D10-4: Moses Did NOT Actually Write All Of The Torah

“The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.  At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today. That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance, as the Lord your God told them.”-Deuteronomy 10:6-9

I’m going to share what may be shocking news to some of you.

Are you ready?

Okay, here goes.

The truth is…

…even though the Torah is often referred to as the Law of Moses…

…or the Five Books of Moses..

…Moses did NOT actually write all of the Torah.

The evidence of this are verses Deuteronomy 10:6-9 (copied above).

This is something that only the most attentive Bible scholars have caught but it’s true.

Verses 6-9 were inserted AFTER Moses passed away.

This actually isn’t too difficult to catch when you read Deuteronomy Chapter 10.

From verse 1 of chapter 10, Moses is speaking in the first person and then all of a sudden the narrative switches over to the third person.

In verses 3-5, Moses is talking about how he was diligent in obeying God’s instructions to construct the Ark of the Covenant and how he placed the second set of tablets (containing the 10 Commandments) inside of it.

Then all of a sudden, from verse 6 we’re given this third person narrative about Israel leaving Mount Sinai, traveling “from the wells of B’nei-Ya’akan to Moserah” (the first time we’re given these place names in the Torah actually).

We’re told that it was at Moserah where Aaron passed away and Eleazar his son succeeded him as the High Priest and then we’re given a reminder about the status of the Levites and how they are not to receive any land inheritance.

Finally, from verse 10, in the same rude and abrupt fashion, the narrative switches back to the first person.

We shouldn’t be surprised nor bothered that Moses didn’t literally write every word in the Torah.

First of all, this particular insertion (verses 6-9) agrees precisely with what we’re told in both Exodus and Numbers on the topic.

Second, there are several passages in Torah that talk about Moses’ death and what happened afterwards.

Obviously, Moses couldn’t have penned those particular verses himself.

I’m done.