Who Wrote The Bible? By Richard Friedman

Although it is somewhat difficult to obtain the exact number, there is little doubt that the Bible is the world’s best-selling and most widely distributed book. Unsurprisingly, the most popular book of all time has an interesting history. Many great scholars have written about the history of the Bible as to find the answer to the mysterious question: Who is the author of the Bible? In his fascinating and convincing book “Who Wrote The Bible?” Richard Friedman has concisely walked us through the history of Old Testament while arguing his own theories on who wrote specific portions, when, what their motivations were, and how and by whom the book was compiled. The book deserves its place on the bookshelf of anyone who has read the Bible. According
For Christians, the Bible has at least two major parts, the Old Testament and The New Testament. Originally written in Hebrew, the Old Testament records God’s covenant with His people Israel. The book “Who Wrote The Bible?” is focused on the first five books of the Bible – The Five Books of Moses. With a charismatic and convincing tone, Friedman walked us through his investigation to find out the answer to the question who wrote the Bible like a “good detective story”. First, he gives a brief introduction to the study of authorship and the traditional acceptance that Moses was the one who wrote all five books. Yet he points out the contradictions if Moses were to be the author “People also noticed that the Five Books of Moses included things that Moses could not have known or was not likely to have said. The text, after all, gave an account of Moses’ death. It also said that Moses was
He describes the investigation on whom wrote the Bible as a puzzle. Then he starts solving it step by step with different pieces through different evidences. At the end, he combines all the pieces together to answer the big question of the book. Like an experienced magician, he attracts the readers into his journey until the very last page of the book. First, he states the Hypothesis that “the Five Books of Moses had been composed by combining four different source documents into one continuous history” (Friedman 24): J, E, P and D. Then he describes in The Setting the history of the land in which the Bible was born. It strikes me that the story of this ancient population has profoundly influenced the history of the world. As the setting tells the stories about the rise of monarchy, about King David and his empire as well as the royal family or how his son, King Solomon, strengthened the kingdom but in the end, it became two countries: Israel and Judah. At first, it makes me think that a little history would help to understand the birth of the Bible. However, like a sorcerer, Friedman unfolds the mystery about the authors of the J and the E in the least expecting way. He first introduces the two sources and explains the differences of each source. He then gives the example through the story of Noah. It is fascinating