Rivers Posted March 24, 2016 Posted March 24, 2016 Was Deuteronomy written after the return of the Jews from exile in Babylon? If so, that would make the reference to the five Books of Moses in the BOM an anachronism wouldn't it?
Popular Post Kevin Christensen Posted March 24, 2016 Popular Post Posted March 24, 2016 Deuteronomy is associated with the Book of the Law mentioned in the story of Josiah in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, which means that at least a version of it was pre-exilic and a very hot topic during Lehi's lifetime. Some Documentary Hypothesis authors had claimed that the "P" author was post exilic, however Richard E. Friedman argues (in Who Wrote the Bible?) that Jeremiah quotes and interacts with "P", which makes it pre-exilic as well. It is clear that the books of Moses as we have them in the OT were compiled and edited after the exile. In any case, Kevin Barney, for one, suggests that the "five" in the Book of Mormon is a modern gloss on the text. And Noel Reynolds has made a case that the Book of Mormon text as we have it presupposes material found in our Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, which means that the Brass Plates version was different than what we have. Ben McGuire has commented on this board that the Book of Mormon quotations and allusions from Deuteronomy all come from "proto-Deuteronomy" that is, it's oldest, pre-exilic layers. Margaret Barker makes the case in "Text and Context" that the Old Testament as we have it was selected and edited in response to the rise of Christianity. FWIW Kevin Christensen Canonsburg, PA 7
Robert F. Smith Posted March 25, 2016 Posted March 25, 2016 (edited) 9 hours ago, Kevin Christensen said: ............................................................... Margaret Barker makes the case in "Text and Context" that the Old Testament as we have it was selected and edited in response to the rise of Christianity. .......................................................... That was especially true of Jewish revisions to the Septuagint during the Christian era, as Barker has pointed out. ETA: The Jewish change of LXX parthenos “virgin” in Isa 7:14 to neanis “young woman” is a prime example of the tampering with the meaning of the text which Barker highlights in her Temple Mysticism. Edited March 25, 2016 by Robert F. Smith 1
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