Umberto cassuto, also known as moshe david cassuto 18831951, was a rabbi and biblical. The documentary hypothesis kindle edition by cassuto, umberto moshe david, abrahams, israel. The documentary hypothesis suggests that the first five books of the old testament were originally independent accounts that were later edited or redacted by a later editor or editors. Cassuto s the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch hebrew, torat hateudot, 1941. Buy the documentary hypothesis contemporary jewish thought translation by cassuto, umberto isbn. Old testament criticism exposed as being purely ideological, materialistic and antisupernaturalist.
Genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy. Herbert livingston, phd, professor of old testament at asbury theological seminary. One of these attempts is known as the documentary hypothesis, or the jepd theory. Without the robust view of special revelation that christianity maintains, there is nothing that separates it from mere philosophical theism. The maccabee against the documentary hypothesis the maccabee. Perhaps we can reduce the number to fiftyseven if we assume that the two nathans andor. The documentary hypothesis of the rabbinic canon of late antiquity maintains that complete documents form the smallest whole building blocks of the rabbinic system. The documentary hypothesis claims that the pentateuch is a composite of four separate, complete, and coherent documents. This hypothesis is pretty much universally accepted by secularists. His books include a commentary on the book of genesis, a. Details of documentary hypothesis literary analysis shows that one person did not write the pentateuch. Development of the documentary hypothesis c arls td. Jewish history and tradition also credit moses as the author of the pentateuch, giving no support whatsoever to the documentary hypothesis. Various sections of the pentateuch are assigned to various authors who are identified by the letters j, e, d, and p.
These lectures, delivered by rabbi umberto cassuto 18831951, summarize his indepth research, spanning no less than 25 years, into the grafwellhausen documentary hypothesis. From prechristian times to the beginning of the nineteenth century it was accepted by nearly everyone that moses was the author ofnearly all the pentateuch. Placement in the scriptures j begins with second creation story 2. But it is highly unlikely that he wrote the version of the pentateuch that we have today. Unfortunately, cassuto died before he could see all his major commentaries through to completion and publication. In addition, cassuto published basic articles on the judeoitalian dialect, the hebrew inscriptions of southern italy, and various allied subjects. In a more restricted sense, it is applied to a line of reasoning that found its full expression in the work of the german theologian julius wellhausen, with subsequent. Julius wellhausen effectively called the old testament torah a big lie. This text has been translated and reproduced by cassuto in documentary hypothesis, 7. Cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch hebrew, torat hateudot.
The documentary hypothesis is liberal theologys attempt to call the veracity of the pentateuch into question. The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the. Hence, it is called the documentary hypothesis or the jedp model3. The documentary hypothesis by umberto cassuto, paperback. As this hypothesis was developed by a number of jewish and theologically liberal christian scholars in the late 17th to. To that end, this website is launching a new subcategory of our historical works dedicated specifically to combating the errors of the documentary. In short, this theory states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch, consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not written completely by moses, who died in 1451 b. Nevertheless, his critique of the methods and results of biblical criticism are devastating and deserve to be known. The consensus around the documentary hypothesis collapsed in the last decades of the 20th century. A commentary on the book of exodus umberto cassuto.
Pages in category documentary hypothesis the following 50 pages are in this category, out of 50 total. Umberto cassutos the documentary hypothesis thirty years later. Some of his remarks would be considered false textually, and objectionable religiously. Some of the critics of the bible have come up with some sophisticated arguments in their attempts to disprove its authenticity and reliability. The documentary hypothesis kindle edition by cassuto. The documentary hypothesis proposes that the torah was written by several different authors between about 950 bce through 450 bce, at which point it was assembled into the present single document, probably by ezra. An article outlining the flaws of the grafwellhausen documentary source hypothesis, or the jedp system. A critical assessment of the grafwellhausen documentary.
These two volumes undertake a concrete exercise in the realization of the documentary hypothesis. Readers of the journal of creation are intimately familiar with the defense of creation against biological evolution. First, he said that the dificulties of the text do not require the conclusion that there was more than one source. Cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch hebrew, torat hateudot, 1941. In place of the documentary theory, he posited the existence of an oral tradition and a number of ancient poetic epics, which were subsequently woven into the. The components are variation in the name of the deity. The jepd theory a long tradition holds that the five books of the pentateuch or torah genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy were written by moses.
With a backdrop of religious misinterpretation, a lack of understanding of the parable nature of scriptures, and limited knowledge of hebrew, spinoza concluded that all of the old testament, from genesis to. English translation 1961 see the summary of it at the wikipedia article on umberto cassuto. It should be noted that the use of each of these alphabetical shorthand letters does not necessarily imply that there was a single individual who wrote all of any. The documentary hypothesis, the most famous theory of critical biblical. In short, this theory states that the first five books of the bible, called the pentateuch, consisting of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomy, were not. Umberto cassuto and the documentary hypothesis theopolis. Umberto cassuto, ne le 16 septembre 1883 a florence, mort le 18 decembre 1951 a. The documentary hypothesis contemporary jewish thought by umberto cassuto edition. The maccabee against the documentary hypothesis the. Cassuto presents what he refers to as the five pillars of the documentary hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis states what we think is wrong about the null hypothesis, which is needed for step 2. The jedp theory says that the first five books of the biblegenesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, and deuteronomywere not written entirely by moses, who died in the 1400s b. Nov 25, 2005 buy the documentary hypothesis contemporary jewish thought translation by cassuto, umberto isbn. This view believes that the pentateuch represents the conflation of four different sources rather than the work of primarily one author, traditionally moses.
In his book he argued that in composing these chapters moses quoted. Pdf on dec 31, 2019, yoel elitzur and others published the names of god and the dating. Phelan twoedged sword publications, waterlooville, uk, 2005 by james patrick holding. Cassuto s book does not represent the position of traditional judaism. Sourcesplaces according to the documentary hypothesis, this tradition went south with those who fled the assyrian destruction of israel in 72221 bce. Why the documentary hypothesis is the frankenstein of biblical studies duane garrett duane garrett a is a professor of old testament at gordon conwell theological seminary. The documentary hypothesis eight lectures umberto cassuto. The tradition honors moses because of his esteemed position as lawgiver and friend of god. The documentary hypothesis of the pentateuch also known as.
By the end of the 19th century, it was generally agreed there were four. The following analysis by cassuto in his book the documentary hypothesis refutes the theory at the time of its formulation. The documentary hypothesis also uses the shorthand r for the redactor or editor who brought together the j, e, p and dtr material into a single set of writings we know as the torah. Multiple strands of tradition were woven together to produce the torah. Jan 31, 2007 the best refutation of the documentary hypothesis dh, i will call it is by umberto cassuto, the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch heb. The documentary hypothesis, along with the jedp theory, denies that moses wrote the pentateuch and instead ascribes its authorship to four or more different authorsredactors spread out over several hundreds of years. Graf and julius wellhausen, who gave it its classic expression, presupposes that the five books of moses, namely the torah or pentateuch, are actually derived from four different source documents, called j yahwist, e elohist, d. English translation, 1961 was one of the first mainstream works to offer a detailed critique of wellhausen, rejecting both the central idea of the documentary model that the pentateuch had its origins in originally separate documents. The documentary hypothesis dh is one of the models historically used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the torah or pentateuch, the first five books of the bible. Umberto cassuto 18831951 held the chair of bible studies at the hebrew university of jerusalem.
A commentary on the book of exodus umberto cassuto the late professor u. Rtf and pdf versions of the notes will be posted on the wisconsin lutheran. There was not a scholar who doubted that the torah was compiled in the period of the second temple from various documents or sources. The view that is persuasive to most of the critical scholars of the pentateuch is called the documentary hypothesis, or. Pdf cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the paradigm. The documentary hypothesis umberto cassuto, joshua a. Jan 02, 2020 the documentary hypothesis calls into question the testimonies of jesus, peter, and paul, for all of them testified that moses wrote at least three of the books of the pentateuch. He has served the international mission board by teaching in southern baptist seminaries in both korea and canada. This paper will seek to logically critic and evaluate the documentary hypothesis, expose its errors, and defend the traditional position of mosaic authorship of the pentateuch. His conclusions were summarized in a little book called the documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch jerusalem. All agree that the torah is not a unified work from a. Israel abrahams magnes press, jerusalem, 1983 an outline. The documentary hypothesis and the composition of the pentateuch, translated by israel abrahams, magnes press, the hebrew university. The documentary hypothesis contemporary jewish thought.
The work that brought his views to the attention of the. If the documentary hypothesis has a central pillar, it is that the use of different names for god is evidence of different sources. While he appreciated the scholarly basis of higher criticism, he was an opponent of the grafwellhausen theories. More recent models include the supplementary hypothesis and the fragmentary hypothesis.
Introduction biblical inerrancy is a central doctrine of evangelical christianity. There are several problems with this theory, in my humble opinion. Documentary hypothesis gained momentum under the dutch jewish philosopher benedict spinoza tractatus theologicopoliticus, chap. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. An example of cassutos style of argument can be seen in his discussion of the divine namesone of the main criteria by which the documentary hypothesis distinguishes between separate sourceswhere he argued that yahweh and elohim are each consistently employed within a particular context and for a specific purpose, yahweh signifying the. The documentary hypothesis summarized the documentary hypothesis proposes that the torah the.
Three major publications of the 1970s caused scholars to seriously question the assumptions of the documentary hypothesis. William henry green, the higher criticism of the pentateuch. He studied under ewald at the university of gottingen, and later served as professor at greifswald, halle, marburg, and gottingen. Those who support the documentary hypothesis theory generally suggest four specific sources represented by the letters jedp. Pdf the names of god and the dating of the biblical corpus. Let me summarize a few examples of cassutos approach. Arguments against the documentary hypothesis cassutos and others were usually based on internal critical analysis of the biblical text, essentially. The documentary hypothesis, in its broadest sense, is an attempt to identify various source documents from which the present text of the hebrew bible, particularly in the historical books of genesis through joshua, is derived. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the documentary hypothesis. However, cassuto is mainly known for his contribution to biblical studies. Biography and bibliography at the jewish virtual library free download of u. The documentary hypothesis serves as a valuable introduction to the late professor cassutos hebrew commentaries on the pentateuch, which have helped so. This will include some of its main developers and supporters. 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.
Cassutos the documentary hypothesis and the paradigm shift in biblical studies. Cassuto admitted that the documentary hypothesis is based on some valid observations. To do this, first a brief overview of the history of the documentary hypothesis will be presented. The documentary hypothesis dh, sometimes called the wellhausen hypothesis, proposes that the torah the first five books of the bible was derived from originally independent, parallel, and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors. The documentary hypothesis, and the identity of the. English translation, 1961 was one of the first mainstream works to offer a detailed critique of wellhausen, rejecting both the central idea of the documentary model that the pentateuch had its origins in originally separate documents which had been combined by an editor into the final text and wellhausens dating, which saw the four sources being composed between 950 and 550 bc with. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Cassuto claimed that the documentary hypothesis was based on five sets of observations. The documentary hypothesis, sometimes called the grafwellhausen hypothesis after the two men, k. Each of the five pillars of the theory, cassuto argued, crumbled to dust upon investigation. There are no literary references, no extant manuscripts of any kind, which mention the j, e, e or p documents, either singly or as a group. Oct 15, 2011 the documentary hypothesis, sometimes called the grafwellhausen hypothesis after the two men, k. Cassutos general argument is that the documentary hypothesis is being held as an unfalsifiable paradigm, perhaps even functioning in the same way that reactions to heresy function within a religious body.
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