Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin L. Barney" <klbarney AT yahoo.com>]

I have been reviewing scholarship on the Documentary Hypothesis.  Given the 
number of Hebrew scholars here with strong views on such matters, I would 
like to take an informal survey of the members of this list regarding their 
views of the Documentary Hypothesis:

1.  In general, do you accept the hypothesis?

2.  If you answered "yes" to question 1, in what ways do your views differ 
from the classical Graf-Wellhausen formulation of the hypothesis?  (E.g., 
do you accept or reject a separate E source?  Would you date P prior to D, 
as some do?  Do you agree with the recent trend of dating J late rather 
than early?)

3.  If you reject the hypothesis from within the historical/literary 
critical school, with what would you replace it?  A "fragmentary" view that 
sees numerous fragments being redacted together rather than three or four 
main documents?  A "supplemental" view that sees one main source that was 
supplemented with other material?  Other?

4.  If you reject the historical/literary critical enterprise altogether, 
what is your view of the composition and authorship of the Pentateuch?  Is 
it a unified composition?  What factors are most important in your 
rejection of the Documentary Hypothesis?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

Kevin L. Barney
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
klbarney AT yahoo.com