The Authorship of the Pentateuch

THE PENTATEUCH INCLUDES THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). These books separate into two unequal parts: Genesis and Exodus-Deuteronomy. Genesis traces the ancestral origins of Israel. No single character dominates the story. Genesis 1-11 presents a panoramic view of creation, including the formation of heaven and earth and all humanity. The time span from the creation of Adam (Gen. 1:26-27) to the birth of Terah, the father of Abraham (Gen. 11:24), is 1,876 years. Genesis 12-50 narrows in scope to chronicle the family history of Israel through a series of migrations. Israel's story begins in Ur of Babylon with Terah. The main subject matter concerns the three original generations of Israelites represented by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose stories take place primarily within Canaan, the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants (Gen. 12:1-4). Genesis ends with the fourth generation of Israelites (i.e., Joseph and his brothers) settling in Egypt (Gen. 47:9). The time span of Genesis 12-50 is 360 years (year 2236). Israel lives in Egypt an additional 430 years before their exodus in the year 2666 (Exod. 12:40-41). Moses emerges as the central character in the second part of the Pentateuch, which tells the story of Israel's salvation from Egyptian slavery and the establishment of Yahwistic worship in the wilderness. ExodusDeuteronomy are framed by his birth (Exodus 2) and death (Deuteronomy 34). His dates according to the Pentateuch span the years 2586-2706. Thus the vast majority of pentateuchal literature is confined to the 120 years of