This it tough, since im working off the top of my head, but i can tell you that my religion 11 teacher in high school, anne carroll in complete agreement with her husband, dr. Since well before the beginning of the common era and until perhaps the last two centuries, the author of the pentateuch was almost universally said to be moses, the central character in four. The foursource theory of the torah is proposed by wellhausen and others, and seems to have some general acceptance among scholars. He begins with a statement about jepd theory when he writes, the time has long passed for scholars of every theological persuasion to recognize that the grafwellhausen theory, as a starting point for. These are the yahwist j, elohist e, and priestly p sources which in. There have been various opinions as to whether these sources were written or oral traditions, and whether each. Later still the elohist was split into elohist and priestly p sources. Warren carroll, taught us that the jedp theory was pretty much just wrong. Jepd theory sacred scripture catholic answers forums. Later eichhorn, divided the book of genesis and two chapters of exodus. The subtitle for garretts work provides the meat of his argument. It is also called the jedp source theory, and since that is the most straightforward name, that is the name we will be using in this class. But the real jedp theory states that large chunks of the pentateuch wasnt written until much later, maybe during the divided kingdom era or even later, during the rebuilding of the temple after the babylonian exile. This is the summary taken from my book, given after i highlight the evidence for it.
Some of the critics of the bible have come up with some sophisticated arguments in their attempts to disprove its authenticity and reliability. I downloaded on my ipad richard friedmans the bible with sources reveled. What are the four sources of the pentateuch answers. 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. A walk through the old testament, part 1, jepd and. The theory is based on the fact that different names for god are used in different portions of the pentateuch, and there are detectable differences in linguistic style. Pdf the jedp theory and its weaknesses julius mucheregwa. Most scholars argue that j and e are the oldest sources, and understanding the relationship between those two writers is key to understanding the pentateuchthose first five books of the bible. Wellhausen proposed their composition be relatively dated in that order, but modern scholars have provided a number of plausible alternatives. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to. This theory is also known under other names, such as the wellhausen hypothesis.
The bible with sources revealed is a book by american biblical scholar richard elliott friedman dealing with the process by which the five books of the torah or pentateuch came to be written. Still, recent theories typically do not embrace mosaic authorship, as the documentary hypothesis continues to hold sway. Jepd refuted in 7 minutes with repetition in the bible. He begins with a statement about jepd theory when he writes, the time has long passed for scholars of every theological persuasion to recognize that the grafwellhausen theory, as a starting point for continued research, is dead 11. Personally, i have not studied the matter in sufficient depth to resolve in my mind the question of how many and what sources there may be contributing to the pentateuch, but i am quite suspicious of the idea that the foursource hypothesis has it correctly worked out. The documentary theory jepd is widely accepted, yet it has many flaws, which have been critiqued by many protestants and catholics alike. This presentation by gioacchino michael cascione, author of repetition in the bible, refutes the claims of the documentary hypothesis by demonstrating the. 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. Other scholars, such as eichhorn and dewette elaborated upon his ideas.
I dont mind if moses used sources or if matthew and luke did either. In this book he acknowledges that genesis seems to be made up of different sources, but he also acknowledges mosaic authorship. I dont have a problem with multiple sources for the ot. See also jepd refuted with repetition in the bible in 3 minutes and jepd refuted in 7 minutes with repetition in the bible, and an even longer version titled repetition in the bible. If we note some textual oddities first, it becomes easier to see how scholars formulated the ideas of the j, e, and p text.
The jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light of the documentary hypothesis. The pentateuch actually was pieced together by anonymous sources commonly called j, e, d. The tradition honors moses because of his esteemed position as lawgiver and friend of god. But the actual number of sources, who wrote them and why, and when they were combined is still a matter of scholarly debate. The sources and authorship of the first book of the pentateuch. One of these attempts is known as the documentary hypothesis, or the jepd theory. There have been various opinions as to whether these sources were written or oral traditions, and whether each source represents an independent strand or a stage in the development of an older source. Comparisons of the pentateuch with other ancient works along with wellhausens subjective delineation of sources render much of his theory untenable. 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. Genesis exodus a diagram of the sources of the pentateuch.
Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis or the jedp model3. Most notably, friedman agrees with wellhausen on the date of the deuteronomist, but places the priestly source at the court of hezekiah. Many of the details are from a later age and are inappropriately inserted into the book of genesis. This book uses a very simple fontandcolor based system to differentiate between the different authors and editors of the pentateuch. I believe you can find quotes or references from each book of the torah in the gospels and moses is given the credit for speaking those things. The jedp theory states that the pentateuch was written from different sources. What is the jedp theory, and does it disprove genesis. Unfortunatley, its out of print, but a used book service may turn it up. To understand what scholars are talking about when they discuss the j or e or p text of genesis, it helps if we look closely at the first two chapters of genesis, which illustrate the subject.
Graf are generally cited as the originators of the modern manifestation, which holds that the pentateuch was redacted from four textual and oral sources, known as j, e, p, and d. The source and authorship of the first book of the pentateuch duane garrett on. The jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light. Graf and julius wellhausen are recognized as the scholars who put the sources in the jedp order. The jedp theory found its roots in jean astruc 16841766, who speculated that moses used existing written or oral sources in constructing genesis. The torah or pentateuch is collectively the first five books of the bible. Answer the jedp theory claims that the pentateuch, the five books of moses, were compiled from four sources or traditions, which are respectively known as the jahwist, elohist, priestly, and deuteronomist sources hence the abbreviation jedp. Current thinking among many if not most scholars, referred to as jepd scholars, is there are 4 authors documentary hypothesis or grafwellhausen hypothesis in most church communities, little of this textual study has filtered down to the pew. Its been a long time since i delved into the topic of the documentary hypothesis, but duane garrett has a book called rethinking genesis. But in ancient times it was common to write a book by transcribing existing material. The pentateuch contains information moses could not have known. The bible with sources revealed 2003 is a book by american biblical scholar richard elliott friedman dealing with the process by which the five books of the torah or pentateuch the five books of moses came to be written.
Maybe all this jepd is just getting stories from different perspectives, god the father and god the son. In this presentation, gioacchino michael cascione, author of repetition in the bible, refutes the claims of the documentary hypothesis by demonstrating the presence of three previously. By analyzing a the use of different names of god, b stylistic differences, and c patterns, astruc saw clues of a composite or editorial structure. The documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch also known as. Hebraic meter in the text compared to color coding of the jepd sources proves the pentateuch was written by one author, who says his name is moses. How does the jedp theory effect the meaning of deuteronomy. Remember that jepd theory is only a theory and not a proven fact. The jepd theory, or documentary hypothesis, is taught in many university bible courses today. Details of documentary hypothesis literary analysis shows that one person did not write the pentateuch. In your observations you make distinctions showing two godpersonages. The jedp theory and its implications for biblical credibility. In brief, the jedp theory states that the first five books of the bible, genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not written entirely by moses, who died in the 1400s b. This view believes that the pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally moses. Friedman follows the foursource documentary hypothesis model, but differs significantly from julius wellhausens model in several respects.
The death of the documentary hypothesis january 26. The jedp theory says that the first five books of the biblegenesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomywere not written entirely by moses, who died in the 1400s b. The source and authorship of the first book of the pentateuch. 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. The theory is based on the fact that different names for god are used in different portions of the. The pentateuch, or what came to be known as the torah or the book of the law, is regarded as the most authoritative and highly inspired of all the old testament writings, in large part because these books contain the laws given to the israelites by yahweh. Choose from 42 different sets of documentary hypothesis flashcards on quizlet. The jedp theory claims that the pentateuch, the five books of moses, were compiled from four sources or traditions, which are respectively known as the jahwist, elohist, priestly, and deuteronomist sources hence the abbreviation jedp. One of the first was jean astruc who speculated that moses used existing written or oral sources to write the pentateuch. It is an elegant theory that gives us important insights into the development of the pentateuch. But it is highly unlikely that he wrote the version of the pentateuch that we have today. Now i know this is a lot to take in, but bear with me as i delve a little deeper into the matter. Jedp theory multiple authors of pentatuche apologetics. The foursource theory proposes that the torah originated from four separate and distinct sources, arising and developing over four successive eras in history.
We sometimes hear people say that we cannot trust the accuracy of the book of genesis because of the jedp theory. 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. Apologetics press mosaic authorship of the pentateuch. Jedp theory the jedp theory seeks to understand the authorship of the pentateuch in light of the documentary hypothesis. The traditional form of the documentary hypothesis was most famously promoted by the nineteenthcentury german scholar, julius wellhausen, who, along with some of his predecessors, called the sources j e d and p. Briefly stated, the jedp source theory states that the hebrew bible christian old testament was written by a series of authors writing within 4 literary traditions. Ska examines the literary context of the pentateuch tetrateuch, pentateuch, hexateuch, enneateuch, the basic structure of the five books genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy.
According to this theory, the traditional books of moses genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy werent written by moses at all, but by a. It was developed in the 19th century by julius wellhausen and others, when scholars thought few could write in moses time. Seminary courses, theology books, introductions to the pentateuch in. Learn the pentateuch class with free interactive flashcards. Choose from 28 different sets of the pentateuch class flashcards on quizlet.
The most current introduction to the pentateuch in english. A long tradition holds that the five books of the pentateuch or torah genesis, exodus, leviticus. Do you have any thoughts on julius wellhausens 18441918 socalled documentary theory of the torah or pentateuch. I dont have a problem wthe idea that there are multiple traditions in the pentateuch but this theory doesnt sound as certain as people are trying to. Today, many scholars note the flaws in this theory. Learn documentary hypothesis with free interactive flashcards.
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