2. The Texts and Books of the OT (5)

Who wrote the Old Testament?

In the strictest sense, many of the writings of the Old Testament are anonymous. Few books explicitly identify their authors. Only by tradition do most books have an assigned author (see table 10-1 for an overview). Take the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), also known as the Torah (from the Hebrew word for “the Law”). The text itself makes no claims to be written by Moses. Solid tradition suggests that Moses wrote these books during the 40 years in the desert, in part recording instructions from God, in part preserving the history of the Jewish people.

The question of authorship is no simpler in the remainder of the OT. Talmudic traditions do link some books to well-known Biblical figures, yet most of the books do not directly identify their writers, and there is no unambiguous external evidence of authorship.

The only support for the traditional claims for authorship (and also dating) of the books is found by searching the texts themselves for confirmations through style, details and historical references.

The 17 major and minor prophetic books seem to lay the strongest claims on authorship, as most identify those said to have received the divine words or visions that the books contain. Critical scholars find various reasons to doubt the authenticity of these claims.

The bottom line is that, working only with the best evidence available, the OT authors almost “A-to-Z” must be viewed as anonymous. The authority of the ancient sources and the integrity of the writers who drew upon them to compile the Hebrew Scriptures are not diminished by this formal anonymity.

The scope of this book does not allow an extensive examination of the issues of authorship and dating of each book Old Testament book. Therefore an overview is included. We will, however, discuss the case for authorship and dating for the most disputed and vigorously attacked books: the Pentateuch-Torah and the prophets Isaiah and Daniel.

The Pentateuch records the creation of the earth, the flood, God’s covenant with the Patriarchs, the Exodus, the history of Israel, and the laws revealed to Moses.  As a result, its authorship and historical reliability have been and will continue to be subjected to much scholarly attention.

Can we proof Moses wrote the Pentateuch? The author of the Pentateuch is not unambiguously identified. Tradition undisputedly has suggested Moses as the writer around 1400 BC. Obvious puzzling passages are found, such as in Genesis 12:6 “at the time the Canaanites were in the land” – how could Moses know? Or even more challenging, how could Moses record his own death in Deuteronomy 3:4-5? On the other hand, Moses is clearly the leading character from Exodus on.

In the early twentieth century scholars developed the Documentary Hypothesis.[12] This theory claims the Pentateuch was written by four different individuals, each from a different period of Israel’s history, long after Moses.  The authors are identified by the different names used for God. This theory postulates the oldest document was produced in the ninth or tenth century BC and the latest one during the Babylonian exile as late as the fourth century BC.

A related extreme theory even suggests final authorship is to be assigned to Ezra in the middle of the fifth century BC.  This theory claims that many accounts (such as that of the flood) were copied and edited from similar stories from the Babylonian history and culture.

But others have produced strong evidence for Moses as the author. As Gleason L Archer states:[13]

“When all the data of the Pentateuchal text have been carefully considered, and all the evidence, both internal and external, has been fairly weighed, the impression is all but irresistible that Mosaic authorship is the one theory which best accords with the surviving historical data. For the purposes of a convenient survey, and without elaborate demonstration or illustration at this point, we shall list the various areas of evidence which point to this conclusion.”

A summary of Archer’s evidences that proof that Moses wrote the Pentateuch includes:

1. The Pentateuch itself infers authorship by Moses (Exodus 7:14, Exodus 24:4, Exodus 34:27. Deuteronomy 31:9).
2. The unity of the first five books suggests a single author.
3. Tradition (including references in the New and Old Testament) uniquely identifies Moses as the author.
4. Moses is the main character.
5. The abundance of irrelevant details points to eyewitness testimony. A wealth of especially irrelevant detail in ancient writings and testimonies is generally accepted as strong evidence of honest and reliable eye-witness testimony.
6. The author is well acquainted with Egypt and the desert, but not with Palestine/Canaan.
7. Many 2^nd millennium BC customs (like the blessings of the first born son) are correctly described.
8. A relatively large percentage of Egyptian words is used.
9. Moses had the qualifications (education, background, experience) to be the author.
10. Archaeological and historical discoveries[14] confirm details, such as the existence of the Hittites, Ur, Bethel, Shechem, Sodom and Gomorrah, the use of camels, price of a slave in the days of Joseph, Moses as an Egyptian name, etc.

The discovery of the Silver Scrolls in 1979, dated earlier than 586 BC (more about this archaeological discovery later[15]) and containing a text from the book of Numbers, strikes a major blow to the late date argument for the Pentateuch, as this particular section was supposed not to have been written before 500 BC.

Overview of Dating of the Old testament

The dominant Jewish tradition attributes the Pentateuch to Moses.  In addition the fact that he certainly is the main character in these recordings leads to a conclusion supported by a majority of Biblical scholars that: [16]

“Whether or not Moses can be called the author in a literal sense of anything in the Pentateuch, it is reasonable to hold his work and teaching as the initial stimulus for the creation of the Pentateuch.”

The strongly supported and widely accepted role of Moses in the composition of the Pentateuch also implies that at least part of the books date from the period of the exodus from Egypt : approximately 1440-1400 BC.

Read on about: (6) Exhibit #5: Authorship of Isaiah