The Biblical sources J, E, D, and P

Here is a rough representation of the confluence of the sources of the Hebrew bible. The yellow and blue bars represent the two great priestly traditions: the Mushite priesthood, originally from Shiloh, and the Aaronid priesthood, originally of Hebron, but for most of their history based in Jerusalem. The thickness of the bars represents their strength and influence, according to Friedman's "Who wrote the bible?".

We see, for example that the E source hates Jeroboam, since it was written by the Shiloh priests just after he excluded them from his religious centers in the north (Israel). Similarly, the P source likes Hezekiah, the D source prefers Josiah, etc.

diagram of biblical sources

Copyright © Mark Alford (1998)

alford(at)wuphys.wustl.edu

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