The Hebrew Bible: A Literary Analysis

Throughout history, many religious scholars have devoted their life to studying the Hebrew Bible. By analyzing the differences in writing styles and diction, these scholars have been able to estimate the time period that certain passages of the text were written. Due to these examinations, scholars have also been able to discern that, within various books of the Bible, there are many unsubtle changes in the various literary elements that are used. The first five books of the Bible, referred to mostly commonly as the Torah, has been studied very heavily, because of the foundation that it lays for modern Judaism. The discoveries that scholars have made have lead to the formation of the idea that the common held belief of Moses being the sole …show more content…
In order for the scholars to progress in their understanding of the Hebrew Bible, they needed to determine what the problem was. They understood that in order to correctly study the text in its totality, they needed to understand why the structure of the writing often tended to shift. After further study, an answer was presented that would possibly serve as the answer to their problems. The idea contributed all of the discrepancies and changes within the text to the presence of multiple narratives. Thus, the Documentary Hypothesis was revealed. The four narratives have been named and separated by their unique characteristics. The J-Source (Yahwist), which is considered to be the oldest source and one of Southern focus, describes God as an anthropomorphic deity and focuses on the making and fulfillment of promises. In addition, within this source, God is referred to solely as “Yahweh”. The E-Source (Elohist), which focuses on the North, does not support the idea of Yahweh being an anthropomorphic deity. This source supports communication through angels and demons, as well as prophecy. The D-Source (Deuteronomist) deals with issues that are dissimilar to any that are brought up in the other sources, which has lead scholars to believe that this sources’ narrative was written later (mid-7th century). To further this idea, scholars have found that new things surrounding the law of Israel are commonly introduced in the passages of this source. The final source, the P-Source (Priestly), gives a perspective of Israelite history from the position of a priest. In the passages of this source, God is described as being distant or far off. There is a strong focus on religious observances as well as rituals and festivals. Scholars have found that this source is in play mainly in Genesis