Elohist

The Elohist (E) is one of the sources of the torah postulated by the documentary hypothesis This article describes the opinion of the documentary hypothesis without taking into account alternative opinions; see the documentary hypothesis article for details on the disputes to this theory

The Elohist (or simply E ) is identified through textual criticism as one of four sources of the Torah , together with the Yahwist , the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source . Its name comes from Elohim , the term used in the Hebrew and Canaanite languages for the Gods . It is characterized by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using Horeb instead of Sinai for the mountain where Moses received the laws of Israel and the use of the phrase "fear of God". It habitually locates ancestral stories in the north , especially Ephraim , and the documentary hypothesis holds that it must have been composed in that region, possibly in the second half of the 9th century BCE. Some recent reconstructions leave out the Elohist altogether, proposing a Deuteronomist - Jahwist - Priestly sequence for the Torah written from the reign of Josiah into post- exilic times.

One of the four sources of the Torah in the documentary hypothesis Diagram of the 20th century documentary hypothesis. J: Yahwist (10th−9th century BCE) E: Elohist (9th century BCE) Dtr1: early (7th century BCE) Deuteronomist historian Dtr2: later (6th century BCE) Deuteronomist historian P*: Priestly (6th−5th century BCE) D†: Deuteronomist R: redactor DH: Deuteronomistic history (books of Joshua , Judges , Samuel , Kings ) According to the documentary hypothesis , the Elohist (or simply E ) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah , together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source . The Elohist is so named because of its pervasive use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite god. The Elohist source is characterized by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using Horeb instead of Sinai for the mountain where Moses received the laws of Israel and the use of the phrase "fear of God". It habitually locates ancestral stories in the north , especially Ephraim , and the documentary hypothesis holds that it must have been composed in that region, possibly in the second half of the 9th century BCE. Because of its highly fragmentary nature, most scholars now reject the existence of the Elohist source as a coherent independent document. Instead, the E material is viewed as consisting of various fragments of earlier narratives that are incorporated into the Jahwist document.

One of the four sources of the Torah in the documentary hypothesis Diagram of the 20th century documentary hypothesis. J: Yahwist (10th−9th century BCE) E: Elohist (9th century BCE) Dtr1: early (7th century BCE) Deuteronomist historian Dtr2: later (6th century BCE) Deuteronomist historian P*: Priestly (6th−5th century BCE) D†: Deuteronomist R: redactor DH: Deuteronomistic history (books of Joshua , Judges , Samuel , Kings ) According to the documentary hypothesis , the Elohist (or simply E ) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah , together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source . The Elohist is so named because of its pervasive use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite god. The Elohist source is characterized by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using Horeb instead of Sinai for the mountain where Moses received the laws of Israel and the use of the phrase "fear of God". It habitually locates ancestral stories in the north , especially Ephraim , and the documentary hypothesis holds that it must have been composed in that region, possibly in the second half of the 9th century BCE. Because of its highly fragmentary nature, most scholars now question the existence of the Elohist source as a coherent independent document. Instead, the E material is viewed as consisting of various fragments of earlier narratives that are incorporated into the Jahwist document.

One of the four sources of the Torah in the documentary hypothesis Diagram of the 20th century documentary hypothesis. J: Yahwist (10th−9th century BCE) E: Elohist (9th century BCE) Dtr1: early (7th century BCE) Deuteronomist historian Dtr2: later (6th century BCE) Deuteronomist historian P*: Priestly (6th−5th century BCE) D†: Deuteronomist R: redactor DH: Deuteronomistic history (books of Joshua , Judges , Samuel , Kings ) According to the documentary hypothesis , the Elohist (or simply E ) is one of four source documents underlying the Torah , together with the Jahwist (or Yahwist), the Deuteronomist and the Priestly source . The Elohist is so named because of its repeated use of the word Elohim to refer to the Israelite God. The Elohist source is characterized by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using Horeb instead of Sinai for the mountain where Moses received the laws of Israel and the use of the phrase "fear of God". It habitually locates ancestral stories in the north , especially Ephraim , and the documentary hypothesis holds that it must have been composed in that region, possibly in the second half of the 9th century BCE. Because of its highly fragmentary nature, most scholars now question the existence of the Elohist source as a coherent independent document. Instead, the E material is viewed as consisting of various fragments of earlier narratives that are incorporated into the Jahwist document.