The Bible Says That!? - Who Wrote The Torah? Pt. 5
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Recap
Last week, we talked about two large chunks of evidence in support of this hypothesis. To recap, we talked about how if you took each of the sources and separated them, you would have a smooth narrative flow between the sources. This continuity of texts is such a detailed and intricate balance between all the different pieces of other evidence that there is no way that someone could just invent or cleverly craft such a theory on their own. The second block we looked at was how each source has a distinct connection with other biblical writings. By this, we were able to conclude that the authors of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea were aware of distinct sources that they drew from.
Today, we’re going to take a look at two more blocks of evidence in support of this theory: the first is the relationships among the sources and to history; and the second is the convergence of evidence. Again, the following is pulled from my class notes as well as the book The Bible With Sources Revealed by Dr. Friedman.
Relationships among the sources and to History
The first block has to do with how each individual source, relates to specific regions or kingdoms of Israel and to specific time periods in Israel’s history. Today, we're going to take a look at just the J and E sources and how they relate to Judah and Israel. Next week, we'll see how P and D relate to other themes, regions, etc.
J + E correlate to the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel
To give some context, from around 922 to 722 BCE, the people of God were divided into two distinct kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of Israel (10 tribes) and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (2 tribes). J and E both write in such a way that it leads us to believe that each source lived within one of these kingdoms: J belonging to Judah of the South and E belonging to Israel to the North.
Here are some examples of J:
In the J narratives around Abraham (Gen. 13:18; 18:1) the text says that Abraham lives in Hebron/MamreBefore Jerusalem was the capital of Judah under King David, Hebron was the Capital of Judah.
In J, the scouts that Moses sends into the promised land, only go and scout out Hebron and areas found in the southern regions of Judah. There are no mentions of any location of Israel (Num. 17-20, 22-24).In that same story, the lone scout who says that the land is good is Caleb (Both J and P’s versions of the same event - J: Num. 14:11-25; P: Num. 14:5-11). The territory that would later belong to Caleb and his descendants was located in Judah and included Hebron.
In J – and no other source – Judah, the son of Jacob is a significant figure.This includes Genesis 38 (which belongs entirely to J) with Judah and Tamar. Tamar gives birth to Peres –the ancestor of the entire clan of Judah.
Genesis 49:1-27 (which belongs entirely to J) favors who among all of the other brothers? Judah.
In J, Judah is the one who saved Joseph from his brother’s plot to kill him. We saw this in last week’s handout (Gen. 37:26-27; 42:22).It was also Judah who promised to Jacob that he would bring Benjamin home safely from Egypt (Gen. 43:8-9), and defended Benjamin against Joseph in Egypt (Gen. 44:18-34).
In J, Rehoboam is mentioned several times and the root word for his own name is mentioned 6 times. However, Rehoboam isn’t even mentioned in E. Odd since Rehoboam and Jeroboam are the first two kings of their distinct kingdoms and the sources don’t even mention one another.
In J, when it mentions the 12 tribes and their respective ancestors, J stories only every mentions the births and namings of the first 4 brothers (Gen 29:31-35): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. It only reaches to Judah! Also, notice that the other 3 brothers don’t ever receive tribal land allotments either.
Also, who gets the promises of the Monarchy from Jacob in Gen 49:1-27? Judah.
In J, the Ark of the Covenant is super important and is often associated with the very presence of God (Num. 10:33-36; 14:41-44). But the Ark isn’t even mentioned in any E source. Where was the ark located before Jerusalem was the capital? In Judah.
But for E, the texts are far more focused on Israel and Northern tribes and details therein:
In E texts, Israel acquires its land at the city of Shechem, which becomes the future capital of Israel before Samaria (Gen. 33:18-19).
In E (Gen 48), the birthright meant for Joseph is passed down to his sons Ephriam and Manasseh –Israel's two largest tribes in later history. In E, the stories of the Births and the namings of the 12 brothers do not include Judah, Reuben, Simon, or Levi (Gen 30: 1-24). But they do include all the tribes of Israel: Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin.
In E, the tribal name of Ephraim is often used as a euphemism for the entire kingdom of Israel.
In E, Shechem is the traditional burial site of Joseph (The technical patriarch of Israel’s two largest tribes) is located at Shechem (Joshua 24:32).
In E’s version of Jacob's wrestling match with God, the place where they fight is called Penuel (Gen. 32:31) which is located in Israel. Who established and built up Penuel as an official city? Jeroboam – the first king of Israel (1 Kings 12:25).
In E, Reuben is the one who saves Joseph (Gen 37:22), and it is Reuben who assures Jacob that Benjamin will be kept safe while in Egypt (Gen 42:37).
E also has several priestly connections that we don’t have time to get into, but has a high focus on the priests of Shiloh. These priests were expelled under Solomon (Solomon comes from the southern regions), and E isn’t too happy that their priesthood was expelled by a king from the southern regions.
Next week, we'll take a look to see how P seems to be closely connected to the fall of the northern Kingdom of Israel and how D seems to be closely connected to the period of the reign of King Josiah in the South.