1. Sources

Critical study in the 17th and 18th centuries identified three main criteria as the basis for analyzing the composition of the Pentateuch: (1) differences of style between narratives where such differences seem unwarranted by the subject matter, (2) alternation between the use of the divine names “Elohim” and “Yahweh,” and (3) duplicate narratives such as the creation stories in Genesis 1–2. Three main theories were argued to account for these factors: the older documentary theory, according to which two main so…