No. 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. Jesus said, "He who hears My word, and . At most Jesus admits that through Moses came this com-mandment. 22 Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from . And there are no ancient Jewish commentaries that mention any of these imaginary documents or their alleged unnamed authors. Moses is traditionally considered the author of Genesis. InJohn 2:17 Jesus drives out the money changers in the Temple, and John quotes Psalm 69:9 and says, His disciples remembered that it was written, Zeal for your house will consume me.. For example, the disciples, referring to Deuteronomy 24:14, questioned Jesus, Why then, they asked, did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? (Matthew 19:7). Then the Lord said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, . So the real question is: did Moses write Genesis, or not? For he wrote of me.--See the marginal references; but the thought is not to be confined to these passages. 3. And verse 46 says it again a little differently: If you believed Moses [the author of the first five books of the Old Testament] you would believe me; for he wrote of me. So verse 46 says that Moses wrote about Jesus, and verse 39 says that the Scriptures witness about Jesus. But again, even if "near Dan, for that is the name of the other spring of Jordan" was added by a later inspired editor, this would not mean that it was inaccurate to say the Moses wrote Genesis.21. So, Who wrote Genesis? Well likely never know with absolute certainty. For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me. A primary verb; to 'grave', especially to write; figuratively, to describe. Hebrews 11 sums it up well when talking specifically about Abraham, Sarah, and their offspring: "All these people were still living by faith when they died. The five books of Moses are liberally sprinkled with symbolic references to Jesus. Ponder for a moment the implications of saying that the Scriptures witness about Jesus. He says, The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed (Galatians 3:8). This means we have verses in the Bible that attribute the authorship to him such as Numbers 33:1-2. These additions may only be the most obvious examples of textual material added after the time of Moses and we cannot determine precisely what was authored by Moses or added by later inspired editors. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. Astruc claimed that these name changes indicated different sources that Moses used. St. Peter in Acts of the Apostles quotes from Deuteronomy 18:15 with the introduction, "Moses said" (Acts 3:22). He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.". (John 1:1, 14). There are other examples in Scripture that lend some credibility to the idea that Moses saw his coming death and wrote about the circumstances. But by the end of the nineteenth century liberal scholars had reached general agreement. And studies of non-literate people groups have shown that they have much better memories for maintaining the accuracy of their oral traditions than people groups that rely primarily on written communication to learn and pass on information. Credit; by implication, to entrust. And because he saw, he could witness. Moses said that God would raise up a Prophet like unto him. In the New Testament, when quoting the Pentateuch, people often spoke of Moses being the author. Answer. In light of the references to Moses writing in the Pentateuch and the New Testament citations of the Pentateuch that associate Moses with its composition, it seems reasonable to affirm that the origins of the Pentateuch are connected to this great biblical figure. A primary particle; properly, assigning a reason. Nothing is said about the authorship of the mass of literature of which this was a part. Get updates from Zondervan Academic directly in your inbox. The events at the conclusion of the Book of Genesis occurred some three hundred years before Moses was born. And John 19:35 says, "He who . And today, several variant views of documentary hypothesis exist, but perhaps the most popular is that of Julius Wellhausen proposed in 1895. Then from chapter 13 to the end of the book, John pours it on to show that almost every detail of Jesus redeeming work was planned by God and witnessed in Scripture. They were the heroes of old Get expert commentary on biblical languages, fresh explorations in theology, hand-picked book excerpts, author videos, and info on limited-time sales. One of the major attacks on the Bible in the past 300 years has been directed against Moses and his authorship of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. . Not only is there abundant biblical witness that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, Moses was fully qualified to write the Pentateuch. According to the Bible, Moses was the prophet who led Israel out of slavery in Egypt and brought them to the edge of the promised land. Does It Really Matter If Moses Wrote Genesis? In this post I will cite the texts where it is clearly stated that Jesus is the One whom Moses, as well as the rest of the prophets, spoke and wrote of. Copyright 2020 HarperCollins Publishers. The Lord Jesus says in Matthew 19:8, "Moses, for the hardness of your heart, suffered you to put away your wives.". This was essentially a divine research project and history book. It is interesting that Moses is never mentioned in the book even as the person writing things down. For example, John 7:22 and Acts 15:1 refer to Moses giving the doctrine of circumcision. But before I draw out those implications, look with me at how pervasive the Scriptures are in the way John writes his Gospel. John 10:35 is one of the most important references to the Scriptures in Johns Gospel because after referring to Psalm 82:6, Jesus says, Scripture cannot be broken. This is one of the strongest claims for the infallibility and inerrancy of the Bible in all of Scripture. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Space allows us to respond to only a few of the most common ones. But this does bring forth the question: how would Moses know all of these things? . we also have other Scripture supporting these events as true and literal. Several other books of the Pentateuch include passages that mention Moses recording events and writing down what God says. There are many reasons to reject this skeptical attack on the Bible. Your form could not be submitted. And if they did not, that would have taken a great deal of divine intervention. It means hearing it, understanding it, and above all, being impacted by it. Isaiah states that the Messiah would be "cut off from the land of the living" (Isaiah 53:8), that his death would be a sacrifice for our sins (Isaiah 53:5, 10-12) and afterward he would "prolong his days" (Isaiah 53:10). In this case, Lot was Abraham's brother's son, i.e., Abraham's nephew. 1. Like other literature, past and present, it is not uncommon for an obituary to be added at the end of someone's work after he dies, especially if he died very soon after writing the book. In the New Testament, Jesus and the Apostles make the same claim that Moses wrote the stories of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Matthew 19:8; Mark 12:26; Acts 3:22; Romans . Editors sometimes add to books by deceased authors and no one then denies that the deceased wrote the book. Some scholars rearrange these letters as JEPD, based on the order they believe the sections were written. There also appears to be evidence (Genesis 5:1) that Moses had used other documents to compile his book, such as the genealogies. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Based on evolutionary ideas, they assumed that "the art of writing was virtually unknown in Israel prior to the establishment of the Davidic monarchy; therefore there could have been no written records going back to the time of Moses.". We can now see more clearly the special way in which God inspired . The skeptics erroneously assumed, without any other ancient Hebrew literature to compare with the biblical text, that they could, with scientific reliability, establish the date of the composition of each book of the Bible. On the other extreme are those who say that Moses wrote none of the Pentateuch, but rather the Pentateuch was composed much later than the time the Bible purported that he lived (if, in the minds of some, he lived at all). After all, the book takes up 50 whole chapters in the Bible, so well briefly summarize some of the major events that take place in the book. 18:43 - 2 - Moses wrote of prophesies that were to be fulfilled by Christ. But much of the Bible was written from the eyewitness experience of the authors (e.g. Because they dont receive Jesus for who he really is, the Son of God. Thank you for signing up to receive email newsletters from Answers in Genesis. When Moses came on the scene, God revealed to him what really happened, and this is what Moses wrote down. A primary pronoun of the first person I. It's not far-fetched to think Moses wrote the account of his own death and burial, particularly since God revealed his word and works to Moses (Ps. Specifically, he thought that Genesis 1:12:3 was one creation account and Genesis 2:424 was a different creation account. In John 1:34, John the Baptist says, "I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.". Moses was a Hebrew. Of course, there are several ways Moses could have obtained this information: divine revelation, previously written texts passed down through the generations, and/or oral tradition from his ancestors.7 Regardless, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:2021), the books of Moses would be completely true and without error. The authors of the New Testamentand even Jesus himselfappear to credit Moses as the author of Genesis. 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. 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. You may unsubscribe from these email communications at any time. So it is perfectly reasonable to think that Moses wrote Genesis from pre-existing, well-preserved oral tradition and/or written documents from the . The apostles also give testimony to the authorship of Moses. Scripture was divinely inspired. They hated me without a cause (John 15:25=Psalm 35:19). 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. Renowned Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman III tackles this question in his video series on the book 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. That, that one there, yonder. He's talking about this issue of divorce. This formula is introduced by the words elleh toledot and a persons name, This is the account of [name]. These sections indicate the use of oral and/or written sources (see 5:1) for the writing of the book of Genesis. . Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 1st Person Singular. The New Testament attributes all the books from Genesis through Deuteronomy as being the writings of Moses. Not only was there a J-document, E-document and D-document, but then it was argued that Leviticus and some other portions of the Pentateuch were the work of Jewish priests, hence the P-documents. Along with other documentation mentioned in the book, such as the account of Terah, the account of Noah, etc. For some, orthodoxy simply suggests that Moses wrote the whole Pentateuch, perhaps with the exception of postmosaica passages such as Genesis 11:28 and 14:14 and amosaica passage such as Numbers 12:4. First, other biblical authors, including Joshua, Ezra, Daniel, and Paul, point squarely to Moses . Learn more in Tremper Longman's video series on the book of Genesis . He doesnt argue that something happened. Who wrote Genesis? Luke 16:16. In Genesis 14:14 the narrator reports that Abram chased the four ancient Near Eastern kings who kidnapped Lot as far as Dan. This reference to the city of Dan is a postmosaica because this city, earlier called Laish, was not named Dan until the time of the Judges (see Judges 18), and of course the name derived from the tribe of Dan, named after Jacobs son Dan, Abrahams great grandson. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. However, Dan in this context is not the region of Dan, that Israelite tribe's inheritance given when the Jews took the Promised Land, but a specific ancient town of Dan, north of the Sea of Galilee that was in existence long before the Israelites entered the land. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 41 I do not receive glory from people. (2) He received the information by direct revelation. They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots (John 19:24=Psalm 22:18). Verse Concepts. If you see God at work, you see Jesus at work. Jesus on the Sabbath day cures him who was diseased thirty-eight years. read more. . 33:15 - 3 - Moses showed us others who were longing for Christ. 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. What about the cases where Genesis appears to be borrowing from Ancient world mythology? . 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. JESUS: THE GOD WHOM MOSES WROTE ABOUT. For Instructors and School Administrators. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. In either case, we know the book is about 3,000 plus years old. So a witness is ordinarily one who has seen something and can witness to what he has seen. It is too obviously the product of more than one author, writing at different times and places. Yet John also reveals that this came earlierin Genesis, with Abraham. We can, with a high percentage of certainty say that John wrote the Gospel of John and that Joshua wrote the Book of Joshua. The verse states that all Scripture is God-breathed, and this includes earlier sections of Genesis. Selected passages confirming Mosaic authorship. 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). JESUS the WORD is also in the BEGINNING, and the WORD says, "In the BEGINNING GOD [JESUS] created the Heaven and the earth." . 36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. The Book of Jasher is nearly an exact account of what Moses wrote in Genesis, except with more details. They arbitrarily assumed that the Hebrew authors were different from all other writers in history that the Hebrews were incapable of using more than one name for God, or more than one writing style regardless of the subject matter, or more than one of several possible synonyms for a single idea. What Does Genesis 12:13 Mean, Why Does It Matter. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. The fact that these adversaries do not know Jesusdo not perceive his deity or Messiahship or his role as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53) shows that they dont know God. As Paul says in Romans 3:4,"Let God be true and every man a liar.". [2] Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge, How Do We Know the Bible is True: Volume 1 (Master Books, 2011), p.90-93. 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 . A "Hebrew" is anyone who is descended from "Eber" (Ever in Hebrew), an ancestor of Abraham and Moses (See Genesis 10:24). From here, the door flew open to profess that other portions of the Law were not written by Moses. The Documentary Hypothesis: Moses, Genesis, and the JEDP? The first five books of the BibleGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomyare commonly referred to as the "five books of Moses.". God saw Jesus and knew Jesus long before Jesus was on the earth. 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). 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. The biblical doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture does not require us to conclude that all the books of the Bible were written by God dictating to the human authors. How Can We Stand on Scripture in an Evolution-Pushing Culture? For other New Testament references see Mark 12:26; John 1:17, 5:46, 7:23. And it all began with Abram in Genesis 12 and the simple yet devastating command "Go!". The Mosaic Law: A Preparatory Gospel Answer (1 of 6): Ok so we have seen that Moses could have written Exodus through Deuteronomy based upon his own eyewitness . Jesus Christ was greater than Moses. So Paul says, Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. This will refute any attempt of claiming that Muhammad was the prophet that Moses predicted. Others disagreed, pointing to other statements by Ibn Ezra that contradicted Spinoza's conclusion. Our English Bibles translate toledoth variously as "this is the account" or "these are the generations" of Adam, Noah, Shem, etc. In John 1:34, John the Baptist says, I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God. In John 3:11, Jesus says, We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen. John 3:32 says, He bears witness to what he has seen and heard. And John 19:35 says, He who saw it has borne witness.. Because Genesis is technically an anonymous work, many readers wonder who wrote it. Moses wrote Genesis according to the Old and New Testaments, including Jesus. I said earlier that the implications of this for ourselves and for people of other religions are huge. But he was, and that too pointed to his truth. Jewish leaders asked Jesus a question based on Deuteronomy 25:510 by saying, Teacher, they said, Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him (Matthew 22:24). Its, of course, difficult to summarize all the events that happen in Genesis. No. (2) We see in the prophecy that "Scepter" is a "symbol of kingly authority" and will remain in Judah's hand until "Shiloh comes.". 35:02 - 4 - Moses wrote of Christ in types and prefigures. Following Eichhorn, other ideas were advanced in denial of the Mosaic authorship of the first five books on the Old Testament. 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. . But what about Genesis? Surely Jesus, the "Word who became flesh," would not endorse or tolerate a belief about Moses' authorship if it were totally erroneous. Your newsletter signup did not work out. All the manuscript evidence we have is for the first five books of the Bible just as we have them today. My thoughts were: And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. Listen to the way John uses the word. Also, Moses himself prophesied in Deuteronomy 17:1420 that Israel would have kings. Not necessarily. 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. Jesus Was Greater than Moses One final point needs to be emphasized. Proof that Moses wrote the Torah: (Gen - Deut) 1. The measure of all true knowing God, honoring God, and loving God is knowing, honoring, and loving Jesus for who he really is. There are postmosaica in the book of Genesis as well. Every culture, no matter how "primitive" (by our arrogant Western standards), teaches history to their children (how accurate that history may be is a separate question). A. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Whats Wrong with the Framework Hypothesis? In this final post on the issue of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, I want to examine a couple items in the New Testament. John wrote, No one has ever seen God. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. JESUS said, "For had you believed Moses, you would have believed ME: for he wrote of ME. From there, we have the well-known story of the Great Flood, and the birth of the Israelite nation through Abraham. . 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 . To move the account from Abraham to Moses would require only four more generations. Moses couldn't have written about his own death, which shows that he didn't write Deuteronomy. is mentioned more.). Notice this in John 8:57-58. Reared by his faithful parents in his earliest days, Moses was eventually brought to the court of Pharaoh. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. 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. "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. More than 1400 of her works have been featured in various publications. Answer (1 of 13): There is no doubt that early Jewish and Christian tradition, is virtually unanimous in ascribing Genesis through Deuteronomy to Moses. ., 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., Numbers 33:2At the Lords command Moses recorded [wrote down] the stages in their journey., Deuteronomy 31:24After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end . 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. All Rights Reserved. 16. And the Canaanites were then in the land.". This means thousands of years of Jewish tradition would have upheld this position. What does the word witness imply? Earlier this year, we released another volume in the landmark The Story of God Bible Commentary series, written by none other than venerable Old Testament scholar Tremper Longman III. Then John says in John 12:41, Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.. 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. Jesus Himself confirmed the fact that He is in the Old Testament. Only evolutionary thinking would lead us to conclude that Adam and his descendants could not write. Books and articles that equip you for deeply biblical thinking and ministry. They assumed that the Bible is not a supernatural revelation from God and then manipulated the biblical text to arrive at that conclusion. - New American Standard Version (1995) For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me. 1 In addition, the New Testament authors, the early church fathers, as well as Jesus himself, all credited Moses with writing the Pentateuch. 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. 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. "But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? Jesus said in John 5:4243, But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 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. Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it . These postmosaica establish a principle that later inspired editors/redactors can contribute to the writing of the Pentateuch. Jesus said "If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. Mark also recorded a conversation Jesus had with the Pharisees regarding what "Moses permitted" and "wrote" in Deuteronomy chapter 24 (Mark 10:3-5; cf. However, that said, a number of passages in the Pentateuch mention that Moses wrote things down. Therefore, an oral history of the world could have been passed down from Adam to Moses through Noah's family. Certainly the passages that speak of Moses writing things down do not claim that Moses wrote the entirety of the Pentateuch, but they do imply that Moses wrote material that was incorporated into the Pentateuch. Instructor: Pursue a deeper knowledge of God through self-paced college- and seminary-level online courses in Old and New Testament studies, theology, biblical Greek, and more. We are still an immigrant people journeying somewhere better. 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 introduction to the Old Testament in another Bible translation says that the J document was written by someone much later than Moses in the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the E document was written by someone in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.2 Let's evaluate the arguments put forth in defense of this hypothesis. But the Fathers did not explain how Moses wrote it, other than to assert that he was inspired by God. But what about the first book of the Bible? Surely translation errors must have seeped in. Test yourself and test others who claim to know God. 2 Peter 1:16) or as a result of research by the author (e.g., Luke 1:14). While it seems simple (the author is Moses or not), scholars dont necessarily treat it as a yes or no questionthey also have to consider that Moses may have written part of Genesis. There is, however, a large amount of evidence that the author or compiler of the Book of Genesis was Moses. . Furthermore, we have testimony from Jesus himself that Moses wrote these books. In sum then, you can test yourself and others as to whether you know God, or honor God, or love God. The Genesis course, taught by Tremper Longman III, illuminates the book of Genesis in light of the Bibles grand story. You are also ignoring archaeological . "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. Another Scripture says, They will look on him whom they have pierced (John 19:37=Zechariah 12:10). So the entire Old Testament is precious to Christians, because all Christians are counted by God as true Jewsbeneficiaries of all the promises made to the covenant people. First, Moses could have easily written this without knowing that the Canaanites would be removed after his death, because due to warring kingdoms or other factors, people groups did get removed from territories. Genesis has sparked a great deal of debate among scientists and scholars, ranging from the literal vs. figurative days of creation to the genealogical lines.

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