Thank you for the question on authorship and its content, “How does the Bible identify its author, and what kind of knowledge does it provide?”
Here are some thoughts regarding identification of the author of a book:
There is the “state” name of the author and there is the “implied” name of the author.
I. The implied authorship of a book.
The Pentateuch is more of an implied authorship than a stated authorship. The text doesn’t state that Moses wrote the first five books of the Scriptures, but it is more so understood since he was the transmitter of the Law to the Jewish people. Did Joshua or Aaron recorded the words of Moses or did Moses write the words himself? That can be debated.
Moses is the implied author of the first five books of the Torah for the following reasons:
A. There is the first person reference as God speaking to Moses as to the burning bush (Exod. 3:4–6), and receiving the Laws from God (20:1, 21:1).
There is the direct address to Moses and the direct instructions to Moses. The biblical account records the interaction between God and Moses. Exodus 25–30 are the instructional words by God to Moses as to how to build the Tabernacle. It is taken that Leviticus is the book that specifies the specific regulation within the Tabernacle at Mt. Sinai. Since God told Moses that he will lead them to the Promised Land, then the Book of Numbers would record that journey to the Promised Land. Because of the Israelites’ disobedience whereby the exiled Jewish parents died in the Wilderness, the instruction to the second generation is restated in Deuteronomy as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.
One can say that the events between God and Moses and between Moses and Israelites are accurate records. One can say at least that the writer is an eyewitness of the account.
B. There is the command by God to write or teach the Israelites the Laws of God (Exod. 17:14)
Exodus 24 says this, “3 When Moses went and told the people all the LORD’s words and laws, they responded with one voice, “Everything the LORD has said we will do.” 4 Moses then wrote down everything the LORD had said” (NIV).
Thus the Laws of God found in portions of Exodus, Leviticus, and restated in Deuteronomy is from Moses. Deuteronomy 1 says this, “These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. 5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:…” (NIV).
Moses is restating and expounding the Laws of God to the second generation of exiled Jews from Egypt. He wanted to remind them of what the LORD God had done for them.
In my view, one can say that the authorship of the Torah/Pentateuch is Moses because it contains the words that God gave to Moses in his communication to the exiled Jews. He is the central figure that stands as a mediator between God and the Jewish people. It does appear that someone recorded the words of Moses, not necessarily that he wrote all five books. Whatever words that Moses wrote down of the Law was transfer, transmitted to what is now known as the Law of Moses.
The above view that I am sharing is an opinion, not a dogma. Others Christians would say that Moses wrote all Five Books while more liberal scholars would say that they were written by different authors or a fictional account of Israel’s history comprised during the Babylonian captivity.
II. The stated authorship of a book of the Bible.
There are times in the Bible whereby the authorship is stated especially in the Prophets and in the Epistles. The 13 letters known as the Pauline Epistles is due to the author stating his name, Paul.
For example on the consideration of the authorship of Isaiah, here are some thoughts:
A. The author states that God reveals a vision to him.
Isaiah 1 says this, “The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah” (NIV).
The text states that the author and his lineage: Isaiah son of Amoz. The content of the vision is regarding Judah and Jerusalem. The time frame covers the four kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.
As one reads through the Isaiah, the visions revolves the kings of Judah and their reigns. Isaiah proclaims repentance or impending judgment on Judah followed by words of comfort or restoration for Israel.
In Isa. 6, Isaiah records the King Uzziah died. There is the record of Isaiah being called by God to be his messenger. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (NIV).
This is a clear testimony that God is sending Isaiah to be his messenger to Israel. God sends him to Judah and Jerusalem with a call to repentance or face judgment. This implies the previous chapter were addressed to his reign of Uzziah.
In Isa. 7, Isaiah proclaims his vision during the reign of Ahaz. “When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it. Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with[a] Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub,[b] to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field. 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood—because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s son have plotted your ruin, saying, 6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘It will not take place, it will not happen, 8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be a people. 9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son. If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.’”
10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” …10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test….” (NIV).
The text is clear that Isaiah is speaking the words of the LORD. In Isaiah 8, God commands Isaiah to take a large scroll and to write on it with an ordinary pen. All that is written on this scroll is unclear. Uriah the priest and Zechariah are witnesses of it. Is it possible that the scroll was given to Uriah or Zechariah? The text doesn’t say what happened to that scroll.
In Isa. 36, Isaiah mentions King Hezekiah. “In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them” (vs. 1)… 37:5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”(NIV).
Thus in the previous chapters between King Ahaz and Hezekiah the messages were delivered to them. Specifically the dates when they were given is not cleared but it would appear between those the reigns of the kings. Isaiah 37:21 records the Isaiah’s message to Hezekiah regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria and in Isaiah 38 regarding Hezekiah’s words in his recovery that is recorded in Isaiah and the envoy from Babylon (Isa. 39).
As scholars have noted there is the re-occurring theme of call to repentance and imminent judgment. God gives the nation of Israel hope even in their midst of their rebellion against God. God will not reject his people, but will punish them for their sins. He will restore them. Hope is sprinkled throughout the scroll of the Branch that is come.
In an overall view, the content of the Old Testament is regarding the nation of Israel living in obedience or disobedience to the given Covenant by God on Mount Sinai (Exod. 19–20). Obedience means blessing in the Promised Land while disobedience means impending judgment even exile from the Promised Land. The Judges and the Prophets write to call the people to return to God and for the most part it was only temporary successful. Their hearts were as if made of stone, a stubbornness to do their own will or to be like the other nations.
The content of the New Testament addresses how the followers are to live in this world as his people. The church faced cultural influence and the struggle of being a godly people like Israel. The redeeming grace is that God has given his people the Holy Spirit while in the Old Testament only a few individuals had the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon them. Thus in many ways, Christians have no excuse for being like Israel. They have the example from Israel and the Holy Spirit to live differently in this world as God’s holy people.
For each book of the Bible, careful observation must be given to both content and context. Jesus and the Apostles ascribed or alluded to the quotations from the Old Testament as being from the author of that book. In most Bible there is an introduction that gives a summary of the book which is very helpful.
I hope this helps.
For more perspectives: