How to Read Genesis

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Who Wrote Genesis?

What is the origin of the book of origins (Genesis)? It may surprise most readers that this seemingly simple question has generated intense passion for over one hundred years. How we answer this question often leads to a quick assessment of our orthodoxy. Deny that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and some will suspect your allegiance to the faith. Affirm that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, and others will question your intelligence.

Such strongly held views are perplexing in the light of the fact that Genesis nowhere names an author or describes the process of its composition. What are we to make of it all?

Did Moses Write Genesis?

The issue is presently more complicated than it has ever been in the past. Rival theories have proliferated, but we can boil the controversy down to the question, Did Moses compose Genesis?

Genesis is technically an anonymous book; that is, it nowhere names its author. However, we need to expand the search for an author to include the entire Pentateuch, since the first five books of the Old Testament present themselves as a coherent unit. Even so, nowhere within the Pentateuch does Moses or anyone else claim to have written it. If this is the case, what is the evidence that supports the idea that Moses wrote Genesis?

First, elsewhere in the Pentateuch we hear that Moses was a recipient of revelation and a witness to redemptive acts. Furthermore, on occasion we read that he wrote down certain historical events (Ex 17:14; Num 33:2) and laws (Ex 24:4; 34:27) as well as a song (Deut 31:22; see Deut 32). While this evidence is far from convincing concerning the authorship of the Pentateuch as a whole (and even more for Genesis), it does raise difficult questions for those people who say that Moses had nothing to do with its composition, particularly in the case of the law, which the text tells us he received and transmitted to future generations. If this depiction proved to be fictional, serious theological questions would arise. In such a case, if the text is trying to establish the authority of the law in part on its promulgation by the revered Moses, then why should we accept a law presented in a fraudulent manner?

Besides the inner-Pentateuchal references to Moses' writing activity, very early in biblical history a tradition arose that connected the Pentateuch with Moses. Scholars will disagree over the dates of the following biblical texts, but just mentioning them is informative.

The first example comes from Joshua 1. Moses is dead, and Joshua is in charge of the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. God encourages Joshua at this critical and potentially dangerous moment with the following charge: "You are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do" (Josh 1:6-7). While the reference to the "instructions Moses gave you" probably points more specifically to the laws in Exodus to Deuteronomy (or at least an earlier form of them), it does indicate that Moses bequeathed some textual tradition to the following generations.1

Later in the history of Israel, the Israelites could refer to a "book of Moses" (2 Chron 25:4; Ezra 6:18; Neh 13:1). These passages provide strong intrabiblical data for a Mosaic writing, while not being specific about its shape or scope. It is also clear that Jesus and the early church connected much, if not all, of the Torah with Moses (Mt 19:7; 22:24; Mk 7:10; 12:26; Jn 1:17; 5:46; 7:23).

While it is true that none of these references refer specifically to material found in Genesis, they do connect Moses with the composition of the later books of the Pentateuch, to which Genesis serves as a preamble. We should not be surprised to learn that until the past couple hundred years, there was little doubt in the church or synagogue that Moses was the author of Genesis.

Problems with Mosaic Authorship

Even so, attentive readers of the Pentateuch know that there are items included about which Moses could not have known. The flagship example of these so-called post-Mosaica is the account of the death of Moses in Deuteronomy 34. Moses could not have written the record of his death, and attempts to ground the chapter in a prophetic revelation are strained.

But there are more such items that are easily detected when we know something of the history of Israel. For example, the town in Mesopotamia from which Abraham came to the Promised Land is called "Ur of the Chaldeans" (Gen 11:28, 31; 15:7). No one doubts the antiquity of Ur. It was an ancient city, founded long before Moses and Abraham before him. It is the qualifier, "of the Chaldeans," that is universally recognized as coming after Moses. The Chaldeans were a first-millennium-BC Aramaic-speaking tribe that came to dominate southern Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq), including the area of Ur. The reason the additional identification is given is that there were other cities and villages named Ur (including one that was in the area today controlled by the nation of Syria). The reference to the Chaldeans helped a first-millennium readership understand which particular city their ancestor came from.

Yet another example comes from Genesis 14. The chapter concerns a raid by a group of four eastern kings who, among other things, capture Abraham's nephew Lot and intend to take him back with them. Abraham sets out in hot pursuit to save his kinsman. Genesis 14:14 begins this part of the story: "When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer's army until he caught up with them at Dan." Most readers would pass over the reference to Dan without pause; however, if we think about it, we might remember that the city of Dan is named after Abraham's great-grandson. We even have the story where this city is named Dan (Judg 17-18). The city existed during Abraham's time period, but at that time its name was Laish. Someone changed the name so later generations could understand exactly where this place was.

Other concrete examples could be given, but the principle is clear. There are indications of post-Mosaic activity in the book of Genesis (and beyond). What is not clear is exactly how extensive the later editing is. We notice the obvious changes, but are these the only ones, or are they the tip of a very big iceberg?

Obvious Sources

There is strong evidence that parts of Genesis (and the Pentateuch) were written after the death of Moses. Now we turn our attention briefly to the evidence that parts of Genesis were written before Moses. Or, more accurately, parts of the book are treated as sources that are woven into the main fabric of the book.

First we need to remember what the contents of Genesis are. Genesis is a narration of events from the moment of creation down to the death of Joseph. It's clear that these are accounts of things that happened long before Moses. How did Moses know about them to write about them?

For those who affirm the reality of divine revelation, we must consider the possibility that God told Moses what happened and that Moses wrote down what he heard or saw. However, an appeal to direct auditory or visionary revelation is not a necessary or elegant hypothesis, and in any case there is explicit evidence for another approach, namely that Moses used sources that were passed down through the generations.

The most blatant evidence for sources is the so-called toledot formulas. These are sentences that begin with the Hebrew phrase ?elleh toledot, which has been translated in a number of ways, including "these are the generations," "this is the family history," and "this is the account." The phrase is always followed by a personal name (with the exception of the first occurrence, which names instead the "heavens and the earth," Gen 2:4). The person named is not necessarily the main character but only the beginning point of the section of the book that also closes with the person's death.

There are eleven such formulas, and these provide introductions to sections of Genesis that were likely original sources passed down the generations and included in the final book. These eleven toledot also structure the book and serve to define it as a prologue (Gen 1:1-2:3) followed by various episodes: the "generations of" Adam (Gen 5:1), Noah (Gen 6:9), Noah's sons (Gen 10:1), Shem (Gen 11:10), Terah (Gen 11:27), Isaac (Gen 25:19), Esau (Gen 36:1, 9), and Jacob (Gen 37:2). That these sources were likely written by the time they came down to Moses may be seen in the reference to the "book [sefer] of the toledot of Adam." However, we really do not know the details of transmission of these ancient sources of knowledge, and therefore we aren't sure whether they were all written or whether some were oral and the others written.

In any case, the conclusion is clear; if Moses was the author, he utilized sources in Genesis in order to learn about events that happened long before he was born.

Indications of Multiple Authorship

Following the evidence provided by the biblical text itself, we are now on firm ground to make the following three...