They then assembled the torah in its present form sometime about 400 b. The documentary hypothesis to make further progress with our question, what is the pentateuch. The jedp theory and its implications for biblical credibility. However, outside of the more conservative seminaries and churches, it is commonly held that moses did not write these books, that they are a compilation of works by numerous. While jewish tradition holds that all five books were originally written by moses sometime in the 2nd millennium bc e, by the 17th. A mature science, according to kuhns hypothesis, is one in which there exists a dominant paradigma conceptual framework that informs the scientist of what to expect as he engages in his or her scientific inquiry. This weeks ask a rabbi deals with the documentary hypothesis, the belief that the torah is a collection of independent narratives written by different authors, as opposed to having divine authorship. The process of identifying the biblical sources took centuries. John barton, source criticism, the anchor bible dictionary.
According to the documentary hypothesis, the first five books the torah or pentateuch are actually a combination of four or more. Torah reading and the documentary hypothesis crosscurrents. The jewish name for these books is the hebrew word hrat torah. I am now nearly finished talking about the documentary hypothesis devised by scholars of the hebrew bible to account for the pentateuch, the first five books of the hebrew bible. One significant thing about the argument that there are no ancient parallels to the torah as conceived in the documentary hypothesis is that it was of a different type from most previous arguments against the hypothesis. From prechristian times to the beginning of the nineteenth century it was accepted by nearly everyone that moses was the author ofnearly all the pentateuch. Multiple strands of tradition were woven together to produce the torah. The development of the documentary hypothesis, the idea that the torah was a compilation of works from several discrete sources, was and, despite scholarly challenge, remains a formidable obstacle to the claim of unitary and divine authorship.
Details of documentary hypothesis literary analysis shows that one person did not write the pentateuch. The documentary hypothesis evidence merrimack valley havurah. In your version of the documentary hypothesis, the pretorah texts were revered and considered full and authoritative by their respective groups. Problems with the documentary hypothesis jedp, part 2. The process of refining our identifications of these sources has been ongoing, and it continues to the present day. The documentary hypothesis within the spectrum of biblical scholarship. Introduction to the pentateuch modern source theories. But the documentary hypothesis is, for all its power and value, just that, a hypothesis. Julius wellhausen 1844 1918 architect of modern bible criticism i have recently been studying a book called the bible with sources revealed by richard elliot friedman. This was derived from the greek word meaning five scrolls. This book probably explains the documentary hypothesis in more detail and more clearly than any other book in print. Documentary hypothesis, according to which the entire torah was.
This was the standard view of the matter back when i was doing my phd in biblical studies way back when. A critical assessment of the grafwellhausen documentary. The documentary hypothesis suggests that the first five books of the old testament were originally independent accounts that were later edited or redacted by a later editor or editors. Based on the abbreviations used for the four sources, the documentary hypothesis is also called the. A long tradition holds that the five books of the pentateuch or torah genesis, exodus, leviticus. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. Then, when the redactor came up with the final version, he would have been faced with a task about as difficult as convincing you that the torah scroll you have now is the wrong text. Even the ancient rabbis debated whether or not moses could have possibly written the last chapter of. Nearly 100 instances where two hebrew source texts disagree as to the name for god yahweh or.
The documentary hypothesis is a theory to explain the many repetitions, inconsistencies, and anachronisms in the first five books of the bible. Advocates of the documentary hypothesis point out that different parts of the torah are written in different styles. The classical documentary hypothesis approach posits that the current text has combined two originally distinct stories, each describing different rebel groups. Does the documentary hypothesis or jedp theory undermine the bibles credibility the documentary hypothesis dh is a model used by biblical scholars to explain the origins in combination with each other and with a documentary model, making it difficult to classify contemporary theories as strictly one or another. A critique of the documentary hypothesis by ben zion katz, jerusalem. Hebrew bible yale wellhausens documentary hypothesis. Hebrew bible yale wellhausens documentary hypothesis howthebiblewasmade. What are the arguments for and against the documentary hypothesis. Julius wellhausen 18441918 popularized the documentary hypothesis dh, which states that the torah is made up of four major originally separate texts that were later combined by a redactor into the text we have now. In his wellargued view, the documentary hypothesis is not as foolproof as once thought, and the classical jewish commentators are not the fundamentalists many continue to believe them to be. Richard elliot friedman, in the bible with sources revealed, writes. Could you explain the four 4 traditions which underlay the writings of the torah, commonly known as j,e,p,d. Based on the abbreviations used for the four sources, the documentary hypothesis is also called the foursource theory or the jepd theory.
Rather, at its root is a theory based on the application of the naturalistic assumptions of seventeenth and eighteenth century humanists to the biblical text. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to. This thought found its apex with darwins speculations on evolution, and this incorporated itself with the view of history adopted by the proponents of this hypothesis. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, are often referred to as the pentateuch or torah. Is there a place for the documentaryhypothesis in observant judaism. The traditional documentary hypothesis, as it is called, was most famously formulated by the nineteenthcentury german scholar, julius wellhausen, who, along with some of his predecessors, called the sources j e d and p. They were combined into one narrative when the torah was redacted. Torah was a unified whole, written by moses, began to be questioned. According to this theory, the traditional books of moses genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy werent written by moses at all, but by a group of authors who can be distinguished by their.
Written by four outstanding torah scholars, the jps torah commentary series represents a fusion of the best of the old and new. This view believes that the pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally moses. The jepd theory a long tradition holds that the five books of the pentateuch or torah genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy were written by moses. Scholars eventually built these observations into the theory known as the. The documentary hypothesis its effect on the torah and. The wellhausen hypothesis, or the documentary hypothesis dh, had asserted that the old testament ot, especially the torah, is nothing more than the product of numerous editors who cut and pasted the ot together from a shabby assortment of previously existing documents in order to suit their political agendas. How the bible was discovered to be a collection of. I have already discussed the traditional view developed in the nineteenth century, especially as it was laid out by julius wellhausen. For example, there is rolf rendtorff, a respected german scholar who says, the positing of sources in the sense of the documentary hypothesis can no longer make any contribution to understanding the development of the pentateuch. At any rate, a number of scholars dont buy the neat picture friedman creates for the lay reader.
How the bible was discovered to be a collection of contradictory texts did moses write the torah. Datan and abiram in one story and korah, the levites and the 250 elders on the other. Development of the documentary hypothesis c arls td. Following the boldfaced letters shown above this idea is called the j,e,d,p theory or the documentary hypothesis. The theory also proposes that each source reflects. Development of the documentary hypothesis bible brisket. More recent models include the supplementary hypothesis and the fragmentary hypothesis. There have been various opinions as to whether these sources were written or oral traditions, and whether each. The composition of the torah or pentateuch, the first five books of the bible. As walter kaiser points out, some modern proponents of the documentary hypothesis would like to wish.
Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy was a process that involved multiple authors over an extended period of time. Briefly stated, the documentary hypothesis sees the torah as having been composed by a. An empirical basis for the documentary hypothesis jstor. The letters jedp are a designation used by scholars to identify the component parts or sources that they understand were used to compile the first five books of the old testament. Those who support the documentary hypothesis theory generally suggest four specific sources represented by the letters jedp. All agree that the torah is not a unified work from a single author, but is made up of.
The origins of the torah the documentary hypothesis. In short, the documentary hypothesis emerged out of a time of growing emphasis on the centrality of man in history and nature. Such are the outlines of this documentary hypothesis formation of the torah, which claims hypothesis of torah formation. Each of these sources or documents is embedded in a relatively complete form in the. Documentary hypothesis text sources jepd merrimack. Documentary hypothesis text sources jepd it is agreed upon by all historians, nonorthodox rabbis, and an increasing number of modern orthodox rabbis, that the text of the torah was not written all at once, right after the israelites left egypt. Entry for jedp documentary hypothesis of formation of the torah. The jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light of the documentary hypothesis. How did the pentateuch or torah come to be written. This would put the oral torah into question, and make the sages of the talmud part of a larger debate in the approach to the torah, including some views which are vilified in the talmud and commentaries.
It should be noted that the use of each of these alphabetical shorthand letters does not necessarily imply that there was a single individual who wrote all of any. These four sources have been identified by biblical scholars by their specific literary styles and theological concerns. In 1889 george foot moore confronted the charge that the documentary hypothesis had turned the torah into a crazy patchwork, unparalleled in literature. The documentary hypothesis a critique julius wellhausen 1844 1918 an architect of modern biblical criticism the documentary hypothesis proposes that the torah was written by several different authors between about 950 bce through 450 bce, at which point it was assembled into the present single document, probably by ezra. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the torah or pentateuch, the first five books of the bible. Do the bible codes prove the documentary hypothesis. Initially, it was a tentative division based on simple factors. The view that is persuasive to most of the critical scholars of the pentateuch is called the documentary hypothesis, or. Pentateuch or to be more precise, the hexateuch, that is the pentateuch plus the sixth book of the bible, joshuasee below. Traditional responses to the hypothesis had been to argue the items of evidence one at a time. How is a traditional jew supposed to deal with the documentary hypothesis dh.
The other books are somewhat interchangeable with a congregational. What are the arguments for and against the documentary. Jps torah commentary, 5 volume set a torah commentary for our times. The talmud many times mentions gods two character traits the trait of mercy and the trait of justice. Documentary hypothesis assumes that the text of the torah as preserved can be divided into identifiable sources that predate its compilations by centuries, the jahwist j source being the oldest, dating to as early as the 10th century bce, along with the elohist e, the deuteronomist d, and the priestly source p, dating to the 8th to 6th centuries. The documentary hypothesis also uses the shorthand r for the redactor or editor who brought together the j, e, p and dtr material into a single set of writings we know as the torah.
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