What is the situation of the people when the Book of Genesis was written?

Answer 1

The Book of Genesis was actually written over a period of several centuries, by a number of authors known to us today as the Yahwist ('J' source), Elohist ('E' source), Deuteronomist ('D' source) and the Priestly ('P') source. We know this because each author had his own distinctive style and regional context, as well as from variations over time in the Hebrew language. The Yahwist lived early in the first millennium BCE and wrote from the perspective of the southern kingdom, Judah. The Elohist also lived early in the first millennium BCE but wrote from the perspective of the northern kingdom, Israel. The Deuteronomist lived in Judah during the reign of King Josiah. The Priestly source lived during or shortly after the Babylonian Exile. Archaeologists tell us that Judah, in the ninth or tenth century BCE, when the Yahwist was writing, was a relatively impoverished rural kingdom. The people mainly lived in villages and small towns. Israel, in around the ninth century BCE, when the Yahwist was writing, was a relatively prosperous and expansive kingdom. There were some walled cities. When the Deuteronomist was writing, in the 7th century BCE, Judah was by now a prosperous, somewhat autonomous kingdom based on its capital, Jerusalem. The Priestly source probably began to write after the Persian conquest of Babylonian. It was a time of hope and return for the Jewish people. There was no longer a Davidic line to rule Judah, and the Priestly class was staking its claim to domination of the restored nation.

Answer 2

The Book of Genesis was actually written over a period of several centuries, by a number of authors known to us today as the Yahwist ('J' source), Elohist ('E' source) and the Priestly ('P') source. We know this because each author had his own distinctive style and regional context, as well as from variations over time in the Hebrew language. The Yahwist lived early in the first millennium BCE and wrote from the perspective of the southern kingdom, Judah. The Elohist also lived early in the first millennium BCE but wrote from the perspective of the northern kingdom, Israel. The Priestly source lived during or shortly after the Babylonian Exile.

Archaeologists tell us that Judah, in the ninth or tenth century BCE, when the Yahwist was writing, was a relatively impoverished rural kingdom. The people mainly lived in villages and small towns.

Israel, in around the ninth century BCE, when the Elohist was writing, was a relatively prosperous and expansive kingdom. There were some walled cities.

The Priestly source probably began to write after the Persian conquest of Babylonian. It was a time of hope and return for the Jewish people. There was no longer a Davidic line to rule Judah, and the Priestly class was staking its claim to domination of the restored nation.

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