Documentary
Hypothesis Pt.
1 See
(Pt. 2)
(Source material given below)
Literary analysis shows that the Pentateuch was not
written by one person. Multiple strands of tradition were woven together
to produce the Torah.
The view that is persuasive to most of the critical
scholars of the Pentateuch is called the Documentary Hypothesis, or the
Graf-Wellhausen Hypothesis, after the names of the 19th-century scholars
who put it in its classic form.
Briefly stated, the Documentary Hypothesis sees the
Torah as having been composed by a series of editors out of four major
strands of literary traditions. These traditions are known as J, E, D, and
P. We can diagram their relationships as follows.
J (the Jahwist or Jerusalem source) uses the
Tetragrammaton as God's name. This source's interests indicate it was
active in the southern Kingdom of Judah in the time of the divided
Kingdom. J is responsible for most of Genesis.
E (the Elohist or Ephraimitic source) uses Elohim
("God") for the divine name until Exodus 3-6, where the Tetragrammaton is
revealed to Moses and to Israel. This source seems to have lived in the
northern Kingdom of Israel during the divided Kingdom. E wrote the Aqedah
story and other parts of Genesis, and much of Exodus and Numbers.
J and E were joined fairly early, apparently after
the fall of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BCE. It is often difficult to
separate J and E stories that have merged.
D (the Deuteronomist) wrote almost all of Deuteronomy
(and probably also Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings). Scholars often
associate Deuteronomy with the book found by King Josiah in 622 BCE (see 2
Kings 22).
P (the Priestly source) provided the first chapter of
Genesis; the book of Leviticus; and other sections with genealogical
information, the priesthood, and worship. According to Wellhausen, P was
the latest source and the priestly editors put the Torah in its final form
sometime after 539 BCE. Recent scholars (for example, James Milgrom) are
more likely to see P as containing pre-exilic material.
Contemporary critical scholars disagree with
Wellhausen and with one another on details and on whether D or P was added
last. But they agree that the general approach of the Documentary
Hypothesis best explains the doublets, contradictions, differences in
terminology and theology, and the geographical and historical interests
that we find in various parts of the Torah.
Here are some differences between the four strands of
tradition.
J:
Yahwist
|
E:
Elohist |
P:
Priestly |
D:
Deuteronomist |
stress on Judah |
stress on northern Israel |
stress on Judah |
stress on central shrine |
stresses leaders |
stresses the prophetic |
stresses the cultic |
stresses fidelity to Jerusalem |
anthropomorphic speech about God |
refined speech about God |
majestic speech about God |
speech recalling God's work |
God walks and talks with us |
God speaks in dreams |
cultic approach to God |
moralistic approach |
God is YHWH |
God is Elohim (till Ex 3) |
God is Elohim (till Ex 3) |
God is YHWH |
uses "Sinai" |
Sinai is "Horeb" |
has genealogies and lists |
has long sermons |
For further information about the Documentary Hypothesis and the reasons
that scholars accept it, consult the article "Torah (Pentateuch)" in the
Anchor Bible Dictionary.
Sources:
| Friedman, "Torah (Pentateuch)" in
the Anchor Bible Dictionary. |
| W. Gunther Plaut, ed., The
Torah: A Modern Commentary (New York: Union of American Hebrew
Congregations, 1981). |
| Lawrence Boadt, Reading the Old
Testament: An Introduction (New York: Paulist Press, 1984). |
The Flood Story in J and P: An Example of the
Documentary Hypothesis
The flood story in Genesis
6-9 is a text that can be analyzed along the lines of the
Documentary Hypothesis. According to the hypothesis, the flood story
is the result of weaving together two previous versions of the story,
one from the J source and one from the Priestly source (P). In parts of
the story, J and P are difficult or impossible to separate. Other parts
(especially when each source is used to retell the same part of the
story) are easier to identify as belonging to one strand or the other.
The following table attempts to separate the two strands. |
J |
P |
The LORD plans the flood
The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil
continually. And the LORD was sorry that he had made humankind on the
earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot
out from the earth the human beings I have created -- people together
with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry
that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD.
[Gen 6:5-8 NRSV] |
God plans the flood
Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with
violence. And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, "I have
determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with
violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the
earth. Make yourself an ark ... [Gen 6:11-16 NRSV] |
Noah's special status
Then the LORD said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and all your
household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in
this generation. [7:1] |
Noah's special status
"For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to
destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life;
everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my
covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your
wife, and your sons' wives with you." [6:17-18] |
Animals by pairs and
seven pairs
"Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and its mate;
and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and its mate; and
seven pairs of the birds of the air also, male and female, to keep their
kind alive on the face of all the earth. For in seven days I will send
rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and every living
thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground." And
Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him. [7:2-5] |
Animals by pairs
"And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every
kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and
female. Of the birds according to their kinds, of every creeping thing
of the ground according to its kind, two of every kind shall come in to
you, to keep them alive. Also take with you every kind of food that is
eaten, and store it up; and it shall serve as food for you and for
them." Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him. [6:19-22] |
Beginning of flood
And after seven days the waters of the flood came on the earth. [6:10] |
Beginning of flood
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the
seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great
deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. [Gen 6:11] |
Duration of flood
The rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. [6:12] |
Duration of flood
And the waters swelled on the earth for one hundred fifty days. [7:24] |
End of flood
At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had
made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters
were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out the dove ... He waited
another seven days, and again he sent out the dove... Then he waited
another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return to him
any more. [8:6-12] |
End of flood
In the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the
month, the waters were dried up from the erath; and Noah removed the
covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was
drying. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the
earth was dry. Then God said to Noah, "Go out of the ark, you and your
wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you....[8:13-16] |
The LORD's promise never
to curse the earth
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and
of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And when
the LORD smelled the pleasing odor, the LORD said in his heart, "I will
never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination
of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy
every living creature as I have done. As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night,
shall not cease." [8:20-22] |
God's promise: the
covenant of the rainbow
Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, "As for me, I am
establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and
with every living creature that is with you... I establish my covenant
with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a
flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." God
said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you,
for all future generations; I have set my bow in the clouds, and it
shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth... [9:8-17] |
This helpful design and clarification appears
originally at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/2/Judaism/jepd.html
|