Deck 4: Who Wrote the Pentateuch

Question 1

1. The creation stories in Genesis show remarkable similarities to myths from other cultures, especially Babylon. What themes are most similar? Where are the stories in Genesis most different from the others? What can these similarities and differences tell us about the message of the Genesis accounts?

Answer 1

The Enuma Elish and Genesis begin in a similar manner, with the world formless and void. The beginnings of these stories also share remarkable similarities in vocabulary and concept, suggesting that the first Genesis account (written after the Enuma Elish) drew upon the Enuma Elish. Parts of the Gilgamesh Epic and the Atrahasis tale also share many details in common with the Genesis flood story, suggesting further influence. Unlike the pagan stories, however, the Genesis stories feature one God rather than a multiplicity of gods and do not include a cosmogony or battle between the gods. The biblical stories thereby emphasize that the God of Israel is in fact the creator of the world and superior to all potential rivals.

Question 2

2. Looking at the four major sources in the Documentary Hypothesis we have identified themes that are particular to each. Describe the themes and vocabulary that are common to each. Why are specific sources hard to identify at times?

Answer 2

The J source prefers the name YHWH, tends to have an anthropomorphic image of the deity, and tends to have stories taking place in southern locations. E prefers the name Elohim for the deity, God communicates with people through prophets or visions, and features locations and persons important to the northern region. The D source underlies the entire book of Deuteronomy; one especially important theme is the centralization of the cultus in Jerusalem. The P source also prefers Elohim and is primarily concerned with cultic laws and the observance of festivals, kosher foods, circumcision, genealogies, and so on. Specific sources are often difficult to detect because material from different sources is often tightly interwoven (especially in J and E) and the fact that E and P both prefer the name Elohim.

Question 3

3. What are some of the indications of multiple sources in the Genesis Flood narrative? Which sources are represented, and what are the particular emphases for each source in the narrative? (The instructor might provide the Flood passage to the students for analysis.)

Answer 3

Students should point out doublets in the story (e.g., Noah enters the ark twice, receives instruction from the deity twice) and differences that present themselves, such as Noah taking a pair of each type of animal onto the ark (6:19) or two of each kind but seven pairs of each clean animal and a pair of every other (7:2). Students should note that the doublets and discrepancies use different names for the divinity and that concerns such as clean and unclean animals use Elohim while the more anthropomorphic descriptions of the interactions between the divinity and Noah use YHWH.

Question 4

4. After reading the biblical Flood stories and pertinent sections of other Near Eastern flood myths, what similarities do you identify? In what ways are these related sources valuable for the study of the biblical Flood narratives?

Question 5

1. Ancient Babylonian myths may have influenced Genesis 1-3.

Question 6

3. In the first (P) creation story, God creates animals before humans.

Question 7

4. The Documentary Hypothesis argues that the firsive books of the Bible were developed out of three separate sources.

Question 8

7. Some Jewish and Christian scholars in the Middle Ages saw problems with Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.

Question 9

8. The D source usually appears as genealogies.

Question 10

9. Moses wrote large portions of the Pentateuch.

Question 11

10. Most scholars today no longer hold to the JEDP version of the Documentary Hypothesis.

Question 12

1) Which is not a difference between the first and second creation stories?

A) whether humans were created before or after plants
B) whether humans were created before or after animals
C) how many gods were involved in creation
D) the depiction of the deity

Question 13

2) The J creation account includes all of the following except

A) the garden of Eden.
B) creation of humans.
C) a snake.
D) God resting.

Question 14

4) The primary impetus for the Documentary Hypothesis was

A) inconsistency about the name(s) of God in the Pentateuch.
B) doubts about the historicity of the Abraham narratives.
C) skepticism about Genesis's creation narratives.
D) discovery of other sources clearly used by the author of the Pentateuch.

Question 15

8) The source most concerned with dietary laws is

A) J.
B) E.
C) D.
D) P.

Question 16

11) The two creation accounts in Genesis come from these two sources

A) P and E.
B) J and E.
C) D and E.
D) J and P.

Question 17

12) The source found almost entirely in Deuteronomy is

A) P.
B) E.
C) J.
D) D.

Question 18

14) Which of the following is not a part of the scholarly consensus about the authorship of the Pentateuch?

A) It was not written by Moses.
B) It is based on many earlier sources, both oral and written.
C) It does not provide useful information about the period of its composition.
D) It was compiled over a long period of time.

Question 19

16) This story is so similar to the creation story from Genesis 1 that one scholar has called it "The Babylonian Genesis."

A) Enuma Elish
B) Gilgamesh Epic
C) Atrahasis
D) Marduk and Ugarit

Question 20

17) This figure survives a massive flood in the Gilgamesh Epic.

A) Gilgamesh
B) Utnapishtim
C) Noah
D) Atrahasis

Question 21

18) Passages that are variant treatments of the same subject within a text are called

A) parallels.
B) repetitions.
C) doublets.
D) prose.

Question 22

19) Early scholarship argued that the Joseph narrative belonged to the ____________ source because revelation comes to Joseph through dreams.

A) J
B) E
C) D
D) P

Question 23

20) The four consonants (YHWH) of God's name are known as the

A) Tetrahedral.
B) Utterance.
C) Tetragrammaton.
D) Utnapishtim.

Question 24

21) Most scholars agree that the oldest source may be

A) J.
B) E.
C) D.
D) P.