Who wrote the book of Genesis?

Question

I always believed Moses wrote it also, but how did he know what happened with Adam and Eve and Noah--he was not there?

Answer 1

When and Where Written. The book of Genesis was evidently part of the one original writing (the Torah), and it was possibly completed by Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the year 1513 B.C.E. After Genesis 1:1, 2 (relating to the creation of the heavens and the earth), the book evidently covers a span of thousands of years involved in the preparation of the earth for human habitation (see CREATION; DAY), and thereafter it covers the period from man’s creation on down to the year 1657 B.C.E., when Joseph died.—See CHRONOLOGY (From Human Creation to the Present).

Writership. The objection once raised by some skeptics that writing was not known in Moses’ day is today generally discounted. In his book New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis (1949, p. 35), P. J. Wiseman points out that archaeological research gives ample proof that “the art of writing began in the earliest historical times known to man.” Virtually all modern scholars acknowledge the existence of writing long before the time of Moses (in the second millennium B.C.E.). Expressions such as that found in Exodus 17:14, “Write this as a memorial in the book,” substantiate the fact that writing was in common use in Moses’ day. Adam must have had the ability to devise a form of writing, God having given him, as a perfect man, a language, with the ability to handle it perfectly, even to the extent of composing poetry.—Ge 2:19, 23.

From where did Moses get the information he included in Genesis?

All the information contained in the book of Genesis relates to events that took place prior to Moses’ birth. It could have been received directly by divine revelation. It is obvious that someone had to receive the information relating to the events prior to man’s creation in that way, whether Moses or someone prior to him. (Ge 1:1-27; 2:7, 8) This information and the remaining details, however, could have been transmitted to Moses by means of oral tradition. Because of the long life span of men of that period, the information could have been passed from Adam to Moses through just five human links, namely, Methuselah, Shem, Isaac, Levi, and Amram. A third possibility is that Moses obtained much of the information for Genesis from already existing writings or documents. As far back as the 18th century, the Dutch scholar Campegius Vitringa held this view, basing his conclusion upon the frequent occurrence in Genesis (ten times) of the expression (in KJ) “these are the generations of,” and once “this is the book of the generations of.” (Ge 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2) In this expression the Hebrew word for “generations” is toh·le·dhohth′, and it is better rendered “histories” or “origins.” For example, “generations of the heavens and of the earth” would hardly be fitting, whereas “history of the heavens and the earth” is meaningful. (Ge 2:4) In harmony with this, the German Elberfelder, the French Crampon, and the Spanish Bover-Cantera all use the term “history,” as does the New World Translation. There is no doubt that even as men today are interested in an accurate historical record, so they have been from the start.

For these reasons, Vitringa and others since have understood each use of toh·le·dhohth′ in Genesis to refer to an already existing written historical document that Moses had in his possession and that he relied upon for the majority of the information recorded in Genesis. They believe that the persons named in direct connection with such ‘histories’ (Adam, Noah, Noah’s sons, Shem, Terah, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, and Jacob) were either the writers or original possessors of those written documents. This, of course, would still leave unexplained how all such documents came to be in the possession of Moses. It also leaves unexplained why documents obtained from men who were not distinguished as faithful worshipers of Jehovah (such as Ishmael and Esau) should be the source of much of the information used. It is entirely possible that the expression “This is the history of” is simply an introductory phrase serving conveniently to divide off the various sections of the long overall history. Compare Matthew’s use of a similar expression to introduce his Gospel account.—Mt 1:1; see WRITING.

No definite conclusion can be arrived at, therefore, as to the immediate source from which Moses obtained the information he recorded. Rather than just by one of the methods discussed, the information may have been received by all three, some through direct revelation, some through oral transmission, some by written records. The important point is that Jehovah God guided the prophet Moses so that he wrote by divine inspiration.—2Pe 1:21.

Answer 2

Scholars have analyzed it and come to the conclusion that what we call Genesis is the product of joint authorship.

It's kind of a complicated subject, but in a nutshell, based on different features of the text such as vocabulary, subject matter, prominence given to certain individual hero's from a certain region of Israel, etc., it is thought that some of the old oral story traditions of the Hebrew people were written down by certain authors who scholars call J, E, D, and P. (Nobody knows the real names of who wrote Genesis.) It is though that these different authors came from different social and political backgrounds. Sometime during the history of the Hebrew nation (probably during the divided kingdom period or later) the different elements written by J, E, D, and P were woven together into a single book.

If you want a better explanation, and a good read, check out the book "Who Wrote the Bible?" by Richard Elliot Friedman. This stuff can get very technical and dry, but this book is written like a mystery novel. Very fun and accessible to the average person.

By the way, some people will say Moses wrote Genesis. This is a very old Jewish and Christian tradition. I'd like to point out that nowhere in Genesis (or Exodus, Leviticus, Number, or Deuteronomy) does Moses claim to be the author or does it say that Moses is the author. Take a look yourself if you want.

People who think that Moses wrote Genesis will tell you that the J, E, D, P stuff (the documentary hypothesis) is not true and that there is no good evidence for it. Here's a simple experiment you can do yourself. Read the flood story in Genesis, and notice the repititions and contradictory information (How many animals went in? 2 of each kind or 2 of each unclean kind and 7 pairs of clean. It can't be both.)

Answer 3

Tradition ascribes the Pentateuch to Moses - even though parts of those five books descibe his death and the events that followed it! In reality, they were compiled from older sources and traditions long after the events of the 'Exodus' - probably about 1000 BCE in the royal court of David, although the book of Genesis may not have reached its final form until after the Jewish exile in Babylon. Scholars recognise different strands of thought in the book of Genesis, and they ascribe this to different writers with varying priestly or legalistic kinds of theology - e.g., the Yahwist, the Deuteronomist.

Answer 4

Tradition says Moses, but common sense makes me ask when such a figure would find time to do all that writing, much less acquire something to write on, something to write with, etc. in the middle of the desert. Not to mention the fact that this stuff was pretty hard for people to come by then even in the best of conditions. To have a pen or a stylus and a reliable source of papyrus or whatever in that time would be like having a personal mainframe computer in the 60s or 70s.

Answer 5

Who wrote the book of Genesis?

Moses is believed to have written the Pentateuch(first five books of the old testament)
He was not at creation, It is believe by christian theology that the Books are verbally inspired by God
others depict the writing styles are to different to be written by one person.i.e. no one know for sure who wrote the book. That does not take away from its history or its place in God Word.

Answer 6

Well, Christians will likely tell you the Torah(first 5 books) were dictated to Moses by god.

But, if you look at the text, there are very different writing styles throughout all the passages. Lending one to believe there were many writers. Why would god dictate things to moses in a different style throughout the text.

Also, there are two things that really jump out at someone who actually analyzes the bible, rather than just take it as truth. One, why is the creation story covered twice. The events of the creation stories are different, and written in a different style. Why would god tell the story twice, contradicting himself between the two stories.

Second, how exactly did moses write about the events of his own death? And, if this did happen, and god dictated how moses would die, before he actually died, what effect did this have on moses. And people wonder why he ended up a "drunkard"?

Answer 7

Although Moses has traditionally been considered the author of Genesis, modern scholars generally agree that the book is a composite of at least three different literary strands: J (10th century BC), E (9th century), and P (5th century). The interpretation of the book has led to many controversies. One of the most difficult problems has been distinguishing historical fact from symbolic narration intended to convey a religious message.

Answer 8

Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy

Answer 9

i think phil collins wrote the music book for genesis - oh wait a minute, wrong genesis. ummmm go with somebody else's answer then

Answer 10

Although I cannot exactly give you any proof, tradition says that Moses wrote the first five books of the Hebrew Bible aka The Old Testament.