Did Moses write the first 5 books of the Old testament?

[Chomsky]

In Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, Moses refers to himself in the third person instead of the first person, unlike Paul in the New Testament. It is only in a few cases in Deuteronomy that he uses the first-person perspective (primarily Chapters 1-4). Then, when you read Deuteronomy 1, it starts by saying: "These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan..."

• Why would Moses do this if he wrote these books himself?

Let's just assume for a second that it was a literary technique he used for whatever reason. That being the case, my biggest problem comes when I read Deut. 34, where Moses writes about his own death, and verse 5 states: "And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said."

• Is Moses writing about his own death? And who wrote the rest of Deut. 34 after Moses has already died?

• Another problem I find in this chapter is in verse 10:

"Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face..."

• Are these the words of Moses?

And based on the sentence structure and grammar, it seems like this verse was written a long time after Moses' death to assert that "Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses."

Can someone please enlighten me?

 

[rob]

Why would Moses do this if he wrote these books himself?

He was humble - often the verses were dictated to him by YHWH. SO Moses was only a scribe, not an author

Joshua and others finished the writings after Moses died

Jos 24:26 And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God,

How many books of the torah are there now ? at least 6 not 5 as Jews assume wrongly.

Moses also wrote Job, so that makes 6 books Moses wrote and Joshua is added to the torah making 8.

Hope this helps. Shalom