Some of the critics of the bible have come up with some sophisticated arguments in their attempts to disprove its authenticity and reliability. Bibleking jamesdocumentary hypothesisgenesis wikiversity. This hypothesis suggests that each document was characterized by its own theology, politics, language, and style. A menu will pop up mouse over the chapter for the various options including commentary, and double click. The hypothesis of an elohist source independent of the yahwist and.
The documentary hypothesis is flawed due to circular reasoning in that it seeks to explain the ots revolution by relying on the chronology and events described by the ot, all the while admitting that the ot is an inauthentic document and, therefore, unreliable. Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. So one can accept multiple authorship of the five books of moses without accepting the idea that there were multiple authors of isaiah. The maccabee against the documentary hypothesis the. It implies that at least some of the stories in the bible date back to first hand recollections that were written down from the time of adam and onward. The first account is more formally structured and abstract. One of the major attacks on the bible has been directed against moses. This will include some of its main developers and supporters. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the torah more recent.
However, in recent centuries, alternative authorship has been proposed. The documentary hypothesis summarized the documentary hypothesis proposes that the torah the. Find the best commentary on documentary hypothesis. Peter gentry finishes off the documentary hypothesis pt.
Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis or the jedp model3. There are no literary references, no extant manuscripts of any kind, which mention the j, e, e or p documents, either singly or as a group. Introduction to reading the pentateuch further provides a critical analysis of the works of the advocatorsscholars of the documentary hypothesis. The scholars rely on their discovery of the four sources of the torah, and evaluate them for historical consistency. The neodocumentary hypothesis restores the simplicity of the earlier scholarship. Tim mahoneys film series patterns of evidence presented the documentary hypothesis attack on moses as the author of genesis and the whole torah. One of these attempts is known as the documentary hypothesis, or the jepd theory. Biblical literature old testament literature britannica. The case for the documentary hypothesis, historical. William henry green, the higher criticism of the pentateuch. Nor do the two diverse types of bird the raven and the dove, 8. The problem with this chronological reading plan like this is that it must completely reject documentary hypothesis.
If you have picked up a scholarly book on the old testament written in the past fifty years, chances are you have run into it. Anthony hutchinson discusses the creation portion overlaid with the pearl of great price vol 21 no 4. The documentary hypothesis, in general and in its particulars, is a literary solution to a literary problem, and no more than that. According to the documentary hypothesis, genesis is composed from a number of originally independant sources joined by a redactor. I think the book of moses is a greater challenge to the notion of a documentary hypothesis however. In his book he argued that in composing these chapters moses quoted. 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. In short, this theory states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch, consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were. The pentateuch, or the five books of mosesgenesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers.
Thomas dozeman vol 32 no 4 discusses it, with a response by kevin barney vol 33 no 1. Therefore, the whole insert serves no purpose in the main text other than as a kind of bizarre interpolation, because the documentary hypothesis is not about the divinity of the text. The documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch also known as the jedp theory. 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. The documentary hypothesis is a theory, also known as jedp, that states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not written completely by moses but by different authors. 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. The hypothesis derives from the belief that the pentateuch the first five books of the christian bible and jewish tanakh is.
Welch states that this is a welcome introduction, page 211 from a faithful latterday saint perspective, to the academic world of higher criticism of the. According to a great deal of scholars with many solid examples to support their ideas, much of the old testament is made up of a series of redactions, mashups and remixes by multiple authors. The jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light of the documentary hypothesis. The documentary hypothesis, and the identity of the. In the famous story of isaacs near sacrifice, the elohist even plays with the. The chapters on the book of mormon, book of moses, and book of abraham will most likely make very little or no sense if they are read outside the context of the preceding chapters. The book thus takes a supportive position on the documentary hypothesis. What are the arguments for and against the documentary hypothesis. According to the documentary hypothesis, the 5 books of moses were compiled from 5 independent source documents, each independently presenting its own version of the entire history of israel from the creation to moses. Neil recently posted about the documentary hypothesis, citing thomas brodies genesis as dialogue 2001, a book i enjoyed but in the end did not convince me to abandon the dh. Graf and julius wellhausen, who gave it its classic expression, presupposes that the five books of moses, namely the torah or pentateuch, are actually derived from four different source documents, called j yahwist, e elohist, d.
The ot contains few books, which are the work of a single author throughout. The documentary hypothesis has also been discussed in dialogue. You might not know the name, but you have probably encountered it. All agree that the torah is not a unified work from a.
Jeanlouis ska says, in introduction to reading the pentateuch. The documentary hypothesis claims that the pentateuch is a composite of four separate, complete, and coherent documents. Beyond these obvious discrepancies, modern literary analysis and criticism of the texts has pointed up significant differences in style. Documentary hypothesis to access the biblical texts go to the menus, scroll down, and doubleclick on the book you want. The documentary hypothesis in trouble the bas library. The documentary hypothesis kindle edition by cassuto. At first, it seems that no one claimed to know the pentateuchs author.
Deuteronomy and leviticus both represent basically one source each d in deuteronomy and p in leviticus. The documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch also known as the. The documentary hypothesis is a hypothesis about authorship, and is totally neutral on the question of inspiration. The documentary hypothesis is a theory about the historical compilation of the old testament.
Are you unfamiliar with the documentary hypothesis. More recent models include the supplementary hypothesis and the fragmentary hypothesis. The documentary hypothesisdefending moses authorship of. The attribution of the pentateuch to moses was probably due to the influence of hellenism, for which no great. The bulk of the work is an extended dialogue between the hero and his friends and eventually yahweh himself in poetic form. The second is less repetitious and more dramatic and spontaneous. This paper will seek to logically critic and evaluate the documentary hypothesis, expose its errors, and defend the traditional position of mosaic authorship of the pentateuch. The classic documentary hypothesis primarily concerns the pentateuch, not the prophetic books. Exodus and numbers both have less mixing of sources than genesis see illustration.
The above facts of this book have easily demonstrated that the evidence of the documentary hypothesis is really no evidence at all. The essence of the documentary hypothesis, as professor friedman explains in the collection of evidence chapter of the book, seems to be that using certain objective linguistic and terminological criteria, it is possible to dissect the pentateuch into several separate documents, each of which, separately, makes more sense and is more. In short, this theory states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch, consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not. The book reproduces a series of lectures that cassuto gave around 80 years ago. A critical assessment of the grafwellhausen documentary. An article outlining the flaws of the grafwellhausen documentary source hypothesis, or the jedp system. The documentary hypothesis, sometimes called the grafwellhausen hypothesis after the two men, k. Herbert livingston, phd, professor of old testament at asbury theological seminary.
Sample paper on the documentary hypothesis essay writing. The problems of the bibles creation and editing are real, however, and admission by scholars of difficulties with one theory does not indicate that these can be. If you read this book you should also read the introduction to richard friedmans the bible with sources revealed. Literalist jews and christians have long rejected the documentary hypothesis, and, as in this link, many modern scholars agree that it is not as simple as was proposed in the past. To do this, first a brief overview of the history of the documentary hypothesis will be presented. Hence, one could identify possibly three sources at work in the pentateuchal narrative.
Postulated the view that the pentateuch is a composition of at least four major literary documents and that the composition process took some four centuries. And if there was a king david, his is not the life described in the ot. As a result he does a good job of demolishing a version of the documentary hypothesis that is no longer applicable. Documentary hypothesis encyclopedia article citizendium. Peter gentry recounts asking his own professor about a book by. You can find the best commentary on job for you using the tools on the right side. The bible is not and was never intended to be a historical document. The documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch also known as.
The poem is set within the framework of a short narrative in prose form. Julius wellhausen effectively called the old testament torah a big lie. Genesis is the most mixed book, according to the documentary hypothesis. The hypothesis attempts to account for discrepancies and repetitions in the pentateuch by positing the combination of separate and coherent. It requires precisely four sources and one compiler. While reading the post, one quotation caught my eye. Both judaism and christianity assumed that the pentateuch the first five books of the hebrew scriptures old testament were written by moses, as the bible itself states. One of the forerunners of the documentary hypothesis was jean astruc, a french physician who became interested in the way in which god is referred to by two different names, yahweh and elohim, in genesis and the early chapters of exodus. The documentary hypothesis calls into question the testimonies of jesus, peter, and paul, for all of them testified that moses wrote at least three of the books of the pentateuch. The modernday critic has to deal with the lack of consensus on the part of his colleagues, who lack in agreement for the explanation of the sources. As this hypothesis was developed by a number of jewish and theologically liberal christian scholars in the late 17th to the late 19th centuries, there were a number of different proposals of who wrote what and when. Jewish history and tradition also credit moses as the author of the pentateuch, giving no support whatsoever to the documentary hypothesis.
A hypothesis is a conceptual structure which serves to organize and render intelligible a mass of otherwise disparate and disordered observations. This view believes that the pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally moses. What are the arguments for and against the documentary. The documentary hypothesis is now accepted by essentially all mainline and liberal theologians. Old testament criticism exposed as being purely ideological, materialistic and antisupernaturalist. In short, this theory states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch, consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not written completely by. How the bible was discovered to be a collection of. Those who support the documentary hypothesis theory generally suggest four specific sources represented by the letters jedp.
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