MOSAIC ORIGIN OF THE PENTATEUCH. 



45 



(a) Use of Third Person. 



Throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and the "frame- 

 work of Deuteronomy, Moses is consistently spoken of in the 

 third person. Does this mean that the writer was someone else ? 



The constant iteration of " I and " me in so long a 

 narrative would have been wearisome and irritating ; as a 

 mere matter of style the substitution of Moses' name would be 

 desirable. Besides this, that iteration would have looked like 

 egotism, and there are suf&cient indications that Moses was of 

 a humble disposition {see his reluctance to accept the commission 

 at the Burning Bush, Exod. iii, 11 ; his double disclaimer of 

 eloquence, Exod. iv, 10, vi, 12 ; his utterance in the wilderness 

 of Sin, " What are we that ye murmur against us ? Exod. xvi, 

 11 ; his suppression of himself in answering Korah and his 

 company, Num. xvi, 8-11 ; and his constant use of the more 

 modest Anokhi in his own utterances). 



Further, is there any reason for supposing that Moses did 

 the actual work of writing with his ovm hand, except where 

 it is definitely stated " Moses wrote " ? Great men in the East 

 seldom, if ever, write their own letters, however capable of so 

 doing they may be, but dictate them to a scribe. Is it not 

 probable that Moses would adopt the same course ? That 

 would not, of course, detract from the Mosaic authorship, for 

 we do not hesitate to ascribe the Epistle to the Komans to 

 St. Paul, though xvi, 22 says, " I Tertius, who write the 

 epistle." 



Would not, then, the use of Moses' name rather than the first 

 person be more suitable if the actual work of writing was done 

 by a scribe ? Possibly, also, this would account for the addition 

 of the epilogue, Deut. xxxiv. 



There appear to be sufficient reasons for Moses preferring 

 the third person in narrating the events of his own life. 



(6) Sdf -assertion. 



On Num. xii, 3, " Now the man Moses was very meek, above 

 all the men which were upon the face of the earth,'' Dr. McNeile 

 comments : "To those who have held that the Pentateuch 

 was from Moses' own pen, this verse, with its appearance of 

 self -righteousness, has always been a serious difficulty."* 



* Numbers, p. 66. 



