Pentateuch

The Pentateuch, in the Core Biblical Studies series, introduces theFive Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, andDeuteronomy. It combines a purely literary approach to reading thefinal form of the Pentateuch with a historical reading of the text. Theliterary approach emphasizes the structural role played by theso-called toledoth (generations) formulae that trace the history ofhumankind from Adam, through the ancestors of Israel, and finally toMoses and Aaron as the founders of Israel's priesthood. The historicalreading of the text challenges the older model of source analysis toargue instead for a model that traces the composition of the Pentateuchfrom its origins in northern Israel during the 9th-8th centuriesB.C.E., (E), through its subsequent editions in Judah during the 8th-7thcenturies B.C.E,. (J and D), and finally through the final redaction inthe Persian period, (P). Discussion throughout the volume focuses on how the text presents the origins or early history of Israeland its ideals or how it employs narrative and law to provide thefoundations for an ideal national and religious identity.The volume concludes with a brief treatment of how the Pentateuch is read in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.