Unit 3
The Torah

Learning Objectives

After completing Unit 3 you should be able to

1. define and discuss the approaches to the main source strands in the Torah according to the Documentary Hypothesis and Van Seters’ New Supplementary Hypothesis.
2. discuss the implications of the Documentary Hypothesis and Van Seters’ New Supplementary Hypothesis for the interpretation of Torah texts. That is, how should the idea that the Torah is not written by Moses, but by a series of independent authors, influence our understanding of its meaning?
3. discuss the origins and story line of the book of Deuteronomy.
4. define and discuss Form Criticism and Tradition History as methods for the study of the Torah.
5. recount the main plot lines of the Genesis, Exodus and Wilderness narratives.
6. compare the various emphases of the writers (i.e., the D, P and J sources) of the Genesis-Deuteronomy narrative.

Introduction

In this unit we will begin to study passages from the Hebrew Bible in detail. The unit also introduces several methods for analyzing the complex compositional history of the Torah (Pentateuch). According to ancient Jewish and Christian traditions, Moses, the great leader of Israel’s escape from a long captivity in Egypt, wrote the Pentateuch (Torah) in its entirety. Scholars largely abandoned this tradition in the nineteenth century in favour of a more complicated scenario. According to the scholarly view, several individuals had a hand in writing the Torah. These individuals wrote at different times, responding to the distinctive needs of their own times. We will learn to recognize some of the features in the Torah that led scholars to this view. We will also examine the scholarly hypothesis that three or four main sources were used to compose the Torah. We will examine several texts and take note of some of the telling differences between them. Our goal is not detailed, expert knowledge or certainty. Instead, we will try to develop an awareness of some of the indicators of difference in authorship.

In addition to dealing with the compositional history of the Torah, this unit provides us with an opportunity to read several sections from the Torah. As you begin to read, you might wonder why we aren’t beginning our study of the Torah at the beginning, with the first book, Genesis. After all, when we read a book, we usually start at the beginning, not at chapter five! There are two reasons. First, the book of Deuteronomy gives us a “sneak preview” of the whole Torah without immersing us in too much detail right away. Deuteronomy begins with a summary of much of the plot of the Torah. Second, according to one important school of thought, Deuteronomy, the last book in the present arrangement of the Torah, was probably the first book to be written. The readings in the textbook will deal with this issue in detail.

As you read the texts of the Torah, you will be able to observe important differences in perspective, theology and religious practice expressed by the various authors who contributed to it.