Which 5 make up the Pentateuch?

Answer 1

Moses is commonly regarded as the author of the Pentateuch in the form that has been handed down to us. One obvious exception to this is Moses' final act of surveying the promised land, death and obituary in Deuteronomy chapter 12. It would not be unreasonable to see this portion as likely to have been added by Joshua, Moses' right hand man and successor.

Of course it is also likely that Moses made use of sources available to him, since he was not present at many of the events preceding his time. Adam, other patriarchs, and especially Abraham would be expected potential or likely candidates for some if not all of these records.

Certainly in the sections where Moses is himself involved direct Mosaic authorship is stated numerous times and implied in others. Scholars have also in the fields of history and Archaeology uncovered quite a lot of data which supports the Mosaic authorship/redactorship and demonstrates that the setting shown is the appropriate one, rather than many centuries later, as postulated by 19th century liberal theologians.

According to acknowledged experts in the field, no undisputed archaeological or historical document has ever demonstrated that anyone other than Moses wrote/edited the Pentateuch.

Answer 2

There are five books in the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), but the consensus of biblical scholars is that they only had four main authors, or sources, all of whom were anonymous but who are now known to scholars as the Yahwist (or 'J Source'), Elohist ('E Source'), Deuteronomist ('D Source') and the Priestly Source ('P Source'). There was also a final Redactor ('R Source') and at least two intermediate redactors. Some scholars have proposed additional sources for small groups of passages, although the anomalies these are intended to resolve could perhaps be explained by oral transmission of material prior to the development of written versions.

The books of the Pentateuch were, of course, traditionally been attributed to Moses, who is the leading character in four of them, excluding Genesis. It is still put forward by conservative Christians that only Moses could have known the events in those four books, and also that God must have told him what to write in the Book of Genesis. However, there are sound literary and historical reasons for doubting that Moses was really the author, even of the four books in which he is mentioned.

For more information, please visit: http://christianity.answers.com/bible/the-pentateuch-explained

Answer 3

Moses, Moses, Moses, Moses, and Moses. According to tradition, the Torah had only one author.

The same literary devices which the Torah employs to enrich its text, have been used by Bible-critics in an attempt to reassign its authorship.

The Jewish sages, based on ancient tradition, identified many of these devices, which include:

recapping earlier brief passages to elucidate,

employing different names of God to signify His various attributes,

using apparent changes or redundancies to allude to additional unstated details,

speaking in the vernacular that was current during each era,

and many more. While Judaism has always seen the Torah as an intricate tapestry that nonetheless had one Divine source, some modern authors such as Wellhausen (the father of modern Biblical-criticism, 1844-1918) have suggested artificially chopping up the narrative and attributing it to various authors, despite the Torah's explicit statement as to its provenance (Exodus 24:12, Deuteronomy 31:24). This need not concern believers, since his claims have been debunked one by one, as archaeology and other disciplines have demonstrated the integrity of the Torah. No fragments have ever been found that would support his Documentary Hypothesis, which remains nothing more than an arbitrary claim:

http://www.whoreallywrotethebible.com/excerpts/chapter4-1.php

http://www.pearlmancta.com/BiblicalcriticswrongRShlomoCohen.htm

And see also the wider picture:

http://judaism.answers.com/hebrew/does-archaeology-support-the-hebrew-bible

Answer 4

The books include:

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

Answer 5

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

Answer 6

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Answer 7

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy