Textual Criticism Of The Pentateuch

Textual evidence is the root to deciphering the entire Pentateuch, because every word being analyzed is sitting in the text. Textual criticism of the Pentateuch is unavoidable, because much of it is confusing to the readers, it is natural for the readers to ask questions and challenge the text that is being preached. Textual critics made great strides when they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) at a cave near the Dead Sea in 1948. Through the Dead Sea Scroll, we have found that the Samaritan recession parted ways in the first century B.C., as opposed to the forth or fifth century B.C. that was formerly believed. This discovery is just the beginning in piecing together the textual criticism that will help in determining the authorship …show more content…
Mosaic authorship is the view that Moses write the Pentateuch and it took place during the Moses time period. The primary strength associated with Mosaic authorship is the fact that it has the support of both Jesus Christ and the apostles, this is also the primary weakness because if the support of Jesus and the apostles is false then the legitimacy of the entire New Testament would collapse. For those who don’t believe in Mosaic authorship, believe in higher criticism of the Pentateuch, which involved the belief Moses was not the sole author of the Pentateuch, but rather one author or multiple authors are responsible for the writing of the Pentateuch. The primary strength associated with the higher criticism of the Pentateuch is that the Book of Deuteronomy was written by somebody who lived longer than Moses and by someone who crossed the Jordon, because much of the book is told from the narrative of someone who had resided in the promised land, which was impossible for Moses because he was not allowed to enter the promise land, nor would he be alive. The writer also wrote in the third person and it is questioned that if the writer was Moses, he would talk about himself in the first person. The primary weakness is that the laws of the Pentateuch may have been written by Moses because he was the one who spoke directly to …show more content…
The Pentateuch is the basis of the entire bible therefore making it one of the most important topics in biblical studies. I think it is very important to discuss the authorship of the Pentateuch because it can help in understanding and explaining the inconsistencies found within the Pentateuch. Much of the uncertainty associated with the Pentateuch is the confusion of who wrote each document, therefore, students of biblical studies should be aware of the argument over Pentateucal authorship. The issue that is most at stake over the authorship of the Pentateuch is that Jesus and the apostles have given their seal of approval on Mosaic Authorship, making it holy scripture. If researchers are ever able to find a definitive answer to the authorship of the Pentateuch, then the entire New Testament could be concluded as invalid, which would damage the many religions, but mostly the practice