What does the Bible itself say about
authorship of the Pentateuch?
There are about two dozen verses in the Hebrew Scriptures and one dozen in the Christian Scriptures which state or strongly imply that Moses was the author. Consider the following passages from the New Living Translation (NLT):
- Passages in the Pentateuch itself:
- Exodus 17:14 "Then the Lord instructed Moses, 'Write this down as a permanent record...'"
- Exodus 24:4 "Then Moses carefully wrote down all the Lord's instructions."
- Exodus 34:27 "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Write down all these instructions, for they represents the terms of my covenant with you and with Israel.'"
- Leviticus 1:1 "The Lord called to Moses from the Tabernacle and said to him, 'Give the following instructions to the Israelites...'"
- Leviticus 6:8 "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions...'"
- Deuteronomy 31:9 "So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests."
- Deuteronomy 31:24-26 "When Moses had finished writing down this entire body of law in a book..."
- Passages elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures:
- Joshua 1:7-8 "...Obey all the laws Moses gave you."
- Joshua 8:31-34 "He followed the instructions that Moses the Lord's servant had written in the Book of the Law..."
- Joshua 22:5 "...obey all the commands and the laws that Moses gave to you."
- 2 Chronicles 34:14 "...Hilkiah the high priest...found the book of the Law of the Lord as it had been given through Moses."
- Passages in the Gospels which show that Jesus and John the Baptizer believed Moses to be the author:
- Matthew 19:7-8 "...why did Moses say a man could merely write an official letter of divorce and send her away?", they asked. Jesus replied, 'Moses permitted divorce...'"
- Matthew 22:24 "Moses said, 'If a man dies without children...'"
- Mark 7:10 "For instance, Moses gave you this law from God..."
- Mark 12:24 "...haven't you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush..."
- Luke 24:44 "...I told you that everything written about me by Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must all come true."
- John 1:17 "For the law was given through Moses..."
- John 5:46 "But if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me because he wrote about me. And since you don't believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?"
- John 7:23 "...do it, so as not to break the law of Moses..."
- Passages elsewhere in the Christian Scriptures:
- Acts 26:22 "...I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen..."
- Romans 10:5 "For Moses wrote..."
But nowhere in the Bible is it specifically stated that Moses wrote the entire Pentateuch. Even if one believes in the inerrancy of the Bible, a case can be made that he authored only parts of the Torah, and that other writers added sections of their own and/or edited the resultant text.
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Taken from:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_tora.htm
