History of bible and its writers/author

THE PENTATEUCH

A The first block Torah
The Torah (literary it means ˝teaching˝ or the Law or the Law of Moses˝ (Neh8,1; Cf. Lk,24,44) contains first five books of the Bible and is the most important section of the Hebrew Bible. This is called the Pentateuch in the Greek Bible, deriving from the Greek pentateuchos which means ˝five containers˝ (They must have been preserved in five receptacles). These five books are not merely laws for religious life, instructions or regulations for civic duties, but the will of God or the revelation of the mind of God, or God’s plan for creation of the world and the people of God, and their heritage, which is the land.
The first book is called Genesis, deriving from its Greek name Genesis (˝generation˝) in the Septuagint. In the Hebrew Bible each book is known by its first word or words. Thus the Hebrew name Genesis is Bgreshit בראשית (˝ in the beginning˝ (Cf. Gen1,1). The second book in this block is Exodus, coming from Greek exodus (˝departure from˝) Egypt. The Hebrew name is We’elle simoth שטות ואלה(˝And these are the names˝Exo1,1) and this was popularly shortened to Simoth. The third book of Torah collection is Leviticus, coming from Greek Livitikon which represent the priestly class in general (cf. Deut17,9). Hebrew name is Wayyiqraויקרא (˝And he called˝) Lev1,1. The fourth book of this block is Number  derived from Latin Numeri which is the translation of Greek arthmoi ( the title of the Septuagint). The Hebrew name is Bemidbar בטךבר meaning ˝in the wilderness˝ and it is in fact, the fifth word in the first verse (Num1,1). The final book  in this block is Deuteronomy, derived  from Greek deuteronomiom Deut17,18 meaning the second law or law repeated. It has two Hebrew names viz., Dibarimךברים the second word in Deut1,1 or Mishne-Torah hr’AT hnEv.mi (˝second law ˝ or copy of the Torah Cf 17,18).
Deuteronomy (or "second law" in Greek) is a later book composed entirely as a reflective speech of Moses which sums up the meaning of the exodus event and the desert journey, and reaffirms the importance of the covenant law as a guide for Israel's life in the promise land. It is Moses' "farewell speech" and supposedly takes place just as the people are ready to invade the promise land.
The present structure of these five books has a definite shape. At the center stands the giving of the law on Mount Sinai in all its detail. Leading up to that moment are succeeding periods of promise in Israel's history: the age of creation in Gn. 1-11, the times of the patriarchal ancestors in Gn. 12-50, and the events of deliverance from Egypt in Ex. 1-18. Leading away from the central scene on Mount Sinai which stretches across the Books of Exodus, Leviticus and Nm 1-10, Israel continues the march toward the promise land in Nm 11-34, while Deuteronomy gives final guidance for the conquest and instructions on how Israel is to act in the land. This can be diagramed as follows:
The whole Pentateuch looks forward to the possession of the promise land. Life in the land of Israel will form the basic background for the rest of the Old Testament story. These other books can be divided among three groupings. The history books from Joshua to Kings tell of the days of the judges and kings; the prophetic books speak of the divine challenges to Israel's faithfulness; the writings, including wisdom books, psalms and later histories, relate religion in everyday life to theological reflection. The Pentateuch lays out the directions for this life, and becomes a constitution of Israel's existence in the promise land- or outside of it, as the situation later develops.
The covenant combines God's free offer of a special relationship and the people's willing response in faith by agreeing to take on the obligations to worship and obey only this God, Yahweh. It forms a fundamental event that creates Israel as a people who are essentially united more by faith than by blood ties. It is a binding moment and sets the Pentateuch which records it apart from the rest of the Old Testament. For the Jews it is the most sacred part of the Bible; it is "the teaching" (Torah) par excellence, and the remainder of the canonical writings are really only an enrichment of its message or a commentary on living it out more fully in history.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE PENTATEUCH


GENESIS
1-11
HUMAN ORIGINS GENESIS
12-50
THE REMOTE PATRIARCHS EXODUS
1-18 GOD SAVES HIS PEOPLE EXODUS
19-24
LEVITICUS AND NUMBERS\
1-10 THE COVENANT AND LAW FOR GOD'S PEOPLE NUMBERS 11-36
JOURNEY TO THE LAND DEUTERONOMY 1-34 FINAL WARNINGS OF MOSES
Divine blessing, sin, punishment and mercy Divine election, promise of a son, land, and greatness God saves Israel and begins fulfillment of the promise of land The Covenant binds God and people forever and establishes Israel's way of life God leads the people to the land but punishes any rebellion Moses' final warnings to obey the Covenant or lose the land

II. ANALYSIS
The contents of the Pentateuch are partly of an historical, partly of a legal character. They give us the history of the Chosen People from the creation of the world to the death of Moses, and acquaint us too with the civil and religious legislation of the Israelites during the life of their great lawgiver. Genesis may be considered as the introduction to the other four books; it contains the early history down to the preparation of Israel's exit from Egypt. Deuteronomy, consisting mainly of discourses, is practically a summary repetition of the Mosaic legislation, and concludes also the history of the people under the leadership of Moses. The three intervening books consider the wanderings of Israel in the desert and the successive legal enactments. Each of these three great divisions has its own special introduction (Gen., 1, 1-2, 3; Ex., 1, 1-1, 7; Deut., 1, 1-5); and since the subject matter distinguishes Leviticus from Exodus and Numbers, not to mention the literary terminations of the third and fourth books (Lev., 27, 34; Num.,36, 13), the present form of the Pentateuch exhibits both a literary unity and a division into five minor parts.
A. GENESIS
The Book of Genesis prepares the reader for the Pentateuchal legislation; it tells us how God chose a particular family to keep His Revelation, and how He trained the Chosen People to fulfill its mission. From the nature of its contents the book consists of two rather unequal parts; cc. i-xi present the features of a general history, while cc. xii-1 contain the particular history of the Chosen People. By a literary device, each of these parts is subdivided into five sections differing in length. The sections are introduced by the phrase elleh tholedhoth (these are the generations) or its variant zeh sepher toledhoth (this is the book of the generations). "Generations", however, is only the etymological meaning of the Hebrew toledhoth; in its context the formula can hardly signify a mere genealogical table, for it is neither preceded nor followed by such tables. As early Oriental history usually begins with genealogical records, and consists to a large extend of such records, one naturally interprets the above introductory formula and its variant as meaning, "this is the history" or "this is the book of the history." History in these phrases is not to be understood as a narrative resting on folklore, but as a record based on genealogies. Moreover, the introductory formula often refers back to some principal feature of the preceding section, thus forming a transition and connection between the successive parts. Gen., 5, 1, e. g., refers back to Gen., 2,7; 6, 9 to5, 29 and 6, 8; 10, 1 to 9, 18, 19, etc. Finally, the sacred writer deals very briefly with the non-chosen families or tribes, and he always considers them before the chosen branch of the family. He treats of Cain before he speaks of Seth; similarly, Cham and Japhet precede Sem; the rest of Sem's posterity precedes Abraham; Ismael precedes Isaac; Esau precedes Jacob.
Bearing in mind these general outlines of the contents and the literary structure of Genesis, we shall easily understand the following analytical table.
• Introduction (Genesis 1:1-2:3) -- Consists of the Hexaemeron; it teaches the power and goodness of God as manifested in the creation of the world, and also the dependence of creatures on the dominion of the Creator.
• General History (2:4-11:26) -- Man did not acknowledge his dependence on God. Hence, leaving the disobedient to their own devices, God chose one special family or one individual as the depositary of His Revelation.
o History of Heaven and Earth (2:4-4:26) -- Here we have the story of the fall of our first parents, 2, 5-3, 24; of the fratricide of Cain, 4, 1-16; the posterity of Cain and its elimination, 4, 17-26.
o History of Adam (5:1-6:8) -- The writer enumerates the Sethites, another line of Adam's descendants, 5, 1-32, but shows that they too became so corrupt that only one among them found favour before God, 6, 1-8.
o History of Noah (6:9-9:29) -- Neither the Deluge which destroyed the whole human race excepting Noah's family, 6, 11-7, 19, nor God's covenant with Noah and his sons, 8, 20-ix, 17, brought about the amendment of the human family, and only one of Noah's sons was chosen as the bearer of the Divine blessings, 9, 18-29.
o History of the Sons of Noah (10:1-11:9) -- The posterity of the non-chosen sons, 10, 1-32, brought a new punishment on the human race by its pride, 11, 1-9.
o History of Shem (11:10-26) -- The posterity of Shem is enumerated down to Terah the father of Abraham, in whose seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
• Special History (11:27-50:26) -- Here the inspired writer describes the special Providence watching over Abraham and his offspring which developed in Egypt into a large nation. At the same time, he eliminates the sons of Abraham who were not children of God's promise. This teaches the Israelites that carnal descent from Abraham does not suffice to make them true sons of Abraham.
o History of Terah (11:27-25:11) -- This section tells of the call of Abraham, his transmigration into Canaan, his covenant with God, and His promises.
o History of Ismael (25:12-28) -- This section eliminates the tribes springing from Ismael.
o History of Isaac (25:19-35:29 -- Here we have the history of Isaac's sons, Esau and Jacob.
o History of Esau (36:1-37:1) -- The sacred writer gives a list of Esau's posterity; it does not belong to the number of the Chosen People.
o History of Jacob (37:2-50:26) -- This final portion of Genesis tells of the fate of Jacob's family down to the death of the Patriarch and of Joseph.
What has been said shows a uniform plan in the structure of Genesis, which some scholars prefer to call "schematism". (i) The whole book is divided into ten sections. (ii) Each section is introduced by the same formula. (iii) The sections are arranged according to a definite plan, the history of the lateral genealogical branches always preceding that of the corresponding part of the main line.
(iv) Within the sections, the introductory formula or the title is usually followed by a brief repetition of some prominent feature of the preceding section. (v) The history of each Patriarch tells of the development of his family during his lifetime, while the account of his life varies between a bare notice consisting of a few words or lines, and a more lengthy description. (vi)When the life of the Patriarch is given more in detail, the account usually ends in an almost uniform way, indicating the length of his life and his burial with his ancestors (cf.9, 29; 11, 32; 25, 7; 35, 28; 47, 28). Such a definite plan of the book shows that it was written with a definite end in view and according to preconceived arrangement. The critics attribute this to the final "redactor" of the Pentateuch who adopted, according to their views, the genealogical framework and the "schematism" from the Priestly Code.
B. EXODUS
After the death of Joseph, Israel had grown into a people, and its history deals no longer with mere genealogies, but with the people's national and religious development. The various laws are given and promulgated as occasion required them; hence they are intimately connected with the history of the people, and the Pentateuchal books in which they are recorded are rightly numbered among the historical books of Scripture. Only the third book of the Pentateuch exhibits rather the features of a legal code. The Book of Exodus consists of a brief introduction and three main parts:
• Introduction, 1, 1-7.- A brief summary of the history of Jacob connects Genesis with Exodus, and serves at the same time as transition from the former to the latter.
• (1) First Part,1i, 8-13, 16.- It treats of the events preceding and preparing the exit of Israel from Egypt.
o (a) Ex., 1, 8-2, 25; the Israelites are oppressed by the new Pharao "that knew not Joseph", but God prepares them a liberator in Moses.
o (b) Ex., 3, 1-4, 31.-Moses is called to free his people; his brother Aaron is given him as companion; their reception by the Israelites.
o (c) 5, 1-10, 29.-Pharao refuses to listen to Moses and Aaron; God renews his promises; genealogies of Moses and Aaron; the heart of Pharao is not moved by the first nine plagues.
o (d) 11, 1-13, 16.-The tenth plaque consists in the death of the first-born; Pharao dismisses the people; law of the annual celebration of the pasch in memory of the liberation from Egypt.
• (2) Second Part, 13, 17-17, 27.- Journey of Israel to Mt. Sinai and miracles preparing the people for the Sinaitic Law.
o (a) 13, 1-15, 21.-The Israelites, led and protected by a pillar of cloud and fire, cross the Red Sea, but the persecuting Egyptians perish in the waters.
o (b)15, 22-17, 16.-The route of Israel is passing through Sur, Mara, Elim, Sin, Rephidim. At Mara the bitter waters are made sweet; in the Desert of Sin God sent quails and manna to the children of Israel; at Raphidim God gave them water form the rock, and defeated Amalec through the prayers of Moses.
o (c) 18, 1-27.-Jethro visits his kinsmen, and at his suggestion Moses institutes the judges of the people.
• (3) Third Part, 19, 1-40, 38.- Conclusion of the Sinaitic covenant and its renewal. Here Exodus assumes more the character of a legal code.
o (a) 19, 1-20, 21.-The people journey to Sinai, prepare for the coming legislation, receive the Decalogue, and ask to have the future laws promulgated through Moses.
o (b) 20, 22-24, 8.-Moses promulgates certain laws together with promises for their observance, and confirms the covenant between God and the people with a sacrifice. The portion20, 1-23, 33, is also called the Book of the Covenant.
o (c) 24, 9-31, 18.-Moses alone remains with God on the mountain for forty days, and receives various instructions about the tabernacle and other points pertaining to Divine worship.
o (d) 32, 1-34, 35.-The people adore the golden calf; at this sight, Moses breaks the divinely given tables of the law, punishes the idolaters, obtains pardon from God for the survivors, and, renewing the covenant, receives other tables of the law.
o (e) 35, 1-40, 38.-The tabernacle with its appurtenances is prepared, the priests are anointed, and the cloud of the Lord covers the tabernacle, thus showing that He had made the people His own.
C. LEVITICUS
Leviticus, called by Rabbinic writers "Law of the Priests" or "Law of the Sacrifices", contains nearly a complete collection of laws concerning the Levitical ministry. They are not codified in any logical order, but still we may discern certain groups of regulations touching the same subject. The Book of Exodus shows what God had done and was doing for His people; the Book of Leviticus prescribes what the people must do for God, and how they must render themselves worthy of His constant presence.
• (1) First Part,1, 1-10, 20.-Duties of Israel toward God living in their midst.
o (a)1, 1-6, 7.-The different kinds of sacrifices are enumerated, and their rites are described.
o (b) 6, 8-7, 36.-The duties and rights of the priests, the official offerers of the sacrifices, are stated.
o (c) 8, 1-10, 20.-The first priests are consecrated and introduced into their office.
• (2) Second Part, 11, 1-27, 34.-Legal cleanness demanded by the Divine presence.
o (a) 11, 1-20, 27.-The entire people must be legally clean; the various ways in which cleanness must be kept; interior cleanness must be added to external cleanness.
o (b) 21, 1-22, 33.-Priests must excel in both internal and external cleanness; hence they have to keep special regulations.
o (c) 23, 1-26, 34.-The other laws, and the promises and threats made for the observance or the violation of the laws, belong to both priests and people.
D. NUMBERS
Numbers, at times called "In the Desert" by certain Rabbinic writers because it covers practically the whole time of Israel's wanderings in the desert. Their story was begun in Exodus, but interrupted by the Sinaitic legislation; Numbers takes up the account from the first month of the second year, and brings it down to the eleventh month of the fortieth year. But the period of 38 years is briefly treated, only its beginning and end being touched upon; for this span of time was occupied by the generation of Israelites that had been condemned by God.
• (1) First Part, 1, 1-24, 45.-Summary of the happenings before the rejection of the rebellious generation, especially during the first two months of the second year. The writer inverts the chronological order of these two months or order not to interrupt the account of the people's wanderings by a description of the census, of the arrangement of the tribes, of the duties of the various families of the Levites, all of which occurrences or ordinances belong to the second month. Thus he first states what remained unchanged throughout the desert life of the people, and then reverts to the account of the wanderings from the first month of the second year.
o (a) 1, 1-6, 27.-The census is taken, the tribes are arranged in their proper order, the duties of the Levites are defined, the regulations concerning cleanness is the camp are promulgated.
o (b) 7, 1-9, 14.-Occurrences belonging to the first month: offerings of the princes at the dedication of the tabernacle, consecration of the Levites and duration of their ministry, celebration of the second pasch.
o (c) 9, 15-14, 45.-Signals for breaking up the camp; the people leave Sinai on the twenty-second day of the second month, and journey towards Cadesh in the desert Pharan; they murmur against Moses on account of fatigue, want of flesh-meat, etc.; deceived by faithless spies, they refuse to enter into the Promised Land, and the whole living generation is rejected by God.
• (2) Second Part, 15, 1-19, 22.-Events pertaining to the rejected generation.
o (a) 15, 1-41.-Certain laws concerning sacrifices; Sabbath-breaking is punished with death; the law of fringes on the garments.
o (b) 16i, 1-17, 13.-The schism of Core and his adherents; their punishment; the priesthood is confirmed to Aaron by the blooming rod which is kept for a remembrance in the tabernacle.
o (c) 18, 1-19, 22.-The charges of the priests and Levites, and their portion; the law of the sacrifice of the red cow, and the water of expiation.
• (3) Third Part,20, 1-36, 13.-History of the journey from the first to the eleventh month of the fortieth year.
o (a)20, 1-21, 20.-Death of Mary, sister of Moses; God again gives the murmuring people water from the rock, but refuses Moses and Aaron entrance to the Promised Land on account of their doubt; Aaron dies while the people go around the Idumean mountains; the malcontents are punished with fiery serpents.
o (b)21, 21-25, 18.-The land of the Amorrhites is seized; the Moabites vainly attempt to destroy Israel by the curse of Balaam; the Madianites lead the people into idolatry.
o (c) 26, 1-26, 23.-A new census is taken with a view of dividing the land; the law of inheritance; Josue is appointed to succeed Moses.
o (d)27, 1-30, 17.-Certain laws concerning sacrifices, vows, and feasts are repeated and completed.
o (e)31, 1-32, 40.-After the defeat of the Madianites, the country across Jordan is given to the tribes of Ruben and Gad, and to half of the tribe of Manasses.
o (f) 33, 1-40.-List of encampments of people of Israel during their wandering in the desert.
o (g) 33, 50-36, 13.-Command to destroy the Chanaanites; limits of the Promised Land and names of the men who are to divide it; Levitical cities, and cities of refuge; law concerning murder and manslaughter; ordinance concerning the marriage of heiresses.
E. DEUTERONOMY
Deuteronomy is a partial repetition and explanation of the foregoing legislation together with an urgent exhortation to be faithful to it. The main body of the book consists of three discourses delivered by Moses to the people in the eleventh month of the fortieth year; but the discourses are preceded by a short introduction, and they are followed by several appendices.
• Introduction, 1, 1-5.-Brief indication of the subject matter, the time, and the place of the following discourses.
• (1) First Discourse, 1, 6-4, 40.-God's benefits are enumerated, and the people are exhorted to keep the law.
o (a) 1, 6-3, 29.-The main occurrences during the time of the wandering in the desert are recalled as showing the goodness and justice of God.
o (b) 4, 1-40.-Hence the covenant with God must be kept. By way of parenthesis, the sacred writer adds here (i) the appointment of three cities of refuge across the Jordan,4, 41-43; (ii) an historical preamble, preparing us for the second discourse,4, 44-49.
• (2) Second Discourse, 5, 1-26, 19.-This forms almost the bulk of Deuteronomy. It rehearses the whole economy of the covenant in two sections, the one general, the other particular.
o (a) The General Repetition, 5, 1-11, 32.-Repetition of the decalogue, and reasons for the promulgation of the law through Moses; explanation of the first commandment, and prohibitions of all intercourse with the gentiles; reminder of the Divine favours and punishments; promise of victory over the Chanaanites; God's blessing on the observance of the Law, His curse on the transgressors.
o (b) Special Laws, 12, 1-26, 19.-(i) Duties towards God: He is to be duly worshiped, never to be abandoned; distinction of clean and unclean meats; tithes and first-fruits; the three principal solemnities of the year. (ii) Duties towards God's representatives: toward the judges, the future kings, the priests, and Prophets. (iii) Duties towards the neighbour: as to life, external possessions, marriage, and various other particulars.
• (3) Third Discourse, 27, 1-30, 20.-A renewed exhortation to keep the law, based on diverse reasons.
o (a) 27, 1-26.-Command to inscribe the law on stones after crossing the Jordan, and to promulgate the blessings and curses connected with the observance or non-observance of the law.
o (b) 28, 1-68.-A more minute statement of the good or evil depending on the observance or violation of the law.
o (c) 29, 1-30, 20.-The goodness of God is extolled; all are urged to be faithful to God.
• (4) Historical Appendix, 31, 1-34, 12.
o (a) 31, 1-27.-Moses appoints Joshua as his successor, orders him to read the law to the people every seven years, and to place a copy of the same in the ark.
o (b) 31, 28-32, 47.-Moses calls an assembly of the Ancients and recites his canticle.
o (c) 32, 48-52.-Moses views the Promised Land from a distance.
o (d) 33, 1-29.-He blesses the tribes of Israel.
o (e) 34, 1-12.-His death, burial, and special eulogium.

Moses as Author
At least from the post-exilic period (after 539 B.C.), Moses has been explicitly identified as the author of the Pentateuch. Several passages of Scripture point in this direction. Thus we read in Ezr 3:2 that Ezra read aloud from the "law of Moses, the man of God." The books of the Pentateuch frequently mention that Moses gave laws and instructions to the people, and the whole Book of Deuteronomy begins with the claim that it is the "words of Moses spoken beyond the Jordan" (Dt 1:1). By the fifth century B.C., the author of 2 Chronicles quotes a passage from Dt 24:16 as coming from the "book of Moses" (2Ch 25:4). By the time of Christ, not only Jesus, but other well-known Jewish authors such as Josephus the historian and Philo the Jewish philosopher of Alexandria, Egypt, took for granted that Moses authored the five books of the Pentateuch.
The late Old Testament Books of Ezra and Nehemiah suggest that Ezra the priest reformed the lax practice of the faith among the Jews in post-exilic Palestine by demanding a commitment on their part to the book of the law. It appears very probable that this is nothing other than the Pentateuch as we know it. Whether Ezra was the final editor who combined the five books together or not, tradition definitely associates him with its establishment as a binding rule of life. There is therefore good reason to maintain that the Pentateuch did indeed exist in Ezra's lifetime between 460 and 400 B.C., and that he had an important role in its acceptance.
Even in ancient times there were those who doubted that Moses could have written the whole Pentateuch. Such passages as Dt 34:5-12, which records Moses' death, were often cited to show Moses certainly did not write all of it. It was commonly believed that his faithful follower Joshua had added that section. But with the exception of a few writers like St. Jerome, who was of the opinion that Ezra had written the Pentateuch from notes handed down from Moses himself, Christians and Jews never seriously doubted Mosaic authorship up until the time of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century.

The Source Critics and the Pentateuch
The first scientific questions about the origins of the material in the Pentateuch came with observations by Richard Simon and Baruch Spinoza in the seventeenth century that these books were full of repetitions and contradictions and seemed to lack the style of a single author. In the next century, Jean Astruc was able to identify a very concrete case, when he pointed out that the creation story in
Gn. 1 used the Hebrew word "elohim" for God's name, while a second creation story in Gn. 2 and 3 regularly used "Yahweh elohim." Moreover the style of the first was dry and list-like, while the second was anthropomorphic and earthy. He proposed that Moses had combined two sources to produce these early chapters of Genesis. Thus source criticism was born. For the next two centuries it focused most of its attention on the problems of the Pentateuch, and it took two centuries to reach a consensus that there were four major written sources behind our present Pentateuch.
At first, scholars thought there were only two earlier documents, one called the Yahwist source, and the other the Elohist, based on the way each referred to God's name. But it soon became clear that the passages in Genesis and Exodus which used elohim represented two separate writers. One had a very priestly cast to it, with interest in genealogy lists, rituals, laws, and other liturgical matters. This became known as the Priestly source, and included the hymn-like creation account in Gn.1. The other contained many old stories of Jacob and Moses and was concerned with historical traditions. This was allowed to keep the name Elohist for itself. Now there were three sources, and it didn't take long to identify a fourth. The unique style of the Book of Deuteronomy set it apart from the other three. Where the latter were filled with brief scenes and incidents, Deuteronomy loved long speeches and sermons. These four sources are often simply called by their first letters, /, E, P, D. The "/" instead of a " Y" comes from the German word Jahve, for it was German scholars who first proposed the abbreviations.
Many other characteristic elements and ways of thinking identify each of these sources. By examining the numerous cases of repeated stories and duplicated passages, they can be easily separated from one another. A few of the most important examples are (1) the three different accounts of the patriarch who lies about his wife as his sister in Gn 1, Gn. 20 and Gn. 26; (2) the two creation stories in Gn 1 and Gn 2-3; (3) the two accounts of how Abraham sends out Hagar with her son Ishmael to the desert in Gn 16 and 21; (4) the two calls of Moses to lead his people out of Egypt in Ex 3 and 6.
But even within a single story, critics have been able to detect more than one source blended together by the change in particular words. Two clear cases of this type are the story of the flood (Gn 6-9) and of Joseph being sold into Egypt (Gn 37-48). In the flood story, Noah is told to take seven pairs of all clean animals and one pair of all unclean animals in Gn 7:2, but in Gn 7:9 and Gn 7:15 it looks
as though God told him to take just one pair of each animal species. In the Joseph story of Gn 3, his ten brothers plot to kill Joseph, but Reuben pleads for the boy and they put him into a pit and later Midianites find him and sell him. Side by side with this account, we find a second in which Judah is the one who pleads for Joseph and so the brothers sell him to Ishmaelites instead. At other times we find two different words appearing again and again throughout the Pentateuch for the same object. Thus the mountain on which God gives the covenant is sometimes called Sinai, and sometimes Horeb. Or the people who live in Palestine are called sometimes Canaanites and sometimes Amorites.
All of these examples can be explained by themselves with some skill so that no real problem seems to exist, but when they are all examined and sorted out into columns the effect is much stronger. Four basic narratives appear, each with a certain style of its own that tells the story of Israel from a unique perspective.

Wellhausen's History of the Four Sources
It was Julius Wellhausen who worked out this schema in its complete form and published it in his Prolegomena to the History of Israel 1878). He gave this "Documentary Theory" added strength and made it convincing to most Protestant scholars by drawing up a history of how each source came to be. Now the biblical student not only could discover four different authors and their literary styles but could picture clearly the time and place from which each source came. A brief sketch based on Wellhausen's work will show the proposed development in which the early and mostly oral traditions of Israel were gradually written down, preserved in four written documents, and then combined to make one Pentateuch.
When David and Solomon united Israel as a kingdom, a new era of trained scribes and writers was made possible. Sometime during Solomon's reign, or soon after, in Jerusalem, an unknown author put together the Yahwist account from the viewpoint of the southern tribe of Judah, and to glorify the monarchy created by David and Solomon.
When Solomon died and the nation split into a northern kingdom, which called itself just plain Israel, and a southern kingdom, called Judah, the northerners needed a revised version of the traditions which would not glorify Jerusalem and the kings of Judah so much. They produced a second and revised account of the old traditions which used Elohim for God and place names that were more familiar to their part of the country. They also stressed the role of the covenant of Moses over the role of the king, and avoided much of the Yahwist's intimate language about God walking and talking with humans. They favored instead a more "spiritualized" and awesome sense of God's dealings with Israel. These two accounts existed side by side as long as the two kingdoms lasted. When the north fell to the Assyrian army in 722 B.C., the northerners who fled south carried their written Elohist source with them. The J and E documents were then combined as one during the following century for the people who lived now only in Judah.
At the same time, there arose a group of priests, levites and prophets who attempted to reform many bad practices of the faith in Judah. Out of their efforts came the Book of Deuteronomy (D source). This arose partly in reaction to "primitive" ideas in J's and E's theology of promise and blessing for the promise land. The Deuteronomist reformers collected covenant legal traditions and added to them sermons stressing obedience and faithfulness to the covenant if the people were to receive blessings in the promise land. Although put together out of the best of both northern and southern traditions during a long period from Hezekiah 715-688) through Josiah 640 B.C.), it was only "discovered" hidden away in the temple when Josiah began his reforms of 622. The king and people alike recognized its authority and genuine Mosaic flavor, and D was joined with J and E as part of the nation's sacred traditions.
Finally when the whole country went into exile under the Babylonians in 597 to 586, a school of priests seems to have gathered many of the cultic and legal traditions together. This included the lists of ancestors preserved in the temple, the isolated stories and traditions not found in the earlier works, and most of the great law collections in Leviticus and Numbers. This Priestly work (called P) thus formed a fourth source which made the earlier historical accounts more complete and at the same time set forth a whole way of life under the law that would allow Israel's covenant with God to be lived and to last even when there was no land or temple or king. According to Wellhausen, these four sources were finally edited by the Priestly school into the Pentateuch after the exile ended in 539 B.C. This then is the classical four-source theory followed by the majority of scholars in our own century. The accompanying chart shows its lines of development.
The underlying view behind this picture belongs really to the nineteenth century with its romantic view of how cultures develop from primitive levels to more advanced ones. Thus the Yahwist represents such a primitive anthropomorphic view of God, still filled with magical appearances and mythical details. The Elohist shows a deeper awareness of God's distance, while the Deuterono-mist reflects the later and more sensitive concern of the prophets to the ethical demands and oneness of God over the whole world. Finally, the Priestly source brings together the complex institutional, cultic, and legal aspects of Israelite faith that would support a life of fidelity to the covenant through exile and times of loss.
We can summarize these four strands or sources in a chart that lists their major characteristics:

Yahwist (J) Elohist (E) Priestly (P) Deuteronomist (D)
God is Yahweh
God walks and talks with us stress on blessing earthy speech about God stresses the leaders narrative and stories stress on Judah uses term "Sinai"
calls natives "Canaanites" God is Elohim
God speaks in dreams, etc.  stress on fear of the Lord
refined speech about God  stresses the prophetic narrative and warnings  stress on northern Israel uses "Horeb" calls natives "Amorites" God is Elohim
cultic approach to God  stress on law obeyed
majestic speech about God
stresses the cultic dry lists and schemata
stress on Judah
uses genealogy lists God is Yahweh
moralistic approach
stress on Mosaic obedience speech recalling God's work
stresses fidelity to Jerusalem  long homiletic speeches stress on whole land of Israel
loves military imagery has many fixed phrases


The Yahwist Epic
The Yahwist forms the heart of the Pentateuchal structure, for all the various traditions are built around the basic "plot" first found in J. It consists of seven steps:
1. Stories of human origins
2. The promise of the patriarchs
3. The oppression in Egypt
4. The exodus from Egypt
5. The wandering in the wilderness
6. The covenant at Mount Sinai
7. On the edge of the promised land
This material covers only the Books of Genesis through Numbers. Deuteronomy as a separate source has no J material. The seven steps also show that the J author wrote a continuous story, and was not just a collector of individual events. Since form criticism has pointed out the many different settings and types of traditional units that existed in ancient Israel, we can be certain that J did not write from whole cloth. He brought together old poems, stories, and songs of the exodus that were alive in the cult, particularly favoring those from Judah. It is most likely that the Israelite tribes in Palestine had already worked out a general order of the main traditions according to an historical plan. The sequence of exodus, desert period, conquest, and period of the judges must have been known and celebrated very early. On the other hand, the order of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may have differed in various areas of the country. Local tradition favored Abraham rather than Jacob, for example, at Hebron, where Abraham had lived. The stories of Gn 1-11 on the world's beginnings had never been part of the older tradition but had come from liturgical or catechetical schools, and were unique in style and message from the historical remembrances. Part of the genius of J was his ability to put together a complete story of God's actions, not just back to the exodus, but all the way to the beginning of the world.
However J did not just write down facts and legends as he had received them. He was an artist as well as a theologian and used many devices to create his own style. He loved to put words and speeches into the mouths of famous people. Often they foreshadow what was later to happen. An excellent example occurs in Gn 15:13-15 where God lays out for Abraham Israel's coming history right up to the time of King David as a preview of the fulfillment of the divine promise to the patriarch. The speech helps the listener know what God's plan is and how carefully God works everything out to fulfill his promises. The Yahwist especially enjoys putting the long speeches into God's own mouth. Yahweh dialogues with Adam in the Garden of Eden about the first sin; he carries on a monologue with himself over whether he should bring on a flood in Gn 6; he discusses with Abraham the sin and destruction of Sodom in Gn 18; he plays with Moses' request to see the divine face in Ex 33.
The Yahwist also likes to point out important themes from folk tradition. The motif of conflict between brothers is central to the stories of Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his eleven brothers. The triumph of the younger brother over the older brother forms an important element in each of these stories also. Still another theme centers on the wife who cannot bear children. Abraham's wife Sarah,  Isaac's wife Rebecca, Jacob's wife Rachel- all are barren until God gives a special blessing to them.
The Yahwist epic also has a fine sense of story-telling. It becomes even more remarkable when compared to the other writings of the ancient world. Most of the Babylonian or Assyrian or Hittite works we know seem stilted and very formal, with very little dramatic sense of history. For a book written in the tenth century before Christ, the J epic has the quality of a modern historical novel.
J has to be traced to the great outburst of energy and talent that flowered in the new empire created by David and Solomon. Several other parts of the Bible come from this same period and share many of the artistic merits of the Yahwist. There is, for example, the wonderful story of the conflicts among David's sons for the right of succession to the throne that we find in 2Sm 9-20 and 1Kg 1-2. It is a masterpiece of psychological insight into David the mighty ruler who was too soft on his own sons. A very similar talent for portraying the weakness and strengths of Saul can be found in the story of David's own rise to power in 1Sm 16-31. These both have been written in the style seen in J: vibrant, action-centered, full of psychological insight into the chief persons, and dramatically oriented toward the coming of some great hero to power. In the throne succession narrative, that hero is Solomon; in the conflict with Saul, it is David.
These connections to David and Solomon have led scholars to place the J epic in the heady days of David's new empire. Certainly its spirit of optimism that Israel would be a great nation and blessed by Yahweh (Gn 12), and the hints of nationalistic pride in Judah, the tribe from whom a king will arise (Gn 49), and the promise of power over the neighboring countries of Edom and Moab (Gn 27:39-40) all fit best the empire created by David and Solomon, and seem far removed from the struggling and weak state of the two kingdoms that existed after Solomon died. The real meaning of themes such as the triumph of the younger brother over the older would not be missed by an audience who knew that David was the last of eight brothers, or that Solomon was the last of even more. The climax of the Yahwist story comes in the final great vision of the prophet Balaam in Nm 24 where the seer is paid to curse Israel but instead sees the glorious future:
I see him but not now;
I behold him but not near:
A star will come forth from Jacob
And a scepter from Israel will rise.
It will crush the forehead of Moab
And shatter the sons of Shet.
Edom will be dispossessed
And no survivor left in Seir,
But Israel will act valiantly
And Jacob will rule over his foes (Nm 24:17-19).
Many biblical source critics think that the J epic ends right at this point. God has taken care of his chosen patriarchs and tribes, he has led them from danger and slavery in Egypt, he has promised them a land of blessing to come, and now the vision is before them. The Yahwist knows that everybody who hears this story in Solomon's time will immediately say: "Yes, God has truly fulfilled his promise in our own time, for we have become a great nation and blessed in power over our enemies."
Naturally, the coming of the empire had its strains and less honorable moments, as when David took Bathsheba and killed her husband (2Sm 11), or when Solomon killed his own brother after taking the throne (1 Kg 2). But the Yahwist understood those events as the dark side of Israel's response to God's gift of land. He expressed the reality of good and evil side by side pointing to the traditions of the patriarchs themselves, and even further back to age-old beliefs about creation itself. Abraham was portrayed as a faithful believer in Yahweh's promise despite the frequent blocks he placed in its way- blocks that included his willingness to hand over his wife to foreign kings (Gn 12:20) or his free-wheeling offer to let Lot take the promise land (Gn 13). Jacob kept the divine blessing even though he was often dishonest and shifty in his dealings with both Esau and Laban (Gn 27:29-31).
The theme of Adam's sin followed by punishment and a new start, or Cain's sin, punishment and new start, or all of humanity's evil, punishment by flood and new start under Noah, highlighted for the Yahwist an abiding conviction that human freedom to do evil will always play a part even in the midst of God's most generous bountiful blessings to Israel, and to the world as a whole. He pushes his "history" back to the beginnings to illustrate the divine planning and lordship over all of creation. Israel only plays one role, although a special role, in the much greater plan of God for all human beings. And God can use Israel, or any other nation, and David, or any other king, with their sins and weaknesses as well as their strengths, to accomplish his will.
The Yahwist created more than a story of Israel's past; he created a theology and a purpose that explained the religious faith and special spirit of the nation. It became the foundation for Israel's future meditation upon Yahweh's love.

The Elohist Source
The second major source of the Pentateuchal tradition is the Elohist reworking of the basic Yahwist account. Generally it is believed that this was done in the northern kingdom after it became established as an independent state at Solomon's death. It does not include as much material as does the J story and what it does cover tends to favor northern ideas. For example it pays much less attention to Abraham than to Jacob, a patriarch who lived in the area of Shechem, Bethel and other northern cities. It puts much less stress on the role of Moses and the elders in the giving of the covenant than does J, and accepts a much larger role for all the people giving their assent to the covenant. This reflects the difference between the J concern for proper leadership and E's suspicion of authorities which claim too much power. Also in line with northern respect for the role of prophets such as Elijah in speaking on national policy, E refers somewhat oddly to Abraham as a prophet (Gn 20:7). E takes a strong stand against foreign gods because of the ever-present threat of the religion of Baal in the north (see Gn 35:2). E never speaks of God walking and talking with humans in the garden or on the road as does J. God keeps his divine distance and majesty and communicates through messengers or dreams (Gn 20:3). E shows its opposition to the dynastic claims of David's house by recalling God's warning to Moses not to start a dynasty (Ex 18). It reflects problems with the shrines to Yahweh at Dan and Bethel where the first King Jeroboam had put up golden calves when it points out the problems with a golden calf in the time of Moses and Aaron (Ex 32).
Perhaps the major religious insight of the Elohist source is the importance of the "fear of God" among the people. It is the theme of submission to the divine power and willingness to accept God's will even in a time of testing and hardship. When asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, Abraham obeys out of fear of God (Gn 22:12); Joseph spares his brothers from death when they are at his mercy because he fears God (Gn 42:24); Israel prospers in the midst of Pharaoh's persecution because the midwives fear God (Ex 1:15-17); Moses fears God (Ex 3:6), and the elders fear God (Ex 18:21); finally all the people fear God and accept his covenant at Sinai (Ex 20:18-20). The difference between J and E in this respect can be seen most clearly by contrasting the two stories of how Abraham passed Sarah off as his sister to a powerful king in order to save his own life. The J version in Gn 12:10-20 does not condemn Abraham's foolish conduct but tells how God punished only Pharaoh. This reflects J's interest in Abraham as the perfect model of a leader very much like King David. E, on the other hand gives a version in Gn 20:1-17 in which both Abraham and the king realize that Abraham has done a great wrong by lying, but explains Abraham's mistake by excusing his lack of trust with the words: "I said to myself, 'Surely there is no fear of God in this place and so they will kill me because of my wife" (Gn 20:11).
These examples reveal a spirit in the E document that is much more concerned about ethical and moral questions than is J. This falls in line with the great prophetic campaigns in the north by Elijah and other zealots for Yahweh who had to fight tooth and nail against the sexual license and lax standards of pagan fertility cults. Where J reflected many of the ideals of David's kingdom and the hopes of Judah for a lasting and intimate relationship of Yahweh to his temple in Jerusalem, E favors the ideals of the covenant in the desert, where the tribes endured difficulties and temptations until they finally won through to their new home in Palestine.
E is not as large as J, and it was written to supplement or correct certain royalist leanings in J, so naturally it seems a bit thin to modern readers. Perhaps it was never an independent book in its own right at all, but only a series of additions to the basic J story. And even where it may be present in our books, sometimes there is no way of telling J from E since they would both cover the same material. An example of this is Gn 1, the great covenant with Abraham. Almost all scholars simply throw up their hands at deciding this passage and call it a combined JE. The same is true of the sacrifice of Isaac in Gn 22. Often the easiest way to tell them apart is from the use of the names for God, Elohim or Yahweh. But this only works up to Ex 3, where God tells his name to Moses for the first time. After that moment, E and P both call God Yahweh just as J has done all along.
But if we cannot always tell E from J in one passage, we can see over the whole story in Genesis to Numbers that there are clearly two views mixed which correspond to the differences between Judah and the northern ten tribes in the period from David 1000 B.C.) to the fall of Samaria and the North 722 B.C.). It is from this period that both J and E come.

The Priestly Source
The P source was the last great narrative source to be put together. It clearly intended to supplement what J and E said about the historical traditions of Israel with special materials on worship, observance of the covenant in day to day life, and social structures of Israelite community. J and E traced the promise of God up to the covenant on Sinai and the taking of the land of Canaan as a gift. This was adequate to Israel while it had full possession of the land and a king or kings to protect their religious practice from pagan threats. But P shows many signs that it was written in the time of the exile when the land and the king had both been taken away. One piece of evidence is found in the comparison of the prophet Ezekiel's message during the exile with the thought of P in Lv17-26. They show such similarities that it seems certain that P knew Ezekiel's writings. To help people maintain their faith in Yahweh even when everything seemed to have been lost, P set out all the aspects of Israel's faith that were still valid. It includes in its story the reasons for keeping the Sabbath (Gn 1), the origins of circumcision (Gn 17), the divine command to obey all the cultic and religious laws (Lv 1-27, Nm 1-10, 25-36), and the important role of the high priest next to Moses himself (Ex 4:28-; Nm 1, etc.). The center of the tradition for the P source was not the promise of land but the time in the desert at Sinai where the law was given and the tent and ark were built for Yahweh. P's treatment of these themes takes up more space than the entire J and E narratives put together.
Everything that P treats offers the possibility of practicing one's faith despite conditions of hardship or even loss of the land. This is explained in greater detail in Chapter 19 as part of the new outlook on faith that took place in the exile. But at the same time, P was very concerned to give Israel a sense of trust in Yahweh's goodness and fidelity so that they would not lose faith in their God. To this end, P structured many details of the old tradition into new patterns that put the emphasis on continuity. Some of these can be listed:
(1) The use of genealogies. There is nothing like tracing one's roots back many generations to give a sense of stability and strength to a family. Thus P inserted genealogies between many of the key scenes in the JE narrative. Thus he showed the continuing care of God over his human creatures by adding Gn 5 and 11 to link Adam to Noah and Noah to Abraham. He adds further lists of Ishmael's family (Gn 25), Esau's family (Gn 36) and Jacob's family (Gn 46).
(2) Place names. Just as genealogies traced human history up to Abraham and then away from him, so P lists the place names of all the camping sites where Israel stayed while in the exodus and desert years. Six lead up to Mount Sinai and six take them from Mount Sinai to the promised land (Ex 12:37; Ex 13:20; Ex 14:1; Ex 15:22; Ex 16:1; Ex 17:1; Ex 19:2; Nm 10:12; Nm 20:1; Nm 20:22; Nm 21:10; Nm 22:1).
(3) Establishing laws for future generations. The decrees on Sabbath observance in Gn 2:3, on not eating bloody meat in Gn 9:4, on circumcision in Gn 17:9-11, and the regulations of Sinai in Lv 1 through Nm 10 are aimed not at those who lived in the past but at those who will come much later. Thus the Israelite will read the ancient traditions as really speaking to the present day.
(4) Emphasis on the divine presence in Israel's midst. P gives a great deal of attention to the building of the tent and the ark which represent a promise of the temple to come (cf. the descriptions in Ex 25-40 with the plan of the temple of Solomon in 1 Kg 6-7). The regulations of Moses also describe in detail the role of sacrifices and feasts, and appoint priests, Levites and other cultic personnel. Above all God makes himself known to his people in his "glory" which fills the tent and goes with the people through the desert (Ex 40). These are all elements that any Israelite would and did experience in the temple at Jerusalem. What had been true in the days of Moses was still true in the centuries after: God was close to his people when they worshiped and listened to his voice.
(5) God's word is primary. Whenever there is an important moment in Israel's history, the divine word creates it: Gn 1 and the creation of the world; Gn 6:13-21 and God's command about the flood; Gn 17 and the covenant to Abraham; Ex 6 and the promise of exodus and land; Ex 25 and the instruction for a permanent resting place for Yahweh. Events may go one way or another, but the word of God is proclaimed and heard in every age.
(6) The importance of blessing. Where J and E so often brought in the failures of people as part of God's plan, P overlooks these in favor of God's enduring promise of blessing upon the world. The P story of creation in Genesis 1,  records how God blessed the first humans, and Gn 9 repeats that blessing after the flood. God creates and recreates, and each time he is prepared to bless humanity anew. This was an important message for an Israel suffering exile. It gave the people grounds for continued hope.
When all of these are considered together, it is easy to see that P moves the story of salvation along as a single historical lesson for future generations. One stage always leads to the next, and at each stage God acts in a deeper or fuller way without losing what was earlier. P has actually woven the themes of blessing, promise, covenant, the revelation of the divine name, and human response to God around the stories of the major patriarchal figures before Moses. The pattern falls into four stages, each with its special characteristics:





Patriach Blessing Signs of Promise Name of God Obligation on us
Adam


Noah



Abraham



Moses fertility, dominion

renewed fertility, dominion

promise of land


Sinai covenant ("I will be your God; you shall be my people" Sabbath rest


Rainbow



buys cave at Machpelah (Gn 23)

the glory of Yahweh Elohim


Elohim



Shaddai



Yahweh eat only plants rest for land

sacrifice,
no blood in meat

circumcision



obedience to the law


DEUTERONOMIC SOURCE (D):
Material from the (D) source is generally restricted to the Book of Deuteronomy itself. It is more hortatory (exhorting) in character, apparently related to the fact that it was composed during a time of religious crisis. The (D) source called for a return to the (J) covenant and pure worship in the Temple in Jerusalem, with a sense of immediacy and urgency.
In (D), the covenant is seen as God's loving election of Israel, and the law is Israel's loyal response.
The (D) source dates from after the Babylonian exile, the time of Zerubbabel, and the rebuilding of the second Temple c. 510 BC. There is a tradition that Josiah found a copy of it in the Temple in 621 BC. However, its long prehistory and the nucleus of its laws suggest an origin in the northern kingdom.
It probably coalesced in written form c. 700-650 BC and was conflated with the JE source sometime after the reign of Josiah (640-609 BC) into a sort of "JED" source.
Form Critics and the Pentateuch
By 1900, many biblical scholars were convinced that Wellhau-sen had basically solved all the major problems involved in the growth of the first five books of the Bible. But suddenly the area of major interest shifted to form criticism and its interest in the typical ways of primitive folk culture, especially the factors involved in oral transmission of stories and information.
The form critics, such as Hermann Gunkel, reacted against many of the conclusions of the so-called documentary thesis, pointing out that the source critics often overlooked the oral poetry and the primitive forms still present in the Pentateuch. They asked some hard questions of the four-source theory. They objected to the idea that editors would paste together a brilliant new work by cutting up four older ones. They asked why they did not manage to eliminate so many contradictions and repetitions- poor editors they seemed to be! Many denied that the Elohist source was ever a written source at all, it simply did not have enough substance. They suggested instead that the Elohist represented a reworking of the Yahwist using oral traditions known only to the Northern kingdom. In the same way they challenged the belief that P was a complete narrative story. It, too, seemed to be a collection of laws, temple records, and a few special stories (the creation account in Gn 1, the covenant with Abraham in Gn 17) that were probably used in liturgy or religious instruction. In short, the form critics have opened up the possibility that everything not in the original J account was handed on piece by piece by the judges and legal offices, by temple liturgists, by folksingers in the north, by prophets, by the wise men in the court of the king. Over the centuries these were gradually added to the J account. In this scheme, the Yahwist represents the common tradition known in tenth century Israel, and it grew in several stages through the following centuries until a truly brilliant final editing by Priestly circles sometime before Ezra in the fifth century gave it the final form we know today. The Pentateuch is understood then as a complex of many types of traditions, ranging from some still close to their oral origins, as are the Song of Miriam in Ex 15 or the Song of the Well in Numbers 2, up to some very highly developed law codes found in the Books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy which date only to the seventh or sixth centuries.
We can summarize the century of development from source criticism through form criticism by observing that neither stands alone. Writing and oral story-telling may have been used at the same time. Laws, for example, were written down as long ago as 1000 B.C., and a tradition that Moses gave the law on two stone tablets could easily rest on solid foundations. Yet at the same time, we have found no written laws in Egypt at all, and so we can just as rightly conclude that much of the law was decided by custom and principles handed down orally. The same may be said of the treaty form of the covenant with God at Mount Sinai. We know of many ancient Near Eastern treaties long before the Israelite kings appeared, and there is no reason to rule out that some legal covenantal documents could have been kept by the tribes in Palestine before the time of David.
Moreover, the Bible itself records that many written sources were known in Israel. Numbers 21:14 quotes a "Book of the Wars of Yahweh," and Joshua 10:13 cites the "Book of Yashar." The two Books of Kings frequently mention the chronicles of the kings of Israel and the chronicles of the kings of Judah. Evidence from the practice of Babylon and Ugarit indicates that laws, lists of kings, and the texts of religious rituals to be read or proclaimed aloud in the temple were all stored in written forms.
The addition of form criticism to the study of the Pentateuch has prevented us from seeing only four complete books put together so tightly that the main task of Bible study is to untangle them. Now we can see that Gn 1-11 is indeed a different type of literature- myth- and can be appreciated for what it is. We can see that the Abraham stories use many hero saga motifs and better understand how Abraham was remembered and known in early Israel. To return to the original question raised in this chapter- "Who really wrote the Pentateuch?"- modern criticism has come around almost full circle. Instead of Wellhausen's doubt that anything could be attributed to Moses, form criticism affirms that- while the Pentateuch was not actually written down by Moses- many of its traditions, legal practices and covenant forms may actually date back to the time of Moses, and their central importance for Israel may even have originated with him, or at least with the community of the exodus and conquest. Chapters 6 through 9 will develop the contributions of the form critics in more detail.