THE FIRST FIVE BOOKS

Because of all the fundie nonsense, I picked up a book about the origins of the Torah so I could learn a bit more about what the so-called "inerrant" text actually says.

Here's a brief summary of research on the sources:


The Bible with Sources Revealed
By Richard Elliot Friedman

HarperSanFrancisco, 2003

There are 10 source texts for the Torah: J, E, P, RJE, R, DTN, DTR1, DTR2, Genesis 14, Other Independent Texts.

J was composed during the period (922-722 BC) when the Promised Land was divided into two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. J was written by someone in Judah.

E was written about the same time but was written by a priest living in Israel.

In 722 BC, the Assyrians destroyed the north kingdom, thus there was no longer a separation between the two Kingdoms. An editor/historian combined J & E into a text known as Redactor of J and E, or RJE for short.

P was also written by a priest as an alternative to J & E, not long after J & E were composed, probably during the time of Hezekiah, 715-687 BC.

The D sources make up most of Deuteronomy. The law code part, chapters 12-26, are known as DTN. DTR contains the sources For chapters 1-11, 27-30, 32-33, reports of the last acts Of Moses and part of other books (Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings). DTR contains sources that are as old as J & E but was composed during the reign of Josiah, around 622 BC. This version is known as DTR1. A later version, written after the destruction of the southern kingdom in 587 BC, is slightly longer and is known as DTR2.

All of the above sources were put together to form the first five books by an editor known as the Redactor or R for short.