Isaac Newton, Observations Upon The Prophecies Of Daniel and The Apocalypse Of St. John

The same book of the Law was preserved and handed down to posterity by the Samaritans, and therefore was received by the ten Tribes before their captivity. For when the ten Tribes (2 Kings 17:27, 28, 32, 33) were captivated, a Priest of the captivity was sent back to Bethel, by order of the King of Assyria, to instruct the new inhabitants of Samaria, in the manner of the God of the land; and the Samaritans had the Pentateuch from this Priest, as containing the law or manner of the God of the land, which he was to teach them. For they persevered (2 Kings 17:34, 41) in the religion which he taught them, joining with it the worship of their own Gods; and by persevering in what they had been taught, they preserved this book of their Law in the original character of the Hebrews, while the two Tribes, after their return from Babylon, changed the character to that of the Chaldees, which they had learned at Babylon.

And since the Pentateuch was received as the book of the Law, both by the two Tribes and by the ten Tribes, it follows that they received it before they became divided into two Kingdoms. For after the division, they received not laws from one another, but continued at variance. Judah could not reclaim Israel from the sin of Jeroboam, and Israel could not bring Judah to it. The Pentateuch therefore was the book of the Law in the days of David and Solomon. The affairs of the Tabernacle and Temple were ordered by David and Solomon, according to the Law of this book; and David in the 78th Psalm, admonishing the people to give ear to the Law of God, means the Law of this book. For in describing how their forefathers kept it not, he quotes many historical things out of the books of Exodus and Numbers.

The race of the Kings of Edom, before there reigned any King over Israel, is set down in the book of Genesis; (Genesis 36:31) and therefore that book was not written entirely in the form now extant, before the reign of Saul. The writer set down the race of those Kings till his own time, and therefore wrote before David conquered Edom. The Pentateuch is composed of the Law and the history of God’s people together; and the history hath been collected from several books, such as were the history of the Creation composed by Moses, Genesis 2:4; the book of the generations of Adam, Genesis 5:1; and the book of the wars of the Lord, Numbers 21:14. This book of wars contained what was done at the Red-sea, and in the journeying of Israel through the Wilderness, and therefore was begun by Moses. And Joshua might carry it on to the conquest of Canaan. For Joshua wrote some things in the book of the Law of God, Joshua 24:26, and therefore might write his own wars in the book of wars, those being the principal wars of God. These were public books, and therefore not written without the authority of Moses and Joshua. And Samuel had leisure in the reign of Saul, to put them into the form of the books of Moses and Joshua now extant, inserting into the book of Genesis, the race of the Kings of Edom, until there reigned a King in Israel.

The book of the Judges is a continued history of the Judges down to the death of Sampson, and therefore was compiled after his death, out of the Acts of the Judges. Several things in this book are said to be done when there was no King in Israel, Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25; and therefore this book was written after the beginning of the reign of Saul. When it was written, the Jebusites dwelt in Jerusalem, Judges 1:21; and therefore it was written before the eighth year of David, 2 Samuel 5:8, and 1 Chronicles 11:6. The books of Moses, Joshua, and Judges, contain one continued history, down from the Creation to the death of Sampson. Where the Pentateuch ends, the book of Joshua begins; and where the book of Joshua ends, the book of Judges begins. Therefore all these books have been composed out of the writings of Moses, Joshua, and other records, by one and the same hand, after the beginning of the reign of Saul, and before the eighth year of David. And Samuel was a sacred writer, 1 Samuel 10:25; acquainted with the history of Moses and the Judges, 1 Samuel 12:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; and had leisure in the reign of Saul, and sufficient authority to compose these books. He was a Prophet, and judged Israel all the days of his life, and was in the greatest esteem with the people; and the Law by which he was to judge the people was not to be published by less authority than his own, the Law-maker being not inferior to the judge. And the book of Jasher, which is quoted in the book of Joshua, Joshua 10:13; was in being at the death of Saul, 2 Samuel 1. 18.