Abstract
A basic axiom of Judaism over the generations has been that the Torah is of divine origin and that it was written by Moses with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, Hazal and the medieval sages did not agree about the nature of God's revelation to Moses, which enabled him to write the Torah. Did God dictate the Torah to Moses word by word (a textual revelation), or might Moses have had a role in selecting content and words? This article examines the question of Moses' role in the authorship of the Torah as addressed in rabbinic literature, showing that the Sages actually devoted little attention to it, and no single answer emerges from the relevant references. Some Sages maintained that Moses was merely an amanuensis for God, while others attribute a degree of discretion to him. This diversity of opinion deeply influenced medieval sages and exegetes.
Translated title of the contribution | Moses' Role in the Writing of the Torah in Rabbinic Literature and in the Transition to the Middle Ages |
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Original language | Hebrew |
Pages (from-to) | 29-53 |
Number of pages | 25 |
Journal | מחקרי ירושלים במחשבת ישראל |
Volume | 24 |
State | Published - 2015 |