We've covered this ground before, both with Bob X's excellent series of articles on the subject (torah torah torah) and in bananabrain's defence of the Jewish scriptures in tilting at windmills: a response to 'redaction theory' .
However, I came across an interesting article on beliefnet that covers some good ground with it, namely an interview with Richard Elliott Friedman, and a specific example of the application of this theory from his book:
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Editorial Team Behind the Bible [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Who wrote the first five books of the Bible--and spliced older texts with newer ones?[/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Interview with Richard Elliott Friedman [/font]
In your introduction, you say your work--identifying and separating the different authors of the first five books of the Bible--is not meant to produce faith crises. Obviously, there are people out there with a strong belief about the author of the Bible. What's the role of divine inspiration here?
Some of the earliest Bible scholars who questioned who the authors were said, "Well, it wasn't all one person, it wasn't Moses who wrote the first five books"—even they were pious rabbis, priests, or ministers. Their answer was, "OK, it wasn't Moses who wrote it down, it was other people, but it still came from God." Today, there are religious Jews and Christians who take that same view: it could still be of a divine origin.document.
More: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13986_1.html
Also:
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Splicing of the Red Sea
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The story of the parting of the Red Sea with early sources coded by color.[/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Translated by Richard Elliott Friedman [/font][/font]
Blue = J, an early source written by a Jewish layperson
Bold black = E, an early source written by a member of the Jewish priesthood
Bold purple = P, a later source written by a priest of the lineage of Aaron
According to the Documentary Hypothesis (held by Friedman and others), each source can be read on its own as a continuous text: the green J text is a self-contained story, as is the bold green text and the blue text. Excerpted from The Bible with Sources Revealed with permission of Harper SanFrancisco.
Exodus Chapter 14
5 And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and his servants changed toward the people. And they said, "What is this that we've done, that we let Israel go from serving us?!" 6 And he hitched his chariot and took his people with him. 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots-and all the chariotry of Egypt-and officers over all of it. 8 And YHWH strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel. And the children of Israel were going out with a high hand. 9 And Egypt pursued them. And they taught up to them, camping by the sea-every chariot horse of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army-at Pi-Hahiroth, in front of Baal-Zephon. 10 And Pharaoh came close! And the children of Israel raised their eyes, and here was Egypt coming after them, and they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to YHWH.
More: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13987_1.html
However, I came across an interesting article on beliefnet that covers some good ground with it, namely an interview with Richard Elliott Friedman, and a specific example of the application of this theory from his book:
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Editorial Team Behind the Bible [/font]
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Who wrote the first five books of the Bible--and spliced older texts with newer ones?[/font]
![x.gif](http://images.beliefnet.com/imgs/x.gif)
In your introduction, you say your work--identifying and separating the different authors of the first five books of the Bible--is not meant to produce faith crises. Obviously, there are people out there with a strong belief about the author of the Bible. What's the role of divine inspiration here?
Some of the earliest Bible scholars who questioned who the authors were said, "Well, it wasn't all one person, it wasn't Moses who wrote the first five books"—even they were pious rabbis, priests, or ministers. Their answer was, "OK, it wasn't Moses who wrote it down, it was other people, but it still came from God." Today, there are religious Jews and Christians who take that same view: it could still be of a divine origin.document.
More: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13986_1.html
Also:
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The Splicing of the Red Sea
[font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif]The story of the parting of the Red Sea with early sources coded by color.[/font]
![x.gif](http://images.beliefnet.com/imgs/x.gif)
Blue = J, an early source written by a Jewish layperson
Bold black = E, an early source written by a member of the Jewish priesthood
Bold purple = P, a later source written by a priest of the lineage of Aaron
According to the Documentary Hypothesis (held by Friedman and others), each source can be read on its own as a continuous text: the green J text is a self-contained story, as is the bold green text and the blue text. Excerpted from The Bible with Sources Revealed with permission of Harper SanFrancisco.
Exodus Chapter 14
5 And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled. And the heart of Pharaoh and his servants changed toward the people. And they said, "What is this that we've done, that we let Israel go from serving us?!" 6 And he hitched his chariot and took his people with him. 7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots-and all the chariotry of Egypt-and officers over all of it. 8 And YHWH strengthened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel. And the children of Israel were going out with a high hand. 9 And Egypt pursued them. And they taught up to them, camping by the sea-every chariot horse of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army-at Pi-Hahiroth, in front of Baal-Zephon. 10 And Pharaoh came close! And the children of Israel raised their eyes, and here was Egypt coming after them, and they were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to YHWH.
More: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/139/story_13987_1.html