Documentary Hypothesis

The Documentary Hypothesis holds that the Pentateuch combines several originally distinct written sources, traditionally identified as J, E, D, and P.

J source: A proposed Pentateuchal source associated with the divine name Yahweh and traditionally dated to the monarchic period. The hypothesis identifies J through its characteristic divine name, style, and narratives.
Jean Astruc: An eighteenth-century French physician who proposed that Genesis drew on two major documents distinguished partly by divine names. Astruc's analysis of Genesis helped launch modern documentary explanations.
Supplementary Hypothesis: A model in which later authors expanded an earlier core text by adding material rather than combining several independent documents. It explains textual growth through additions where the Documentary Hypothesis posits parallel sources.
Authorship of the Torah: The question of who composed the Torah and how its books reached their final form. The hypothesis challenges the view that one author wrote the Pentateuch as a unified work.
E source: A proposed Pentateuchal source associated with the divine name Elohim before the revelation of YHWH's name. E is distinguished from J partly by divine names and overlapping story traditions.
Johann Gottfried Eichhorn: A German biblical scholar who helped establish historical-critical study of the Hebrew Bible in the late eighteenth century. Eichhorn developed early arguments for distinct written sources in Genesis.
Fragmentary Hypothesis: A model in which the Pentateuch developed from numerous shorter traditions or fragments rather than four continuous documents. It offers a different account of how diverse Pentateuchal material entered the text.
Biblical criticism: The scholarly study of the Bible's origins, composition, transmission, and interpretation using historical methods. The hypothesis became a landmark in historical-critical study of scripture.
Priestly source: A proposed Pentateuchal source marked by genealogies, ritual law, chronology, and interest in priestly institutions. Its distinctive vocabulary and ordered presentation help identify the hypothesis's P strand.
Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette: A German theologian who argued that Deuteronomy was composed in a historical setting later than Moses. His dating of Deuteronomy shaped the hypothesis's account of the D source.

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