Who Wrote Genesis?

Sources for the Bible The original manuscripts from which the First Testament or Old Testament Bible is translated into English come mainly from the Masoretic texts (compiled around 1,000 AD in Hebrew), the Vulgate (compiled around 400 AD in Latin) or the Septuagint (compiled 300-100 BC in Greek).

The Masoretic Texts (Compiled about 1000 AD) The Masoretic texts are based on hand-copies made by scribes whose life tasks were to accurately copy Bible books. The official Hebrew Bible (First or Old Testament) is based on these texts. Traditionally it has been felt that these texts would be most accurate because Hebrew scribes were very accurate and they were just copying the same language, not translating from another language (Hebrew is the original language of First Testament authors).

The Vulgate (Versio Vulgata – “Common Translation”) Around 400 AD, St. Jerome completed a Latin translation based on Greek, Hebrew and Latin manuscripts existing at that time. He included a number of books (the Apocrypha books) that are not in the Protestant or Jewish Bibles. This translation became the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church. With the Reformation movement, the Apocrypha books were judged not to be inspired and so were not included in Protestant Bibles.

The Septuagint The Septuagint was translated from Hebrew manuscripts into Greek from 300 BC-100 AD. It was held in great respect in ancient times and the Greek Orthodox Church considers that its translators were divinely inspired. However, since it was a translation into another language from the original Hebrew, many scholars used to prefer the Masoretic texts to the Septuagint whenever there were slight differences in translation.

The Dead Sea Scrolls In 1947 an Arab boy and his friend were playing by some caves near the northern end of the Dead Sea. They idly threw a rock into a cave and heard a smash that sounded like pottery. They went inside the cave and found a broken clay jar that had parchment fragments inside it. The boys told others about their discovery and archaeological experts were soon at the site.

The Qumran Community As archaeologists combed the area where the boys made their discovery, they found a series of caves which held many jars with parchment manuscripts. The parchments were copies in Hebrew of First Testament books of the Bible, made around 150 BC to 70 AD. The persons writing these scrolls were Essenes who formed the Qumran community. They lived apart and tried to keep themselves holy and ready for the Messiah who they expected was coming soon.

The Dead Sea Scrolls: The Earliest Hebrew Manuscripts of Bible Books There are 972 texts from the First Testament including complete multiple copies of Isaiah. These are the earliest Hebrew manuscripts of Bible books. Comparing these to the Septuagint and Masoretic texts has shown: The Septuagint and Masoretic texts are very close to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Where the Septuagint and Masoretic texts differ, the Dead Sea Scrolls are closer to the Septuagint.

The Author of the Bible Book, Genesis Tradition has generally considered Moses as the author of Genesis. Jesus in many sayings referred to Moses as the author of the Torah, the first 5 books of the Bible.

Moses’ Authorship of Genesis Questioned by Some Considering the text of Genesis, some scholars think Genesis may have been written during the time of Solomon or during the Exile period, perhaps the time when the prophet Ezra lived. So Genesis probably was written 1500 BC (by Moses) or 500 BC (by Person(s) in exile). Understanding the culture of this time will help to interpret the book of Genesis.

Genesis and Ancient Egyptian Culture Much of the text of Genesis seems to have connections to Ancient Egyptian Culture which supports the idea that Moses was the author of Genesis.

Moses’ Story The Hebrew people moved to Egypt to avoid a famine since excess grain had been stored by the Egyptians. The Hebrews were at first favoured by the Egyptians since one of their own, Joseph, was a favorite of Pharoah. Many years after Joseph died, a new Pharoah decided that the Hebrews were a threat to Egypt and decreed that all male babies should be killed.

Moses’ Birth Moses was born to Amram and Jochebed and hid from the Egyptians for a few months until his cries were so loud that he was in danger of being discovered. His parents made a small basket, put Moses in it and floated him in the reeds on the River Nile.

Moses Discovered by Pharoah’s Daughter While bathing in the Nile, Pharoah’s daughter discovered Moses in the floating basket. She felt sorry for Moses and raised him as her son which meant he became the adopted son of Pharoah.

Moses’ Education Moses was educated as Pharoah’s son in the best schools of Egypt. He became thoroughly acquainted with Egyptian religion, their gods and their conception of the universe. “…Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.” Acts 7:21-22

Moses’ Education: Geography and Neighbors

The Babylonian Creation Story Moses would have been taught the Babylonian Creation Story. From pre-existing waters, two water gods, Apsu and Tiamat (a monster) , produced many other gods in Tiamat’s body. These gods were so noisy (babeling – the root of Babylon), that Apsu decided to kill them. But the gods in Tiamat were able to get Apsu killed first.

The Babylonian Creation Story A council of the gods then chose one of their number, Marduk, to kill Tiamat and bring order out of a chaotic situation. After killing Tiamat, Marduk divided her body into the waters above the firmament (solid sky dome) and the waters below the earth. Tiamat’s husband Kingu was also killed and his blood was mixed with clay and formed into humans. Humans were made to toil and do work in the world since the gods were tired of the work they had to do in the world.

The Babylonian World View (Cosmology) Babylonians thought that there were three bowl-like heavens (the firmament) and three tiers to the earth. There were waters above the firmament which fell through as rain and waters below the earth which supplied the water for wells. The earth was thought to be flat and floating on a vast sea.

Mesopotamia: Surrounded by Waters The ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian views of a universe floating in or surrounded by waters was likely based in part on the water bodies surrounding the area.

Water As A Chaotic Force Storms causing catastrophes on seas and local floods which would have brought chaos probably made the ancients see water as a chaotic force that potentially threatened mankind’s existence. The Babylonians also had a flood story, Gilgamesh (goes back to 2000 BC), in which the gods sent a flood on sinful mankind and one righteous man, Ut-Napishtim, built an ark which saved him, other people and animals.

Moses’ Education: “The” Egyptian Creation Story From the eternal waters, Atum (Ptah) made 9 main gods. The water god (Nun), land (Geb), sky/firmament (Nut), air (Shu), sun (Ra), waters under earth (Naunet), etc.

The Egyptian Universe Daily Ra travelled in his boat from the east to the west in the waters above. At night Ra travelled in the waters below, fighting off monsters trying to kill him. The cobra god, Wadjet, helped him. The cobra on Pharoah’s crown symbolized the snake god’s protection of Pharoah (who was also thought to be a god).

Early Egyptian Cosmology (World View) Early Egyptians believed the earth was a flat disc floating in a vast sea. Resting on the earth was the firmament, a solid bowl that held back the waters above. Below the earth were others waters and the underworld. Each of these regions functioned under the control of a god.

Biblical Language and the Egyptian Universe 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.

Biblical Language and the Egyptian Universe   9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

Biblical Language and the Egyptian Universe: Ps 104 He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. 6 You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. 7 But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; 8 they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them.  You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.

Man’s Origin in “The” Egyptian Creation Story Man was made from clay. In one account a god breathed into the clay man to bring him to life.

Modern vs Ancient Understanding of Function Being raised in a Scientific society, we today understand that the function of an object is related to its structure. Because a thing has a certain form it will do/act (function) in a certain way.

The Ancients: Function Determined by Purpose The ancient cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia believed that the purpose of a thing determined its function or what it did. The purpose of a thing was decreed or spoken by a god. When a god spoke or named a thing, (s)he gave it purpose and this caused it to function in the way it does. A god  speaks or names a thing  gives purpose  function

What Does It Mean for a Thing to Exist? For moderns, things exist when they are physically present. If something is composed of energy or matter, it exists. The sun exists since it is composed of hydrogen, pressed by its enormous gravity to undergo nuclear fusion. For the ancients, things exist when they have been given functions in relation to other things that have functions. The sun exists due to its having the decreed functions of time-keeping, of providing heat and energy for humans, animals and plants.

Creation for a Modern Mind versus an Ancient Mind For moderns, creation is the process of shaping physical energy and matter into forms. Creation is a substance-forming (material) act. For ancients, creation is giving functions (by decree) to things. Creation is a function-giving act.

A Summary of the Worldview of Moses’ Time They thought of existence in functional terms. God decrees functions and purpose which is why things exist as they do. They thought of the earth as flat, surrounded by waters. They thought of the sky as a solid over-arching dome with the stars and planets embedded in it. They thought that different gods each controlled aspects of their universe. They thought that man was to be a servant (slave) of the gods (and the Priests/King who ran the temple(s) of the gods). Material substance was pre-existing before the gods decreed functions and order.

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