Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Yigal:
How many modern authors make a claim that they wrote the whole book? In
fact, how many list their names beyond the cover and title page? So why
should we expect something different from an ancient author? In fact, by
mentioning it a few times, does not Moses already give more evidence for his
authorship than given by most authors?

And writing about oneself in the third person in a historical account, is
that unheard of even among modern historians?

Then Joshua, who knew both the author and the authorship of the book,
referred to the work of Moses. To a skeptic like me, it appears that those
who question Mosaic authorship have a harder case to make.

Karl W. Randolph.

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 7:56 PM, Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il> wrote:

> No, Karl, you'll have to be more specific than that. While there are a
> couple of passeges that refer (in the third person) to Moses as writing
> "the
> words of the Torah" on a book (i.e. scroll), this cannot refer to the
> entire
> Pentateuch as we know it.
>
> Yigal Levin