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'''Mosaic authorship''' is the belief that [[Moses]] was the author of the five books of the [[Torah]] or [[Pentateuch]] - [[Genesis]], [[Exodus]], [[Numbers]], [[Leviticus]] and [[Deuteronomy]].

'''Mosaic authorship''' is the belief that [[Moses]] was the author of the five books of the [[Torah]] or [[Pentateuch]] - [[Genesis]], [[Exodus]], [[Numbers]], [[Leviticus]] and [[Deuteronomy]].

The belief in Mosaic authorship of the Torah is found in the Torah itself which states, "So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel." {{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|31:9|KJV}}

The belief in Mosaic authorship of the [[Torah]] is found in the Torah itself which states, "So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel." {{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|31:9|KJV}}

The belief of Mosaic authorship excluding the Bible's testimony is first found explicitly expressed in the [[Talmud]], a collection of Jewish traditions and exegesis said supposedly to date to the time of Moses himself. The commentary section of the talmud though dates to 500 AD, and indicate that the authors of the later books of the Hebrew bible already accepted the idea that Moses had written the Torah. The Talmudic commentators advanced several versions of just how Moses came to write the Torah, ranging from direct dictation by God to a less direct divine inspiration stretching over the forty years in the wilderness.

The belief of Mosaic authorship excluding the Bible's testimony is first found explicitly expressed in the [[Talmud]], a collection of Jewish traditions and exegesis said supposedly to date to the time of Moses himself. The commentary section of the talmud though dates to 500 AD, and indicate that the authors of the later books of the Hebrew bible already accepted the idea that Moses had written the Torah. The Talmudic commentators advanced several versions of just how Moses came to write the Torah, ranging from direct dictation by God to a less direct divine inspiration stretching over the forty years in the wilderness.

The Torah itself makes a statement of authorship in various verses. Notable among these is {{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|31:9}},{{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|31:24-26}}, describing how Moses writes "this law" on a scroll and lays it beside the [[ark of the Covenant]].<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=719426 Deuteronomy].</ref> Similar passages include, for example, Exodus 17:14, "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven;" Exodus 24:4, "And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel;" and Exodus 34:27, "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel."<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=217012 Exodus]</ref> Also {{Bibleref|Leviticus|26:46}} states, "These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the LORD established on Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses"  

The Torah itself makes a statement of authorship in various verses. Notable among these is {{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|31:9}},{{Bibleref|Deuteronomy|31:24-26}}, describing how Moses writes "this law" on a scroll and lays it beside the [[ark of the Covenant]].<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=719426 Deuteronomy].</ref> Similar passages include, for example, Exodus 17:14, "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven;" Exodus 24:4, "And Moses wrote all the words of Jehovah, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel;" and Exodus 34:27, "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel."<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=217012 Exodus]</ref> Also {{Bibleref|Leviticus|26:46}} states, "These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the LORD established on Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses"  

[[book of Joshua|Joshua]],<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=878799 Joshua 1:7-8]</ref> [[book of Kings|Kings]],<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1359280 1 Kings 2-3] and [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1495410 2 Kings 23:21 and 25]</ref> [[book of Chronicles|Chronicles]],<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1747524 2 Chronicles 8:13, 34:14 and 35:12]</ref> [[Book of Ezra|Ezra]]<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1895703 Ezra 3:2 and 6:18]</ref> and [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1939289 Nehemiah 8:1 and 13:1]</ref> all contain verses implying belief in Mosaic authorship of the Torah, indicating that the belief possibly existed during the time of Joshua, his book is said to have been written around the 1300's bc. Also because of the belief in Mosaic authorship is found in the book of Nehemiah it can be certain that this belief existed during the Post-Exilic period. It was certainly well established by the time of the [[Talmud]] (c. 200-500 CE), the authors of which held that Moses received the Torah during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The early Christian church with its Jewish roots accepted the Torah, and Mosaic authorship, as part of its own spiritual inheritance.

[[book of Joshua|Joshua]],<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=878799 Joshua 1:7-8]</ref> [[book of Kings|Kings]],<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1359280 1 Kings 2-3] and [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1495410 2 Kings 23:21 and 25]</ref> [[book of Chronicles|Chronicles]],<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1747524 2 Chronicles 8:13, 34:14 and 35:12]</ref> [[Book of Ezra|Ezra]]<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1895703 Ezra 3:2 and 6:18]</ref> and [[Book of Nehemiah|Nehemiah]]<ref>[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1939289 Nehemiah 8:1 and 13:1]</ref> all contain verses implying belief in Mosaic authorship of the Torah, indicating that the belief possibly existed during the time of Joshua, his book is said to have been written around the 1300's bc. Also because of the belief in Mosaic authorship is found in the book of Nehemiah it can be certain that this belief existed during the Post-Exilic period. It was certainly well established by the time of the [[Talmud]] (c. 200-500 AD), the authors of which held that Moses received the Torah during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The early Christian church with its Jewish roots accepted the Torah, and Mosaic authorship, as part of its own spiritual inheritance.

Should these datings be correct the date of the Torah would be much older than what most Biblical critics think it is, it would also mean it would be more likely for the Torah to have been written by Moses because of this earlier date.<ref name="tna"/>

Should these datings be correct the date of the Torah would be much older than what most Biblical critics think it is, it would also mean it would be more likely for the Torah to have been written by Moses because of this earlier date.<ref name="tna"/>

Also based on paleographic evidence Erik Waaler, in his book "A revised date for Pentateuchal texts?" published in 2002, dates the amulets somewhat earlier than the other artifacts in the cave (725-650 BCE).

Also based on paleographic evidence Erik Waaler, in his book "A revised date for Pentateuchal texts?" published in 2002, dates the amulets somewhat earlier than the other artifacts in the cave (725-650 BC).

===Archaeology===

===Archaeology===

The work of the American school of [[Biblical archaeology|biblical archaeologists]] such as [[William F. Albright]] and [[Cyrus Gordon]] have confirmed that [[Genesis]] and [[Exodus]] are firmly grounded in the material reality of the second millennium.<ref>[http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_archaeology.html#1 "Archaeology and the Patriarchs"]</ref>  The Torah accurately portrays second-millennium legal and social customs.<ref>Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, James K. Hoffmeier, Oxford: 1997. page 21</ref> An example of this how the price of 20 shekels price for Joseph was the going price for a slave during the first half of the 2nd millennium, whereas in the 2nd half of that millennium the price had gone up to 30 shekels. <ref>Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, James K. Hoffmeier, Oxford: 1997. page 84</ref> The legal and cultural patterns present in the Patriarchal narratives simply no longer existed in exilic or post-exilic times.Furthermore, the customs manifested by Abraham & the patriarchs that descend from him are most closely matched by the society illustrated in the Nuzi tablets (of a Hurrian background peoples), dated in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC  <ref>The Bible and the Ancient Near East, Cyrus Gordon and Gary Rendsburg, Norton:1997 (4th ed). pages 109-130</ref>

The work of the American school of [[Biblical archaeology|biblical archaeologists]] such as [[William F. Albright]] and [[Cyrus Gordon]] have confirmed that [[Genesis]] and [[Exodus]] are firmly grounded in the material reality of the second millennium.<ref>[http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/article_archaeology.html#1 "Archaeology and the Patriarchs"]</ref>  The Torah accurately portrays second-millennium legal and social customs.<ref>Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, James K. Hoffmeier, Oxford: 1997. page 21</ref> An example of this how the price of 20 shekels price for Joseph was the going price for a slave during the first half of the 2nd millennium, whereas in the 2nd half of that millennium the price had gone up to 30 shekels. <ref>Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, James K. Hoffmeier, Oxford: 1997. page 84</ref> The legal and cultural patterns present in the Patriarchal narratives simply no longer existed in exilic or post-exilic times.Furthermore, the customs manifested by Abraham & the patriarchs that descend from him are most closely matched by the society illustrated in the Nuzi tablets (of a Hurrian background peoples), dated in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC  <ref>The Bible and the Ancient Near East, Cyrus Gordon and Gary Rendsburg, Norton:1997 (4th ed). pages 109-130</ref>

Furthermore, for those who doubt the historicity of the Exouds completely, by suggesting that it was created only in the sixth to fifth century B.C.E. post-exilic era, a question must be asked regarding Ramesses and Pithom, the cities on which the Hebrews labored, according to Exodus. Why did the biblical editors or redactors refer specifically to Ramesses, when in their own era and for some three centuries earlier the capital of Egypt had been Tanis, a city well known and often referred to in the Old Testament? From the Book of Judges onwards, Tanis is consistently referred to as Egypt's capital. Why would a biblical editor insert Ramesses into a newly composed story when that city no longer existed in Egypt and had not been Pharaoh's residence or the capital for the previous four or five centuries? ...Tanis had been the Egyptian capital throughout nearly the entire span of Israel's monarchic period. What sense would it make for Jews familiar with Saite Egypt to invent a story about an oppressive pharaoh who had compelled their ancestors to labor on his cities, and why fix on Ramesses for this role? In Dynasty XXVI Pharaoh's capital was Sais, and even more pointedly, Jewish exiles in Egypt were valued for their mercenary skills and not consigned to compulsory brick making.  <ref>Exodus: The Egyptian Evidence, E.S. Frerichs and L.H. Lesko (eds), Eisenbrauns:1997. page 44</ref>

Furthermore, for those who doubt the historicity of the Exouds completely, by suggesting that it was created only in the sixth to fifth century B.C. post-exilic era, a question must be asked regarding Ramesses and [[Pithom]], the cities on which the Hebrews labored, according to Exodus. Why did the biblical editors or redactors refer specifically to Ramesses, when in their own era and for some three centuries earlier the capital of [[Egypt]] had been Tanis, a city well known and often referred to in the [[Old Testament]]? From the [[Book of Judges]] onwards, Tanis is consistently referred to as Egypt's capital. Why would a biblical editor insert Ramesses into a newly composed story when that city no longer existed in Egypt and had not been [[Pharaoh]]'s residence or the capital for the previous four or five centuries? ...Tanis had been the Egyptian capital throughout nearly the entire span of Israel's monarchic period. What sense would it make for Jews familiar with Saite Egypt to invent a story about an oppressive pharaoh who had compelled their ancestors to labor on his cities, and why fix on Ramesses for this role? In Dynasty XXVI Pharaoh's capital was Sais, and even more pointedly, Jewish exiles in Egypt were valued for their mercenary skills and not consigned to compulsory brick making.  <ref>Exodus: The Egyptian Evidence, E.S. Frerichs and L.H. Lesko (eds), Eisenbrauns:1997. page 44</ref>