Traditionally, authorship of Deuteronomy has been ascribed to Moses.  While it has long been clear to me that Moses could not have written the last two chapters[1], I never had reason to seriously question Mosaic authorship of the other 32 chapters until recently.  I read a number of arguments against the traditional view in Peter Enns’ article, “When was Genesis Written and Why Does it Matter?: A Brief Historical Analysis.”  Enns notes that:

  • The book does not claim to be written by Moses[2];
  • Deuteronomy 1:1 says “these are the words Moses spoke on the other side of the Jordan.” (cf. Deut 1:5)  Such a comment presumes that the narrator is writing from the perspective of the land of Canaan—a place Moses never stepped foot on (Numbers 20:12; Deuteronomy 32:48-52).  At the very least this would seem to indicate at least part of the first chapter was not written by Moses, and perhaps more;
  • The book gives a third-person account of Moses’ words and deeds, as opposed to a first-person account as we might expect if Moses was the author (e.g. 1:5; 4:41,44; 5:1; 31:9).  (I should point out, however, that this is also true of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.  If this calls into question Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy, it would equally call into question Mosaic authorship of the other books.  Clearly, it is not impossible that Moses purposely wrote from a third-person perspective.)

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