{"id":33903,"date":"2014-02-20T08:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T16:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=33903"},"modified":"2014-02-18T09:56:36","modified_gmt":"2014-02-18T17:56:36","slug":"jedp-hypothesis-q-theory-and-the-critical-text-oh-my","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/jedp-hypothesis-q-theory-and-the-critical-text-oh-my\/","title":{"rendered":"JEDP Hypothesis, Q Theory, and the Critical Text… Oh My!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nWarning:<\/strong> This post will interest only the most scholarly among you… It is written in answer to a question sent in by a reader about Genesis 1-2. Here is the question:<\/p>\n
Question: Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 appear to be written by different people. How is your understanding on this?<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Here is my roundabout way of answering:<\/p>\n
Yes, Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 do appear to be written by different people. Bible scholars have noted that different names of God are used in these two chapters, along with different terminology, different themes, and even a somewhat different order of events. These differences aren’t just with Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, of course, but with the entire Pentateuch.<\/p>\n
The JEDP Hypothesis<\/h2>\n
This has led some scholars to suggest that there were maybe 4 authors (or groups of authors) for the Pentateuch, and they can be identified by their emphasis and by what name(s) for God they seemed to have preferred. This theory is called the Documentary theory or the JEDP hypothesis, and the four authors (or groups of authors) are identified as the Yahwist (J), the Elohist (E), the Deuteronomist (D), and the Priestly (P). According to this theory, it is believed that the Priestly author wrote Genesis 1:1-2:3 and the Yahwist wrote Genesis 2:4ff.<\/p>\n