Did Moses write the first five books of the old testament, if he did how did he manage to describe his own?

Question

funeral?

Answer 1

Scholars differ on when the various authors wrote it and when the Redaction occurred. No one today knows who the initial authors were--the predominant view is that many of the stories were handed down orally for generations before being written down. It's not clear which texts are older (although the Song at the Sea in Exodus 15:1-8 is usually acknowledged as among the oldest verses), or which author wrote which verses. Nor is there agreement on the gender of the authors. Some scholars believe the J-writer was a woman, as described in The Book of J by David Rosenberg and Harold Bloom (1990).

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mbible1.html

Answer 2

That's what most people thought, but the Old Testament was written by many different writers like the New Testament. First stories were orally passed down from generation then someone finally wrote them down collectively over many many years.

Answer 3

Where was his funeral?

He is generally credited to writing the first five books. I would imagine that the end was probably written by someone else, possibly Joshua.

Answer 4

The first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses, although it is evident that he used several documentary sources from which he compiled the book of Genesis, along with divine revelation . It is also evident that scribes and copyists have left their traces upon the Pentateuch as we have it today; for example, the explanation of Moses’ supposed death (Deut. 34: 5-12) was surely added by a later hand.

Answer 5

Well, even though I'm an atheist, I'll tell you that Moses did not write about his funeral. I don't think any Christian will deny that, unless they believe he received a prophecy from God telling him about his future, including his funeral.

Answer 6

Actually, no. The Biblical scho;lars that I have spoken to have told me that the identity of the writers of the first books of the Bible are not factually known, but traditionally credit is given to Moses.

If anyone has any verifiable proof, I'll be glad to hear it.

Answer 7

I imagine that was probably were Joshua, came in to the picture seeing how he preceded Moses...

Answer 8

there is a tradition that says joshua may have written the end of deuteronomy. there is another tradition that holds that moses wrote it with tears running down his face.

Answer 9

He wrote the books after the Jews had been living in Egypt for over 400 years. The Egyptians had a very strong influence on Judaism, but Judaism doesn't give them any credit.

Answer 10

yes Moses did, God told him, and he remembered his own experiance