What are the 4 sources of the Pentateuch?

These and other indications have persuaded biblical scholars that there are four strands interwoven in the Pentateuch: the Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly—hence J, E, D, and P.

Who are the four authors of the Pentateuch?

The scholars gave each of these four books (or writers) a name: the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Priestly writers, and the Deuteronomist. The Yahwist was characterized by using the Tetragrammaton (“Yahweh”) as the name of God. The Elohist writers, who called God “Elohim”, were Israelite priests.

What book in the Bible did the Yahwist write?

The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist, the Priestly source and the Elohist.

Who really wrote the Torah?

Moses
The Talmud holds that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua. Alternatively, Rashi quotes from the Talmud that, “God spoke them, and Moses wrote them with tears”.

What is the purpose of the Pentateuch?

The Pentateuch, or what came to be known as the Torah or the Book of the Law, is regarded as the most authoritative and highly inspired of all the Old Testament writings, in large part because these books contain the laws given to the Israelites by Yahweh.

Who wrote Torah?

The Talmud holds that the Torah was written by Moses, with the exception of the last eight verses of Deuteronomy, describing his death and burial, being written by Joshua. Alternatively, Rashi quotes from the Talmud that, “God spoke them, and Moses wrote them with tears”.

What did the Yahwist call God?

According to the documentary hypothesis, the Elohist (or simply E) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah, together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source. The Elohist is so named because of its pervasive use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite god.

What does the word Yahwist mean?

Definition of Yahwist (Entry 1 of 2) 1 : the author of the Yahwistic or J passages of the Old Testament which refer to God as Yahweh and which are believed to have emanated from Judah, the southern kingdom of the ancient Israelites. — called also Jehovist. — compare jehovah. 2 : a worshiper of Yahweh.