Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 23/12/2004 20:53, Jim West wrote:

> At 11:36 AM 12/23/2004, you wrote:
>
> > All of this is simply evidence that Genesis has undergone some kind 
> > of redaction or editing since Moses' time. None of it is evidence 
> > against the hypothesis that the text as we have it is substantially 
> > as written by Moses, with some updating of the language and of place 
> > names.
>
>
> Am I correct in assuming that you think Moses wrote Genesis and that 
> it has since been redacted?  Moses wrote Genesis?  Really?  One 
> question.  Where in the text of Genesis does it say anywhere who wrote 
> it?
Jim, I don't know who wrote Genesis. I am simply saying that there is no 
conclusive evidence against the hypothesis that Moses wrote it. As with 
nearly all biblical (including New Testament) books, we have very little 
evidence either for or against authorship by any individual. All we have 
to go on is certain traditions, sometimes very ancient, and the 
speculations of certain scholars that those traditions are unreliable - 
speculations for which there is rarely significant evidence if some 
later redaction is allowed for.

The tradition that Moses wrote Genesis is certainly an ancient one. I 
don't know how ancient, can anyone tell us? It is implicit but not 
explicit in the New Testament. And I agree that it is not in the text of 
the book itself.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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