The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/moses

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BIBLICAL ERRANCY
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MOSES AND THE PENTATEUCH (from issues 19 and 20, JUL/AUG 1984)
--Many defenders of the Bible vehemently contend that Moses wrote the
first five books of the OT (Genesis, Exoduc, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy), commonly known as the Pentateuch.  They base their belief
not only upon historical information but statements by Jesus to the
effect that Moses authored the Law, i.e., the Pentateuch, "Did not Moses
give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law (John 7:19)" and
"For the law was given by Moses,...(John 1:17)."  Moses could not have
been the author, however, because of the large number of verses
demonstrating the contrary.  The following are prime examples: (a) "And
Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem,...and the
Canaanite was THEN in the land (Gen. 12:6)," "...and the Canaanite and
the Perizzite dwelled THEN in the land (Gen. 13:7)." Both verses state
that the Canaanites were THEN in the land.  The work of expelling the
Canaanites did not begin until the days of Joshua, after Moses, and did
not end until the days of David.  Since Gen. 12:6 and 13:7 could not
have been written until after they had left the land, which was 450
years after Moses, Moses could not have been the author; (b) "And these
are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any
king over the children of Israel (Gen. 36:31)."  This passage could only
have been written after the first king, Saul (See: 1Sam. 10:24-25),
began to reign over the Israelites.  It had to have been written after
Saul began to rule and thus could not have been written by Moses; (c)
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh come (Gen. 49:10)."  These words could not have
been written before Judah received the sceptre, which was not until
David ascended the throne nearly 400 years after the death of Moses; (d)
"Moreover, according to Joshua 5:12 they were still eating manna after
they had crossed the Jordan River and were encamped in Gilgal; (f) "The
first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of
the Lord thy God (Ex. 23:19)."  This could not have been written before
the time of Solomon, for God had no house prior to the erection of the
temple 447 years after Moses.  When David proposed to build God a house,
God forbade it and said that he had never lived in a house since they
left Egypt ("Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I
brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but
have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle"--2 Sam. 7:6; (g) "That the
land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the
nations that were before you (Lev. 18:28)."  How could Moses have
written this since he never saw the promised land and the other nations
were not driven out until David's time?; (h) And while the children of
Israel WERE in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks
upon the sabbath day (Num. 15:32)."  How could Moses have written this
since it presupposes the Israelites were no longer in the wilderness?
This verse says they WERE in the wilderness.  The author of this wrote
after they had left the wilderness and, thus, could not have been Moses
who died in the wilderness; (i) "And while the children of Israel were
in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the
sabbath day.  And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto
Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.  And they put him in
ward, because it was not declared what shall be done to him (Num. 15:32-
34)."  This says they did not know what to do with a man who gathered
sticks on the sabbath because it had not been declared what to do.  Yet,
in truth, Ex. 31:15 ("Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he
shall surely be put to death") declared what should be done and Moses,
himself, received this law.  Thus, Moses could not have written Numbers
15; (j) The following verses appear to have been written by someone
other than Moses: "And if ye have erred, and not observed all these
commandments, which the Lord hath spoken unto Moses, Even all that the
Lord hath commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord
commanded Moses,....(Num. 15:22-23)," "...as the Lord commanded Moses
(Ex. 39:57, 40:19, 27, 29, 32);" (k) Moses is often referred to in the
third person which shows the Pentateuch is a biography not an
autobiography.  "And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of
Sinai,....(Num. 1:1)," "And the Lord spoke unto Moses....(Num. 2:1, 5:1,
31:1)," "and this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God
blessed the children of Israel before his death (Deut. 33:1)," (l) "To
drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art,
to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, AS IT IS
THIS DAY (Deut. 4:38)."  This verse must have been written after Moses
died since they did not possess the land as an inheritance until after
his demise; (m) "Thou shalt eat it within thy gates....(Deut. 15:22)."
The phrase "within thy gates" occurs in the Pentateuch about 25 times.
It refers to the gates of the cities of the Israelites, which they did
not inhabit until after the death of Moses; (n) "And the Lord shall
bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto
thee....(Deut. 28:68)."  How could Moses have written this when he said
earlier in Deut. 17:16 that "You shall never return that way (toward
Egypt--Ed.) again."  If Moses wrote all of Deuteronomy then he
contradicted himself; (o) "And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the
man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death (Deut.
33:1)."  In this verse Moses is not only spoken of in the third person
but in laudatory terms.  Moreover, his death is referred to as an event
already accomplished; (p) "This they shall give,...half a shekel after
the shekel of the sanctuary....(Ex. 30:13, 24)."   Ingersoll noted that
Moses could not have written these verses since there was no such thing
as a "shekel of the sanctuary" until long after Moses lived.
MOSES AND THE PENTATEUCH (Part Two of a Two-Part Series)--Last month's
commentary noted a couple of verses (John 1:17 & 7:19) which are often
used to prove Moses wrote the Pentateuch, i.e., the Law or Torah.
Additional prominent examples are Joshua 8:32 ("And Joshua wrote there
upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the
presence of the children of Israel"), Mark 12:19 ("Master Moses wrote
unto us,...."), Rom. 10:5 ("Moses writes...."), John 1:45 ("...of whom
Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write...."), and John 5:46-47
("For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me (Jesus--Ed.):
for he wrote of me.  But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye
believe my words?").  But just as these verses and many others are cited
to prove Moses was the author, substantial evidence exists to prove he
was not.  Sixteen reasons were given last month and the following are
offered in conclusion: (q) "THE BOOK of the law of Moses" (Josh. 8:31,
Neh. 8:1).  This verse shows that Moses wrote ONE BOOK, if any, not
five; (r) "And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways,
to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and his
testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses,...." (1 Kings 2:3).
This verse refers to the laws and commandments of Moses but doesn't say
he wrote the entire Torah.  Moreover, "written in the law of Moses" does
not mean Moses did the writing himself; (s) "But the seventh day is the
sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor
thy son,...nor thy stranger that is within THY GATES" (Ex. 20:10).
How could Moses have written this when it implies the author was in
Palestine?  "Gates" are not applicable to prior wanderings in the
wilderness when Moses lived; (t) "The Horims also dwelt in Seir
beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had
destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; AS ISRAEL DID
UNTO THE LAND OF HIS POSSESSION, which the Lord gave unto them" (Deut.
2:12).  How could Moses have written this when the words presuppose a
time when the Israelites were already in possession of Canaan, having
expelled its former inhabitants?; (u) "By these were the isles of the
Gentiles divided in their lands" (Gen. 10:5).  There were no gentiles
until after the Jews became a nation when Israel split off from Judah
and became an independent kingdom under Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.
The Jews had no distinctive religion until after the days of Soloman;
(v) "And Rachel died and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is
Bethlehem.  And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of
Rachel's grave unto this day" (Gen. 35:19-20).  Moses never saw Rachel's
tomb and there is little likelihood he knew it was standing.  Until his
dying day he never could look over from the mountain and see the country
in which Rachel was buried; (w) "And Sarah did in Kirjath-arba; the same
is Hebron in the land of Canaan" (Gen. 23:2).  Moses couldn't have
written this because the city was not called Hebron (a modern name) till
Caleb received it after the division of the land and named it Hebron
after one of his sons.  As Josh. 14:13-15 says, "And Joshua blessed him,
and gave unto Caleb...Hebron for an inheritance....And the name Hebron
before was Kirjath-arba..."; (x) "And Moses rose up, and his minister
Joshua" (Ex. 24:13).   These don't sound like words Moses would have
written; (y) "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,
he armed his trained servants...and pursued them unto DAN" (Gen. 14:14)
and "the Lord shewed him (Moses--Ed.) all the land of Gilead, unto DAN"
(Deut. 34:1).  There was no place called Dan until many years after
Moses lived.  Dan was built after the death of Samson who died 350 years
after Moses.  The city was originally called Laish.  "And they called
the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father,...howbeit
the name of the city was Laish at the first" (Judges 18:29); (z) "For
indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews" (Gen. 40:15).
Moses could not have written this verse since there were no "Hebrews" in
the days of Joseph or of Moses.  "Hebrews" could not be applied until
they possessed Canaan late in Joshua's time; (aa) "Now the man Moses was
very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth"
(Num. 12:3).  If Moses wrote this then he couldn't have been very meek.
Moreover, Num. 31:17 ("Now therefore kill every male among the little
ones and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him") hardly
sounds like the command of a meek person; (bb) "And there arose not a
prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face" (Deut. 34:10).  This verse not only demonstrates an amazing lack
of meekness on the part of Moses in clear violation of Num. 12:3, but
appears to have been written after Moses died.  In addition, it's
difficult to see how Moses could truthfully say he saw God face to face
and also write Ex. 33:20 ("Thou canst not see my (God's--Ed.) face: for
there shall no man see me and live"); (cc) Probably the most compelling
argument that Moses did not author the Torah is found at the end of the
last book.  "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of
Moab....And he buried him in a valley...but no man knoweth of his
sepulchre unto this day" (Deut. 34:5-6).  How could Moses have described
his own death and burial?  Some scholars attempt to escape from this
dilemma by alleging Joshua wrote the final verses of Deuteronomy.
Unfortunately for them this would include Deut. 34:9 which says, "And
Joshua the son of Nun was full of the Spirit of Wisdom."  It's difficult
to see how Joshua could have authored this in light of the fact that if
he was full of the spirit of wisdom he certainly did not have the spirit
of modesty.  Just as important is the fact that by attributing the final
verses of Deuteronomy to Joshua, apologists are admitting Moses did not
write the entire Torah.
     Other evidence of an even more technical nature could be presented
but isn't necessary.  Instead, some general observations are in order.
First, Moses nowhere claims to have written the Pentateuch nor does the
Bible impute the Torah to him.  Only the "law" is attributed to Moses.
Secondly, the books are written in the 3rd person.  Moses never says, "I
did," except when making a speech.  Thirdly, the books of the Pentateuch
are never ascribed to Moses in the inscriptions of Hebrew manuscripts or
in printed copies of the Hebrew Bible; nor are they styled the "Books of
Moses" in the Septuagint or the Vulgate.  This only occurs in modern
translations.  Fourthly, the great amount of repetition in the Penta-
teuch tends to prove there was more than one author.  Things are often
introduced as if they had not been referred to before and show differ-
ent peculiarities of language.  And lastly, there is no important dif-
ference between the language of the Pentateuch and that of books written
shortly before the return from Babylonian Captivity.  If there was an
interval of 1,000 years between these writings, it would present an un-
paralleled event in the history of languages.  No change in 1,000 years.