ToC | Reading the Old Testament . . . Part 1. Torah | ToC

B. Sources

The study of ancient languages and literatures blossomed during the Renaissance and Reformation. This inspired a new look at the Hebrew Bible. The existence of similar stories in Genesis (as just mentioned) prompted Richard Simon (1638-1712) to develop a theory that the Pentateuch had been compiled from a number of sources, some of which may have derived from Moses. He claimed the final Pentateuch was produced by Ezra in the postexilic period (fifth century B.C.E.).
    A variation in the way pentateuchal texts refer to God, either as Elohim (translated God) or YHWH (pronounced yahweh or yahveh, and rendered the LORD in most English translations), prompted Jean Astruc (1684-1766) to argue that Moses compiled the Pentateuch from two different written documents and other minor materials. Ironically, the approach he advocated gave birth to the documentary hypothesis that ultimately took the Pentateuch out of Moses's hands.
    Over the course of the next two centuries the documentary hypothesis developed into the dominant explanation of the authorship and composition of the Pentateuch. Essentially, the hypothesis deconstructs the Pentateuch into four primary underlying documentary sources: a Yahwist narrative was dated to the tenth or ninth century B.C.E., an Elohist source to the ninth century, Deuteronomy to the seventh century, and a Priestly document to the sixth or fifth century. The documentary hypothesis goes by the acronym JEDP for the four sources in their presumed chronological order.

Figure 2 Sources and Composition of the Torah

    The classical documentary hypothesis uses five literary identifiers to distinguish the sources:

  • duplication and repetition of material
  • variation in the ways of referring to God
  • contrasting author perspectives
  • variation in vocabulary and literary style
  • evidence of editorial activity
    The editorial work of combining the various sources took place in stages. The editor (sometimes called a redactor by scholars) who joined the Yahwist (J) and Elohist (E) sources into JE put them together shortly after 721 B.C.E. The editor (a different one now) who added material from a Priestly source (P) did so around 500 B.C.E. giving rise to JEP. When Deuteronomy was added around 400 B.C.E. the Torah as we now have it became complete.
    None of the actual writers of the sources have been identified by name, but we can piece together some general features of the individuals and groups responsible. Each of the sources has a distinctive style, vocabulary, and theology; each came out of a particular period in Israel's history; and each reflects the attitude and perspective of a particular constituency within Israel.

Figure 3 Sources of the Torah by Geographical Location. Each of the Torah sources can be localized to a specific geographical area and to a constituency within that area. Knowing the background out of which each source comes helps us understand the particular perspective and interests of that source.

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