how did moses write genesis

Moses (/ˈmoʊzɪz,-zɪs/) is considered the most important prophet in Judaism and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Islam, the Druze faith, the Baháʼí Faith and other Abrahamic religions. According to both the Bible and the Quran, Moses was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver to whom the authorship, or “acquisition from heaven”, of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) is attributed.

According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born in a time when his people, the Israelites, an enslaved minority, were increasing in population and, as a result, the Egyptian Pharaoh worried that they might ally themselves with Egypt’s enemies. Moses’s Hebrew mother, Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all newborn Hebrew boys to be killed in order to reduce the population of the Israelites.

Pharaoh’s daughter

Through the Pharaoh’s daughter (identified as Queen Bithia in the Midrash), the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master who was beating a Hebrew, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, where he encountered the Angel of the Lord, speaking to him from within a burning bush on Mount Horeb, which he regarded as the Mountain of God.

God sent Moses back to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites from slavery. Moses said that he could not speak eloquently, so God allowed Aaron, his elder brother, to become his spokesperson. After the Ten Plagues, Moses led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, after which they based themselves at Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses died on Mount Nebo at the age of 120, within sight of the Promised Land.

Generally, Moses is seen as a legendary figure, whilst retaining the possibility that Moses or a Moses-like figure existed in the 13th century BCE. Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE; Jerome suggested 1592 BCE,  and James Ussher suggested 1571 BCE as his birth year.

Book of Genesis

We have seen that Moses could have written Exodus through Deuteronomy based upon his own eyewitness testimony. But what about Genesis? The events at the conclusion of the Book of Genesis occurred some three hundred years before Moses was born. In addition, when the heavens and the earth were created there was nobody around to observe it except for God, and possibly His angelic host. How then could Moses write about the original creation and the rest of the events in Genesis? Obviously he had to depend upon sources. What were these sources?

Direct Revelation

One possible answer to this question is that Moses could have received direct revelation from God as to what happened in the beginning. This would be consistent with the way God has revealed Himself in other parts of Scripture. For example, God revealed the future to the prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. It is, therefore, certainly possible that He could have told Moses what had happened in the past as He told others what would happen in the future.

Records Kept From Beginning

There is also the likelihood that records of God’s dealings with humanity were kept from the beginning. The personal touch in which we find these events recorded, such as Abraham’s prayer for Sodom, and his offering of Isaac, gives evidence that what we have are firsthand accounts. We know that Abraham came from a country where reading and writing were common. It is possible that he could have collected any earlier records and brought them with him. Scripture also tells us that Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac (Genesis 25:5). It is possible that records from earlier times were among his possessions.

One Tradition Known

We do know that at least one of the traditions from the time of Joseph was handed down until the time of Moses. Joseph made his brothers promise that they would carry his bones from Egypt to the Promised Land (Genesis 50:25). Joseph’s body was preserved until Moses’ time so that his request could be granted. We are told that his wishes were carried out.

Did Moses Write Genesis?

Introduction

In the past few hundred years, the Bible has been under severe attack by scientific and philosophical skeptics of all sorts. In this scientific age the most-attacked book of the Bible has arguably been Genesis, particularly the first eleven chapters. Long-age geology, big bang cosmology, secular archaeology, liberal theology, and philosophical attacks on miracles in the Bible have deceived many people to believe that the Bible is not true and therefore cannot be trusted.

One of the major attacks on the Bible in the past 300 years has been directed against Moses and his authorship of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis–Deuteronomy). Such attacks on these foundational books of the rest of the Bible come both from non-Christians as well as professing Christians.

Seminary courses, theology books, introductions to the Pentateuch in Bibles, and the secular media have promoted the man-made idea that Moses did not write the Pentateuch (also known as the Law or Torah). Instead, it is claimed that at least four different authors (or groups of authors) wrote various portions of these books over many centuries and then one or more redactors (editors) over many years combined and interwove everything together into its present form.

Northern Kingdom of Israel

The introduction to the Old Testament in another Bible translation says that the J document was written by someone much later than Moses in the Southern Kingdom of Judah and the E document was written by someone in the Northern Kingdom of Israel.2 Let’s evaluate the arguments put forth in defense of this hypothesis.

Numerous passages in the New Testament state that Genesis was written by Moses. But how could Moses have written Genesis? James Ussher, the famous chronologist and historian, dated the Exodus at 1491 BC. Since Moses was about 80 years old at the time, it is likely that he was born about 1571 BC, which equates to 2433 AM (Anno Mundi, years since the creation of the world). Yet Genesis closes with the death of Joseph, about 1635 BC, or 2369 AM. So the last event in Genesis finished 64 years before Moses was born, with over 2,000 years of history to record. Modern historians would turn to earlier writers, but we believe that Moses was inspired by God.

New Testamen

While posing this problem, we must start our answer by acknowledging that we believe what the inspired New Testament writers wrote about the authorship of Genesis. Whatever answer we give must be consistent with that starting point. Scholars fall into error when they allow such questions to cause them to doubt the veracity of Scripture.

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It is, of course, possible that Moses received direct revelation from God on what to write down. Another theory, however, which I favor, is that God inspired a number of writers over time to write the various “generations” of Genesis. Which Moses then edited under divine inspiration. For example, Genesis 5:1 suggests that the section following was compiled by Adam. While Noah wrote the section starting in Genesis 6:9.

Whatever we believe about HOW Moses wrote Genesis, we accept that he did and that God inspired him to do so.

Where did Moses get the information to write the Creation account?

While the Bible itself is silent on the matter, two plausible answers have been proposed.

First, Moses’ knowledge of the origins of the world could have been passed to him. Through a process of oral history from Adam to Moses. Due to the extremely long lifespans of early humanity. Very few generations were required to pass this knowledge over thousands of years. For example, only two people are required to connect the lifespan of Adam to Abraham:

Adam —> Lamech —> Shem —> Abraham

Since Adam had first-hand knowledge of much of Creation (and the rest could have been communicated to Him by God). Then it’s plausible that the story was repeated and passed down through these few generations. To move the account from Abraham to Moses would require only four more generations. Therefore, an oral history of the world could have been passed down from Adam to Moses through Noah’s family.

Arabia

A second answer comes from the writings of the first century Jewish historian, Josephus. He claims that Methuselah an ancient historian of his day. Who recorded the history of the world (as told by Adam) on stone obelisks. These obelisks carried by Noah onto the ark. And after the ark came to rest, Noah deposited the stone tablets in Arabia.

Later during the desert wanderings, Moses directed by God to discover these obelisks. Where he learned the history of the world and repeated it in the Jewish scripture. The obelisk written in Hebrew (which the first language of mankind). So only a Jewish man like Moses could have deciphered it.