SPECIAL TOPIC: PENTATEUCH SOURCE CRITICISM (J,E,D,P)

SPECIAL TOPIC: PENTATEUCH SOURCE CRITICISM (J,E,D,P)
— from Jeremiah 11:5)

A. Modern Scholarship

1. There have obviously been some
editorial additions to the Torah (seemingly, to make the ancient work more
understandable to contemporary readers, which was a characteristic of Egyptian
scribes):

a. Genesis 12:6; 13:7; 14:14; 21:34;
32:32; 36:31; 47:11

b. Exodus 11:3; 16:36

c. Numbers 12:3; 13:22; 15:22-23;
21:14-15; 32:33ff

d. Deuteronomy 3:14; 34:6

e. Ancient scribes were highly trained
and educated. Their techniques, however, differed from country to country:

(1) In Mesopotamia, they were careful not
to change anything, and even checked their works for accuracy. Here is an
ancient Sumerian scribal footnote: “the work is complete from beginning to end,
has been copied, revised, compared, and verified sign by sign” from about 1400
b.c.

(2) In Egypt they freely revised
ancient texts to update them for contemporary readers. The scribes at Qumran
(i.e., Dead Sea Scrolls) followed this approach.

2. Scholars of the 19th century theorized
that the Torah is a composite document from many sources over an extended period
of time (Graff-Wellhausen). This theory was based on:

a. the different names for God

b. apparent doublets in the text

c. the literary form of the accounts

d. the theology of the accounts

3. Supposed sources and dates:

a. J source (use of YHWH from southern
Israel) – 950 b.c.

b. E source (use of Elohim from
northern Israel) – 850 b.c.

c. JE combined – 750
b.c.

d. D source (“The Book of the Law,”
2
Kgs. 22:8, discovered during Josiah’s reform while remodeling the Temple was
supposedly the book of Deuteronomy, written by an unknown priest of Josiah’s
time to support his reform.) – 621 b.c.

e. P source (priestly rewrite of OT,
especially ritual and procedure) – 400 b.c.

f. There have obviously been
editorial additions to the Torah. The Jews assert that it was

(1) The High Priest (or another of
his family) at the time of the writing

(2) Jeremiah the Prophet

(3) Ezra the Scribe – IV Esdras
says he rewrote it because the originals were destroyed in the fall of Jerusalem
in 586
b.c.

g. However, the J. E. D. P. theory
says more about our modern literary theories and categories than evidence from
the Torah (cf. R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, pp.
495-541 and Tyndale’s Commentaries, “Leviticus” pp. 15-25).

h. Characteristics of Hebrew
Literature

(1) Doublets, like Genesis 1 & 2, are
common in Hebrew. Usually a general description is given, followed by a specific
account (i.e. the Ten Commandments and the Holiness Code). This may have been a
way to accent truths or help oral memory.

(2) The ancient rabbis said the two
most common names for God have theological significance:

(a) YHWH – the Covenant name
for deity as He relates to Israel as Savior and Redeemer (cf. Ps. 19:7-14; 103).

(b) Elohim – deity as
Creator, Provider, and Sustainer of all life on earth (cf. Ps. 19:1-6; 104).

(c) Other Ancient Near Eastern
texts use several names to describe their high god (cf.
Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason L. Archer, p. 68).

(3) It is common in non-biblical
near eastern literature for a variety of styles and vocabulary to occur in
unified literary works (cf. Introduction to the Old Testament, R. K.
Harrison, pp. 522-526).

B. The evidence from ancient near eastern
literature implies that Moses used written cuneiform documents or Mesopotamian
style (patriarchal) oral traditions to write Genesis. This in no way means to
imply a lessening of inspiration but is an attempt to explain the literary
phenomenon of the book of Genesis (cf. P. J. Wiseman’s New Discoveries in
Babylonia about Genesis). Beginning in Genesis 37, a marked Egyptian influence
of style, form and vocabulary seems to indicate Moses used either literary
productions or oral traditions from the Israelites’ days in both Egypt and
Mesopotamia. Moses’ formal education was entirely Egyptian! The exact literary
formation of the Pentateuch is uncertain. I believe that Moses is the compiler
and author of the vast majority of the Pentateuch, though he may have used
scribes and/or written and oral (patriarchal) traditions. His writings have been
updated by later scribes. The historicity and trustworthiness of these first few
books of the OT have been illustrated by modern archaeology.

C. There is an emerging theory that there were
scribes (in different parts of Israel) working on different parts of the
Pentateuch at the same time under the direction of Samuel (cf. 1 Sam. 10:25).
This theory was first proposed by E. Robertson’s The Old Testament Problem.