Who wrote Deuteronomy?

Answer 1

Answer:

According to the Documentary Hypothesis he was an anonymous writer who around 621 BC supposedly wrote Deuteronomy. We know very little about him (or her). What we do know is that, even though he claimed 40 times in Deuteronomy that Moses wrote Deuteronomy to give it credibility, he actually was the author. Some call this literary fraud, others call it writing pseudonymously. I believe the consensus has swung back towards Mosaic authorship.

• Answer:

Moses wrote Deuteronomy, as stated there (Deut. 31:24).

Unlike The Bible-Critics who possess no early source, the Hebrew Bible has been handed down since its beginning, in an unbroken chain of tradition for which we possess the names, biography and dates of the leading sages in every single generation. Every verse is elucidated in the Talmud and midrashim.

No parchment, scroll, or inscription has ever been found that would support the Bible-critics' JEPD (different sources) hypothesis, which remains a theory. And those ancient writers who mention, describe, summarize or translate the Torah (Josephus, Samaritans, Targum, Septuagint etc.), describe it in its complete form.

God gave Moses prophecy; so after the incident at the rock (Numbers ch.20), Moses wrote down the whole Torah, even events that didn't yet happen (such as his death).

The first four books of the Torah were dictated word for word by God. The last, Devarim (Deuteronomy), was written by Moses in his own words, although God provided Divine inspiration (Talmud, Megillah 31b and Tosfot commentary, ibid).

Some JEPD theorists question the very existence of Moses. In so doing, they not only ignore the continuous tradition of the entire Jewish nation, but also the statements of ancient writers including Hecataeus, Strabo, Alexander Polyhistor, Manetho, Apion, Chaeremon, Tacitus, Porphyry, Artapanus, Eupolemus, Ben Sira, the Greek Septuagint, the Samaritans, Josephus and Philo, all of whom testify that Moses was an actual person.

Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract specific claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in the Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer Ph.D of Harvard University states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the Documentary theorists have been proved to be without foundation."

Answer 2

The first five books of the Bible - Genesis through Deuteronomy are believed to be written by Moses. While it is possible that Moses wrote his own epitaph, and also that God told him the details ahead of time, it is more likely that this was written by Joshua. This in no way detracts from the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch as a whole, but is merely an addition giving the details of the death of its great author.

Answer 3

No Hebrew copy of the Torah has ever been found to differ with the others, worldwide. The Torah we possess today contains the exact wording written by Moses. Deuteronomy states explicitly (31:24) that it, with the rest of the Torah, was written by Moses. This is part of Jewish tradition, and is supported by the testimony of every ancient writer who describes or translates the Torah.No physical evidence has ever been presented that would demonstrate otherwise. Archaeological finds, such as the Ugarit documents and those of Nuzu, Mari, Susa, Ebla, and Tel el-Amarna, have repeatedly caused the critics to retract specific claims. The entire social milieu portrayed in the Torah, once criticized as anachronistic, has been shown to be historically accurate, including customs of marriage, adoption, contracts, inheritance, purchases, utensils, modes of travel, people's names and titles, etc. Professor Gleason Archer Ph.D of Harvard University states: "In case after case where historical inaccuracy was alleged as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrew record has been vindicated by the results of excavations, and the condemnatory judgment of the Documentary theorists have been proved to be without foundation."

There are secular scholars who theorized that the "book which was found" in Josiah's time (2 Kings ch.22) was Deuteronomy.

What actually happened?

King Josiah lived more than eight centuries after Moses. There were hundreds - probably thousands - of Torah scrolls possessed by the Jewish people, just like today.The wicked King Amon (Josiah's father) had burned copies of the Torah (Talmud, Sanhedrin 103b), so it was understandable that King Yoshiah was thrilled when he found a scroll (see 2 Kings ch.22: the whole Torah, not just Deuteronomy) right there in the Temple grounds, which had escaped Amon's depredation.
Yoshiah was agitated because the scroll was found rolled to the prophecy concerning the eventual exile (see Talmud, Yoma 52b); and because it was the very scroll which had been written by Moses himself (2 Chronicles 34:14).
Deuteronomy, along with the rest of the Torah, existed long before the time of Yoshiah. Two centuries earlier, when King Amatziah killed the assassins of his father Joash, he spared their children "as is written that fathers shall not die because of their children and children shall not die because of their fathers" (2 Kings 14:6), which is a quote from Deuteronomy (24:16).

Also, Joshua 22:5 quotes Deut.11:22, Joshua 23:16 quotes Deut.11:17, Judges 1:20 fulfills Deut.1:36, Judges 7:3 fulfills the command of Deut.20:8, 1 Kings 8:51 quotes Deut.4:20, and 1 Kings 9:8-9 quotes Deut.29:23-24.

The fact that Josiah "made reforms" is misinterpreted by some, as meaning that he started something new. Rather, he simply swept away the incursions that idolatrous misbehavior had made (2 Chronicles 34:3-7) into part of the populace, exactly as Samuel had done (1 Samuel 7:3-4), as well as Asa (2 Chronicles 15:8), Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:6), and Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4).

See also the Related Links.

Link: Refuting Bible-criticism

Link: Archaeology and the Hebrew Bible

Answer 4

According to the most commonly accepted scholarly theory, the first version of Deuteronomy was written in Judah during the reign of Josiah (late 7th century BC) as part of a much longer work called (by scholars) the Deuteronomistic History.

The History takes in the books of Deuteronomy, Judah, Judges, Samuel and Kings, and was written to justify the centralisation of royal and priestly power under Josiah by demonstrating that Josiah's kingship was the culmination of promises made to the Israelites by Yahweh. Revisions were made during the following century (6th century BCE) following the death of Josiah and the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. Deuteronomy became detached from the History and attached to the Torah/Pentateuch when that work was composed in the 5th century BCE shortly after the Persian defeat of Babylon and the end of the Babylonian Exile.The authors of Deuteronomy and the History are unknown, although Richard Elliott Friedman has argued that the original version was the work of Baruch, the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah.

Deuteronomy is presented as the words of Moses, the revered prophet of Israel, spoken on the banks of the Jordan shortly before the Israelites cross over into the Promised Land (Canaan). For this reason it has been traditionally believed that it was written by Moses himself; however, since the book describes Moses' death and burial, it is impossible that the final verses at least can be by him, and in fact biblical scholars have long given up the idea that any part of the Torah is by Moses.

During the nineteenth century, Samuel Davidson, D.D. found clear literary evidence that Deuteronomy was not written by Moses. For example:

• Deuteronomy 2:12: 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.
  

These words obviously presuppose a time when the Israelites were already in possession of Canaan, having expelled its former inhabitants.

• Deuteronomy 3:14: Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day.
  

Davidson points out the formula ‘unto this day’ is one that properly and regularly denotes a long interval.

• Deuteronomy 19:14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
  

This language obviously implies the time of peaceful settle ment in Canaan. It does not comport with circumstances soon to be realised by the persons to whom Moses spoke, because they are exhorted to respect the landmarks set up by their forefathers in the country. Davidson says "They of old time" cannot be referred to the 'wicked inhabitants' about to be driven out. It presupposes a long abode in the land promised to their fathers.

Answer 5

moses