Who wrote the Pentateuch?

Question

besides moses...

Answer 1

Actually, I don't believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch at all. The theory includes four different unnnamed authors. It's called the JEDP theory of the document hypothesis. The letters stand for the four authors. J stands for Jahwist for the author that exclusively uses the word YHWH for the name of God. The E author exclusively uses Elohim for the name of God. Elohim is a more generic term for God and seems a little more impersonal. The D is the Deuteronomist that wrote the Deuteronomy which seems very different than the other books in the Pentateuch. The P stands for the Priestly author. The theory also states that there was a editor that went through and compiled all of the different pieces together and made them seemingly flow as one book. Traditionally Moses is seen as the author, but it was actually put together much later than his death. Also, there are two verses that make someone think twice about Moses being the author. One of them mentions Moses dying. The other names Moses as the most humble man on earth. I don't think Moses would say that about himself and still remain humble in the eyes of the people of Israel.

Answer 2

Biblical scholars have long ago proven that Moses did not write the Pentateuch aka Torah.

The Documentary Hypothesis states that there were five authors named J-E-P-D-R.

J & E were competing Levite priests living in the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Isreal and Judah. After the Assyrian conquest of Isreal, the priests came together in Judah. P combined the writings. D added a few more. After the Babylonian conquest of Judah and the subsequent internment and release, R wrote the rest.

That's a very summarized version. For a more detailed explanation and specific examples, please read Richard Friedman's "Who Wrote the Bible?".

Answer 3

Pentateuch (Πεντετεύχως) ("five rolls or cases") is the Greek name for the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible: the name is derived from two Greek words: pente, meaning "five", and teuxos (pronounced tev-chos) which roughly means "case", a reference to the cases containing the five scrolls of the Laws of Moses.

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
In Christianity, these books are found in the Old Testament.

Answer 4

It would be more accurate to say Moses COMPILED the Pentateuch.
The opening words of Genesis 2:4 and 5:1 and 11:10 and 11:27 all indicate many writings already existed ....and he put them all together.
Although he probably did some actual writing as well.

Answer 5

God.