Some longtime students of the Bible and most Biblical scholars have concluded that the Torah was written by many individuals over a period of several hundred years. In fact, the Bible itself contradicts the notion that Moses authored all of the first five books of the Bible.
As Elon Gilad has written: "Even a cursory read of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, shows that the Torah could not have been written by a single person – because of differences in style, language and contradiction in the texts, among other things. Scholars studying the bible in Germany during the 18th and 19th centuries concluded that it was a composite work by editors tying together earlier texts written by very different authors." see Who wrote the Torah? - Jewish World
Likewise, Konrad Schmid has written: "Who wrote the Torah? In light of more than two hundred years of scholarship and of the ongoing disputes on that question,[1] the most precise answer to this question still is: We don’t know. The tradition claims it was Moses, but the Torah itself says otherwise. Only small portions within the Torah are traced back to him, but not nearly the whole Torah: Exodus 17:14 (Battle against Amalek); 24:4 (Covenant Code); 34:28 (Ten Commandments); Numbers 33:2 (Wandering Stations); Deuteronomy 31:9 (Deuteronomic Law); and 31:22 (Song of Moses). Despite all disagreement in current scholarship, however, the situation in Pentateuchal research is far from desperate, and there are indeed some basic statements that can be made regarding the formation of the Torah. This is what this contribution is about. It is structured in the following three parts: the textual evidence of the Pentateuch; the socio-historical conditions for the development of the Pentateuch, and “Ideologies” or “Theologies” of the Pentateuch in their historical contexts." see Who Wrote the Torah? IAS
After going through the available evidence from those three areas, Schmid concludes: "But how do such different ideologies and theologies go together in the Bible? It is important to see that the Pentateuch in particular and the Bible in general are not uniform pieces of literature. They instead resemble a large cathedral that has grown over centuries. Its content is not the result of one, but rather of many voices. And these different voices establish the overall beauty and richness of the Pentateuch." see Who Wrote the Torah? IAS
As Christians, when we entertain the possibility/likelihood that the Torah (with all of its statutes, ordinances, laws and rituals) was not authored by one man (Moses), it is not surprising that we would begin to ask ourselves what this understanding means for the work and teachings of the founder of our faith (Jesus Christ)? After all, an integral part of that faith is our understanding that Jesus Christ came to fulfill the requirements of the Torah for us. Hence, if the Torah is not entirely God dictating to Moses, why did Christ have to perform all of its requirements? Indeed, the entire story of the New Testament presents Jesus as the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, the heir of David, the promised Messiah, and the lamb without spot or blemish. In other words, the Torah (along with the other writings of the Scriptures which Christians refer to as the Old Testament) is/are the basis/foundation for the story of Jesus!
Now, while we can easily see why this understanding about the authorship of the Torah might present some real problems for Fundamentalist Christians, it shouldn't pose any difficulties for those Christians who are unencumbered by that doctrine. For the rest of us, it does not change the reality that Jesus and his disciples accepted the authority of the Hebrew Scriptures extant at the beginning of the First Century of the Common Era. In other words, for Jesus Christ the authorship of the Torah had no impact on his acceptance and application of its teachings for his work!
Christ did not dispute the understanding of the religious leaders of his day that Moses had authored the Torah, and that its terms were binding on humanity (though he did challenge the notion that all of those teachings had been what God intended - see Matthew 5:21-48, and note specifically the teaching on divorce). Christ simply accepted all of the statutes, judgments and laws which the Jews had NEVER been able to perfectly obey; and he obeyed them perfectly. Christ simply fulfilled all of the things that those priests and traditions had added over the centuries to whatever framework someone named Moses actually authored! In other words, "whatever you people believe that God has required of you, I've fulfilled it on your behalf!"
And, in anticipation of fulfilling all of that and having to sacrifice himself as a sin offering for us, Christ taught us that LOVE is what God actually intended for us all along. He even summarized the entire law as the principles of love for God and love for our fellow humans. Then, finally, Jesus willingly played his part in what had been set in motion by his Jewish forbearers over the course of many centuries. Hence, for "TRUE" Christians, whoever authored the Pentateuch, the essential point for all of us is that Christ accepted it, chose to work through that tradition and fulfilled its requirements for us - period!
The last line of this article could stand by itself as a statement of faith for Christians. I might add that at least some of the Torah was either produced or refined in Babylon and brought back with Ezra.
ReplyDeleteThank you, and I share your conviction about the contributions to this literature made during the Babylonian exile, and that Ezra almost certainly played a significant role in bringing it all together.
DeleteThe Torah is rife with third person references to Moses such as:
ReplyDelete"(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)"
Clearly, an editorial comment written by someone other than Moses.
I believe that the Documentary Hypothesis is valid unless something revolutionary is discovered in the future. I think it is inherently difficult for people to believe God would work through human agents to compose a critical document in this way. The simple case (or like they say in mathematics: the degenerate case) is that one man writes all five books and is nothing more than an automatic writer for whatever God inspires. Instead God let different groups with different interests write the Torah, let it exist in this fragmentary form for centuries and then had some scribes edit it all together in the post-Exilic period. And God seemed to have no heartburn about leaving some awkward accounts in place like the logistics of the Exodus. It just drives legalistic types crazy and they spend a lot of time trying to concoct credible rationalizations. The text seems to have been much handled by human hands. As Peter Enns said "God let his children tell the story."
I must admit that I never considered the fact that Jesus would have to fulfill all this in his life on earth. I think your analysis of this is excellent. He did not come to earth, announce that there were passages in the Torah that were human additions, omit them and fulfill only the really inspired parts. He took it as a whole. Rolled up his sleeves. Of course, Jesus could have done this differently and ended up with a compact and accurate rendition if he had wanted to. That's what I would have done. I would have had Moses write three pages of carefully and simply worded, incontrovertible text. Let other purposes and plans be hanged. That's why I'm not God.
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Thanks for the addition of these very relevant comments.
Delete1)
ReplyDeleteI'd like to stay on topic for once.
So I'll skip comments on "the oral tradition" that preceded writing. Comments on the Illiad and Homer. History and the bible, where biblical archeologists see "the bible proven by findings" and others see "biblical narrative mirrored in historical events" by the same findings. For instance the Joseph story as a mirror of the Hyksos rule in Upper Egypt, where others see Joseph in the Egyptian narrative.
I'll keep it light.
I like NEO's second comment where he seems to prefer Jesus to have produced some sort of "Jeffersons bible" as an extract of "universal truths" of the core of his teaching.
I think I'll let the "God lets his children tell the story" comment sink in for a while as meditation nowadays is a good cure against the stresses and strains of lockdown. We can at least create mental openings.
Trying to truly get the grasp of Millers central thesis, my mind wondered to that "unnamed fundamentalist" who did not care much either about 2000 years of preceding history, whether he was reading from a "catholic" translation or a King James translation or who compounded the bible.
He just said.
"The entire bible is written for us today ONLY, (meaning 1933- 1985 time period). As if not 2000 years of Christianity and Philsophical development had existed and had heavily influenced his personal thinking, worldview and philosophy.
Later he pointed to his final magnum opus as the final summation or revelation unveiling the Mystery that to him had shrouded the ages before.
I would certainly not wish to draw a comparison to him and Jesus. I was just struck with thoughts about "skipping" a few thousand years of philosophical development" and the claim of fulfilling it all in one stroke.
I guess only a God can fulfill and a teacher explain.
On Banned I have written many times on that I believe that after the Israelite religion became monopolized and centralized at the Jerusalem temple, the books of Kings or the other one clearly show how the priests are TRASHING the former and older religion of the Hebrews as preserved by the Edomites.
Trashing the snake worship (whilst even Moses had a snake staff signalling power), trashing the high places, that were central to the earlier version and I could go on and on.
I have stated that the Edomite religion was senior to the Temple religion and it is clear that Joshuah grovelled before the leader of the Host of the Lord, who was clearly a HUMAN not an angel, not a god. This was a human leader of a strong army who had the power to declare the ground upon which Joshuah stood Holy.
This was a meeting of a senior military priest of the senior religion and the temple priests were not able to blot or edit that story out of their history. I have heard speculation that this man may even have been the father of Deborah who as a WOMAN leader once again signals that the mysigonistyc Temple elite were not able to blot out or edit significant parts of the TRUE history of the Hebrew people and driving their religious and political ideas toward central power and control from Jerusalem something completely alien from some of the hints of decentral power, older traces of the religion, and differing older rituals to be trashed as PAGAN by the Jerusalemites.
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ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest stories never told from Genesis are the Ancient Name Lists of the "Sons of Noah". A long boring summation of names to the untrained eye.
However each and every of those names has a distinct meaning and one could fill 10 Hollywood movies or Agatha Christy Books by just filling in the narrative that seems to be ommitted from just summarizing the entire story in one name and another and another with a dot of speculation and some fantasy. Tolkien would be proud.
I especially like the naming of Lord Rama and Lord Shiva who in Indian culture play a significant role throughout the mythology of the East. Once again was the bible a compound of existing oral traditions? To me it is a wondrous book containing FAR more data and information for those who are interested.
Of course if digging to deep into all of that one might just lose sight of the central core open for all to see that is "The Golden Rule" and the hope of continuous life.
nck
nck,
DeleteYou add some interesting contributions to the thread. I think your point about HWA ignoring almost two thousand years of history is cogent to those of us familiar with his work. I would not, however, characterize what Christ did relative to the Torah as ignoring or dismissing what had transpired with the writing of the Torah. It appears to me that Jesus made a conscious decision to accept and embrace what had happened, and then act accordingly.
Your points about the remnants of the older religious traditions and reading between the lines have obvious merit, and we could certainly talk at great length about both of them! The narrative that remained after years of editing and additions did not wipe out all traces of the fact that folks had worshipped YHWH at various places and with various rituals prior to their standardization by scribes, priests and folks like Ezra. Likewise, the public readings of the Law that took place during the time of the Hebrew kingdoms bears witness to the fact that people were not previously familiar with a great deal of this material and that a lot of material was subsequently added during the captivity. I liked the Tolkien reference too (As you know, his "fantasies" are based on an extensive familiarity with ancient history, traditions and literature). Thanks for contributing to the thread.
Thank you Miller for "editing" and "expounding" an otherwise seemingly incoherent set of data into an intelligible interpretation.
DeleteAs I write this "thank you" I can also imagine the incredible Universal Powerful Force of God wondering how to communicate his vast knowledge with wormlike man and concluding, "let them tell the narrative in their own words, intelligible to themselves and have one of their own, blessed with skills, edit it into MY coherent message for them.
Nck
Miller.
DeleteWe of course agree on the "ignoring" of development of ideology, theology over millenia.
Re reading this part of our conversation I was thinking that from a "theological" perspective a lot had transpired since the "original" handing out of the 10 commandments and Christs condemnation of Saducees, Pharisees and perhaps even more telling, groups that are not even mentioned like the Essenes.
During Roman times many religious, political factions seem to have developed, with a couple if groups expecting IMMINENT messianic deliverance.
A completely different topic, covered in Baigent's "The Messianic Legacy" speaks about perilious times and the expectancy of a deliverer.
Armstrongs Cold War timing might have been like a Roman Occupation to the mind.
If I remember correctly some factions were associated with political power like the hellenistic saducees.
With the diaspora and the disappearing of the temple jewish religion developed an entirely different concept of God of being Omnipresent.
Nck