101 Myths of the Bible: how ancient scribes - Conscious Evolution TV

xviii 101 Myths of the Bible
J may have originated as early as the time of King David (c. early-tenth century
B.C.) but since many of its themes reflect the conflict between Judah and Israel after
Solomon’s death, its origin was more likely sometime after the split between Judah and
Israel (late-tenth century B.C.) and before the Assyrian conquest and destruction of
Israel in 722 B.C.
The E and P Sources
In the early stages of research into the documentary origins of the Bible, the Elohist
source known as E revolved around those stories that used Elohim as the name of
God. Further analysis showed that E actually consisted of at least two separate source
documents, each of which used Elohim for the name of God but which had very different
viewpoints. This second source embedded within E concerned itself primarily
with priestly concerns and rituals, and precise dating, numbers, and measurements.
Because of its focus, it was called the P or Priestly source.
While the deity in E exhibits anthropomorphic characteristics similar to J, the
deity in P is amorphous, distant, and aloof. Where the anthropomorphic deity carries
on discussions with humans, the P deity engages in no such interaction.
E is generally accepted as older than P but perhaps younger than J. It most likely
dates to before the Assyrian conquest. The Elohist writer focuses on events and
themes centered on the kingdom of Israel, and counters historical claims made by J. In
E, for example, the covenant between God and Israel flows from Jacob to Joseph to
Ephraim, whose territory served as the capital of Israel after the split between the two
Hebrew kingdoms. E strongly promotes Moses as the national hero and focuses more
on his deeds than on events in the earlier patriarchal period. E is less concerned with
religious orthodoxy than either J or P. The E history begins in the patriarchal period
after the flood and has nothing to say about Creation.
Many of the doublets in E and J reflect the political and religious propaganda wars
between Israel and Judah after those two nations split apart. Judah believed in a strong
centralized authority ruling out of the capital in Jerusalem, with the king functioning
as a powerful authoritarian monarch. E, comprising a coalition of several states (theoretically
encompassing ten tribes), favored a highly decentralized political and religious