Genuine :possessing the claimed or attributed character, quality, or origin; not counterfeit; authentic; real: genuine sympathy; a genuine antique. <Dictionary.com>
We are here discussing the Genuineness of the Bible or we seek to show that “the Bible is actually what it claims to be”. One aspect of this is the genuineness of the message : identifying the Human authors of the Bible
The Characteristics of what is genuine Biblical quality are found in every book of the Bible. Their presence never depended on the identity of the human authors. The Divine presence which superintended the Revelation process, guarantees that the Word communicated is what God wanted. Each portion of Scripture harmonises with every other Book of the Bible.
Aspects of Genuineness
A. The Genuineness of the Message.
Is the Message of the Bible genuine? This does not refer to the original documents as none of them has survived, but to the content of the original message. The Bible and the Church ICI p. 86
The Books of the Bible were copied by specially designated scribes. They were extremely careful in copying “God’s Word”. Proof of their accuracy is seen in the fact that the recent archeological finds of early manuscripts of the Greek text, for example, the Rylands fragment of John (which appears to have been written within 50 years of the life of the Gospel authors),
shows no difference from other copies of Scripture that have been passed on to us through the centuries. In this miraculous way the Message of the Bible has been preserved. The Scribes faithfully transmitted the message of the Bible.
The scribes have a notable history. All ancient peoples had large numbers of scribes for the transmission of religious texts and other legal and historical documents. In the Old Testament the best-known scribe is Ezra; because he was both a scribe and a priest, he was a very powerful religious leader (Ez. 7:6).
If there had not been copyists and interpreters, there would have been no transmission of the biblical text. Those who did the work very quickly became authorities on the text. Most of them were probably priests, or linked with priestly groups. With so many complicated materials involved with the transmission of the holy writings, professional, well-trained scribes were absolutely essential.2 Bible.org
Mainstream scholars like Coogan point to strong evidence that humans had a hand in the writing and editing of biblical texts. Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation.
Coogan and other scholars think that a group they call the Priestly Writers compiled the work of previous authors during the Babylonian Exile. Photo credit: © WGBH Educational Foundation
Please read the Story of Ezra the Scribe in “THE SCRIBE WHO WROTE THE HEBREW BIBLE” <http://www.studyjesus.com/Stories_From_Hebrew_Bible/107_Scribe-Hebrew_Bible.htm>
Not only do we have trustworthy manuscript copies of the Scriptures but also many translations or Versions of the Bible. During the missionary expansion of the church, the Gospel spread westward into the Latin - speaking parts of the Roman Empire and eastward into settlements of the Middle East in which Syriac was predominant. Thus, the Scriptures were translated very carefully into Latin and Syriac as assist in the evangelisation of these major language areas. These translations or versions were translated around 250 A.D. and were based on the Greek manuscripts older than any which have survived. The value of these translations is that they give us a fairly exact idea of the content and order of the original manuscripts.
What is the difference between the genuineness of a painting and the genuineness of the Bible?
B. The Genuineness of the Authorship.
This concerns the human authorship under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration of the 66 books of the Bible. Even though “All Scripture is God Breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16), we also know that God used human authors to record His Inspired Message for each book of the Bible.
In some Books the author’s name is mentioned such as Paul when He writes, “I Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, … to the church of God in Corinth 1Cor 1:1-2” or “the Word of the LORD came to Hosea the Son of Beeri…. “ Hosea 1:1
Other Books of the Bible do not give the author’s name directly. Scholars attempt to determine the author by looking at the contents, the linguistic style and the grammar and vocabulary. In this way they seek to determine the human author.
The Human Author is important as this gives the Book its authority and genuineness. Sometimes books have been falsely signed by evil people bent on cheating the general public. Since the alleged authors are not the actual authors, the documents are not genuine. This is why scholars carefully study the contents of a book of the Bible, for they want to be sure that the signature is correct. This is what is entailed in the genuineness of the authorship instead of the message or quality. Notes from The Bible and the Church. pp.88-89
This process helps to establish the Unity of the Bible Content.
1. The Genuineness of the Books of the Law, the Pentateuch.
Up until the last 200 years it was always accepted that Moses Wrote the Pentateuch, the First Five Books of the Law. “The conclusion is not that Moses wrote all of the Pentateuch, but that he had a major hand in not only its writing and development, but even its composition (i.e. how it was put together)” Theopedia.com
Reasons for believing that Moses wrote the Pentateuch.
Scripture Supports the Mosaic Authorship. (Notes from Thiessen p.92)
- The Pentateuch itself supports this View.
Moses was told to write what God told him.
Exo 24:4 So Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He got up early in the morning and built an altar with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the bottom of the mountain.
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| The Book of the Law. |
Exo 34:28 While Moses was there with the LORD for 40 days and 40 nights, he did not eat or drink. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.
See also Numbers 33:2 and Deuteronomy 31:9;23;24.
What he wrote is described as “the words of this law”
Deut 28:58 "If you aren't careful to observe all the words of this Law that have been written in this book, instructing you to fear this glorious and awesome name of the LORD your God
Note the words “the Book of this Law”
Deu 28:59 then he will inflict extraordinary plagues on you and your children, great and lasting plagues, and severe and lasting illnesses.
Deu 28:60 He will inflict on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they won't be curable.
Deu 28:61 Moreover, the LORD will inflict you with illnesses and plagues that were not written in this Book of the Law, until you are exterminated.
Deu 28:62 Because you will not have obeyed the LORD your God, very few of you will be left—instead of you being as numerous as the stars in the heavens.
CP. Deut 29:20;21;27; 30:10; 31:26; 31:24
- Thirteen times outside the Pentateuch in the Old Testament Moses is represented as the Author of the Five Books of the Law.
Note that it is called ‘the Book of the law of Moses”.
Jos 8:31 just the way Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelis in the Book of the Law of Moses: "...an altar of uncut stones that hasn't been worked with iron tools..." and they offered burnt offerings to the LORD on it, along with peace offerings.
Jos 23:6 "Stand very strong, then, so you can obey and carry out everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left of it.
2Ki 14:6 but he did not execute the children of the murderers, in keeping with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, as the LORD had commanded: "Fathers must not be put to death because of their children's sin; nor are children to die because of their fathers' sin, for each person is to be put to death for his own sin."
It is also found that the Pentateuch is called “the Law of Moses”.
It is also found that the Pentateuch is called “the Law of Moses”.
1Ki 2:1 As David's time to die approached, he addressed his son Solomon with these words:
1Ki 2:2 "I'm headed down the road that everyone who lives on earth travels, so be strong and demonstrate that you're a grown man
1Ki 2:3 by keeping the charge that the LORD your God entrusted to you. Live life his way, keep his statutes, his commands, his ordinances, and his testimonies, just as they're written down in the Law of Moses, so that you may succeed in everything you do and wherever you go,
1Ki 2:4 and so that the LORD may fulfill his promise that he spoke about me when he said, 'If your sons pay attention to how they live by walking truthfully in my presence with all their heart and with all their soul, you will never lack a man on the throne of Israel.'
2 Chron.23:18 Jehoiada also placed the offices of the LORD's Temple under the authority of the Levitical priests whom David had assigned over the LORD's Temple, just as is required by the Law of Moses, to offer the LORD's burnt offerings with joy and singing, just as David had ordered.
Or is is called the Writings of Moses.
2Ch 25:3 As soon as he had consolidated his royal authority, he executed the servants who had killed his father, the king,
2Ch 25:4 but he did not execute their children in obedience to what is written in the Law, the writings of Moses, where the LORD commanded, "Fathers are not to die because of what their children do, nor are children to die because of what their children do, but each person is to die for his own sins."
- In the New Testament Our Lord Jesus often spoke of “Moses” as a written work.
Luk 16:29 "Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets. They should listen to them!'
Luk 16:31 "Then Abraham told him, 'If your brothers do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.'"
Joh 5:45 Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope,
Joh 5:46 because if you believed Moses, you would believe me, since he wrote about me.
Jesus ascribed various teachings in the Pentateuch to Moses.
Mat 8:4 Then Jesus told him, "See to it that you don't speak to anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest, and then offer the sacrifice that Moses commanded as proof to the authorities."
Joh 7:22 Moses gave you circumcision—not that it is from Moses, but from the Patriarchs—and so you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
Joh 7:23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the Law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man perfectly well on the Sabbath?
So if Jesus Himself believed that Moses wrote the Books of the Law who is to gainsay that.
- Other New Testament writers speak of “Moses” as a Book.
Joh 1:45 Philip found Nathaniel and told him, "We have found the man about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote—Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."
Act 15:21 James said, “After all, Moses has had people to proclaim him in every city for generations, and on every Sabbath his books are read aloud in the synagogues."
- They also ascribe various teachings found in the Pentateuch to Moses.
Act 3:22 In fact, Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to everything he tells you. Cp.Deut 18:15-19
Act 7:37 This is the Moses who said to the descendants of Israel, "'GOD WILL RAISE UP A PROPHET FOR YOU, FROM AMONG YOUR BRETHREN, JUST AS HE RAISED ME UP.'
Rom 9:15 No, indeed; the solution is found in His words to Moses, "WHEREVER I SHOW MERCY IT SHALL BE NOTHING BUT MERCY, AND WHEREVER I SHOW COMPASSION IT SHALL BE SIMPLY COMPASSION." Cp. Ex 33:19
Heb 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.
- Jewish Tradition consistently ascribes the Pentateuch to Moses
“We don’t have innumerable books as the Greeks disagreeing and contradicting one another. But we have only 22 books, which contain the records of all the past times, which are justly believed to be Divine. And of them five belong to Moses.”
- The JEDP theory
This theory seeks to understand the authorship of the Pentateuch in light of the Documentary Hypothesis. This view believes that the Pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally Moses. The results ofSource Criticism first proposed two authors (or sources) for the Pentateuch supposedly distinguishable by the use of the terms Yahweh and Elohim. Two additional sources were later proposed as P for Priestly, and D for Deuteronomic resulting in the JEDP theory of authorship, most notably associated with German scholar Julius Wellhausen (1844-1918).
JEDP are initials representing the four hypothetical sources as follows:
- Elohist (from Elohim) - primarily describes God as El or Elohim. Starting with Gen 15, it covers material similar to "J". It is dated around 750 B.C. (J and E are said to be difficult to distinguish).
- Deuteronomy - a different source (or author) is associated with Deuteronomy alone, and is usually dated around 621 B.C.
- Priestly - this encompasses writings scattered from Gen 1 through the notice of Moses' death at the end of Deuteronomy. It is supposedly dated around 500 B.C. Theopedia.com
“The JEDP theory takes the explainable differences in the Pentateuch and invents an elaborate theory that has no basis in reality or history. No J, E, D, or P document has ever been discovered. No ancient Jewish or Christian scholar has even hinted that such documents existed. Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/JEDP-theory.html#ixzz3E4X6I6jk
II Genuineness of the Books of the Prophets
Remember that we are looking at the OT books from the arrangement of the Hebrew Bible into A. The Law B. the Prophets and C. the Kethubhim (the Writings).
The Hebrews speak of the Former prophets and the Latter Prophets.
The Former prophets
There is no reason to reject the view that Joshua wrote the book that bears his name, nor that Samuel wrote the Judges. The Judges was written after the commencement of the monarchy.
Jdg 19:1 And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the farther side of the hill-country of Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah.
Jdg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Because of 1Ch 29:29; Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer,” Tradition has felt justified in attributing 1Samuel 1 - 24 to Samuel and 1 Samuel 24 - 2 Samuel 24 to Nathan and Gad.
“Jeremiah is thought to be the author of Kings according to Tradition. The Kings speak of “The Book of the Acts of Solomon (1Kings 11:41); and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah 1 Kings 14 :29; and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (1 Kings 14:19). The Kings quotes eyewitnesses in the sections about Elijah and Elisha, and Micaiah, in which older material is Used. Thiessen p. 94
- the latter prophets
Books of Nevi'im - The prophets
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Former Prophets
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Latter Prophets (major)
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Latter Prophets (Twelve minor)
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The acts and deeds of Hezekiah are said to have been written in “the vision of Isaiah, the Prophet”. 2 Chron 32:32 And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and his goodness, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, and in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel.
Isaiah is said to have written “the acts of Uzziah” 2Ch 26:22 And the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, wrote.
2Ch 26:23 And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial of the kings. For they said, He is a leper. And his son Jotham reigned in his place.
The Prophecy of Isaiah is attributed to him in Isa 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
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| Isaiah writing his vision |
Jesus and the Apostles speak of the writing of Isaiah, assigning even the disputed parts to him.
Mat 8:16 And evening coming on, they brought to Him many who had been possessed with demons. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick
Mat 8:17 so that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, "He took on Himself our weaknesses and bore our sicknesses."
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| Jesus preaching from Isiah at Nazareth |
Luk 4:17 And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And unrolling the book, He found the place where it was written,
Luk 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on Me; because of this He has anointed Me to proclaim the Gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim deliverance to the captives, and new sight to the blind, to set at liberty those having been crushed, Cf (Isaiah 53:4; 61:1)
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| Baruch, with Jeremiah |
Jer 51:60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon.
Baruch seems to have been his amanuensis An amanuensis (/əˌmænjuːˈɛnsɪs/) is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another, and also refers to a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority.[1]
Ezekiel was also asked to write.Eze 24:1 Again in the ninth year, in the tenth month, in the tenth of the month, the Word of Jehovah came to me, saying,
Eze 24:2 Son of man, write for yourself the name of the day, even of this same day. The king of Babylon has leaned toward Jerusalem this same day.
Eze 43:11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, the form of the house, and its arrangement, and its exits, and its entrances, and all its forms, and all its statutes, and all its forms, and all its laws, make known to them. And write them before their eyes, so that they may observe all its form, and all its statutes, and do them.
Also Habakkuk Hab 2:2 And Jehovah answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain on the tablets, that he who reads it may run.
Hab 2:3 For the vision is still for an appointed time, but it speaks to the end, and it does not lie
It is accepted by Conservative scholars that the Names that appear in the opening verses of the prophetic books were intended to be understood to be the authors. see
Malachi 1:1 The burden of the Word of Jehovah to Israel by Malachi. Thiessen p.94
C. The Genuineness of the Kethubhim [Ketuvim]; The Writings
The remaining books of the Old Testament were divided into three groups:
The Poetic Books : the Psalms, the Proverbs and Job.
The Megilloth (scrolls) : The Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther
and the Non-Prophetical historical Books : Daniel; Ezra-Nehemiah, and the Chronicles.
Here are some observations concerning the Ketuvim.
- Of the Writings including the Psalms and writings of Solomon were read of ‘the Writings of David and the Writings of Solomon” in 2 Chron 35:4
2Ch 35:3 And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to Jehovah, Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall not be a burden on your shoulders. And serve Jehovah your God and His people Israel,
2Ch 35:4 and prepare by the houses of your fathers, according to your divisions, according to the writing of David king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son.
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| David, the Sweet Singer of Israel |
2. According to the headings in the Book of Proverbs, Solomon was the author of Chapters 1-24. He was also the author of chapters 25-29, although these chapters were copied from his writings by the men of King Hezekiah. He is the author of all except the last two chapters. Chapter 30 is attributed to Agur and chapter 31 to King Lemuel.
3. The Book of Job does not give the name of the author, but it is not unlikely that Job wrote it. It describes the actual sufferings of the man Job during the times of the Patriarchs. It is not merely poetic fiction.
4. The Song of Solomon is also ascribed to Solomon. (Song of S. 1:1)
Son 1:1 The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
5. Ruth has frequently been associated with the Judges and probably was written by Samuel too.
6. Lamentations :is traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah by the heading in our Bibles. It has much in common with the Book of Jeremiah.
7. Ecclesiastes : is said to be Ecc 1:1 The words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Thus Solomon is meant.
8. Esther was written by Mordecai the Jew, her uncle. The language is similar to Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles
9. Daniel was no doubt written by the Statesman Cf Mat 24:15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
10 Ezra was written by the Scribe, Ezra around 450-445 B.C.
11. Nehemiah was written by the King’s cupbearer. Neh 1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it happened in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,
12. The Chronicles deal more with the priestly aspect in relation to the History while the Book of the Kings deals more with the Prophetic aspect. Tradition ascribes these books of Ezra. They must have been written about 450 - 425 B.C.
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