According to Block, the Pentateuch’s anonymous composition presents a challenge for academic inquiry. The author’s identity is never revealed; however, this is hardly surprising because this issue predominates throughout the Old Testament.[1] This is also consistent with how literary works from the ancient Semitic world were typically organized. However, it was essential to the ancient Mesopotamians that the scribes who copied their sacred and commercial texts be credited appropriately, but authorship information is exceedingly rare in surviving documents.[2] In the ancient Middle East, an “author” was primarily a preserver of the past and was bound by traditional material and methodology. “Literature” was far more community than individual property.[3]
Even though the field of biblical studies is deeply divided over who wrote the Pentateuch and when, almost everyone can agree that the Pentateuch as we have it today is an edited work rather than a piece of literature written from scratch by a single author. Whether Moses or another editor was responsible, evidence suggests that the Pentateuch was compiled through a process that involved editing preexisting materials. The Pentateuch itself references other texts that were likely composed before the Bible books of Genesis through Deuteronomy (e.g., Gen 5:1; Ex 17:14; 24:7; 34:27; Num 21:14–15; 33:2; Deut 31:9, 22, 24).[4]
To reconcile the question of anonymous authorship with inspiration and a “high view” of Scripture, one must first look at the evidence found within the Bible itself. In the Old Testament, the Postexilic books (Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, etc.) rely on the Pentateuch’s laws and regulations, establishing the Pentateuch as an authoritative text.[5] For example, the expression “book of Moses” (Neh 13:1; 2 Chr 25:4; 35:12), “the book of the Torah of Moses” (2 Kgs 14:6; Neh 8:1), the Torah of Moses (1 Kgs 2:3; 2 Kgs 23:25; 1 Chr 23:18; 29:16; Ezra 3:2; 7:6; Dan 9:11, 13; Mal 3:22), “the book of the Torah of YHWH by the hand of Moses” (2 Chr 34:14, 15), and “the words of YHWH by the hand of Moses” (2 Chr 35:6). The New Testament references such as “the laws of Moses (Lk 2:22; 24:44; John 7:23; Acts 13:39; 15:5, 28:23; 1 Cor 9:9; Heb 10:28). Jesus frequently cites Moses teachings implying him as recognized authority in Jewish tradition (cf. Lk 17:19-31; John 5:19-17).[6]
The view that God is the One who inspired the biblical authors (whoever they were) allows the writings to be considered spiritually trustworthy, and upholding the evangelical view that Scripture alone is our standard for understanding who God is and how He relates to mankind,” holds merit.
Conviction from Tradition indicates that Moses wrote the Torah or Pentateuch based on Old Testament record (Josh 1:7, 13; 8:31–35; 23:6; 1 Kgs 2:3; 2 Kgs 14:6; 21:8; 23:25; 2 Chr 23:18; 25:4; 33:8; 34:14; Ezra 3:2; Neh 9:14; 10:29; 13:1; Dan 9:13), the New Testament (Matt 19:7–8; 22:24; Mark 12:19; Acts 3:22; Rom 10:19; 1 Cor 9:9; Rev 15:3), and extracanonical Jewish literature such as the Apocrypha (Prologue to Ben Sirach), the Talmud (b. Baba Batra 14b), and the apologetic works of Josephus (Against Apion 1.8 [1.38–39]).
Christians find Jesus’s testimony on this subject especially convincing. The Pharisees, for instance, brought up the topic of divorce and cited Deuteronomy (24:1-4), which they believed to have been written by Moses. To this, Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts” (Matt 19:7-8). He did not correct their attribution of the passage to Moses. Also, in response to accusations that His followers had disregarded the oral traditions, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 5:16 (also found in Exodus 20:12): “Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother.’” (Mark 7:10). His point was that the Pharisees revered human traditions but dragged their feet when it came to obeying God’s clear Word. This shows that Jesus identified Moses with the book of Deuteronomy (see also Mark 12:18-24).[7]
There is also consensus among modern scholars of the Old Testament is that Moses did not write Deuteronomy and that the book did not even begin to take shape until about 700 years after his death. Various sources cite multiple authors. Deuteronomy, attributed to numerous authors, nevertheless presents a unified theological message and is a rich source of biblical historical revelations. Both Old Testament and New Testament theology rely heavily on it. When the prophets speak of God, they refer to the God of Deuteronomy and the relationship embodied in the covenant-treaty. The prophecies of doom in the prophets (especially Jeremiah) are Deuteronomy’s warnings or curses. The blessings of Deuteronomy are the promises of blessing for Israel when she lives in faith, love, and obedience to the Lord or returns to the Lord after a period of doom. The God of the prophets and the New Testament is the loving, righteous, all-powerful, wonder-working Lord of Deuteronomy.[8]
The theological unity supports the divine authorship of Scripture and inspiration of Deuteronomy and the OT.
Peter points out that the Bible was written and spoken by many different people, but the words contained within it do not reflect their views. They were conduits through whom God spoke, and the Spirit of God directed their words. God did not simply reveal truth to the writers of Scripture and then departed in hopes that they might communicate it accurately. Peter declares that the making of the Bible was not left to merely human communication skills; the Holy Spirit Himself carried the process to completion. Peter notes, no prophecy in Scripture is open to individual interpretation because no prophecy has ever come by man’s impulse. Still, men “moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).
[1] Daniel I. Block, The Gospel according to Moses: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Book of Deuteronomy (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2012), 22.
[2] Ibid., 22-23; W. G. Lambert, “Ancestors, Authors, and Canonicity,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 11 (1957) 59-62.
[3] William Sanford La Sor, David Allan Hubbard, and Frederic William Bush, Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996), 8.
[4] T. D. Alexander, “Authorship of the Pentateuch,” ed. W. David Baker, Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 62–63.
[5] Sanford, et al., Old Testament Survey, 8.
[6] Block, The Gospel according to Moses, 22.
[7] Eugene H. Merrill, “Deuteronomy,” in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, ed. Philip W. Comfort, vol. 2 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1996), 447–448.
[8] Earl S. Kalland, “Deuteronomy,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 10-11.