The jepd theory and that is all it ever was a theory was dreamed up by a german named wellhausen and one reason it has lost favor with the socalled scholars is that his dates were way off. Moody press, 1994, 89187 for a comprehensive and devastating critique of the jedpdocumentary hypothesis. These lectures, delivered by rabbi umberto cassuto 18831951, summarize his indepth research, spanning no less than 25 years, into the grafwellhausen documentary hypothesis. Masoretic text wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. A brief recapitulation of kuhns theory concerning the nature of scientific inquiry is instructive in understanding the place of the documentary hypothesis within the spectrum of biblical scholarship. Point these are the arguments that umberto cassuto poses against the main points of the documentary hypothesis. Biography and bibliography at the jewish virtual library free download of u. The book was a popularization of the famous documentary hypothesis, which claims that the pentateuch was not the work of moses, but was. Pdf cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the paradigm. The masoretic text mt, or is the authoritative hebrew and aramaic text of the tanakh for rabbinic judaism.
The components are variation in the name of the deity. The structure of the tent of meeting, as described in exod 2440, is regarded by many scholars as a piece of fiction, a literary creation of the priestly writer p during the postexilic erakitchen has demonstrated that this thinking arises from total ignorance of the actual practices of ancient near eastern peoplesit is doubtful that a postexilic writer would be able to describe. Umberto cassuto, the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch jerusalem. A commentary on the book of exodus by umberto cassuto. It was primarily copied, edited and distributed by a group of jews known as the masoretes between the 7th and 10th centuries ce. Termsvector search result for documentary hypothesis 1. Martin luther and umberto cassuto the only others with which i am familiar. The mt is also widely used as the basis for translations of the old testament in protestant bibles, and in recent. Rule of the community, one of the first dead sea scrolls recovered.
The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch. The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the. What is the jewish response to multiple torah authors. Ceriani, antonio maria, codex syrohexaplaris ambrosianus photolithographice editus, monumenta sacra et profana ex codicibus praesertim bibliothecae ambrosianae vii, mailand 1874. Shalem press, 2006 for a devastating critique from a professor of biblical. The oldest extant manuscripts date from around the 9th century. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. It can most specifically mean the first five books of the twentyfour books of the tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. Cassuto, umberto, the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch. The masoretic text mt is the authoritative hebrew text of the jewish bible regarded almost universally as the official version of the tanakh. Cassuto had originally planned to write, in hebrew, a monumental commentary on the bible that would comprise a series of detailed expositions of the book of genesis, and less elaborate commentaries, consisting of one volume for each book, devoted to the remaining four books of the pentateuch. Horeb d deuteronomist late 7th c bce stress on the central shrine stresses from near e 307 at university of washington, seattle. However, contemporary scholars seeking to understand the history of the hebrew bibles text use a range of other sources. Magnes press, hebrew university, 1961 cassuto, umberto.
Kay is a lifelong texan who loves to teach the bible and develop women as servantleaders. She is the founder and executive director of beyond ordinary women ministries, which offers online free or low cost resources to prepare christian women for leadership kay spent t. The documentary hypothesis eight lectures umberto cassuto. It defines not just the books of the jewish canon, but also the precise lettertext of the biblical books in judaism, as well. The book was a popularization of the famous documentary hypothesis, which claims that the pentateuch was not the work of moses, but was a rather.
Rather than rely on a secondary source, i read parts of cassutos commentary on genesis. Export a ris file for endnote, procite, reference manager, zotero, mendeley export a text file. Horeb d deuteronomist late 7th c bce stress on the central. Interspersed in the narrative are the specific teachings religious obligations and civil laws given explicitly i. A commentary on the book of genesis cassuto, umberto.
If the article contains non english text, please also send a pdf file. A commentary on the book of exodus umberto cassuto. Umberto cassuto and the documentary hypothesis theopolis. Nehama leibowitz, new studies in bereshit, genesis. Cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the paradigm shift in biblical studies. Ross to my parents, victor and margaret ross, who first opened to me the holy scriptures and started me on my spiritual journey contents charts 11 preface key to transliteration 15 abbreviations 17 part 1. While the masoretic text defines the books of the jewish canon, it also defines the precise lettertext of these biblical books, with their vocalization and accentuation known as the masorah. Unfortunately, cassuto died before he could see all his major commentaries through to completion and publication. There have also been and are a number of scholars who reject it, for example egyptologist kenneth kitchen and the late umberto cassuto and gleason archer. A half century ago, the jewish scholar umberto cassuto raised damaging questions about the theory. L magnes chair emeritus of biblical studies at the hebrew university of jerusalem, he is an editor of the hebrew university bible project and its annual textus and also edited several coauthored volumes, most recently jewish civilization in the hellenistic roman period 199 i. About the author literary studies in the hebrew bible form and content talmon shemaryahu j. Literary studies in the hebrew bible form and content by talmon shemaryahu the cambridge bible for schools and colleges.
Cassutos critique of the documentary hypothesis was grounded in his knowledge of. If it left out the ridiculous documentary hypothesis garbage maybe it could get. The 2007 import and export market for womens and girls overcoats, carcoats, capes, cloaks, anoraks, and ski jackets of knitted or crocheted textile fabrics excluding suit jackets in united states by philip m. Mcdowell cites the objections of early scholars such as umberto cassuto and. It is established on a hierarchy of different texts. Born in florence, son of gustavo and ernesta galletti, cassuto came from a traditionalist jewish family, rooted in the florence jewish community for generations. How did the pentateuch or torah come to be written. The masoretic codices however, provide extensive additional material, called masorah, to show correct pronunciation and cantillation, protect against scribal errors, and annotate. About the author the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch. In these chapters he talks about nt textual criticism, the formation of the nt canon, and the establishment of christian orthodoxy, viz. Umberto cassuto and the documentary hypothesis biblical horizons. Historical and cultural background of the mount sinai covenant ex 24. As the final part of research that i wanted to dive in to, i looked back at my source that i used for identifying the main logical points in favor of the documentary hypothesis to see what it had to say against it.
The oldest and more authoritative is the torah the five books of moshe, then come the mishnah, the talmud, the compilation as maimonides mishne torah. Murder in the garden the envy of the gods in genesis 2. The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch by umberto cassuto, israel. The masoretic text mt, or is the authoritative hebrew text of the jewish bible. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. A history of biblical culture and the battles over the bible in modern judaism studia judaica 38. His conclusions were summarized in a little book called the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch jerusalem. Cassuto presents what he refers to as the five pillars of the documentary hypothesis. The italianisraeli scholar umberto moshe david cassuto 18831951, described the shared history of homeric and.
Cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch hebrew, torat hateudot. But cassuto did not umberto cassuto to discuss this suggestion at any length or substantiate it in cassuyo in the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch since it did not affect his key points. A page from the aleppo codex, showing the extensive marginal annotations by long tradition, a ritual sefer torah torah scroll could contain only the hebrew consonantal text nothing added, nothing taken away. Italianborn umberto cassuto 18831951, who laid out his program in this short treatise. The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch eight lectures. Termsvector search result for documentary hypothesis. The next few doctrines are taken from the introduction to genesis html pdf wpd. Umberto cassuto, also known as moshe david cassuto 18831951, was a rabbi and biblical. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. The bible and history wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For a recent study of the documentary hypothesis, see richard friedman. The documentary hypothesis has been debunked and few believe it any longer.
Book of genesis simple english wikipedia, the free. It clarification needed was regarded as the standard form of the old testament in the early greek christian church and is still considered canonical in. Cassuto also made important contributions to ugaritic studies. The aleppo codex once the oldestknown complete copy but now missing the torah dates. Literary studies in the hebrew bible form and content talmon. Cassuto had originally planned to write, in hebrew, a monumental commentary on the bible that would comprise a series of detailed expositions of the book of genesis, and less elaborate commentaries, consisting of one volume for each book, devoted to.
Archaeological evidence the old testament hebrew bible. Creation and blessing creation and blessing a guide to the study and exposition of genesis allen p. But cassuto did not attempt to discuss this suggestion at any length or substantiate it in detail in the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch since it did not affect his key points. The documentary hypothesis, by definition, asserts that someone known as the redactor took several documents covering similar subjects and edited them together. He bases this sketchy model on his hypothesis that virtually all the psalms and other poetic texts were composed as extensive expansions of short songs by the royal court bards concerning episodes in the lives of david and solomona theory that seems quite bizarre by most standards.