Who wrote Genesis to Deuteronomy?

Moses was the author of all these books, the single author. At their close we see him laying down his life with his pen in token of a completed work. We shall find as we go on in the study of Scripture, that this Pentateuch as it is called, (which simply means five volumes) gives us the model upon which the whole word of God is written, a key by which we can understand something of His purpose in giving us such a full revelation. I have said that they are one whole that you could not take one of them away without mutilating the rest.

We have however to look at the other side also, which is, that they are entirely distinct one from the other. People might say Why did not Moses write just one book. If he is the author of the whole as he evidently is, why did he write it in five volumes instead of one? Simply to emphasize the fact that here we have a diversity, a divine progress and that God has a lesson to teach us in the fact that there are five books, just as well as in the fact that it is one division of Scripture. Now what is the lesson that is upon the very surface of this? There are five books. The subject of Genesis is creation, and the life of individual saints. When you come to Exodus, you get an entirely new thought. The prominent thing there is redemption, the redemption of a people to be in association with God. Come again to Leviticus and there is a distinct line of truth that underlies the whole book, the truth of access to God, of holiness. Passing into Numbers is like passing into another room. You find an entirely different thought. It is now the pathway of God's people along the wilderness journey, and when Numbers closes and we get to Deuteronomy, it seems to return as it were to the very beginning. There you have God's summary of His ways with the people.

According to an old tradition, not only Genesis (also called the first book of Moses), but the whole Pentateuch (from Greek pente - five and teuchos - container for scrolls) were written by Moses. As far as Exodus to Deuteronomy is concerned, Moses was an eyewitness and partly even main character. When writing Genesis, apart from direct revelations of God (for example the report on the creation of the world in Genesis 1-2), he could possibly have referred to documents from the time of the patriarchs (for example the genealogies of Genesis 5:10-11 and 36). Under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God Moses wrote everything down. As he was a prophet, the words of 2 Peter 1:21 apply to him as well: "Holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit."

What has been said to the book of Genesis also applies to Exodus. In Genesis Moses depended on the revelations of God and possibly on the accounts of his ancestors while he was mostly able to write down the happenings of Exodus to Deuteronomy by his own view and experience under the guidance of the Holy Spirit (compare Ex. 17:14; Deut. 31:22,24).

There can be no question either that these first five books were written by Moses. This does not raise the question of whether other writings more or less connected may have been used by him, for instance in the book of Genesis; but we have evidently there, as a continuous narrative with a distinct object, from the first chapter to the close of the book, that which is the product of one inspired person, whatever material he may have used in the preparation of his work; just as an author now may quote largely and use much material gathered by others in the preparation of a work which is distinctly his own.

When the Pentateuch was completed Moses directed it to be placed in the side of the Ark (Deut. 31:24, 26). Was this the identical copy of the law found by Hilkiah the high priest seven hundred and fifty years afterwards, amongst the rubbish in the Temple (2 Kings 22:8); or was it a copy transcribed from the original by one of the early kings (Deut. 17:18)? We believe it was the very copy of the law or Pentateuch written by the hand of Moses (2 Chron. 34:14). That Moses was the writer of these five inspired records is evident from the testimony of the books themselves (Deut. 31:9, 24), by Joshua (Joshua 1:7), by Samuel (1 Sam. 12:6-8), by David (1 Kings 2:3), by Solomon (1 Kings 8:53, 56), by Jehovah (2 Kings 21:8), by Josiah (2 Kings 23:2-3, 25) by Jehoiada (2 Chron. 23:16-18), by Hezekiah (2 Chron. 30:16), by Ezra (Ezra 7:6), by Nehemiah (Neh. 13:1), by Daniel (Dan. 9:11-13), by Malachi (Mal. 4:4), by Christ (John 5:45-47), by Peter (Acts 3:22-26), by Stephen (Acts 7), by Paul (1 Cor. 9:9), by all the Jewish writers, ancient and modern, and by the Jewish nation in all ages, by apostates as Mahomet and Julian, by heathen writers as Longinus and Tacitus. Yet in the face of this overwhelming testimony, Divine, Christian, Jewish, and Heathen, men will be found bold enough and bad enough to impugn the authority of the Pentateuch, and deny, too, its Mosaic authorship!

That Moses was the writer of the first five books of the O.T., called the Pentateuch, there are many proofs in scripture; such as "have ye not read in the book of Moses?" Mark 12:26; "If they hear not Moses and the prophets," Luke 16:31; Luke 24:27; "When Moses is read," 2 Cor. 3:15. Of course the section where his death is recorded was added by a later hand. When the inspiration of scripture is fully held, God is known as the author of His word, and it becomes a secondary question who was the instrument that God used to write down what He wished to be recorded. Respecting some of the books of scripture we know not who wrote them; but that in no way touches their inspiration. It is plain, however, from the above and other passages that Moses was the writer of the Pentateuch, which is often called "the law of Moses."

The Greek name given to the first five books of the O.T., which are also called 'the five books of Moses.' The many references to and quotations from them in other parts of the scripture, and allusions to them by Christ under the name of Moses, show plainly that Moses was the inspired writer of them, except of course the small portion that records his death and burial. See MOSES.

Just as, at the judgment seat of Christ, there will be a review of all our history here on earth, so we find now a review of Israel's journey from the time they left Egypt. It is noted that Moses wrote the record of these things at the command of the Lord (v.2) and it is quite evident that Moses was the writer of all of Numbers and also of Deuteronomy except the last chapter, or at least the last nine verses of that chapter.

Starting from 2 Timothy 3:16: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" we can see in the Old as well as in the New Testament that Moses is considered to be the author of Deuteronomy and therefore the time of writing is confirmed. In Deuteronomy 31:9 and 24-26 it is testified that Moses wrote the book and that he gave it to the Levites to keep it. In Joshua 8:32-35 explicit reference is made to Deuteronomy 27:8-12 as "all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before". While mentioning the law of Moses (Thora) in 2 Chron. 34:14 and Neh. 8:1 the book of Deuteronomy is included as well.

The death of Moses is an historic event. It occurred in the early part of the year 1405 B.C., some weeks before the passage of the Jordan. The mission of Moses, whatever it was, was complete. His work was finished. He leaves it as a legacy to his successors. But what was his work? The answer of the word of God is nowhere equivocal. It uniformly maintains that the law was given by Moses. Moses, while he was alive in the world, not only acted as a mediator between God and the generation of Israel of his day, but by divine authority established the covenant relationship under which they and their successors were to be the people of God and enjoy His blessing. Now, the history of the children of Israel under these covenant relationships is to be distinguished from the establishment of the relationships. Moses is not the author of their history under the covenant, but the author, under God, of the covenant under which their history occurred. He gave by divine direction all the laws by which their conduct was to be regulated. He promulgated all the divine communications in regard to the establishment of the covenant. He wrote the history of the communication of the covenant. When he died, the work of communicating the covenant was finished. He left thus a body of writings which ever after was referred to under specific names, such as, The Law, The Law of Moses, This Book of the Law. These terms do not apply simply to the testimony — the tables of the law, put into the ark — but to the entire body of the writings of Moses, i.e., the authorised copy of the history of the establishment of the covenant.