The Four Narrative Strands and the Three Law Collections

The first half of the lecture strives to present in much detail the four separate narrative strands, notably the Torah/Pentateuch sources L, J, E and P. In terms of the Torah/Pentateuch source L the lecture covers such facets of the topic as its antique flavour, its literary form, date and place of origin. Within the presentation of the J, E and P sources similar aspects are tackled as mentioned above, with a specific focus on the interrelationship of the narrative strands L, J, E and P, their combining and amplification.

The second half of the lecture focuses upon the three collections of laws, namely the Book of the Covenant, the Deuteronomy (D) source of the Torah/Pentateuch and the Holiness Code. The treatment of the Book of the Covenant entails the following aspects: name and contents, component parts, the interpolating of the Book of the Covenant (source B), date of origin and the Book of the Covenant and Sinai. The Torah/Pentateuchal source D also receives a detailed treatment, which covers such aspects as: the relationship of source D to B (that is the Book of the Covenant), the various groups of laws in source D, the original Deuteronomy, the introduction (Deut/Dev 1-11), the Song and the Blessing of Moses (Deut/Dev 32-33), the conclusion (27-34), the D source and the political situation of its time. The Holiness Code is examined in terms of its name, compass and composition and date of origin.The lecture concludes with brief summarizing comments on the formation of the Torah/Pentateuch.

Reading: