The traditional answer is Moses
For centuries, Jewish and Christian readers have understood Moses to be the principal author of Numbers. It belongs to the first five books of the Bible, often called the Pentateuch, a Greek word meaning “five-scroll book”. These books tell of creation, God’s covenant with Abraham’s family, Israel’s rescue from Egypt, and their journey towards the promised land.
Numbers follows Israel through the wilderness after the exodus. Moses stands at the centre of its story, speaking with God, leading the people, recording God’s commands, and dealing with their repeated distrust. The book does not begin with a modern-style title page naming its writer, yet it repeatedly presents Moses as the one receiving and preserving these events and instructions.
And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.
What Numbers says about its record
Near the end of the book, Numbers says Moses wrote down the stages of Israel’s journeys as the Lord directed him (Numbers 33:2). That fits the book’s detailed travel record, census lists, laws, places, leaders, and major events during the forty years in the desert.
Other parts of the Torah make the same connection. Moses wrote down God’s covenant words after Israel came to Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:4), and later entrusted the written law to Israel’s priests and elders (Deuteronomy 31:9). These passages do not answer every question about how every section was compiled, but they give strong biblical reasons for linking the Law, including Numbers, with Moses.
And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel.
Why people sometimes ask more questions
Some readers notice that Numbers contains material Moses could record only because God revealed it to him, such as events in heaven or instructions given directly by the Lord. That is not presented as a problem within the book. Moses is repeatedly shown receiving God’s words and passing them on to Israel (Numbers 12:6-8).
Others wonder whether scribes may have copied, arranged, or clarified parts of the text after Moses’ lifetime. Faithful Christians differ over the extent of any later editorial work. Still, recognising normal copying and preservation is different from denying Moses’ central role. The Bible itself treats Moses as the authoritative mediator of the law given to Israel.
How the rest of Scripture speaks
Later biblical writers regularly refer to “the law of Moses”. Joshua is told to obey the book of the law given through Moses (Joshua 1:7-8). Centuries later, Ezra reads from the book of the law of Moses to a returned community in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 8:1).
Jesus also speaks of Moses in connection with the Scriptures. He tells his listeners that Moses wrote of him, and says that rejecting Moses’ writings makes it hard to receive Jesus’ words (John 5:46-47). So the simplest answer is also the historic one: Moses wrote Numbers, under God’s guidance, for Israel and for all who want to understand God’s faithfulness in the wilderness.
For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.