The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 68

Genuineness of tho l'ontntcnch,' vol. i. p. 172) have shown, whether it really wne e. measure, and, (2) on the rrneumption that it was, it still requires proof that it was e.n old e.nd not n new one, the words omer and ephak both being Egyptian (' Spee.ker'e Commentary'). (4) Passages wki.ck make citations from documents of recognised antiqnity. In Numb. xxi. 13--15, e. g., the Book of the Wars of Jehovah is introduced in such II way ns to convey the impression that in the days of the author of this portion of the Pentateuch it was a writing that had descended from ancient times; and yet II it certo.inly could not have been composed before the last period of the journeyings of the Israelites through the wilderness, nnd probably it was written at a still later time," eo that "ot all events this cite.tion points to an author consider- ably later who wrote the history of the Israelites during the Mosaic time from either written or oral tradition" (Bleek, 'Introd.,' vol. i. § 82). But it is at the best an assumption that this Book of the Wars of Jehovah was composed many centuries previous to the other parts of the Pentateuch. Even Illeek admits (vide supra) that it might have been written during the last year of the wanderings ; and no valid reason can be adduced why it might not have been a collection of odes made by Moses himself before beginning with the story of the wanderings. "That such a book should arise in the last days of Moses • . . is eo far from being a surprising fact, that we can scarcely imagine a more suitable time for its commencement" (Baumgarten); and if this was the case, "the allusion to this col!ection of odes can- not be adduced as an argument against the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch " (Keil; cf. 'Hengetenberg on the Genuineness of the Pentateuch,' vol. i. p. 182). (5) Passages wkick contain the formula, '' unto this day." These occur principally in Genesis ( eh. xix. 37, 38 ; :u:vi. 33; :u:xii. 33; :u:xv. 20 ; xlvii. 26) and Deuteronomy ( eh. ii. 22 ; iii. 14; x. 8 ; xi. 4; :u:ix. 4; :u:xiv. 6) ; but in Genesis the formula i, used of events removed by centuries from the time of Moses, while in Deuteronomy 11 detailed examination of the passages discovers that only one is attended with any measure of difficulty. In what appears to be the last year of the desert march, ,fair the son of Manasseh is represented as calling the cities of Bashan after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this day (Deut. iii. 14). The similarity of the account pre- served in Judges (eh. x. 3, 4) concerning Jair, a Gileadite judge, who had thirty sons who had thirty cities called "Havoth-jair unto this day," has led to the suggestion that the words II unto this day " in Deuteronomy may be an interpolation ; but this is not really necessary, as Hengetenberg bas shown that a considerable period may have intervened between the naming of the towns and the writing of the record, and that frequently, as employed in the Mosaic compositions, the phrase partakes of the nature of a proverbial expression which ie designed to represent an event or trans- action ae of a permanent rather than of a transitory character and duration. It oppearl! then from this somewhat lengthened survey of the arguments commonly adduced in support of the non-Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, that there is reo.lly not one of them that can be fairly said to have fully established itself beyond the reach of cavil, but that, on the contrary, a.II of them nre capable of vigorous dis- putation, and most of them of thorough-going refutation, so that, to say the least of it, it ie premature to claim it as II one of the best ascertained results of modern criticism " that the Pentateuch ie no'.: the production either of Moses or of the Mosaic age, while a candid and ingenuous inquirer, sincerely desirous of arriving at the truth on this keenly agitated question, may warrantably deliver ns his verdict con- cerning the non-Mosaic authorship, so far at least as he has yet been conducted by this investigation, Non probatum est. And this being so, the way :;ieems cleared fo1 udvrmcing to the second brnnch of this inquiry.  'rim A Fl'ItORSHlP 01<' THE PEN't'A'l'.IWCrt.