Documentary hypothesis

See also: Authors of the Bible

The Documentary Hypothesis was originated by Julius Wellhausen in 1876, with his work, Die Komposition Des Hexateuch in Der Jungsten Diskussion. The hypothesis is based upon the belief that that the Pentateuch is inconsistent in its writing, and shows signs of multiple authors, rather than one. This has in turn led to the theory that the Pentateuch is the result of four different authors, who supposedly wrote the book centuries later than the Biblical Moses. As a general framework, the proposed authors are:

• J: Jehovist/Yahwist source
• E: Elohist source
• D: Deuteronomist source
• P: Priestly source:

The hypothesis is entirely interpretive, and has no historical evidence supporting claims for sourcing from multiple documents, apart from the analysis of the Bible undertaken by the hypothesis.

Traditional Views

Traditionally, Moses was considered the author of the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Christian Bible and Jewish Tanakh). Jewish tradition held that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch. In Deuteronomy 31:24-26 it says Moses wrote the words of the Law in a book, that was then put in the Ark of the Covenant. In 2 Chronicles 34:14 it says Hilkiah found a book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses and the book of Nehemiah says the Law was given by Moses, a claim repeated in the New Testament's Gospels of Mark and John.

Alleged Inconsistencies

As the basis for the hypothesizing, and upon which the assumption is made that the Pentateuch could not be of Mosaic authorship, are a number of alleged inconsistencies, including:

• Genesis 1 & 2: The criticism is that two conflicting stories called doublets, separate accounts, are presented in the beginning chapters of Genesis, that in 1:27 God created man in his image, but in 2:7 it repeats this as though man's creation hadn't been mentioned before. However, what the critics fail to take into account is that the chapters are 2 separate accounts, one general, the later an overview, since in 1:1 it says "God created the heavens and the earth", and in 2:4, a more detailed account is given of "the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created", a pattern that will be seen used all through Genesis. In essence, the preceding section serves as the introduction, relating the genealogy or overview, the next relates details from the view of a major character in that genealogy. This is also recognized by Claus Westerman in "A Continental Commentary." Dr. Richard S. Hess has recognized the use of an overview account, rather than a contradictory doublet, at work here as well as elsewhere in Genesis (including chs. 4-5 and 10-11):

"As with the genealogies, we find in Genesis a focusing of content or theme. In chapter 1, the general account of creation is rehearsed, with little emphasis on any single aspect of the account. In the account of chapter 2, however, there is a clear emphasis on one particular aspect of creation, the man who is created to work the garden. The whole of the account describes his home, his work, and his companion. It is all centred on the man, planned and created for him. Thus there is a focusing technique between the first two chapters in terms of content, just as there is in the two genealogical doublets."

• Genesis 6-9: Asserted is that the Flood is represented as being 40 days long and 150 days long. However, what the accounts actually say is that it will rain 40 days and 40 nights, and that the Flood will be on the earth for this time. It then says the flood waters themselves are on the earth for 150 days, and return off the earth constantly until at the end of the 150 days they were stopped. This is particularly clear when looking at the time frame, as the Flood began in the 2nd month, 17th day and in the 7th month, 17th day the Ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. The plain context seen is that God stopped the Flood itself after 40 days with a wind, and it was the abating or drying up of the waters to stop them from 'prevailing' that took 150 days to where the Ark could finally come to a rest. With a flood, there is one period where the rain occurs, and another period where the waters are still at work, perhaps with waves or fierce activity, even though the rain has stopped.
• Genesis 11 & 12: The University of Maryland's M. Zelkowitz claims that in Genesis 12:1 Abram is told to leave after the death of his father, Terah. Zelkowitz says in 11:26 Abram was born when Terah was 70, and according to 11:32, Terah died at age 205, so Abram must have been age 135, yet in 12:4 it says he was only 75. However, as with Genesis 1&2, Zelkowitz fails to note the existence of an overview description given in chapter 11:10-32, stating the genealogies of Abram's lineage, and then a specific account of Abram's life, covering him specifically, starting in ch. 12, in which Abram's father has not yet died.
• Genesis 20 & 26:
• Exodus 24: Zelkowitz accuses the chapter of saying Moses went up to the mountain 3 times. In actuality, the chapter says he was asked to go up the mountain (vv. 1-8), then he actually did go up with Aaron and the elders of Israel (vv. 9-11), and then God asked Moses to go up to the mountaintop specifically. (vv. 12-18)
• Samuel chs. 8-12:

Criticism

Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb http://www.grahamapologetics.com/pdf/Documentary%20Hypothesis.pdf

German Influence

See also: Alfred Rosenberg and Positive Christianity

Like the Q Source hypothesis claimed by critical scholars to have been used as a basis by the authors of the Mark and Luke Gospels, (see Johannes Weiss, Christian Hermann Weisse and Friedrich Schleiermacher), the Documentary Hypothesis found its roots in 19th century Germany, where it would ultimately be popularized by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust, as noted by author Ken Collins:

"The Nazis, borrowing from the growing scholarly consensus that the Torah consisted of myth and legend, used this scholarly climate to invalidate both Judaism and the Old Testament. The Nazis promoted a revised form of Christianity called Deutsches Christentum, in which they replaced the Old Testament with Germanic myths and legends. Deutsches Christentum never caught on with the public, but since it epitomized the beliefs of the leadership of the Nazi party, it contributed to the martyrdom of a number of famous German Christians."