (Acts 7:22). For he wrote of me.--See the marginal references; but the thought is not to be confined to these passages. He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me (John 13:18=Psalm 41:9). Listen to the audio version of this content. Jesus said in John 5:4243, But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. Liberal Bible scholars allegedly based their theories on evidence from the Biblical text and yet they evaded the Biblical evidence that refutes their theories. For many, the answer to this question is a matter of orthodoxy, and debates quickly become passionate. And if they did not, that would have taken a great deal of divine intervention. Taking seriously the indications within the Pentateuch itself, along with the post-pentateuchal references to the Book/Law of Moses, one might conclude that the Pentateuch finds its origins in Moses, who used other sources particularly in the writing of Genesis. The obituary in no way nullifies the claim that the author wrote the book.18. A similar obituary of Joshua was added by an inspired editor to the end of Joshua's book (Joshua 24:2933). I said earlier that the implications of this for ourselves and for people of other religions are huge. (Deuteronomy 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy . . Just as "son of" in Hebrew doesn't always mean a literal father-son relationship, so the Hebrew word translated here as "brother" doesn't always mean a literal brother, but can refer more generally to a familial or tribal relative. First, consider what the Bible itself says about the authorship of the Pentateuch. Consider the following: Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it . Since writings cant see, I take it to mean that Scriptures is shorthand for God-who-inspired-the-Scriptures. But by the end of the nineteenth century liberal scholars had reached general agreement. In John 8:19, Jesus adversaries, who claimed to know God, said, Where is your Father? And Jesus answered, You know neither me nor my Father. Listen to the way John uses the word. He believed Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, but he unlocked the door for the skepticism of later scholars. The death of Moses is recorded in Deuteronomy 34:512. These are the last few verses of the book. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. The New Testament attributes all the books from Genesis through Deuteronomy as being the writings of Moses. So the writings that Jesus authorized through his apostles are included in our Bibles because they summarize the completion of what was promised in the Old Covenant, namely, the New Covenant. Moses wrote Genesis from conversations he had with God, so the author is technically God. In Exodus 33:17, the Lord said to Moses directly, "I know thee by name.". This is simply astonishing. [1] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We Know the Bible is True: Volume 1 (Master Books, 2011), p.89. Ibn Ezra was a very influential Jewish rabbi in the twelfth century AD. You will have already known him. So did God create the world in a literal six days or a symbolic six days? But let's assume for moment that it was referring to the region Dan, where Israelites, who were from the tribe of Dan settled. is mentioned more.). - King James Version (1611) - View 1611 Bible Scan "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. To date, no manuscript evidence of the J-document, E-document, P-document, D-document, or any of the other supposed fragments have ever been discovered. Others disagreed, pointing to other statements by Ibn Ezra that contradicted Spinoza's conclusion. Most of the authorship of Scripture goes uncontested. Would this be a problem for Moses? And today, several variant views of documentary hypothesis exist, but perhaps the most popular is that of Julius Wellhausen proposed in 1895. After all, we dont want to dive into the New Earth vs. Old Earth debate. Because of the strong oral tradition and duty of the Jewish people to preserve their roots, not much could have changed in the accounts throughout that time. And note that, in this case, we're using the terms "letters" and "books" interchangeably.) But to say that the composition, even the origins, of the Pentateuch is to be associated with Moses certainly does not mean he wrote every word. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the . So it is perfectly reasonable to think that Moses wrote Genesis from pre-existing, well-preserved oral tradition and/or written documents from the patriarchs. That, that one there, yonder. If You Believed Moses, You Would Believe Me, for He Wrote of Me, If You Believed Moses, You Would Believe Me, for He Wrote of Me (Excerpt), John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. Instead, we encounter a formula that appears eleven times in the book (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2). 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? There are postmosaica in the book of Genesis as well. . . Demonstrative Pronoun - Nominative Masculine Singular. "He . Selected passages confirming Mosaic authorship. For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me. And the LORD said to Moses, 'Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book." (Exodus 32:30-33) In order that Israel might be saved from the wrath of God, Moses stood ready to offer his own lifeto take the punishment of the people's sins on himself if God could find no other way to forgive them. 18:43 - 2 - Moses wrote of prophesies that were to be fulfilled by Christ. Jesus shows up often in the Old Testamentnot by that name, and not in the same form as we see Him in the New Testament, but He is there nonetheless. If you claim to honor God today but reject Jesus as the divine Son of God and crucified and risen Savior and Messiah, your claim is false, and you do not honor God. Privacy Policy and According to Jesus, that sixth day of creation was "from the beginning," a phrase we hear a number of times in the New Testament. Jesus said (to fulfill the Scripture), I thirst (John 19:28=Psalm 69:21). A primary pronoun of the first person I. Several other books of the Pentateuch include passages that mention Moses recording events and writing down what God says. In the minds of the Jewish people, "Scepter" was . . For. Take note of some the references back to Moses' work. Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural. But much of the Bible was written from the eyewitness experience of the authors (e.g. He says, I know it happened, I saw it. He claims that Methuselah was an ancient historian of his day . Table 1. It refers to the beginning of creation as recorded in Genesis 1. Moses the great leader of Israel, the man of God, was a type of Jesus. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth., Genesis 1:27 So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them., Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. 103:7). They still do not necessarily mean that Moses wrote every word, but they do imply a belief that Moses had an integral connection with the composition of the Pentateuch. Moses wrote Genesis after 1440 B.C." Promises in Genesis. But for over two centuries, one of the most contested questions in biblical scholarship has been Who wrote the Book of Genesisand when?. contested questions in biblical scholarship. Scholars disagree about whether each toledoth follows or precedes the text with which it is associated, though we are inclined to agree with those scholars who conclude the former. If we know God as he really is in the Old Testament, we know Jesus. They assumed that the Bible is not a supernatural revelation from God and then manipulated the biblical text to arrive at that conclusion. And we know this chapter wasn't written after Jesus ' sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection. The five books of Moses are liberally sprinkled with symbolic references to Jesus. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. In other words, any Jew or any Gentile will be an heir of Abrahams blessing if he believes in Jesus, the Messiah. Favorite Verses in Genesis. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. Since both Genesis 40:10 and Ezekiel 21:27 deal with Judah and the government or ownership of that tribe, the argument becomes quite compelling. Although many examples have been found of an ancient Semitic author using repetition and duplication in his narrative technique, skeptical scholars assume that when Hebrew authors did this, it is compelling evidence of multiple authorship of the biblical text. And it all began with Abram in Genesis 12 and the simple yet devastating command "Go!". Exactly when Genesis was written down is not known. At most Jesus admits that through Moses came this com-mandment. It is certain that if Moses wrote these books he did not call them "Genesis," "Exodus," "Leviticus," "Numbers," "Deuteronomy;" for these words, again, come from languages that he never heard. This means that the way the Old Testament gets people ready to know Jesus is not merely by specific prophecies that have specific fulfillments in Jesus (like being born in Bethlehem), but far more profoundly, the point is: If you meet God, and know God, and admire God, and trust God, and are shaped by God as he truly reveals himself and his ways in the whole of the Old Testament, then when Jesus comes, you will know him. In John 6, Jesus reminded the Jews that their fathers had eaten manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:15) and then applied it to himself and said, For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33). Traditions attributes the Book of Genesis to Moses, but this is a view that few scholars would now support. While he believed in the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, he noticed that a few verses (e.g., Genesis 12:6, Genesis 22:14) had some phrases that seemed mysteriously out of place.4 But he never pursued these mysteries to resolve them.5, About 500 years later, the famous Jewish philosopher Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza (16321677) picked up on what Ibn Ezra had stated and asserted that Ibn Ezra did not believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch. John shows us this three times. There is no other ancient Hebrew who was more qualified than Moses to write the Pentateuch. In his book Tractatus Theologico-Politicus (1670), Spinoza, who was a pantheist and was subsequently excommunicated from the Jewish community and denounced by Christians, argued that Moses did not write the Pentateuch. It means hearing it, understanding it, and above all, being impacted by it. St. Getting a story is about more than merely enjoying it. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Of all the documents in the Bible, should we hold Genesis as the most suspect? The Bible says that Jesus, God the Son, has been with the Father for all eternity. He also consistently demonstrated an outsider's view of Canaan (from the perspective of Egypt or Sinai).12 And as a prophet of God he was the appropriate recipient of the written records or oral traditions of the patriarchs from Adam to his own day, which the Holy Spirit could use to guide Moses to write the inerrant text of Genesis. .. Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. What about the cases where Genesis appears to be borrowing from Ancient world mythology? Astruc basically questioned, as others had before him, how Moses knew what happened prior to his own life, (i.e., the history recorded in Genesis). He was there. Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it . (3) He wrote or compiled Genesis by using earlier written documents. Isaiah is witnessing to the glory of Jesus because when he saw the glory of God revealed from heaven, he was seeing the glory of Jesus. In. So we Christians dont reject the Old Testament just because we have the New Testament. Logic and sound biblical interpretation say that Moses wrote the Book of Genesis. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. As Paul says in Romans 3:4,"Let God be true and every man a liar.". He doesnt argue that something happened. In this article, well dive into who documented the beginning events of the world, the age of the Book of Genesis, and whether we can trust this book or not. In other words, this book talks about the beginning of the world, the beginning of God's nation . With this in mind, we turn now to references to the book of the law of Moses or the book of Moses (with variants) found in biblical books that follow the Pentateuch. Please check errors and resubmit. Editors sometimes add to books by deceased authors and no one then denies that the deceased wrote the book. Ponder for a moment the implications of saying that the Scriptures witness about Jesus. But the other objections are just as flawed in terms of logic and a failure to pay careful attention to the biblical text. Then John says in John 12:41, Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.. He was the youngest of three children, with a sister named Miriam and a brother named Aaron. Dr. Tremper Longman III, How to Read the Gospel of Mark in the Context of Second Temple Judaism. The majority of biblical scholars have attributed the authorship of Genesis to Moses, but this has not gone without contest, especially from documentary hypothesis theorists . (2) We see in the prophecy that "Scepter" is a "symbol of kingly authority" and will remain in Judah's hand until "Shiloh comes.". And these references are just a sample of a number of other passages that could be cited (see also Exodus 24:12; 34:28; Deuteronomy 27:3, 8; 31:19). In fact, Jesus insisted this has always been the truth behind the Torah. First, it could be argued that creation happened, and the account was passed down by oral tradition through the centuries, being slowly changed over time, until the Egyptians recorded their version. Nowhere in the Pentateuch is an author named, not Moses or any other person. Second, as mentioned in the Biblical Science Institute article, we can also find archaeological evidence that confirms the events that happen in the Pentateuch, such as the walls of Jericho. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. So Paul says, Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. But what about the first book of the Bible? Your form could not be submitted. Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Singular. Genesis, or otherwise known as Bereshith, means in the beginning. In other words, this book talks about the beginning of the world, the beginning of Gods nation of Israel, and the beginning of the story of salvation for all mankind. They remembered details better, had a stronger oral tradition, had longer attention spans. It is interesting that Moses is never mentioned in the book even as the person writing things down. In the New Testament, when quoting the Pentateuch, people often spoke of Moses being the author. While Abraham is Israel's ancestor, Moses is often considered its founder, for his role in establishing Israel as a . Unlike those who affirm Mosaic authorship of Genesis and divide the text by the toledoths, JEDP adherents divide the text on the basis of the names of God that were used and say that, at best, Moses simply wove these texts together, often in contradictory ways. God said things and did things in the Scriptures which, if we had understood them, would have given us a glimpse of Jesus and would have prepared us to recognize him and receive him when he came. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus claimed to be interpreting God's Torah according to its original intent, as God handed it to Moses. Because they dont receive Jesus for who he really is, the Son of God. All rights reserved. From here, the door flew open to profess that other portions of the Law were not written by Moses. First, we cannot discount supernatural revelation. Jesus Himself clearly said this, and the people who heard Him knew that was exactly what He meant. . John 12:3741 is an amazing window onto how Jesus viewed the Jewish Scriptures. It is the enemies of the truth of God that are failing to think carefully and face the facts honestly. Instructor: ., Nehemiah 13:1On that day the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people . Were on a mission to change that. The traditional Jewish and Christian view that Moses wrote Genesis wasn't seriously challenged until the 1800s. We can, with a high percentage of certainty say that John wrote the Gospel of John and that Joshua wrote the Book of Joshua. In sum then, you can test yourself and others as to whether you know God, or honor God, or love God. .. Exodus 24:3-4When Moses went and told the people all the Lords words and laws, they responded with one voice, Everything the Lord has said we will do.Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. The Jews therefore object, and persecute him for it. In the same way, this was where the Lord judged his enemies through Abraham. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. But, perhaps the most convincing passage of all is found in John 5:46-47 where Jesus said: "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But based on the evidence available, its fair to attribute its origins to Moses. Several lines of evidence should lead us to reject the documentary hypothesis as a fabrication of unbelievers. Regardless, the eleven uses of toledoth unite the book as a history of the key events and people from Creation to the time of Moses. The Old Testament is precious to Christians because its a book about Gods work with Israel in preparation for the Messiah who would come not only to save Israel but to save the world from the power and punishment of sin.