Biblical scholars and students: Did J write Genesis and E write Exodus?

Question

Or are the two authors writings co-mingled in those first two books? Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

The idea of J and E as two separate "authors" or of two separate oral traditions that were merged by a later redactor comes from the very different usage of words. One tradtion uses the divine name YHWH when refering to God and the other users Elohim.

In english bibles these words are rendered differently. Elohim becomes "God" and YHWH becomes "Lord" in small caps.

The preface for the NET bible says:
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How is the Divine Name translated in the Old Testament?

The translation of the Divine Name represents special problems for all English Bibles. The most difficult issue is the handling of the so-called tetragrammaton, the four consonants which represent the name of God in the Old Testament. This was rendered traditionally as “Jehovah” in the King James Version, but it is generally recognized that this represents a combination of the consonants of the tetragrammaton, יהוה (YHWH), and the vowels from a completely different Hebrew word, אֲדֹנָי(’adonai, “master”), which were substituted by the Masoretes so that pronunciation of the Divine Name could be avoided: Whenever יהוה (YHWH), appeared in the text, the presence of the vowels from the word אֲדֹנָי (’adonai) signaled to the reader that the word אֲדֹנָי (’adonai) was to be pronounced instead.

Today most Old Testament scholars agree that the vocalization of the Divine Name would originally have been something like Yahweh, and this has become the generally accepted rendering. The Executive Steering Committee of the NET Bible spent considerable time discussing whether or not to employ Yahweh in the translation. Several Old Testament editors and translators favored its use, reasoning that because of its use in the lyrics of contemporary Christian songs and its appearance in Bible study materials, the name Yahweh had gained more general acceptance. In spite of this, however, the Committee eventually decided to follow the usage of most English translations and render the Divine Name as “Lord” in small caps. Thus the frequent combination אֶלֹהִים יְהוָה (Yahweh ’elohim) is rendered as Lord God.

Other combinations like יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת (Yahweh Tséva’ot), traditionally rendered “Lord of hosts,” have been translated either as “the Lord who rules over all” or “the Lord who commands armies” depending on the context. Such instances are typically indicated by a translators’ note [tn].

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I would like to acknowledge that Traditional Scholar ship has maintained that Moses wrote the first 5 books of the bible.
(and this as far back as we have any record of biblical scholarship.) However it is questionable whether alphabets and writting (except for pictograms) existed at the time most biblical archealogists would place the Exodus from Egypt. Certainly if Moses did write anything it was not in a phonetic alphabet, and the Old testament we have today must have undergone a translation. Most likely however is that the written text we have today was maintained as oral traditions, and the conflicting versions or traditions were redacted into the final form during the reign of King David.

All this said, The first shift from the E point of view to the J point of occurs in Gensis 2:4 view where we see the wording shift from the story of "God" Elohim creating the world to THe Lord God ( YHWH Elohim) creating man and woman.

Again the NET bible provides a nice footnote at this point:

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sn Advocates of the so-called documentary hypothesis of pentateuchal authorship argue that the introduction of the name Yahweh (Lord) here indicates that a new source (designated J), a parallel account of creation, begins here. In this scheme Gen 1:1-2:3 is understood as the priestly source (designated P) of creation. Critics of this approach often respond that the names, rather than indicating separate sources, were chosen to reflect the subject matter (see U. Cassuto, The Documentary Hypothesis). Gen 1:1–2:3 is the grand prologue of the book, showing the sovereign God creating by decree. The narrative beginning in 2:4 is the account of what this God invested in his creation. Since it deals with the close, personal involvement of the covenant God, the narrative uses the covenantal name Yahweh (Lord) in combination with the name God. For a recent discussion of the documentary hypothesis from a theologically conservative perspective, see D. A. Garrett, Rethinking Genesis. For an attempt by source critics to demonstrate the legitimacy of the source critical method on the basis of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see J. H. Tigay, ed., Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism. For reaction to the source critical method by literary critics, see I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 131-54; and Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 111-34.

>> end quote <<

In general if you pay attention to the wording God versus Lord you should be able to decipher for yourself which sections of the penetuch are J and which are E.

Good luck and thanks for asking such an interesting question

Answer 2

J - the Jahwist. J describes a human-like God called Yahweh and has a special interest in Judah and in the Aaronid priesthood. J has an extremely eloquent style. J uses an earlier form of the Hebrew language than P.
E - the Elohist. E describes a human-like God initially called El (which sometimes appears as Elohim according to the rules of Hebrew grammar), and called Yahweh subsequent to the incident of the burning bush. E focuses on biblical Israel and on the Shiloh priesthood. E has a moderately eloquent style. E uses an earlier form of the Hebrew language than P.

While religious Jews believe that both Genesis and Exodus were written by the same author Moses, Religious scholars have discovered differences in writing styles.
Remember that the old Testament is an account of the History of the Jews and writing as we know it was invented about 800BC....long after the death of Moses.
The Old testament is the most studied of all books ever written and has confused very many learned scholars.

Answer 3

I'm not surprised that the "religious" people have no idea what you're talking about.

For all those who are interested:

Whether or not Moses wrote any part of the Old Testament is not verifiable. However, Bible scholars have managed to discern different writing styles within the first few books of the OT. This is a result of different people writing for different audiences. These styles are given names, which are then shortened into letters, which is where "J" and "E" come from.

As for Genesis, it's clear that there are 2 different authors. Just look at the 2 different creation stories.

Answer 4

The JEPD theory is so out-of-date I cannot believe that it is still taught....that's stuff from the 1800's - we've had 200 years of biblical archeology since that was first taught, (like the Dead Sea Scrolls), I thought that linguistic and textural scholars had pretty much done away with teaching that method, as it is outdated and was truly only a theory (at best) anyway when it was introduced in the 19th century anyway.

Were in the 21st Century now!!

Answer 5

Who ever pulled Genesis together [ as J is different than E ect. ]: down the genealogy of Jesus line, knew what they were doing, it is evident that Abraham was son #20 who died 1883 less 370 years to Moses dies 1513 before Christ, had collected information, so Moses in the 40 years before 1513 had compiled Genesis with all 6 books [ his of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy ]; along with the book of Job as, Joseph had been dead 1698 BCE less 65 years is 1633 when Job died the year Moses was born and Moses was age 120 Deut.34:7; 1513 BCE, it was another 1Ki.6:1; 480 years to Solomon [ the son of king David 1Chr.3:9-17; and David is son #34 in genealogy of Jesus Matt.1:1-17 ]; Solomon began the temple in 1033 BCE, he had 36 years of life left to 1Ki.11:42; at 997 BCE.

Answer 6

There is no one by those names who wrote Genesis and Exodus. There is no "J" in the Hebrew alphabet.

It is generally thought that Moses wrote the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the bible, which would include Genesis and Exodus.

Answer 7

Let me refer you to "Misquoting Jesus" by Bart D. Ehrman. He's a Religious Studies prof at the U. of NC at Chapel Hill. He was a conservative Christian before doing research on the ways of the Biblical writings. At the end he became a non-believer.

Answer 8

They are co-mingled.

Answer 9

Moses wrote them both.

Answer 10

dont know what you mean by J and E,, Jesus didnt write any part of the bible, atleast not directly