Who Wrote the Bible? – by Richard E. Friedman
Chapter 2 J & E
Two Clues Converge
At approximately the same time 3 people, a minister, a physician and a professor found 2 pieces of evidence that the 5 books were not written by just Moses, doublets and the names of G-d. Doublets describe the numerous times the same story is told twice in the Torah. The creation story is one example where the first story lists the creation of plants, animals then man and woman. In the second story it lists man, plants, animals and then woman. One story refers to Elohim and the other to YHVH (Yahweh). These were 2 separate works that were cut up and combined into one story.
The Discovery of the Sources
The first on record was written in 1711, the second in 1753, and the third in 1780. Eichhorn was the third and called the person who refered to Elohim (E) and the person who refered to Yahweh (J). German pronounces the J like an English Y. 18 Years later another researcher discovered there were 4 writers. They discovered that E was 2 writers, where the 3rd writing was interested in the priestly (P) class and that Deuteronomy (D) was different. These 4 sources went against all the long held sacred beliefs of Moses writing the 5 books.
The Story of Noah – Twice
Try reading the Flood from the 2 authors J and P. The following are by J: 6:5-8 7:1-5, 7, 10, 12, 16 (last sentence), 17-20, 22-23, 8:2 (after the comma), 3 (first section to the comma), 6, 8-12, 20-22. All the pieces not listed are P.
Each in Its own Words
J uses Yahweh, uses man and his woman, male and female, says everything died, sends out a dove, J does not have concerns about ages, dates and sizes, J says it took 40 days and nights, and takes 7 pairs of clean animals and one pair of unclean animal. P refers to God, says male and female, says everything expired, sends out a raven, P is very concerned about ages, dates and sizes, P says it took 370 days and nights, and takes pairs of each animal. Each story is separable and complete.
The Doorstep
These 4 internally consistent documents was called the Documentary Hypothesis. They identified a fifth person that was a collector who combined all the pieces refered to as the redactor (R). Who wrote these, when and what was their purpose?
Two Countries, Two Writers
The author J came from Judah and the E from Israel.
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What do you think? Do you believe it? Were there several writers or did Moses write in several voices? Does it make a difference to you who wrote it?
