Traditional attribution to Moses, but he is not internally identified as the author.
The text describes Moses's death, indicating he couldn't have written the entire book.
Chronological inconsistencies and anachronisms (e.g., King list of Edom) suggest multiple authors.
The concept of "history" as accurate factual record was invented much later than these texts were written.
Dating and Chronology:
The book doesn't include explicit dates.
Attempts by figures like Bishop Ussher to date creation (October 23rd, 4004 BC) by adding up "magic numbers" (like 40 years for a generation) in the Bible are anachronistic.
Biblical narratives are not written with the intent of historical accuracy in the modern sense; they serve theological purposes.
Historical periods like the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of Egypt have relatively good chronologies, allowing for external verification.
The Bible becomes historically verifiable shortly before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC.
Literary ideas of the Bible, from figures like Abraham and the Flood, are not precisely dated.
The Role of Ezra:
Ezra is significant in biblical chronology.
After the Jewish exiles returned from Babylon and rebuilt the temple, Ezra, a Persian court official, read from the Torah to the Judeans.
This is likely the first time the Pentateuch was experienced in its present form in a worship setting.
Manuscripts from the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate books like Genesis date back to around Ezra's time in their current form.
Early Allusions to Genesis Stories:
Later writers like Apostle Paul frequently allude to Adam, Abraham, and Moses, showing these figures were important to Christian theology.
However, earlier prophets like Isaiah do not mention Genesis stories such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, or Noah.
This "negative evidence" suggests these stories may not have been widely known or circulated during the time of the early prophets, or they held no theological significance for them.
Literary Criticism and the Documentary Hypothesis:
Due to a lack of archaeological or external sources for many early biblical figures, literary criticism is used to analyze the text itself for clues about authorship, composition, and purpose.
Lower Criticism (Textual Criticism): Aims to identify and remove transcription errors from thousands of manuscripts. A later copy can sometimes be better than an older one.
Higher Criticism (Historical Criticism): Asks about the text's origin, original meaning, context, author's situation, and audience.
Ancient scribes often combined different texts, added their own notes, or expanded works, creating "seams" in the narrative due to differing contemporary languages or styles.
Examples of Textual Development:
Matthew and Luke independently incorporated Mark and a lost "Q" source.
2 Peter is an expansion of Jude.
Chronicles sanitizes and repurposes the Deuteronomic history (Joshua to Kings), removing negative aspects of figures like David and Solomon. The Chronicler also introduces an anachronism by mentioning Satan, a concept not prevalent in earlier texts.
Evidence for Multiple Authors in Genesis (Documentary Hypothesis):
Doublets and Triplets: The same story is told multiple times with variations (e.g., "She's my sister" story with Abraham/Sarah and Isaac/Rebekah).
Narrative Seams: Close analysis reveals distinct voices and styles.
Different Stages of Biblical Hebrew: Authors use different linguistic forms.
Different Terms and Themes: Authors use distinct vocabulary, character names, and conceptual approaches.
Recurring Voices: The major sources (J, E, P, and D outside Genesis) are interspersed throughout the text, not in discrete blocks.
Coherence of Individual Sources: When separated, each source often forms a coherent narrative on its own.
The Four Major Sources (J, E, P, D):
J (Yahwist Source):
Uses "Yahweh" for God from the beginning.
Depicts an anthropomorphic God (e.g., walking in Eden, regretting actions).
Interested in the Southern Kingdom (Judah), its places (Hebron), and heroes (Caleb, Judah).
Uses phrases like "to know" for sex and "Sheol" for the underworld.
Includes talking animals (snake, Balaam's ass).
Noah needs seven pairs of clean animals for sacrifice.
E (Elohist Source):
Uses "Elohim" (God) until God reveals the name Yahweh to Moses at the burning bush.
Interested in the Northern Kingdom (Israel), its places (Shechem, Shiloh), and heroes (Joseph, Joshua).
Often critical of the House of David.
Noah needs two of every kind of animal (no sacrifices mentioned).
P (Priestly Source):
Long-winded, bureaucratic, obsessed with law, ritual, and dimensions (e.g., cubits for the Ark).
Uses "Elohim" until the name is revealed to Moses.
Uses "congregation" over 100 times, "gathered to his people" for death, "be fruitful and multiply," and "fell on their face."
Only legitimate sacrifices are offered by Aaron and his descendants at the Temple in Jerusalem.
Has a more cosmic conception of God (Spirit above waters in creation).
Does not include talking animals or earthy elements.
Noah does not offer sacrifice.
D (Deuteronomic Source):
Primarily found in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic History (Joshua to 2 Kings).
Shares theological and stylistic similarities with the prophet Jeremiah.
Believed to have been "found" by Hilkiah the priest during King Josiah's reign, leading to reforms.
Proposed Timeline of Composition:
J and E are the oldest, written in early Biblical Hebrew.
Exiles from the Northern Kingdom (after Assyrian destruction) brought their E texts to Judah.
A redactor (editor) combined J and E into "JE."
The P source may have been written in response to JE, sanitizing stories and emphasizing Aaronic priesthood. P uses a later form of Hebrew.
The Deuteronomic writer (D) compiled the Deuteronomic history and introduced Deuteronomy, which is an even later stage of Hebrew.
A final redactor, possibly Ezra, combined all these sources (J, E, P, D) into the Pentateuch, slicing them up and interweaving them.
Motivations of the Authors:
J: Likely a courtier in Judah, writing witty, courtly narratives about strong women.
E: Possibly northern exiled priests/Levites, upset about Aaronic control over the Jerusalem Temple, showing other patriarchs offering sacrifices.
P: Aaronid priests concerned with centralizing worship at the Jerusalem Temple and elevating Aaron's reputation.
D: Associated with King Josiah's reform, concentrating worship in Jerusalem and reinforcing the Davidic King's connection to the high priesthood.
Why the Contradictions Remain:
After the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile, the specific competing interests of these groups likely diminished in importance.
The final redactor, perhaps Ezra, saw all these texts as ancient and sacred.
They chose to preserve all the texts by interweaving them, rather than choosing one dominant version.
This results in a richer, more composite text with internal dialogues and contradictions (e.g., the Noah's Ark story with two vs. seven animals).
This complexity makes the Bible a more fascinating and dynamic authoritative text than a singular, monolithic voice.