Oldest Torah text writers II

Let us put to bed with evidence the theory of a late writing of the Pentateuch in part II.We ended part 1 with Deuteronomy and we will begin 2 with Deuteronomy.

For more in depth on this you can find many articles on this subject with a google search on the title.In 2021 they found I believe but anounced in march of 2022 a part of the curse tablets were found on הַר עֵיבָל Har Eival or Mt Ebal.This was found by archaeologist Dr Scott Stripling a native of Houston Texas and a self indentified evangelical Christian.They found the Deuteronomy 27:16 curses on a lead tablet ,pronouncing the curses and the Biblical name of God יהו YHV close to YHVH or it could have been that the tablet was faded from time also.The script was in proto-Sinaitic a very ancient Alpha Bet that the oldest proto-Hebrew was written in.By the 10th century Hebrew adopted Phoenician script (this is called paleo Hebrew) by the time of the Dead Sea scrolls Hebrew looks like it does today.So Dr Stripling found the authentic Hebrew portion of Deuteronomy on Mt Eival/Ebal written in pre Biblical Hebrew using the proto-Sinaitic script) which was spoken anywhere from the time of Avraham to about 1000 BCE.

Here is Deut.11:29 in Hebrew and King James saying where the Deut 27:16 will made.

וְהָיָ֗ה כִּ֤י יְבִֽיאֲךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֕רֶץ

אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּ֥ה בָא־שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּ֑הּ וְנָֽתַתָּ֤ה אֶת־הַבְּרָכָה֙

עַל־הַ֣ר גְּרִזִּ֔ים וְאֶת־הַקְּלָלָ֖ה עַל־הַ֥ר עֵיבָֽל:

²⁹ When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal the curses (KJV)

It says in Deuteronomy written thousands of years ago the curses would be on Ebal mountain.The KJV says it in the future tense,the Hebrew is in the past tense implying they already said said the blessins on G’rizim and cuses on Eival/Ebal but in any case it’s deadly accurate.They found them in the right spot and it is not only evidence that the Torah goes back to the time of Moses but that the divine spark of the Bible predicted where they would be found.The carbon dating says they go to about 1200 BCE but they could be earlier closer to the believed time of the exodus which is about 1350 BCE.But in any case they are proved to be from the general late bronze age pre Biblical period.The fact in and of itself that they were written in proto-Sinaitic proves they are pre 1000 BCE because that is when the pre Biblical era ended and the Paleo Hebrew era began with the adoption of the Phoenician Alef Bet.This is the oldest known Hebrew writting,previous was the Khirbet Keiyafa which is believed to translate as this.

“1 you shall not do it, but worship (the god) El 2 Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orphan3 and the stranger. Plead for the infant / plead for the poor and4 the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king5 Protect the poor and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.”

Maybe there is credence in a way to the J and E theory because the older Ebal tablet does use YHVH and the next oldest Kherbet Keiyafa used El as God hence a sort of E text.But both date much earlier than people had thought.

So what is my theory on what Moses received on Sinai in about 1350 BCE?

First let me counter the notion that the Gen 10-11 came from the Babylonian exile and were just old Sumerian folklore.The early Genesis stories are known to cultures all over the world mainly because they were history ,Native Americans have a flood account and a account similar to Babel also.They were not just Sumerian and Akkadian accounts of early history but of the known world as well.I think the Israelites already had in a oral tradition of the early Genesis stories Gen 1-11.But I don’t think Gen 1-11 was given on Sinai and also don’t think that the account in Genesis from Abraham on were either given on Sinai because the Hebrews knew there history just like me as an American I know American history.So like any people who know their history the ancient Hebrews knew their history also and it was likely handed down in an oral tradition as well.I would also say that Exodus/Sh’mot from the beginning to the parting of the Sea ,not really the Red Sea but the Yam Suf and smaller sea near the Red Sea.Why would God give Moses on Sinai what the Hebrews had already experienced,no need to really.

So I believe and it makes sense that Moses was given by God Exodus from chapter 20 (Ten commandments)through the rest of Exodus,all of Leviticus and all of Numbers.That is what Moses received on Sinai,then later on scribes put in the history of the Jews Gen 12 Avraham through the great Sea parting in Egypt.After that they put in early world history Gen 1-11 and you have then all of:

Genesis/Breishit

Exodus/Sh’mot

Leviticus/Vayikra

Numbers/B’midbar

Joshua wrote Deuteronomy/Devarim after Moses died.

So you had five holy scrolls in existence from about 1450-1350 BCE in ancient Israel first written in proto-Sinaitic but language got more modern and small tweeks were made but the core of what would later be called Torah/Chumash/Pentateuch existed in full in the times of Moses and Yehoshua/Joshua.I feel the evidence proves it.

We had talked about some other creation accounts so here is a Native American creation and flood story.I don’t say the Native American but a Native American creation story because of course there are many nations and tribes.I don’t know the nation or tribe specifically this came from but I think it was from Washington state or BC Canada Pacific Northwest.

“The first people were created from mud (as in Genesis)

But they fell apart easy (possible reference to the fall)

Then humans were made from wood but they had nothing in their minds and were destroyed in a flood.Then people were made from maize dough and were smart and these were the first people.”

Pretty remarkable the similarities there with a flood reference also.We talked about the tablet from Mt Ebal being in a language of pre Biblical times and so I will give a overview of periods of Hebrew language periods.

1500-1000 Pre Biblical Hebrew (Proto Sinaitic script)

1000-530 BCE Early Biblical Hebrew (Phoenician script or also called Paleo Hebrew script)

530-300 BCE Late Biblical Hebrew (Phoenician script)

300 BCE-1 CE A transition time this is when the Dead Sea scrolls were written and the transition from the Phoencian script to the modern square script used today as found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

1 CE to 500 CE Mishnaic Hebrew (The language of the Mishnah)

500-1947 Medieval or late Rabbinical Hebrew

1948 Modern Hebrew