According to biblical scholars who wrote the first five books of the Bible?

Answer 1

A:The clear majority of biblical scholars say that the first five books of The Bible, Genesis (Hebrew: Bereishit ), Exodus (Shemot), Leviticus (Vayikra), Numbers (Bamidbar)and Deuteronomy (Devarim) were written over a period of some centuries by several anonymous sources. Although there continues to be debate on details such as exactly when each of these sources lived and how they interacted, the Sources Theory states that the main sources of the Torah, or Pentateuch were:

• The J (Yahwist) source, who always used 'YHVH' as the name for God and presents tradition from the point of view of the southern kingdom, Judah, using archaic Hebrew. J was a gifted storyteller who was especially interested in the human side of things and had his own characteristic vocabulary. J referred to Moses' father-in-law as Reuel or Hobab.
• The E (Elohist) source, who always used 'Elohim' as the name for God and presents tradition from the point of view of the northern kingdom, Israel, using archaic Hebrew. E referred to Moses' father-in-law as Jethro (cf the Yahwist: Reuel or Hobab).
• At some time around 650 BCE, J and E were combined by editors, producing a composite known to us as JE.
• The D (Deuteronomist) source, who emphasises centralisation of worship and governance in Jerusalem, as would be expected from political events that followed the defeat of Israel. It uses a more modern form of Hebrew.
• The P (Priestly) source uses both Elohim and El Shaddai as names of God and focusses on the formal relations between God and society. He also uses a late form of Hebrew, with a rather turgid style.

The traditional view attributes these books to Moses, in spite of them describing his death, but few serious scholars today would accept Moses as an author of the books. Deuteronomy chapter 34 describes the death of Moses but also says that "not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses..." This could not have been written by Moses or even by any author until long after the establishment of a nation called Israel. If we explain this by saying that this chapter was added after the death of Moses, we leave open the question as to what else was added after the death of Moses.