THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES.
By A. Smith
Some one under an assumed name, through the columns of the Grand Rapids Times, assailed the authenticity of the Bible, and especially the genuineness of the Pentateuch. The following reply we think will be of interest to the readers of the REVIEW:— “Please permit me to say a few words in reply to ‘Lycurgus,’ in regard to the genuineness of the five books of Moses, called the Pentateuch. We have a constant and uninterrupted tradition, going back to the very time when these books were written, to the effect that Moses was their author. The entire Jewish nation, from the very first, have always believed that Moses was the author of these books. On them they rested their civil, political, and religious institutions. At the time of Christ and his apostles the Pentateuch existed in its present form, and was believed to be from Moses. Christ and his apostles often refer to it and make quotations from it, as the New Testament shows. Josephus and the various writers of the Talmud say that Moses wrote these books. These books were in existence two hundred and eighty years before Christ, because about that time the Greek or Septuagint version was made; and this version is concordant in all points with the Hebrew text. It is true there is a difference in chronology between our present version and that of the Septuagint; but that is a question of translation.” “We also possess the Samaritan version of the Pentateuch, which brings it back to the death of Solomon, which occurred about one thousand years before Christ.” “After the death of Solomon the ten tribes separated from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin under King Jeroboam. 1 Kings, chapter 12. And those tribes carried with them their copies of the books of Moses. See also 2 Kings, chapter 17.” “There was always great opposition between the two sections of the Jewish nation, and they watched over the Pentateuch jealously, so that it was impossible that any changes could have been made in it. The Samaritans would not accept of any other sacred writings than the Pentateuch. The Samaritan text is written in the ancient Hebrew letters. See Jonin’s ‘Evidences of Religion,’ p. 106.” “The writings of Moses are referred to in many places in the books of Joshua and Judges. Thus it will be perceived that we have traced the Pentateuch up to the time it was written. I do not perceive how any one can get away from this powerful historical proof.” “The last chapter of Deuteronomy was not written by Moses, because it relates his death and burial. It was probably written by Joshua, his successor. The classification of the Bible into books, and chapters, and verses is of modern date. Neither Christ nor his apostles anywhere refer by name to books, or to chapters, or verses.” “‘And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.’ Gen. 36: 31. The above words are to be taken in a prophetic sense. They had reference to Jacob’s prophecy, which Moses had in mind at the time. Jacob also prophesied kings to Israel. I have been unable to find the above verse, and the remaining verses of the 36th chapter of Genesis, in the first chapter of the first Chronicles, as ‘Lycurgus’ stated. [1 Chron. 1: 43, etc.]” “The following passage in Ex. 16: 35 is to be construed in the same sense; to wit: ‘And they [the children of Israel] did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.’ Both of these passages are idiomatic, and they have been translated literally.” “With regard to the giant mentioned in Deut. 3, who was Og, king of Bashan, and who had a bed of iron in Rabbah, Moses says, in the 13th verse, that he delivered all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, to the half tribe of Manasseh. In 2 Samuel 12: 26 we read: ‘And Joab fought against Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city.’ How does that prove that Moses did not write Deuteronomy? Moses took the entire kingdom, including the city, in his day. Some four hundred years afterward, Joab took the same city. How can you say this did not happen?” “I do not think Moses made use of the words ‘Gentiles’ or ‘Palestine.’ These are the words of the translators of King James’ version of the Bible. That that version contains thousands of [verbal] errors, I am willing to concede.” “I would be pleased to be referred to the authority saying that St. Jerome doubted that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Moses speaks of the city of Dan, which was called Leshem, which it is claimed only received the name of Dan after the conquest. The probability is that the city had two names, Dan and Leshem. Both of these words mean the same thing. This may have been the reason which prompted the Danites to take possession of the city, though not included within the limits assigned to their tribe. See Jonin’s ‘Evidences of Religion,’ p. 112.” According to Buck’s Theological Dictionary, the Pentateuch, consisting of the five books of Moses, was held by the Jews in such veneration that they would not allow it to be laid upon the bed of any sick person, lest it should be polluted by touching the dead. The following terse testimony to the authenticity of the Bible as a whole, I transcribe from “The Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge”:— “The scattered, despised people, the Jews, the irreconcilable enemies of the Christians, keep, with amazing care, the Old Testament, full of the prophetic history of Jesus Christ, and by that means afford the world a striking proof that the New Testament is true; and Christians, in their turn, show that the Old Testament is abundantly confirmed and explained by the New.” “It is exceedingly remarkable that the more humble and holy people are, the more they read, admire, and value the Scriptures; and, on the contrary, the more self-conceited, worldly-minded, and wicked, the more they neglect, despise, and asperse them.”