The material in
the first eleven chapters of Genesis is mythological in nature. It
reflects myths of origin common to all the cultures of the ancient Near
East about which we know anything—Egyptian, Sumerian, Babylonian, to
name a few. All are human attempts to explain the beginnings of things.
These stories are not historical, that is, they are not supported by
any extra-textual or archeological evidence. They are suggestive of the
larger questions we tend to ask ourselves about the experience, limits,
and nature of being human. Like Rudyard Kipling’s “Just-So Stories,”
they tell simple folktales to explain things we don’t understand. |
| J | Jahwist | Southern Kingdom | c. 950 BCE | Highly Anthropomorphic God | Close relationship with humans | nature/fertility |
| E | Elohist | Northern Kingdom | c. 850 BCE | Distant God - not anthropomorphic | Communicates through dreams, heavenly messengers and prophets | nature/fertility |
| D | Deuteronomist | Reformer in Jerusalem | c. 621 BCE | Preaching Style | God cannot be seen, and can only be worshipped in Jerusalem | spiritual/ethical |
| P | Priestly | Aaronoid Priests | c. 450 BCE | Interest in Order and Boundaries | Concern with priestly family of Aaron and Temple Rules | priestly/legal |
| R | Redactor | Editor (Ezra?) | c. 400 BCE? |
J - The Jahwist author(s) was the first to write down the oral tradition of the Hebrews, and is called Jahwist because these segments always refer to God as Yahweh (the hypothesis authors were German, and thus spelled Yahweh with a J). Yahweh is seen as a highly anthropomorphic God who has a close (sometimes too close) relationship with humans, and is subject to human emotions and passions often in unnatural extremes.
E- The Elohist author(s) wrote down many of the same stories from the oral tradition as it had developed in the Northern Kingdom of the Hebrews, and is called Elohist because these segments always refer to God as El or Elohim. The stories of J and E offer differ in significant details, causing many contradictions in the Bible. Elohim is described as a distant God - not anthropomorphic, who communicates through dreams, heavenly messengers and prophets rather than ever appearing on earth himself.
D- The Deuteronomist author(s) was a reformer in Jerusalem in the 7th Century BCE. The book of Deuteronomy was "found" during the time of King Josiah by the priest Hilkiah, and purports to be the final sermon of Moses. However, in the book, Moses dies, and events after Moses' death are included in the book. Thus, many scholars believe that Deuteronomy (and other parts of the Bible that were inserted by the Deuteronomist) is a forgery created for the purposes of political manipulation. Here's some more information about that debate. The Deuteronomist has a preaching style, and insists that God can never be seen (hence the idea that the Temple only houses God's name, and that God can only be worshipped in Jerusalem. This last belief exposes the possible political motivation for the Deuteronomist, considering that this would cause a heavy stream of traffic through Jerusalem, which would be good for commerce, much like the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
P- The Priestly author(s) inserted many passages into the Pentateuch many years after the original writing, as they sought to bring the book into one cohesive whole. P has an over-riding concern with order and boundaries - separating out the elements of what is chaotic with an obsession for naming things. There is also a concern with the priestly family descended from Aaron (the tribe of Levi) and the rules governing the Temple. P is also responsible for the genealogies that are inserted between different stories.
R- The Redactor - who may have been Ezra - was responsible for the final version of the Pentateuch. However, that does not mean that this is what we read today, since hundreds of scribes copied the scripts by hands, and we don't have any original versions - only translations of translations.
Genesis Study Questions
Some links:- David Plotz on Genesis
- The Big Myth website is a fun way to discover creation myths from all over the world. Some are locked, but I have a CD you can borrow if there's a specific one you're interested in.
- See the Music Page for some contemporary songs about Genesis
- Also, check out The Brick Testament on Genesis (thanks to Matt Weber for the suggestion)
- A chart of Adam's Descendants
- Gustav Dore's illustrations of the Bible
