Who wrote Torah?

[Jim_Baur]

Does the Holy Bible tell us explicitly who wrote the first five books of the Holy Bible?

I have read Exodus recently and am reading it again, I cannot recall reading who the author was?

I know traditionally it is said that Moses wrote it.

However, I cannot recall in Genesis or Exodus reading Moses name.

I cannot recall other books making explicit claims either.

However, the Bible is huge and my mind is little.

Therefore I need some help.

THANKS!!!

 

[Robert_Sock]

God created the Torah and gave it to the people.

 

[choy]

Does the Holy Bible tell us explicitly who wrote the first five books of the Holy Bible?

I have read Exodus recently and am reading it again, I cannot recall reading who the author was?

I know traditionally it is said that Moses wrote it.

However, I cannot recall in Genesis or Exodus reading Moses name.

I cannot recall other books making explicit claims either.

However, the Bible is huge and my mind is little.

Therefore I need some help.

THANKS!!!

Mark’s name wasn’t in the Gospels either but he wrote one

everything was passed via Oral Tradition at that time. Moses or someone under him was the first to put everything into paper

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I have heard, long ago, that the reason God had Moses adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter was so that he learned to read and write; thus enabling him to write the Torah. Have never seen an official teaching on that, but it makes sense.

 

[the_Assyrian_1]

Jewish Tradition lists Moses as the Author of Genesis and of the four other books. My bible commentary (NKJV) lists this. They dated this about 1440 B.C.

I believe the early Christians also put pen to paper and recorded other Oral Jewish traditions from the Old times, you can find them online, under OT Apocryphal writtings, books such as “the book of Adam and Eve” , which (whether true or not), make an interesting read.

 

[Crumpy]

One of the books of the Torah (“instruction”) described Moses death, so the evidence for other authorship is “in there.”

I can’t give scripture citation for this, but the Jews believe that the Torah was composed by God at least 2000 years before creation – according the literal sense of some verse someplace.

 

[NotWorthy]

One of the books of the Torah (“instruction”) described Moses death, so the evidence for other authorship is “in there.”

I can’t give scripture citation for this, but the Jews believe that the Torah was composed by God at least 2000 years before creation – according the literal sense of some verse someplace.

I would imagine that the end of Deuteronomy (which described Moses’ death) would have been penned by Joshua.

This wouldn’t be unique. The end of John’s Gospel and Mark’s Gospel are commonly believed to be added by a disciple of theirs.

 

[centurionguard]

Wikipedia give a fairly good description as to the Authorship of the Torah
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah

Authorship
Traditional attribution
Main article: Mosaic authorship

“Mosaic authorship” is the ascription to Moses of the authorship of the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch. This is expressed in the Talmud, a collection of Jewish traditions and exegesis dating from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE, and was presumably based on the several verses in the Torah describing Moses writing “torah” (instruction) from God.[citation needed] According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, “The traditional doctrine of Mosaic authorship of the entire Torah has its source in Deuteronomy 31:9–12, 24, more than in any other passage…The Torah itself contains no explicit statement ascribing its authorship to Moses, while Mosaic attribution is restricted to legal and ritual prescription and is hardly to be found in connection with the narrative material.”[16] However, according to Catholic Encyclopedia, the attribution of the Torah to Moses dates as back to the Bible itself, noting the fact that several books of the Bible, reference the Torah as the Book of Moses, Law of Moses, etc,[17] and can also be found in the New Testament.[17] Deuteronomy 31:9 and Deuteronomy 31:24-26 describe how Moses writes “torah” (instruction) on a scroll and lays it beside the ark of the Covenant.[18] The attribution of the Torah to Moses is also expressed by the early Roman historian Josephus Flavius. Statements implying belief in Mosaic authorship of the Torah are contained in Joshua,[19] Kings,[20] Chronicles,[21] Ezra[22] and Nehemiah.[23]

The rabbis of the Talmud (c. 200-500 CE) discussed exactly how the Torah was transmitted to Moses. In the Babylonian Talmud Gittin 60a it is written “Said R’ Yochanan, the Torah was given in a series of small scrolls,” implying that the Torah was written gradually and compiled from a variety of documents over time. Another opinion there that states that the entire Torah was given at one time. Menachem Mendel Kasher points to certain traditions of the Oral Torah that showed Moses quoting Genesis prior to the epiphany at Sinai. Based on a number of Bible verses and rabbinic statements, he suggests that Moses had certain documents authored by the Patriarchs that he made use of when redacting that book.[24] According to Moses Maimonides, the 12th Century rabbi and philosopher, Moses was the Torah’s author, receiving it from God either as divine inspiration or as direct dictation in the Hebrew year 2449 AM (1313 BCE).[25][26]

Later rabbis (and the Talmudic rabbis as well - see tractate Bava Basra 15a) and Christian scholars noticed some difficulties with the idea of Mosaic authorship of the entire Torah, notably the fact that the book of Deuteronomy describes Moses’ death; later versions of the tradition therefore held that some portions of the Torah were added by others - the death of Moses in particular was ascribed to Joshua. The Talmud explains this by saying that Moses wrote it tearfully, in anticipation of his death; another tradition is that Joshua added these words after Moses died (the next book is the Book of Joshua which, according to Jewish tradition, was written by Joshua himself), and that the final verses of the book of Deuteronomy read like an epitaph to Moses.

Mosaic authorship was accepted with very little discussion by both Jews and Christians until the 17th century, when the rise of secular scholarship and the associated willingness to subject even the Bible to the test of reason led to its rejection by mainstream biblical scholars. The majority of modern scholars believe that the Torah is the product of many hands, stretching over many centuries, reaching its final form only around the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.

 

[nordskoven]

Jesus attributes the Torah to Moses in saying those who reject Him based on Moses’ Torah would be judged by Moses. I think it is possible Moses, as a prince of Egypt, took Genesis from documents in Egyptian archives as monotheism was, I believe, the original faith of Egypt preserved by the Shem lineage. Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem, was identified by Hebrew tradition as Shem. The scholarly Akhenaton, I believe, revived Egyptian monotheism as inspired by Egyptian archives. And Akhenaton turned over valuable economic concessions to Hebrews which, I believe, was a nod to their common heritage of monotheism. Egypt is part of the lands given by God to the Hebrews.

There was a concerted effort to obscure Egyptian monotheism by Egyptian pagan priest-scribes, and that is something that confounded later priest-scribes acting in good faith to unscramble the muddled documents and lineages contained therein. Monotheism was censored. There was also a record of a curse that would befall those who looked upon certain writings as guarded by a mummy’s curse-style undead entity; so that means there were pressures to keep prying eyes out of some archives. I think that was was to preserve the monotheist element because the pagan stuff was out there.

Moses’ education was spectacular if his ability to reduce a golden calf to dust is any indication. Probably cooked it with silica sand into glass he ground into nothing. I think he lifted Genesis from Egyptian archives though Genesis wasn’t an Egyptian document per se. And Moses was uniquely inspired by God and given power and authority to reign and rule in God’s stead as Jesus noted in saying those who rejected His role of Messiah based on Moses’ Torah would be judged by Moses.

 

[nordskoven]

Jesus attributes the Torah to Moses in saying those who reject Him based on Moses’ Torah would be judged by Moses. I think it is possible Moses, as a prince of Egypt, took Genesis from documents in Egyptian archives as monotheism was, I believe, the original faith of Egypt preserved by the Shem lineage. Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem, was identified by Hebrew tradition as Shem. The scholarly Akhenaton, I believe, revived Egyptian monotheism as inspired by Egyptian archives. And Akhenaton turned over valuable economic concessions to Hebrews which, I believe, was a nod to their common heritage of monotheism. Egypt is part of the lands given by God to the Hebrews.

There was a concerted effort to obscure Egyptian monotheism by Egyptian pagan priest-scribes, and that is something that confounded later priest-scribes acting in good faith to unscramble the muddled documents and lineages contained therein. Monotheism was censored. There was also a record of a curse that would befall those who looked upon certain writings as guarded by a mummy’s curse-style undead entity; so that means there were pressures to keep prying eyes out of some archives. I think that was was to preserve the monotheist element because the pagan stuff was out there.

Moses’ education was spectacular if his ability to reduce a golden calf to dust is any indication. Probably cooked it with silica sand into glass he ground into nothing. I think he lifted Genesis from Egyptian archives though Genesis wasn’t an Egyptian document per se. And Moses was uniquely inspired by God and given power and authority to reign and rule in God’s stead, still the ruler of Hebrews under the Old Covenant.

 

[Jim_Baur]

Thanks!

Any more information.

 

[dnu]

The first five books of the bible were written by a series of five authors (some say five groups of authors). They have been given the generic “names” of “D”, “J1”, “J2”, “E”, and “P”

There is so much independent scholarship that has came to the same conclusion over and over it is mind-numbing.

 

[NotWorthy]

The first five books of the bible were written by a series of five authors (some say five groups of authors). They have been given the generic “names” of “D”, “J1”, “J2”, “E”, and “P”

There is so much independent scholarship that has came to the same conclusion over and over it is mind-numbing.

This is a 150 year old theory. It never surfaced until rather recently and has no proof. Never has any of these generic “authors” texts been seen or even alluded to by the ancient Jews.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

This is a 150 year old theory. It never surfaced until rather recently and has no proof. Never has any of these generic “authors” texts been seen or even alluded to by the ancient Jews.

But as one of our former religious DRE’s once told me - Due to evolution our brains are much more developed than theirs.

 

[buffalo]

The Toledoths of Genesis shows that Moses was the compiler depending on pre-existing tablets.

 

[NotWorthy]

But as one of our former religious DRE’s once told me - Due to evolution our brains are much more developed than theirs.

Hmmm… I was reading 2nd kings and they found some of Deuteronomy and read it to all the assembly for the first time.

And, also in Kings, KIng Josiah (circa 600BC) instituted the Passover. It was held for the first time since the Judges period.

How could the bloody Jews have 1000’s of years have Oral Tradition when they couldn’t even remember the Passover, the most important Jewish Festival!

 

[Crumpy]

But as one of our former religious DRE’s once told me - Due to evolution our brains are much more developed than theirs.

I don’t know about this one! Even for evolution, 4000 years isn’t much time. Our technology is certainly much more developed than theirs.