Activity Penning the Pentateuch

Activity Penning the Pentateuch

Students form groups of fiveto quickly read the following and share key ideas associated with Authorship of the Pentateuch and what the text reveals about good and evil and God’s relationship with humans.

Authorship of the Pentateuch

The term Pentateuch refers to the first five books of the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures. The Pentateuch includes the biblical books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. A so-called “documentary hypothesis’ or theory assumes that four strands of tradition or four general sources have contributed in the composition of the Pentateuch. These strands of tradition are named the Jahwist (J), the Elohist (E), the Priestly (P) and the Deuteronomist (D).

The Jahwist (Yahwist) tradition comes from the time of Solomon about 950 B.C.E. and originates in royal circles in Jerusalem. The king has an important place in this tradition as the one who gives unity to the faith of the people. The Elohist tradition calls God Elohim. It came into being in the northern kingdom after the kingdom of David and Solomon had split into two. The Elohist attaches great importance to prophets and the prophetic message. The Priestly tradition came into being during the Babylonian exile in the years 587 –538 B.C.E. and later. After the deportation of many of the people of Israel to Babylon, the priests re-read and re-interpreted the traditions of the Pentateuch to sustain the faith and hope of an exiled people. The Deuteronomist tradition was begun in the northern kingdom and completed in Jerusalem.

Certain features are characteristic of each tradition and assist scripture scholars in identifying particular traditions when they are studying texts from the various books of the Pentateuch. Major characteristics of each of the four strands of tradition are set out on the following page:

Each group member is allocated one of the scripture texts provided below. Each member studies their allocated text and

1: identifies which tradition is best exemplified through the text using the information given on the previous pages and

2: what the text says about good and evil/ light and dark and/or God’s relationship with humans.

Group members visit at least one other group to compare and share their findings. If there is disagreement about the authorship they find a third group until consensus is reached. Groups then reform and share findings with the whole class.

This text is most likely from the ______source because

______