Why Moses and not Abraham?

[Charlie744]

Why do you think God had Moses write the Torah rather than have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and perhaps even Joseph write one of the earlier books of the Bible? 

[Jayne]

Well, the Torah is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

By the end of Genesis, Abraham, Isaac,  Jacob, and even Joseph were long since dead.  I believe Moses did write it all down at the inspiration of God. Why?  Jesus calls the Old Testament "Moses and the Prophets".

Moses was a witness to a huge part of Exodus - Deuteronomy.

 

Edited January 3, 2024 by Jayne

[Charlie744]

29 minutes ago, Jayne said:

Well, the Torah is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

By the end of Genesis, Abraham, Isaac,  Jacob, and even Joseph were long since dead.  I believe Moses did write it all down at the inspiration of God. Why?  Jesus calls the Old Testament "Moses and the Prophets".

Moses was a witness to a huge part of Exodus - Deuteronomy.

 

Yes, thank you. But He could have had the 5 books written by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses.  
 

If we just take Genesis for example, He could have had Abraham write Genesis?

 

[other one]

53 minutes ago, Charlie744 said:

Yes, thank you. But He could have had the 5 books written by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses.  
 

If we just take Genesis for example, He could have had Abraham write Genesis?

 

Do we know that Moses didn't have writings from the others, and he was instructed to put them all together in one book.

[Charlie744]

1 minute ago, other one said:

Do we know that Moses didn't have writings from the others, and he was instructed to put them all together in one book.

I believe he was given the Torah in top of Mt Sinai

[Michael37]

4 hours ago, Charlie744 said:

Why do you think God had Moses write the Torah rather than have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and perhaps even Joseph write one of the earlier books of the Bible? 

The Priesthood and the Preservation.

Moses was able to build on the experience of those who had dealings with God before him, and with the establishment of the priesthood in his time the ability to document and preserve the Pentateuch was greater than before, providing a firm foundation for the future scholars and scribes to make sure we would have the rest of the Bible also.

[grahampaul]

3 hours ago, Michael37 said:

The Priesthood and the Preservation.

Moses was able to build on the experience of those who had dealings with God before him, and with the establishment of the priesthood in his time the ability to document and preserve the Pentateuch was greater than before, providing a firm foundation for the future scholars and scribes to make sure we would have the rest of the Bible also.

was it available to write it back then ?

[Dennis1209]

It is an interesting topic that I would not argue for or against any particular view. Moses was undoubtedly not twiddling his thumbs for forty days and nights. Adam was a literate adult, as he named the animals; therefore, we can assume he documented them in writing.

I believe our entire canon was written by men (witnesses) under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The NT canon was not established when Paul wrote the following:

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

I suspect Hebrew was the original language given to Adam until the Tower of Bable. In the Table of Nations, Eber, sometimes translated as Heber, translates to the Word Hebrew, and we can take it from there. The Bible (Book) was given to the Hebrews (Jews) to pen and preserve.

I suspect the patriarchs recorded, preserved, and passed down their last wills, testimonials, and genealogies. “Is it not written in the book of” appears in 159 biblical verses.

• Memorial Book ~ Exodus 17:14
• Book of Remembrance ~ Malachi 3:16
• Book of the Wars of the Lord ~ Numbers 21:14
• Book of the Covenant ~ Exodus 24:7
• Book of Law ~ Deut. 17:18; 28:58; 29:21
• Book of Jasher ~ 2 Samuel 1:18
• Book of the Acts of Soloman ~ 1 Kings 11:41
• Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel ~ 1 Kings 14:19
• Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah ~ 1 Kings 15:23
• Book of the Covenant ~ 2 Kings 23:2
• Book of Samuel the Seer ~ 1 Chronicles 29:29
• Book of Nathan the Prophet ~ 2 Chronicles 9:29
• Book of Shemaiah the Prophet and Iddo the Seer ~ 2 Chronicles 12:15

The Lord gave Moses Aaron, his brother, as a spokesman. I believe some in the Bible had amanuensis, such as Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4), Mark (Peter), and Paul (Luke), for various reasons.

It is also plausible that these inspired written patriarch testimonies they witnessed and participated in could have been preserved and accurately recopied through antiquity. Possibly, Moses had access to them.

It is generally accepted Moses wrote the Torah during the forty years of wandering the desert.

As I mentioned, I have no qualms about whether the Lord provided all the history to Moses and penned it or if he used existing patriarch-inspired, witnessed records.

If the OT followed the same pattern and precedence of NT scripture, I would favor inspired witness written records passed down from Adam to Noah and through antiquity.

 

[Michael37]

8 hours ago, grahampaul said:

was it available to write it back then ?

Verbal tradition ensured that information was passed on from generation to generation. This often included oratory, song, and dance. Typically genealogies were written on skins or parchment long before Moses.

Accuracy, Authentication, and Preservation are integral to the Word of God, and Moses was educated in Pharoah's household so reading and writing and dictation were no problem for him. A book was a scroll in those days.

Exo 17:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

[Michael37]

@Charlie744 regarding the priesthood established under Moses:

Lev 10:11  and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."