The Truth of Christianity

, as the only record of the

Egyptian

rongly in favour

e history

he histor

e laws and

Its

in favour of

subjects

nnection with

heir w

heory of a

ts in favour of this, but th

guage of the

composite

being unknown

inding of

Concl

it claims to be, by Moses; and we must t

account of the events which it records? And this depends chiefly on its date. Is it a contemporary document, written by, or in the time of, Moses? And modern discoveries have at least shown that it may be so. For Egypt was then in such a civilised state, that it is practica

then its Laws, both of which are very strongly in favour of an early date. Then we will see what can be said for t

Egyptian

reat importance in deciding on the date of the book; so we will first consider these Egyptian references (as they are called) in the history of Joseph, then in that of Moses, and then in the laws and addresses. They cannot of course be properly appreciated without some knowledge of ancient Egypt,

e history

are their eating at different tables from the Hebrews, their dislike of shepherds, and their habit of embalming.[26] But the inference from the first two is extremely doubtful; though that from the

43. 32; 46

mselves. And this will explain the evident surprise felt by the writer that one of his chief officers should be an Egyptian, which seems so puzzling to the ordinary reader.[27] It will also account for Joseph and his brethren bein

Gen.

il, and select Gen. 41; nearly every incident

gh they are the proper Egyptian names, seem to have been adopted in Hebrew, a

n Egyptian plant), was a common sight in that country, but must have been almost unknown in Canaan. And their coming up out of the ri

s is known to have been produced in Egypt;

s, and used to consult their magicians and wise men when in doubt; both t

nd a reference has even been found to the curious custom of the former giving the King fresh grape-ju

0. 19, hanging up the dead body, after he had been beheaded;

o shave. And this was only natural, as the upper class of Egyptians always shaved; but it

Sam.

famines, and for taxation, was thoroughly Egyptian, the Superintendent of the Granaries

several instances are known of foreigners, and ev

he regular Egyptian custom to have a Sup

fine linen (an Egyptian word being used for this) and a gold chain about his neck. This latter was a peculiarly Egyptian decoration, being called receiving

ses had only recently been introduced into Egypt by the Shepherd Kings. And had they been mentioned earlier-as, for instance, among the presents

Gen.

nathpaneah, (probably meaning Head of the College of Magicians, a title he had just earned[30]) as well as Asenath, and Potiphera, are

ogy, at the University of Geneva, 'Arch?

count the quantity of corn as it is stored, is incidentally implied in the statement t

t only knows it, but takes for granted that his readers know it too, as he never explains anything. So the narrative is not likely to have been written after the time of Moses, when the Israelites left Egypt. And this, it may be adde

ictoria Institute, vol

as which is in Canaan.[32] Yet there do not appear to be any other places of the same name liable to be confused with these. When then would it be necessary to explain to the Israelites that the

19; 33. 18; 35.

naan, and which is described as being before Egypt as thou goest towards Assyria.[33] Clearly then this als

Gen.

ly Egyptian, as some exactly similar cases have been found in a papyrus dated in the eighth year of Menephthah, generally thought to be the P

en. 43

ologiques, Third Series, vo

he histor

itch, flags, brick, and river; though some of these were also used in Hebrew.[37] Then as to the Israelites making bricks with straw. This is interesting, because we know from the monuments that straw was often used for the purpose, the Nile mud not holding together without it, and that its absence was looked upon as a hardship. So here again the narrative suits Egypt, and not Canaan; where as far as we know, bricks were never made with straw. And it so happens that we have a little direct

's Exodus,

Exod.

ctions of Victoria Insti

d. 1. 14

f them would have been suitable in Canaan. Moreover, the order in which they come

Nile about the end of June; though it is not as a rule sufficient to kill the fish, or render the water unfit to drink. And the mention of vessels of wood and stone[41] is interesting, as it was the custom in

Joel

Exod.

most troubleso

rhaps mosquitoe

re usually wor

n among the

er the preceding plagues is most natural, considering what we now know, as

as the barley was then in the ear, but the wheat not grown up

Egypt terribly in March, which seems the t

ch, and sometimes brings with it such clouds of sand as to darken the atmosphere.[42] And curiously enough it often moves

ndstorm at Christiana, on 20th October, 1900, which so darkened t

judgments, without any explanation being given of what is meant by this.[43] It refers to the Egyptian custom of worshipping living animals, the firstborn of which were also to die; but this would on

12. 12; N

e laws and

s covered with plaster, both of which were undoubtedly Egyptian customs; and the latter was not, as far as we know, common elsewhere.[44] Similarly the Egyptian habit of writing persons' names

6. 9; 11.

Num.

eut. 2

Hebrew names of four out of the five vegetables do not occur elsewhere in the Bible, they could scarcely have been very common in Canaan; while none of the characte

Num.

have been used for this worship are precisely such as the Israelites might have then employed. The ark, for instance, and also the tabernacle were not made of cedar, or of fir, or of olive, as would probably have been the case in Canaan (for these were the materials used in the Temple)[49] but of shittim, i.e., acacia which is very common near Sin

. Exod. 2

Kings 6

xod. 2

nish them with the same diseases again.[51] But such a warning would have been quite useless many centuries later in Canaan; just as it would be useless to warn an Englishman now of the diseases of Normandy, which thou wast afraid of, if this referred to some diseases our ancestors had before they left Normandy in the elevent

t. 7. 15

23. 9; Le

ed as a country of hills and valleys, and consequently of running brooks; and not like Egypt where they had to water the land with their feet. But no explanation is given of this. It probably refers to the water-wheels, which were necessary for raising water in a flat country like Eg

8. 7-10;

ms, seasons, etc., though these are often quite different from those of Canaan. And we therefore seem forced to conclude that the writer was a contem

Its

and occupy the greater part of the remaining books. And as we shall see, they also (q

subjects

anaan. Among these are the laws regarding the camp and order of march.[54] Full particulars are given as to the exact position of every tribe, and how the Levites were to c

m. 1. 4

e Tabernacle, as a kind of offering, and there killed. But plainly this could only have been done, when the people were in the desert, living round the Tabernacle. So when

17. 3; Deu

aw about land, that every person who bought an estate was to restore it to its original owner in the year of Jubilee, the price decreasing according to the nearness of t

Lev.

ial cities. And it is scarcely likely that such a curious arrangement could have been made at any time except that of the conquest of Canaan;

um. 35

nnection with

he Wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,' etc.[58] And several others are associated with the events which led to their being made; and these a

v. 7. 38; 16. 1; 25. 1; 26. 46; 27. 34; Num.

Num. 9. 10; 15.

light differences between them. And these exactly correspond to such a difference in date. One instance, that referring to the slaughter of animals, has been already alluded to. Another has to do wit

a lack of animal food, which might tempt them to eat locusts or mice; but when Deuteron

the various laws dating from the times they profess to, when all is plain and consistent; or else to

n for obeying the laws.[61] For instance, 'I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord, ... but your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did. Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments,' etc. Plainly this would have had no force in later times; indeed it

3; 24. 9, 18

1. 2-8; 4. 3

e word of the Lord, are extremely common, occurring altogether over 800 times. But in the laws of the Pentateuch nothing of the kind is found. They are delivered by Moses in his own name, often with the simple words, I command thee, which occur thirty times in

heir w

and of Canaan,[62] which plainly supposes that the people were not there already. And the same may be said of numerous other laws, which the people are told to obey when they enter into Canaan; or are even urged to obey in order that they may

3; 23. 10; 25. 2; Num. 15. 2, 18; 35. 10; Deu

4. 1, 5, 14; 5. 3

. 12; 6. 11; 13. 46; 14. 3; 16.

nuineness, but they cannot be explained in any other way. Therefore the laws must be either of contemporary date, or else deliberate frauds. No innocent mistake in ascribi

onquest of Canaan (and, as we have seen, numbers and numbers of laws do so claim, When ye be come into the land of Canaan, etc.), must have been made by som

and righteousness as the Jewish prophets-men who themselves so denounced lying and deception in every form[65]-should have spent their time in composing such forgeries? Could they, moreover, have done it so skillfully, as the laws cont

8; 14. 14;

from its Egyptian references, the other from its Laws. The former shows that no Israelite in lat

heory of a

older documents, was not written till many centuries after the death of Moses. And the four chief arguments in its favour are based on the language of the Pe

guage of the

hat it must date from about the same time. But unfortunately critics who maintain this view do not admit that we have any Hebrew documents of a

e the time of Abraham, when the sea actually was to the west. And in later years a Hebrew, writing in Egypt or anywhere else, would naturally use the word, without thinking that it was inappropriate to that particular place. The second expression is beyond Jordan, which is often used to denote the eastern bank; so here again, it is urged, the writer's standpoint must

eut. 11. 30;

8; Josh. 9. 10; and western i

Gen.

he is used in the Pentateuch both for male and female; while in the later writings it is confined to males, the females being expressed by a derived form which is very seldom used in the Pentateuch. Similarly, the word for youth is used in the Pentateuch for both sexes, though after

composite

t writings, which they assign to a number of unknown writers from the ninth century B.C. onwards. For instance, to take a passage where only three writers are supposed to be involved, Exod. 7. 14-25. These twelve verses seem to the ordinary reader a straightforward narrative, but they have been thus split up.[69

tament, sixth edition, 1897, p. 24. A slightly diff

essly mixed together is most improbable. While it has been shown in recent years to be very doubtful whether these names, Elohim and Jehov

e Pentateuch by Tr?lstra;

E, and P; as well as to Deuteronomy, which these critics assign to yet another author D. They are thus like an Egyptian water-mark running all through the Pentateuch. And while it is

ssages, which they assert were written by Moses (see further on). And here again it is hard

y case, and is especially so considering the strong Monotheism of the Jews, is also common to both J and P.[71] An

1. 26 (P):

21 (E): 7. 3 (

n times in Gen. 7. 8.) have been found together in an old Babylonian story of the Flood, centuries before the time of Moses; and also in layers correspon

1904, p. 20; Driver's Book of

s, who are said to have reigned in Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.[75] And this brings the passage down to the time of Saul at least who was Israel's first king. But it is probably a later insertion, since these kings are referred to in a different way from the d

Num.

en. 36

; Exod. 16. 36; Deut.

being unknown

even the earliest books, Joshua and Judges contain some references to a written law of Moses;[77] while both in Judges and 1 Samuel there are numerous agreements between what is described there, and what is commanded in the Pentateuch.[78] And similar evidence is afforded by the later boo

; 8. 31, 32; 23. 6;

21. 19; 1 Sam. 2. 12-30;

s 2. 3. 2 K

; 9. 4; 12. 9; Amos 2. 4,

s. 8. 1

iring sacrifice means His not caring so much about it, as about other things.[83] It is also urged that there were practices which are inconsistent with these laws; the most important being that the sacrifices were not limited to one place, or the offerers to priests. As to the former, the principle of the law was that the place of sacrifice should be of Div

Jer.

6. 6; 1 S

20. 24; D

ple had rest from their enemies (which was the condition laid down in Deuteronomy) and the temple was built at Jerusalem, the law was fully recognised. After this the w

. 2; 22. 43; 2

, with sacrifices, as early as the sixth century B.C., and that it had apparently the approval of the authoriti

us explanations have been given of this, though I do not know of one that is quite satisfactory. There are also a few cases, where men who were neither priests, nor Levites, such as Gideon, David, and Elijah, are said to have offered sacrifices.[87] But these

eut. 1

6. 26; 2 Sam. 24.

inding of

ing or the people were surprised at such a book being found, but merely at what it contained. And as they proceeded at once to carry out its directions, it rather shows that they knew there was such a book all the time, only they had never before read it. And this is easily accounted

2 Kin

Kings 2

y.[90] Yet the people are not only told to destroy them, but to do it gradually, so that the wild beasts may not become too numerous;[91] which shows that the passage was written centuries before the time of Josiah, when there was no mor

t. 7. 2;

Deut.

the foundations, or lower walls of important temples; where they were found centuries afterwards when the

very of the Book of th

ive, and we therefore decide that this theory is not only very improbable in a

Concl

the time of Moses, it only remains to consider its authorsh

Moses. It is not merely that this title is given in a heading, or opening verse, which might easily have been added in later times. But it is asserted, positively and repeatedly, all through the book itself, both in E

22, 24. The first two passages in Exod. are assigned to the suppo

was kept, in which important events were recorded. And this is confirmed by another of the passages, which says that Moses wrote down something that occurred the same day;[94] and by another which gives a long and uninteresting list of journeys in the Desert,[95] which certa

1. 22; comp.

Num

ut. 31.

ry genuine tone about them.[97] And his bitter complaint that God had broken His promise, and not delivered the people,[98] co

. 3. 23-26; 1.

Exod.

great leader's courage, and ability, till the closing chapter of Deuteronomy. This was evidently written by someone else, and shows what we might have expected had the earlier pa

Can we imagine, for instance, a contemporary writer describing the Ten Plagues, or the Passage of the Red Sea, if nothing of the kind had occurred? The events, if true, must have been well known at