Authorship of the Pentateuch: Moses vs JEDP

The main question: Who wrote the first five books of the Old Testament?

A disagreement exists amongst Old Testament (OT) scholars as to who authored the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Pentateuch. This short essay will explain the two different theories and also the thinking behind each theory. In brief, some scholars think Moses authored most of the Pentateuch. Other scholars believe that four different groups who lived 500-1000 years after Moses produced the Pentateuch. For simplicity’s sake, I am going to refer to the first group as the "Moses group" and the latter group as the "JEPD group."

First, it is important to know that scholars from both sides accuse the other side of not using proper scholarship. You can think of them as Republicans and Democrats: both Republicans and Democrats are American, but they have different ways of looking at the Constitution and the Amendments. Both groups of OT scholars think deeply about the OT, and in this case the Pentateuch, but end up with a different opinion as to the author of the Pentateuch.

One issue that causes the disagreement Some stories are repeated and with slightly different facts. For instance, concerning the flood and Noah, Genesis 6:19 states this: "You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you." In the next chapter Genesis 7:2 states this: "Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal (an animal people could eat), a male and a female, and two of every kind of unclean animal (an animal people were not supposed to eat), a male and its mate." These two different verses give different commands about how many of each type of animal to take on the ark.

Moses Group Of the five books in the Pentateuch, only the first does not discuss Moses: Genesis. And, except for the first chapter in the second book and the last chapter in the last book, the rest of the four books tell the long story of Moses and how God used him to guide the Jews. Scholars in the Moses group believe that Moses wrote down the oral history that the Jews kept alive (which formed Genesis) and then wrote the story found in most of the four books since he had witnessed it. (The last chapter in the last book describes Moses' death, and so scholars in this group agree that someone else wrote this.) This week you will find out that the Jews were forced to wander 40 years in the desert; this would have given Moses time to write these five books. As for the flood story difference, scholars in this group believe that the main point of saving the animals was listed first (2 of every kind) and then later God added a comment about taking extra animals on board so Noah and his family could eat. This group would say that Moses wrote the story, and added this later detail since God added it later so that Noah and his family could have food to eat.

JEPD Group Scholars in the JEPD group believe that four different groups of Jews wrote the Pentateuch from 500-1000 years after Moses. They believe that the differences in the Pentateuch, such as in the flood story, show that there were different stories of how the flood occurred. Different groups wrote down their version, and at some point one person (perhaps Moses or a fifth group) combined the stories together to make one long story.

A second issue that causes the disagreement Scholars in the Moses group believe that God gave Moses the 10 Commandments and the rest of the rules found in what is known as the "Law." Scholars in the JEPD do not necessarily believe that God gave the Law to Moses, instead the different laws found in the last four books of the Pentateuch slowly developed over a 500-1000 year period. During that time period, four different groups at four different times wrote down the beliefs and practices at their time. The four different groups were J, E, P, and D (which is why it is referred to as JEPD). Then someone or a fifth group combined these into one story.

For example, on the one hand, the JEPD group believes that Jewish identity developed slowly over a period of probably 1000 years, and the Pentateuch contains different laws that developed as well as stories, some of them made-up or altered stories, that the Jews developed to give themselves an identity. On the other hand, the Moses group believes that God rescued the Jews from Egyptian slavery, and then gave Moses all the rules the Jews would need to develop the Jewish nation and faith. Moses then wrote wrote down all the rules plus a description of how God rescued the Jews from Egyptian slavery: that formed the last four books of the Pentateuch. Moses also wrote down the history of the Jews from the oral tradition (stories handed down) of the Jews; this became Genesis.

What this means for you Since higher education means understanding different sides of a story, it is important for you to understand that different groups have different ways of interpreting the Old Testament. In such a short class it is impossible to delve into both sides, but it is important to understand that some scholars (JEPD) look at the OT and believe that it represents the long struggle the Jews had in creating and forming their identity, and other scholars (Moses) believe that God created the Jewish identity and the OT is the story of God working through the Jews.

© 2017 Mark Nickens