The book of Genesis is an anonymous book. Nowhere in the book, or in the rest of the Bible, does the author show his face. This fact should caution us against holding any view dogmatically. Both Jewish and Christian traditions, however, attribute the book to Moses. Hence the collection of scriptures within which Genesis is found is called, by the Jews, "the book of Moses," or "the torah of Moses." This is a practice to which even Jesus gave himself. It is to be noticed, however, that while Jesus refers to the Pentateuch as the "torah of Moses" in general, this is a different matter from saying that Jesus was, therefore, specifically affirming that the book of Genesis was written by Moses.
Having clarified that, we acknowledge that Moses could have written the book of Genesis. Brought up in the palace of the pharoah he would have been well educated and any resources he needed, where they were available, would have been easily accessible to him. He certainly had what was needed to write such a work. It may also be noticed that the book of Genesis is not complete; it is open ended. It ends with the children of Israel in Egypt, with Joseph's 'dream' of that God would one day visit them and take them "up out of this land to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" unfulfilled. Genesis was meant only to be the first part of a larger story. If Moses was the author (or in some other way/s responsible for the writing) of the books from Exodus to Deuteronomy, it is easily imaginable that he was responsible for writing Genesis as a prologue.
Nonetheless, the book remains anonymous; which, of course, would not have been out of character with Moses either. This anonymity should not disturb us. We do not know who wrote the books of 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, etc. These facts do no detract from these books their authority as Scriptures. Neither should the anonymity of Genesis. Or that, it someone were to demonstrate beyond any doubt that it was not written by Moses. As Derek Kidner wisely points out, ". . . the book shows a breadth of conception and a combination of erudition, artistry and both psychological and spiritual insight which make it outstanding, by common consent, even in the Old Testament. If its chief architect was not Moses, it was evidently a man of comparable stature" (Genesis).
The question of the history of the study of Genesis' authorship cannot be divorced from that of the other books of the Pentateuch. For a more in-depth survey click
Open Discussion
Low Chai Hok
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2022