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Authorship of Torah

buddhist

Well-Known Member
Well Kelly.... I don't believe any conservative scholar would say Ezra was an editor of the Torah
and old manuscrupts like the Samaritan Pentateauch predating that would call Ezra as editor into question.... in my opinion...
What do the moderate and liberal scholars say about that, and why should I believe the conservative scholars more than the former?
 

whirlingmerc

Well-Known Member
And why should anyone think your findings credible? What, specifically, have you studied on the matter?

For example grabbing a section of a book and saying it must be from a different epic or source because it has a different phrase I would reject

Books 2 and 3 of the Psalms use the name ELohim but those books reflect a poetic approach to Exodus and Leviticus where the books of Psalms that reflect Genesis Numbers and Dueteronomy use Yawheh. It's more part of a larger structure

Also in Genesis and Exodus there is allot of stucture and chiastic outlines hat would make it hard to gard a pieces here and there and plop together and get
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
And why should anyone think your findings credible? What, specifically, have you studied on the matter?
For example grabbing a section of a book and saying it must be from a different epic or source because it has a different phrase I would reject

Books 2 and 3 of the Psalms use the name ELohim but those books reflect a poetic approach to Exodus and Leviticus where the books of Psalms that reflect Genesis Numbers and Dueteronomy use Yawheh. It's more part of a larger structure

Also in Genesis and Exodus there is allot of stucture and chiastic outlines hat would make it hard to gard a pieces here and there and plop together and get
What is most interesting here is that you most likely believe that you've answered my question.
 

von bek

Well-Known Member
For example grabbing a section of a book and saying it must be from a different epic or source because it has a different phrase I would reject

The Documentary Hypothesis is more sophisticated than this, though. They are not simply looking at random sections. There are narratives that seem to repeat in Genesis, but with slight variations between them. When these narrative strands are separated out, we see that one will use a certain name for God while the other narrative uses a different word. Consistently. (And there is much more to it than what I mention here.) The Documentary Hypothesis could certainly be wrong; but, it does the best job I have seen of both explaining variations within the text and preserving the literary brilliance of the composer.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
TThe Documentary Hypothesis could certainly be wrong; but, it does the best job I have seen of both explaining variations within the text and preserving the literary brilliance of the composer.
What is the best study that you've read that challenges the Documentary Hypothesis?
 

von bek

Well-Known Member
What is the best study that you've read that challenges the Documentary Hypothesis?

That is a good question and one that gives me cause for reflection. I have read nothing scholarly that takes a different stance, only apologetics by Christian Fundamentalists. Saying so makes me realize my own ignorance about rebuttals to the Documentary Hypothesis. I never made a point of pursuing challenges to it. Maybe someone in this thread will provide some good counter-theories.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
That is a good question and one that gives me cause for reflection. I have read nothing scholarly that takes a different stance, only apologetics by Christian Fundamentalists. Saying so makes me realize my own ignorance about rebuttals to the Documentary Hypothesis. I never made a point of pursuing challenges to it. Maybe someone in this thread will provide some good counter-theories.
In my opinion, Blenkinsopp's The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible is well worth reading, not so much because he rejects the DH, but because he cautions against presuming that we know far more that we do (or can) know.

I own a fun Chumash by Richard Elliot Friedman where JEDPR are all conveniently identified by color, font, and weight. It's clever (and informed) guess work, but it is only that. It's just too darn easy to overreach.
 

von bek

Well-Known Member
In my opinion, Blenkinsopp's The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible is well worth reading, not so much because he rejects the DH, but because he cautions against presuming that we know far more that we do (or can) know.

Thank you for the recommendation.

I own a fun Chumash by Richard Elliot Friedman where JEDPR are all conveniently identified by color, font, and weight. It's clever (and informed) guess work, but it is only that. It's just too darn easy to overreach.

So true.
 

whirlingmerc

Well-Known Member
What is most interesting here is that you most likely believe that you've answered my question.

I have broadly read overviews on the subject, but they are largely from a conservative perspective.

Are you disagreeing that the Samaritan Pentateuch predates Ezra?
I know (in a fairly extreme view) some people try and minimialize the Torah saying the priest rewrote it to their advantage but the Samaritans would lack such motive.
I wrote to Carl Sagan on the issue 30 years ago when he made this claim on TV for example
 

whirlingmerc

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I try.

Are you agreeing with Carl Sagan that priests wrote the whole thing after the exile for power and control ?
 
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