Textual Criticism of Ancient Texts: The Origin of the Pentateuch. Part 1. Hypotheses

 

Canonical Version

For many centuries it has been believed that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by the prophet Moses. However, only one of them (the fifth book, Deuteronomy) is written in the first person. Most likely, the canonical claim of Mosaic authorship of all five books developed gradually. Initially, it referred only to Deuteronomy, and then it was extended to all five books, despite the fact that the first four are written in the third person and contain no direct claim that they were written by Moses.

Today, the hypothesis of Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch is supported by believers, theologians, and those for whom the Bible is not merely a book but the direct word of God.

Scholarly Hypotheses

Since the Middle Ages, biblical commentators have criticized the idea of Mosaic authorship. They noticed numerous problematic passages in the books, which indicated that:

• The Pentateuch could not have been written by one person, because it contains too many contradictions, duplicate stories, and variations in phraseology.

• It could not have been written in the desert, but rather in Palestine, where the Israelites had already lived for some time.

• It could not have been written during the time of Moses, since it contains hints that a long period had passed between Moses’ era and the time of writing.

As a result, scholars began proposing alternative hypotheses of origin. At first, they cautiously suggested that Moses wrote only part of the Pentateuch and that other editors completed it. Eventually, however, biblical scholars rejected Mosaic authorship altogether and put forward fully alternative theories.

Hypothesis: Written in Jerusalem in the Time of David and Solomon

Scholars assumed that such works required a broad development of literacy and many trained scribes. This was only possible under a developed state and centralized authority, which could support the writing of the first five books of the Bible. Thus, the first major hypothesis was that the Pentateuch was written by court scribes during the reigns of David and Solomon in Jerusalem, the capital of the great United Monarchy.

This hypothesis gained many supporters. Since the existence of the United Monarchy was long regarded as historical fact, the time of David and Solomon seemed a fitting era for the creation of such advanced works.

Hypothesis about the writing of the Pentateuch in Jerusalem during the time of Hezekiah and Josiah

However, some scholars have noticed hints of later events. Thus, the book, the discovery of which in the time of King Josiah is described in the Second Book of Kings, was identified by biblical scholars as the book of "Deuteronomy". Accordingly, the date of writing of this book was moved from the 10th century. to the time of Josiah (7th century BC or more precisely in 622 BC).

As a result, the hypothesis about the writing of the entire Pentateuch in the time of David and Solomon had to be adjusted. Scholars noticed that some of the stories of the books do not develop in the territory of Judah, but in the territory of its northern neighbor Israel. Therefore, they suggested that not all the stories of the books were written in the territory of Judah, some of them could have been written in the territory of Israel. After the fall of Israel at the hands of Assyria, these stories, with a large influx of refugees, could have reached the territory of Judea, where they were combined with other local stories. After long discussions, a consensus hypothesis was formulated, which stated that the oldest parts of the books were written in the 10th century BC during the time of Solomon, some of the stories were written in the 9th-8th centuries in Israel, and the final stage of the formation of the text of the Pentateuch took place in Judea in the 7th century BC.

But later the historicity of the great United Monarchy of David and Solomon began to be questioned. Archaeologists compared the finds of the times of David and Solomon with descriptions of the incredible luxury of their state. They argued that archaeological data show that in the 10th century BC. Jerusalem was a small city, completely unsuitable for the capital of a large United Monarchy. The level of writing was very low, signs of a centralized state were completely absent. The group of archaeologists who came to this conclusion argued that the first signs of centralized power in Judea, which is a necessary attribute of the existence of a state, appeared only in the 8th century BC during the time of the Judean king Hezekiah.

Under the pressure of new archaeological data, a significant part of biblical scholars was forced to abandon the hypothesis that the oldest parts of the Pentateuch were written at the court of King Solomon. Instead, they put forward the idea that the oldest stories of the Pentateuch existed in Israel and Judah in oral form. After the fall of northern Israel at the end of the 8th century BC, some refugees fled to Judea, bringing with them northern stories and legends. These ancient legends were combined with local Jewish legends to form the first books of the Bible. This process began in the time of King Hezekiah and ended with the writing of Deuteronomy in the time of King Josiah. This hypothesis currently has the largest number of supporters.

Hypothesis about editing the text of the Pentateuch during the Babylonian captivity

The texts of the Pentateuch contain unambiguous hints of the future captivity and exile. If supporters of the canonical hypothesis explained this by the prophetic gift of Moses, then supporters of scientific hypotheses could not operate with such concepts. Therefore, all three previous scientific hypotheses assumed that some small part of the Pentateuch was added after the destruction of Judah by the troops of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and the deportation of its inhabitants to Babylon. It was believed that the deported Jews took the scrolls with the texts of the Pentateuch to Babylon, where they rewrote them, edited them and added hints of captivity and exile.

The most meticulous researchers did not agree with the hypotheses that most of the texts of the Pentateuch were written during the existence of the kingdom of Judah. They noticed that the archaeological evidence of this period showed that Judea was at a very low stage of development. Writing was still not developed enough, there was no evidence of the existence of biblical texts at that time in any form. On the other hand, the authors of other biblical stories about the activities of David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah showed poor knowledge of the history of the Kingdom of Judah and Palestine of the corresponding period. The texts contained contradictions, outright errors. The stories themselves, despite the presence of brief historical chronicles, had already become overgrown with legends. Therefore, these scholars suggested that most of the biblical stories were written in a later period. During this period, Palestine was part of the vast Persian Empire. Therefore, this period in the history of the Middle East is called the Persian period.

Hypothesis about the writing of the Pentateuch in Jerusalem of the Persian period

Initially, in the 19th century, it was suggested that a large part of the laws of the Pentateuch (called by scholars the Code of Priests) was written during this period. Later, in the 20th century, some scholars began to prove that other parts of the Pentateuch also reflect later realities. As a result, a hypothesis was formed, which, with various variations, claimed that the oldest stories came from the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, but finally the Pentateuch was formed in the Persian period. And at the time of the return of the scribe Ezra from Babylon, the entire text was canonized.

But even in this hypothesis, some researchers noticed significant problem areas. Archaeological data from the Persian period indicated that at that time Judea was a backward, underdeveloped and sparsely populated province. Such a historical background was not suitable for active activity in writing biblical books. Simply put, in Judea of ​​the Persian period there was no one to write the texts of the Pentateuch. On the other hand, the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the middle of the 20th century showed that a single text of the Pentateuch did not exist even before the beginning of our era. This did not fit into the hypothesis of the canonization of the text of the Pentateuch by Ezra in the Persian period. Moreover, there was no material evidence of the existence of biblical texts, Ezra himself and most of the characters of his book of the same name in the Persian period. In the end, some researchers rejected the hypothesis of the writing of the Pentateuch in the Persian period and formed another hypothesis. These researchers believed that active book creation was possible only under the condition of significant economic growth, the availability of human resources and a centralized government interested in writing such books. They saw such conditions in the period of Judea's history, which is called the Hasmonean.

Hypothesis of the writing of the Pentateuch in Jerusalem of the Hellenistic (Hasmonean) period

In the middle of the 2nd century BC, Judea was part of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. As a result of religious persecution by the empire's authorities, a rebellion led by the Hasmonean family broke out in Judea. The historical conditions for the rebels turned out to be favorable, since within the empire itself there was a struggle for the throne between various claimants. As a result of numerous battles, the rebels achieved recognition of their power from one of the claimants and began to rule Judea. At first, the Hasmoneans called themselves the high priests of all the Jews, and later - kings.

Supporters of this hypothesis claim that the final formation of the Pentateuch took place during the Hasmonean dynasty, which thus tried to justify its policy of conquest. One of the arguments in favor of this hypothesis is the Dead Sea Scrolls, which indicate great activity in the creation of biblical books and biblical plots during the time of this dynasty. However, the same scrolls indicate that the text of the Pentateuch was already actually formed during the Hasmonean era. Therefore, this hypothesis has a small number of supporters. Opponents of this hypothesis argue that the text of the Pentateuch was already formed before the beginning of the Hasmonean reign, therefore the historical conditions for writing the first books of the Bible must be sought in an earlier period, approximately the 4th-3rd centuries BC.

Supporters of the hypotheses

The attitude of scientists and ordinary researchers to these various hypotheses directly depends on their attitude to the biblical texts. People who consider the Bible to be the direct word of God are convinced that the author of the Pentateuch is Moses, even if other facts indicate the opposite. Scientists and researchers do not share this point of view and adhere to scientific hypotheses.

For example, the hypothesis that the Pentateuch was written during the time of David and Solomon has many supporters among patriotic citizens of Israel, other researchers of Jewish origin, and Israeli scholars who are firmly convinced of the historicity of the great United Monarchy of David and Solomon and have great sentiments for it.

Less optimistic scientists adhere to the hypothesis that the books were written during the time of Hezekiah and Josiah. Today, this hypothesis has the most supporters among those researchers who believe that the biblical stories in one way or another have a historical basis. This group perceives the biblical stories about events during the times of the Judean kings Hezekiah and Josiah as more or less historical, therefore they see the historical conditions for the creation of the Pentateuch precisely in this period.

Scrupulous scholars with a more critical attitude to the biblical stories believe that they are products of literary creativity and have a rather dubious historical basis. This group of scholars does not trust the stories about the religious reforms of kings Hezekiah and Josiah, especially since they do not have clear archaeological confirmation. Therefore, this critical group adheres to the hypotheses about the later time of writing of the books - in the Persian or Hellenistic period. The basis of this group is made up of European scholars of non-Jewish origin, who do not have special sentiments towards biblical stories and evaluate them more critically.

To date, there is no single point of view on the question of the times of writing the Pentateuch. Researchers see the historical conditions for the emergence of the Pentateuch in a particular period depending on their own preferences.

But there is only one answer to the question of when and where the Pentateuch was finally formed. And this answer objectively exists. It does not depend on the preferences of scientists, researchers and ordinary readers of the Bible. And the fact that there is no single point of view today suggests that among the most common hypotheses there is no correct one. Otherwise, the correct hypothesis would begin to gain a critical mass of supporters and, in the end, would win. But, unfortunately, we do not observe such a process in the scientific world.