This chapter describes what mainstream non-fundamentalist scholars believe about the origins of the Torah – that is, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy.

     The Torah is derived primarily from four sources. 

     The two oldest sources are The Yahwist Narrative, which was written by the southern Hebrews sometime between 930-720 BCE, and The Elohist Traditions, which were written by the northern Hebrews during the same time period.  These make up the bulk of Genesis, and also a great deal of Exodus and Numbers. 

     The third source is the book of Deuteronomy, which was most likely the Bible that Hilkiah "found" in the temple.[1]  Scholars believe whoever published Deuteronomy also compiled Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, and Kings – and that even though these were not compiled until the 620's BCE, certain original source documents and oral traditions upon which they were based are much older.  The identification of these older sources is a challenging process, and, although reasonably complete approximations can be achieved, we will never be able to conclusively pinpoint the origins of all of them.

     The fourth source is The Priestly Text which was composed by the priests of Jerusalem.  Scholars are divided about the date of this source.  Some think it was written before the Babylonian exile of the 6^th century BCE, some think during that exile, and some think after that exile by as much as 100-200 years.  On the whole, its material is more recent than the others.  The largest of the four, it constitutes all of Leviticus, a great deal of Exodus and Numbers, and a little of Genesis, including the all-important creation account in Genesis 1.

Early Hebrew History

     In order to understand why scholars believe this, it is necessary to have a cursory knowledge of ancient Hebrew history.  The Hebrews migrated from Palestine into Egypt during the 1700's BCE – an event commemorated in the story of Joseph, and in Egyptian history as the Hyksos take-over of northern Egypt.  The Hebrews departed from Egypt about 1550 BCE, which Egyptian history records as the expulsion of the Hyksos, and which corresponds in very general terms to the Biblical Exodus.  Then there follows a 300+ year period filled with very interesting but inconclusive information, which largely reduces us to the art of speculation.  The degree of uncertainty abates in the 1220's BCE with the archaeological verification of Israel's existence in Palestine. 

     The Biblical book of Judges is our best source for what happened during the period from about 1200 BCE until 1050 BCE.  The first few chapters of Judges indicate that there was a deep cultural divide between the northern Hebrews who mingled with the Canaanite culture and the southern Hebrews who did not.  We know this from studying the various judges, who often ruled over exclusively northern tribes, but not southern tribes, and vice-versa – for example, the very ancient Song of Deborah, mentions almost every northern tribe, yet fails to mention southern tribes such as Judah and Simeon, and says the southern tribe of Reuben was only a lukewarm ally.[2] 

     From about 1050 BCE until 930 BCE both northern and southern Hebrews were theoretically united under the iron fists of the kings Saul, David, and Solomon; but these kings were constantly quelling revolts initiated by one faction or the other.  It was during Solomon's time that Zadok started the priesthood of the Jerusalem temple, and disenfranchised the northern priests under Abiathar.  The merger of north and south proved unworkable, and dissolved with the successful revolt of the north under Jeroboam. 

Yahwists and Elohists

     King Jeroboam presided over a deeply divided kingdom in the north.  Not only were the northern Hebrews culturally divided from the southern Hebrews, the northern Hebrews were also religiously divided amongst themselves – some worshiping Yahweh and others worshipping the pagan Canaanite god Baal.  To complicate matters, even those who worshipped Yahweh were divided between Abiathar's successors and Zadok's priests at Jerusalem. 

     Yet despite their differences, all western Semitic peoples, Hebrew and Canaanite alike, believed in a Father-God named El, as we can surmise from a large number of archaeological sites.[3]  Jeroboam attempted to use this common belief in El in order to unite his northern kingdom.  Like Henry of Navarre, he was a politique.  He erected idols of El's symbol, the golden calf, at Dan and at Bethel, and said "Here are your gods O Israel."[4]  The calf, or cow, was a symbol of El, for it is known from archaeology that he was depicted as a bull with horns.[5]  Therefore, it became politically correct to call God by the name of "El" or "Elohim," not "Yahweh."  To say that El was God was acceptable to Canaanite and Hebrew alike, but to say that Yahweh was God was offensive to the Canaanites, and therefore politically incorrect.

     The northern Hebrews began referring to their God as Elohim, in order to be politically correct, yet many of them still worshipped Yahweh.  Therefore, they began to use the names Elohim and Yahweh interchangeably for the same God.  This is evident from an Elohist passage in Genesis 29:31-30:24, where the progenitors of the southern tribes are associated with Yahweh (the LORD), but the progenitors of the northern tribes are associated with Elohim (God) – yet it is implicit that both are the same God.

     It was at this point that scholars believe the two sources known as The Yahwist Narrative and The Elohist Traditions began to take shape.  The Yahwist came from the south, and the Elohist came from the north.  We know they were once separate texts because the Bible preserves them as telling the same stories in two different ways.  For example, the story of Hagar is told twice in the Bible – once in Genesis 16, which calls God Yahweh, the signature of The Yahwist Narrative; and again in Genesis 21 which calls God Elohim, the signature of The Elohist Traditions.  The story of Abraham giving his wife to another man is also told twice – the Yahwist version in Genesis 12 and the Elohist in Genesis 20.  The story of God's warning to Balaam is also told twice – the Yahwist version in Numbers 22:22-35 and the Elohist in Numbers 22:9-12.

     Differing more than merely on the names for God, there are minute details which establish the Yahwist and Elohist versions as two as separate texts.  Moses' father-in-law has two different names – he is called Reuel in the Yahwist version and Jethro in the Elohist version.[6]  Likewise, the mountain on which the Ten Commandments are given has two different names – it is called Sinai in the Yahwist version and Horeb in the Elohist version.[7] 

Deuteronomy

     The north-south division continued until the Assyrians conquered the north in the 720's BCE.  At that time, it is believed that many northerners moved south and combined The Elohist Traditions with The Yahwist Narrative into one document.  Many Elohists became loyal to the southern kingdom that was still ruled by the descendents of King David.  They, by necessity, were forced to take a back seat to Zadok's Jerusalem priests.  They compiled their traditions into the book of Deuteronomy and the books of history, Joshua through Kings.  Out of allegiance to their new southern home, they gave these books a very pro-monarchy and pro-Jerusalem bias.  Yet they still retained certain Elohist signatures, for example, Deuteronomy still called the Mount of the Covenant by the name of Horeb instead of Sinai.  If one assumes that Moses wrote Deuteronomy, as is traditionally thought, then one must also assume that he used the names Horeb and Sinai interchangeably; but if this is true, then why does Deuteronomy constantly use the word Horeb but never Sinai?  If these names were truly interchangeable, then why is their usage not more random? 

The Priests of Jerusalem

          The last of the sources, The Priestly Text, which includes Genesis 1, was the brainchild of the Jerusalem temple priests who were the heirs of Zadok.  It was woven together with The Yahwist Narrative and The Elohist Traditions, to complete Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and to add Leviticus.  Scholars believe it achieved its final form sometime after the Jews returned from Babylon in 539 BCE, although a great deal of the material is from earlier times.  The Priestly text was comprised of at least three main bodies of material – 1) genealogical records, 2) rituals and regulations, and 3) a historical narrative including Genesis 1.  Although the first two may be somewhat more ancient, it is the historical narrative which causes the greatest degree of skepticism among scholars, and most agree it is largely false or misleading.

Return to this section's landing page:  Genesis 1 is a forgery.

The creationist narrative in Genesis 1 is contradicted by many ancient Christian texts.  Instead of an Almighty Creator God, ancient Christian texts espouse that the universe is born from blind arrogance and stupidity.  The angels caused evolution to occur from species to species.  There are many gods, (or aliens?), and the Christian God is just one among them.  Satan the Devil writes scripture, and thus the Bible was polluted with Genesis 1.  Archaeology and modern scholarship demonstrate that Genesis is indeed corrupted.  Cavemen walk with Adam and Eve.  Esoteric prophecies reveal the coming of Christ, and also reveal the dark forces that govern the cosmos.  Such are the ancient Christian writings.

Science vindicates the truth of these ideas.  Evolution often happens too fast for Darwin’s theory.  Gaps in the fossil record indicate that some kind of unnatural force acts together with natural selection.  Astrobiology reveals that intelligent life probably evolved long before us.  The fossil record reveals strange clues that aliens abducted species and transported them across oceans, and that DNA from diverse lineages was combined to spawn hybrid species.  Evidently, aliens influence evolution, and they are the gods of the world’s religions. 

This is not fiction.  All these facts are thoroughly documented in the links above.

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