Hexateuch

The Hexateuch ("six scrolls") is the first six books of the Hebrew Bible^[1] (the Torah or Pentateuch and the book of Joshua). Some scholars propose that Joshua represents part of the northern Yahwist source (c 950 BC), detached from JE document by the Deuteronomist (c 650-621) and incorporated into the Deuteronomic history, with the books of Judges, Kings, and Samuel.

Reasons for this unity, in addition to the presumed presence of the other documentary traditions, are taken from comparisons of the thematic concerns that underlie the narrative surface of the texts. For instance, the Book of Joshua stresses the continuity of leadership from Moses to Joshua. Furthermore the theme of Joshua, the fulfillment of God's promise to lead the Israelites to the Promised Land, complements the thematic material of the Pentateuch, which had ended with the Israelites on the border of the Promised Land ready to enter.

The theory that Joshua completes the Torah in a 'Hexateuch' is advanced by critical scholars in the new field of "history of traditions", but the majority of traditional scholars follow the older rabbinic tradition, as it was expressed by the compilers of the Jewish Encyclopedia a century ago, that the Pentateuch is a complete work in itself.^{[citation needed]} The Torah has always consisted of only the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.^{[citation needed]}

The Samaritans, who regard themselves as descendants of the Ancient Israelites, accept only the Hexateuch as divinely-inspired.

References

See also

• Pentateuch
• Heptateuch: the Hexateuch, plus the Book of Judges
• Documentary hypothesis
• Martin Noth