Authenticity of the Pentateuch. Although some fragments claim a higher antiquity, GENESIS is acknowledged to be the most ancient complete book in existence. It must be viewed, however, in connexion with the four books that follow it, and of which it is an integral part, the scope of the whole being the foundation of a theocracy based upon the idea of a single family. Although there seem to be portions of more ancient narratives embodied by the writer in the book as it now stands (e.g. the story of Lamech and his two wives; a second account of the Creation, chap. ii.; the battle of the five kings against four in the Vale of Siddim; the meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, &c.), so that some have supposed that the original narrative has been enlarged at various times by three or more subsequent compilers; yet it is allowed that the record in its present state is substantially that of Moses, with a few later additions in the time of the monarchy. Other commentators maintain, that two quite distinct narratives have been interwoven together: the one, more ancient, in which the Deity is throughout designated by the general term Elohim (God), and in the other, by the more mystic name, Jehovah (The Lord)—the former representing a general Divine influence in the material world, the latter a supernatural, overruling power creating and directing it, and requiring adoration in return. These two portions are known as the Elohistic and Jehovistic; the former teaching natural, and the latter, revealed, religion. There is throughout the Pentateuch an unity, which can only be ascribed satisfactorily to one writer.

In the Book of EXODUS, some critics have conjectured the existence also of two distinct documents (Elohistic and Jehovistic) blended together, though they find it much more difficult to accurately define them. The book, as a whole, is strongly impregnated with the atmosphere of Egypt, as made known to us by modern research. Its language shews a large infusion of Egyptian words; the Ten Plagues are directed, in three groups, against the three primary divinities of ancient Egypt, viz. water, heavenly bodies, and earth,—as also is the Second Commandment; the enactments of the Mosaic Law are based upon Egyptian life; the whole constitution of religious worship is antagonistic to Egyptian mythology (e.g. the sacrifice of sacred animals), and presupposes residence in a camp, and in a wilderness, as the established rule; and words, peculiar to such a life, remain stamped upon ordinances and accessories of worship throughout the religion of the nation (e.g. the place of worship is always "the Tabernacle," i.e. the tent; excommunication is, being "cast out of the Camp;" the scapegoat carries the sins of the people into the "Wilderness;" the Sabbath becomes a rest from the labour of "Bondage;" and the peculiar rites of the Passover, such as the posture of the eaters, the unleavened bread, and "the haste," possess their significance, as a memorial of a hasty flight; while the Divine Presence on Mount Sinai is commemorated at Jerusalem by the erection of an artificial mountain by Solomon, on which the figurative presence of the "Most High" is localised, and even the fence, placed round Mount Sinai by Moses, is perpetuated by a trellis at the foot of Mount Moriah). Hence, internal evidence strongly supports the belief, that the book was written at the time when, and under the circumstances under which, its author professes to have composed it. It is doubtful, however, whether we are to ascribe a period of 215, or of 400, years to the residence of the Israelites in Egypt, as the passages in the record are ambiguous; but the number of the people, at the time of the Exodus, would suggest the longer period.

In LEVITICUS and NUMBERS, the attempt to define two distinct Elohistic and Jehovistic portions has failed to command support; it is generally allowed, that there is but one narrative, in the main; though there may be some minor additions to it of a later date.

The apparent variation of style (from the historical to the hortatory), in the Book of DEUTERONOMY, as well as certain apparent discrepancies between it and the previous books, have raised doubts as to its authorship, some assigning it to Jeremiah, and others to an Alexandrine Jew, of the time of Manasseh. The majority of critics, however, favour the traditional theory, that it was the work of Moses, at the close of his life; since the writer evidently had in view the approaching entrance of the Israelites into their promised inheritance. The discrepancies are not irreconcileable, and the enactments, which provide for an established form of government, including even a monarchy and permanent settlement in cities, might well be prospective. On the other hand, there are many similarities between it and the rest of the Pentateuch (e.g. the use of peculiar Hebrew words and grammatical forms, the frequent reference to their slavery in Egypt, to Egyptian laws and customs, &c.), which are strong evidence in favour of its being the work of the same author, to which must be added the direct testimony of the writer himself in the book, and its frequent quotation as the "Law of Moses," in the New Testament. On the whole, the great preponderance of testimony, both from external and internal evidence, favours the view that the Pentateuch (with the exception of a few unimportant phrases) is the work of Moses.

12