Moses and the Torah

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. It was nearly 3:00 in the morning. Anyone could have just fallen right into a deep sleep at this hour. This was what I assumed too initially, but somehow I stayed awake for the whole night. The last time I checked on the clock by my bedside was 4:45am.

What flashed across my mind for the last couple sleepless hours were simply my reflections on what I had learned from my seminary education in the recent three years.

It’s just so weird that the thoughts I had went like I was answering my own questions the whole night or morning.

I remembered telling myself that even if Moses didn’t actually write the Pentateuch, he was still the right person to be considered for its authorship. Isn’t he? Can we suggest anyone else other than giving Moses the credit?

I am convinced the present form of Pentateuch was not written by Moses per se. It was highly probable that it came to its present form in c.700 BC but that still can’t actually prove that Moses didn’t have anything to do with the early writing of the Torah. My guess is even if Moses didn’t actually pen the Torah himself, he would still be an important source for the oral tradition.

The source criticism of how the Torah (JEPD) came together is interesting. I’d keep this in view until I am able to read the entire OT in Hebrew proficiently, otherwise, whatever information I get remains as information instead of knowledge.