AUTHOR

Exodus has been termed “the central book of the Old Testament.” Indeed its pages contain some of Scripture’s greatest treasures, including the Ten Commandments, the primary accounts of the ten plagues, Israel’s exodus from Egypt into freedom, God’s establishment of a covenant with his people at Mount Sinai, and the construction of the tabernacle along with its sacred furnishings. Not surprisingly, much controversy has developed around this book as well. Critics have questioned its authorship, challenged the accuracy of its historical accounts, and suggested that its theological and moral teachings contradict statements found elsewhere in the Bible.

Traditional Judaism and Christianity have maintained for thousands of years that God is the author of the book of Exodus and that Moses was the human agent he used to pen its words. The acceptance of Moses as the human author of the first five books of the Bible is based first of all on biblical statements indicating that Moses wrote sacred Scripture. These statements are found within the Torah, or first five books of Scripture (Ex 24:4; 34:28; Nm 33:2; Dt 31:9,22), as well as in other parts of the Bible (Jos 8:31-32; Mk 12:19; Lk 20:28; Jn 1:45). Jesus himself affirmed that Moses wrote Scripture (Jn 5:46). Within the Bible, the usual way of referring to the first five books of the Bible is to call them the law of Moses (Jos 8:31-32; 23:6; 1Kg 2:3; 2Kg 14:6; 23:25; 2Ch 23:18; 30:16; Ezr 3:2; 7:6; Neh 8:1; Dn 9:11,13; Mal 4:4; Lk 2:22; 24:44; Jn 7:23; Ac 13:39; 15:5; 28:23; 1Co 9:9).

THE RELIABILITY OF EXODUS

Some nineteenth-century skeptics rejected Mosaic authorship because they believed that Semitic writing systems had not been devised at the time he was alive. However, archaeological evidence has dispelled that objection; Semitic inscriptions written at least a hundred years earlier than Moses have been discovered in the Sinai desert. Narrative accounts in the Torah dealing with the events of Moses’s lifetime contain details that suggest an eyewitness account and a thorough acquaintance with Egypt. Furthermore, references in the Torah to the land of Canaan are consistently those of one who lived outside the region, as did the Egyptian-born Moses. Linguistic evidence for an early date of composition is also found in the archaic uses of certain terms, particularly the third-person singular feminine pronoun. The way that the narrative hangs together as a whole provides evidence favoring single authorship for the first five books of the Bible.

While accepting Moses as the author of the Torah, conservative scholars have regularly acknowledged that editors living after the time of Moses helped to shape the first five books of the Bible. Evidence for this is found in the use of place names that did not exist during Moses’s day (e.g., Dn; see Gn 14:14; Dt 34:1), reference to Israelite kingship (Gn 36:31), updated place names (Gn 14:2,3,7,8,17; 23:2; 35:6,19,27; 48:7), and the account of Moses’s death (Dt 34:1-12). It is also possible that editors were responsible for the inclusion and final arrangement of narrative passages beyond the account of Moses’s death. To admit that God may have used editors in the process of producing the finished book of Exodus and the rest of the Torah in no way reduces the central role Moses played in producing these books: Moses is legitimately their human author. These books are properly referred to as the law of Moses.

At a more basic level, some skeptics have suggested that there never was an actual person named Moses who led Israel from Egyptian slavery to freedom. For them the story of Moses presented in Exodus—Deuteronomy is a work of fiction created for religious and political reasons. According to these critics, the absence of any mention of Moses in the records of ancient Egypt or contemporary non-Israelite Semitic cultures, as well as the extraordinary claims about him in Scripture, are enough to convince them that Moses was the invention of an ancient Israelite storyteller.

Of course, throughout the centuries Christians have had no problem accepting Moses’s reality. As with many other controversial issues, the starting point for addressing this issue is considering the explicit claims of the Bible. Clearly the narratives in Exodus—Deuteronomy present Moses as a historical reality. Numerous passages in the rest of the Old Testament (e.g., Jos 1:1-7; 14:7-11; Jdg 4:11; 1Sm 12:6; 1Kg 8:9; 2Kg 18:4-6; 1Ch 6:3; 2Ch 5:10; Neh 1:7-8; Ps 77:20; 106:23; Is 63:11-12; Jr 15:1; Mic 6:4) as well as in the New Testament (Mt 19:7-8; Mk 12:26; Lk 5:14; Jn 3:14; Ac 3:22; Rm 5:14; 1Co 10:2; 2Co 3:7-15; 2Tm 3:8; Heb 3:2; 11:23-24) make it clear that the biblical writers believed that Moses really lived. Jesus also implied that Moses was an actual person (Jn 5:46-47).

THE FOUNDATION STONE

In many ways the book of Exodus is the foundation stone upon which the rest of the Bible stands. Its laws established the outlines of Israel’s social life and provided the authoritative basis for the religious practices that informed Israelite culture for more than a thousand years. The events in this book prepare the reader for Israel’s conquest of Canaan and occupation of the land. Its regulations regarding the proper treatment of others serve as the core around which the teachings of Proverbs, the lyrics of many psalms, and the proclamations of the prophets were built.

From a New Testament perspective, this book is used in three main ways. First, it prefigures the life and ministry of Christ, especially in his role as our sacrificial lamb (Heb 9:12; 1Pt 1:19; Rv 5:8-9). Second, it provides examples that illustrate the Christian life. Finally, it presents the moral and ethical framework to guide Christians in their decision making.