Documentary hypothesis

The documentary hypothesis is a theory proposed by many historians and academics in the field of linguistics and source criticism that the Five Books of Moses (the Torah) are in fact a combination of documents from different sources rather than authored by one individual. Although the hypothesis is widely accepted, it has a substantial number of critics—especially conservative Bible scholars such as Kenneth Kitchen and Gleason Archer, but also among critical scholars such as R. N. Whybray.

References

• An authoritative and readable overview is provided by John Rogerson in Old Testament Criticism in the Nineteenth Century: England and Germany (1985).
• Allis, Oswald T. The Five Books of Moses, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA, 1949, pages 17 and 22.
• Archer, Gleason. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody, 1994.
• Blenkinsopp, Joseph The Pentateuch, Doubleday, NY, USA 1992.
• Bloom, Harold and Rosenberg, David The Book of J, Random House, NY, USA 1990.
• Campbell, Joseph "Gods and Heroes of the Levant:1500-500 B.C." The Masks of God 3: Occidental Mythology, Penguin Books, NY, USA, 1964.
• Cassuto, Umberto. The Documentary Hypothesis.Jerusalem: Magnes, 1961.
• Clines, David J. A. The Theme of the Pentateuch. JSOTSup. 10. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1978.
• Dever, William G. What Did The Biblical Writers Know & When Did They Know It? William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 2001.
• Finkelstein, I. and Silberman, N. A. The Bible Unearthed, Simon and Schuster, NY, USA, 2001.
• Fox, Robin Lane, "The Unauthorized Version." A classics scholar offers a measured view for the layman.
• Friedman, Richard E. Who Wrote The Bible?, Harper and Row, NY, USA, 1987.
• Friedman, Richard E. The Hidden Book in the Bible, HarperSan Francisco, NY, USA, 1998.
• Kaufmann, Yehezkel, Greenberg, Moishe (translator) The Religion of Israel, from Its Beginnings to the Babylonian Exile, University of Chicago Press, 1960.
• Larue, Gerald A. Old Testament Life and Literature, Allyn & Bacon, Inc, Boston, MA, USA 1968
• McDowell, Josh More Evidence That Demands a Verdict: Historical Evidences for the Christian Scriptures, Here's Life Publishers, Inc. 1981, p. 45.
• McDowell, Josh The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Thomas Nelson Inc.,Publishers. 1999, pages: 411, 528.
• Mendenhall, George E. The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973.
• Mendenhall, George E. Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.
• Nicholson, E. The Pentateuch in the Twentieth Century: The Legacy of Julius Wellhausen, Oxford University Press, 2003.
• Rogerson, J. Old Testament Criticism in the Nineteenth Century: England and Germany, SPCK/Fortress, 1985.
• Spinoza, Benedict de A Theologico-Political Treatise Dover, NY, USA, 1951, Chapter 8.
• Tigay, Jeffrey H. "An Empirical Basis for the Documentary Hypothesis" Journal of Biblical Literature Vol.94, No.3 Sept. 1975, pages 329-342.
• Tigay, Jeffrey, Ed. Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, USA 1986
• Van Seters, John. Abraham in History and Tradition Yale University Press, 1975.
• Van Seters, John. In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History Yale University Press, 1983.
• Van Seters, John. Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis Westminster/John Knox, 1992.
• Van Seters, John. The Life of Moses: The Yahwist as Historian in Exodus-Numbers Westminster/John Knox, 1994.
• Wiseman, P. J. Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN, USA 1985.
• Whybray, R. N. The Making of the Pentateuch: A Methodological Study JSOTSup 53. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1987.