BENEDICT DE SPINOZA: Theological-Political Treatise

Theological-Political Treatise
This conclusion follows very clearly from the evidence we have given, as
well as from the following. When it is stated in the passage of Deuteronomy
just cited that Moses wrote the Book of the Law, the narrator adds
that Moses gave it to the priests and commanded them to read it out to
the whole people at stated times. 16 This shows that this book was much
smaller than the Pentateuch, since it could be read through at one
assembly and be understood by all.
Nor should we overlook the fact that of all the books Moses wrote, he
ordered only this book of the second covenant to be preserved and guarded
with religious care along with the ‘Song’ which he also wrote down afterwards
so that the whole people might learn it by heart . 17 It was because the
¢rst covenant obliged only the people who were actually present while the
second also obligated all their descendants (see Deuteronomy 29.14,15),
that he ordered this book of the second covenant to be scrupulously preserved
for future generations, and also the ‘Song’, as we have said, since it
chie£y concerns future generations.
As there is hence no solid evidence that Moses wrote any works apart
124 from these, and commanded that only ‘The Book of the Law’ and the
‘Song’ be religiously preserved for posterity, and since there are several
things in the Pentateuch which Moses could not have written, evidently
there is no justi¢cation for asserting that Moses was the author of the
Pentateuch. Rather it is entirely contrary to reason to do so.
[6] But here someone may ask whether, besides this book, Moses did
not also write down the laws when they were ¢rst revealed to him In the
space of forty years did he not write down any of the laws he promulgated
other than the few contained, as I said, in the book of the ¢rst covenant
Although it might seem to stand to reason that Moses would also have
written down the laws at the very time and place that he actually
announced them, I nevertheless deny that we may de¢nitely assert this. For
we should not draw conclusions about such matters, as we showed above,
unless they are evident from Scripture itself or may be legitimately inferred
from its principles. For it is not enough that they stand to reason. In
this case, reason itself does not drive us to this conclusion. Perhaps the
elders communicated Moses’ edicts to the people in writing which
the narrator later collected and inserted into his account of Moses’ life at
16 Deuteronomy 31.9^11.
17 The ‘Song of Moses’, Deuteronomy 31.30^32.47.
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