Meditations

Openline on Moody Radio March 9, hour 1 @28:58

Listener: I know that the first five books of the bible are attributed to Moses but how did they make it to actually being penned? I don’t think Moses had parchment paper, did he? Was it passed down orally? Who actually wrote it down? (extract of question)

Answer by Dr Michael Rydelnik:

https://www.moodyradio.org/radioplayer.aspx?episode=578072&hour=1

Summary of answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik (the second part of his answer):

Moses wrote the Torah at about 1400 BC. It could be that when his father-in-law Jethro suggested to him to delegate some of his responsibilities to God-fearing Israelites that possibly Moses found time to do some writing. Or possibly, Moses could be taking personal notes and maybe writing it down at the end of his life. The writings were done on skin, goat skins or lamb skins. That was Torah 1.0.

The Hebrew word for the Pentateuch was the Torah. Pentateuch is a greek word for Torah.

Ezra 7:10 says Ezra sought to practice it and also to teach it. Ezra was the one who edited the Torah. For example, he was the one who added the story of the death of Moses in Deuteronomy 34. Another example of editing that was done by Ezra was the change of the name Lachish, the name of the Canaanite city before it was conquered. In the bible, it is called Dan. That would be Torah 2.0.

What happened next was that the bible was beginning to be faithfully copied.

Scriptures:

Ezra 7

¹⁰ For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel. -nkjv

¹⁰ For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. -kjv

¹⁰ For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. -nasb

¹⁰ For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord, and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel. -niv

Deuteronomy 34

⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. ⁶ And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. ⁷ Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. … -nkjv

⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.

⁶ And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.

⁷ And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: … -kjv

 ⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, in accordance with the word of the Lord. ⁶ And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows his burial place to this day. ⁷ Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, -nasb

⁵ And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. ⁶ He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. ⁷ Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. -niv