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[Mixing It Up]

Was the Book of Genesis written by Moses before or after The Exodus?

[jimwalton]

I think Moses is the authority behind Genesis. He could not have written what we have now, because Hebrew wasn't invented as a language until about 1000 BC, the time of King David. But I believe that the Law and the teachings, as well as some of the narrative, has Moses as its source, like me writing a book about Abraham Lincoln. I could use his quotes, his words, and his diary, but I would be the author. Well, it's his material, but I assembled it. I think it's like that. It's Moses's material, but it was assembled with some editing later.

Even though the writing of Genesis is said to have been during the time of the Hezekiah, the exile, or even later, it's interesting that the Jews and Samaritans of the 5th c. BC regarded Moses as the author of it (as confirmed by the Samaritan Pentateuch)

The Bible says Moses was the author. We can assume Moses would have been literate, having been raised in Pharaoh's household. And we know that the alphabet and writing existed at the time of Moses.

As far as an early date of writing is concerned:

• There are some parts of Genesis that have been found to be very old texts, like Genesis 14.
• The spelling and grammar of Genesis are from much later than the 143th c., but the age of its present form doesn't determine the age of its contents. Modernizing old works was common in the ancient Near East.
• The absence of Aramaic, Persian, or Greek influence suggests a date of writing earlier than the exile.
• The historical details of Genesis accurately preserves information from the time it describes so amazingly well that we have to question it having been written 500 years later. it's reasonable to believe that some of this information had changed or would no longer have been known in the 8th c., so there is credible reason to believe an early source and possibly writing.

It is still reasonable, even in this day and age, to assert that the principal inspired, purposeful, and creative mind behind Genesis was Moses of the 13th c. BC.

Walton and Sandy, in "The Lost World of Scripture," write,

"We should be more interested in Moses as the authority whose words are represented in the Pentateuch rather than as the author of the Pentateuch or any of its books. As the represented authority his words were undoubtedly generating documents. Though he may well have received training in scribal practice, it is more likely that he would have had scribes who could actually do the writing. This would not contradict the instructions the he write or the statements that he did so. It would be commonly understood that a scribe would be employed in the process.

"That Moses is the authority whose words are represented and that he was generating documents can be readily accepted. Moses was generating information (sermons, rulings, narratives) that would be considered important enough to preserve in written documents. Some undoubtedly would have been recorded in his time and under his supervision. Others may have been produced by later generations after some time of oral transmission. It matters neither how much material is in each category nor which portions are which; the authority derives from Moses and he is inseparable from the material.

"In contrast, whatever role Moses had in Genesis would be the role of tradent[1] as opposed to the role of authority since Genesis never invokes Moses’s authority for the traditions that it contains. Even if Moses were considered one of the primary tradents for Genesis (which is certainly reasonable), there would be no reason to consider him the first, the last, or the only tradent."

[1] One who is responsible for preserving and handing on the oral tradition, such as a teacher or preacher or missionary, in the form of apophthegms or similar pericopae.