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.

See also

• Higher criticism
• Textual criticism
• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• The Bible and history
• Israelites
• Dating the Bible
• Umberto Cassuto