Reference: Hexateuch
Hastings
The first five books of the OT were known in Jewish circles as 'the five-fifths of the Law.' Christian scholars as early as Tertullian and Origen adopted the name Pentateuch, corresponding to their Jewish title, as a convenient designation of these books. 'The Law' was regarded as a unique and authoritative exposition of all individual and social conduct within Israel: a wide gulf seemed to divide it from the Book of Joshua, which inaugurated the series of historical books known as 'the Latter Prophets.' As a matter of fact, this division is wholly artificial. The five books of the Law are primarily intended to present the reader not with a codification of the legal system, but with some account of the antiquities and origins of Israel, as regards their religious worship, their political position, and their social arrangements. From this standpoint, nothing could be more arbitrary than to treat the Book of Joshua as the beginning of an entirely new series: 'its contents, and, still more, its literary structure, show that it is intimately connected with the Pentateuch, and describes the final stage in the history of the Origines of the Hebrew nation' (Driver, LOT [Note: OT Introd. to the Literature of the Old Testament.] 103). Critics have accordingly invented the name Hexateuch to emphasize this unity; and the name has now become universally accepted as an appropriate description of the first six volumes of the OT. In this article we propose to consider (I.) the composition, (II.) the criticism, and (III.) the characteristics of the Hexateuch.
I. Composition of the Hexateuch.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
These are the geneses of the heavens and the earth when they were created, - in the day when Yahweh God made earth and heavens. Now, no bush of the field, as yet - was in the earth, and, no herb of the field, as yet had sprung up, - because Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, and, man, was there none to till the ground; read more. but, a vapour, went up from the earth, - and watered all the face of the ground. So then Yahweh God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life - and man became a living soul. And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, on the east, - and put there the man whom he had formed. And Yahweh God, caused to spring up, out of the ground, every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, - and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, a river, was coming forth out of Eden, to water the garden, - and, from thence, it parted, and became four heads, The name of the one, is Pishon, - the same, is that which surroundeth all the land of Havilah, where is gold; moreover the gold of that and, is good, - there, is the bdellium, and the beryl stone, And the name of the second river, is Gihon, - the same, is that which surroundeth all the land of Cush, And, the name of the third river, is Hiddekel, the same, is that which goeth in front of Assyria; and the fourth river, is Euphrates. So Yahweh God took the man, - and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and to keeps it. And Yahweh God laid command on the man, saying, - Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not cat of it, - for in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shelf die. And Yahweh God said, It is, not good, that the man should remain alone, - I will make for him a helper as his counterpart. Now Yahweh God had formed from the ground every living thing of the field and every bird of the heavens, which he brought in unto the man, that he might see what he should call it, - and, whatsoever the man should call it - any living soul, that, should be the name thereof. So the man gave names to all the tame-beasts, and to the birds of the heavens, and to all the wild-beasts of the field, - but, for man, had there not been found a helper as his counterpart. So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept, - and he took one of his ribs, and closed up flesh instead thereof. And Yahweh God builded the rib which he had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her in unto the man. And the man said, This, one, now, is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh! This, one shall be called Woman, for, out of a man, hath this one been taken. For this cause, will a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both of them naked, the man and his wife, - and put not each other to shame.
therefore will I establish my covenant with thee, - and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons wives, with thee. Moreover of all the living creatures of all flesh - two of each, shalt thou bring into the ark to keep alive with thee, - male and female, shall they be.
Moreover of all the living creatures of all flesh - two of each, shalt thou bring into the ark to keep alive with thee, - male and female, shall they be. Of the bird after its kind and of the beast after its kind, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of each, shall come in unto thee. for keeping alive. read more. But thou, take to thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it unto thee, - and it shall be for thee and for them for food. And Noah did so , - according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Of all the clean beasts, shalt thou take to thee by sevens, a male and his female, - and, of the beasts that are not clean,, shall be two a male and his female. Also of the bird of the heavens, by sevens, male and female, - to keep alive a seed on the face of all the earth.
So they entered in unto Noah, into the ark, - two and two of all flesh, wherein was the spirit of life.
And Abram passed along throughout the land, as far as the place of Shechem as far as the Teacher's Terebinth, the Canaanite being then in the land.
And, these, are the kings, who reigned in the land of Edom, - before there reigned a king of the sons of Israel:
And a man found him, and to! he was wandering about in the field, so the man asked him saying - What seekest thou? And he said, My brethren, am, I, seeking, - do tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding their flock. read more. And the man said, They have broken up from hence, for I heard them saying Let us go our way towards Dothan. So Joseph went after his brethren, and found them, in Dothan. And they saw him afar off, - and, ere yet he drew near unto them, they conspired against him, to put him to death. And they said each man unto his brother, Lo! that master of dreams yonder, coming in! Now, therefore, come! let us slay him and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say A cruel beast, hath devoured him, - And let us see what will become of his dreams.
Then said Yahweh unto Moses, Dull, is the heart of Pharaoh, - he hath refused to let the people go.
So then, Moses and Aaron, did all these wonders before Pharaoh, - but Yahweh let Pharaoh's heart wax bold, and he did not let the sons of Israel go out of his land.
Then said Yahweh unto Moses - Write this as a remembrancer in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Jeshua - that I will, wipe out, the remembrance of Amalek, from under the heavens.
Then wrote Moses all the words of Yahweh, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar, under the mountain, and twelve pillars, for the twelve tribes of Israel:
then took he the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people. And they said, All that Yahweh hath spoken, will we do, and will hearken,
Now, the man Moses, was patient, exceedingly, - above all the sons of earth, who were on the face of the ground.
When thou shalt enter into the land which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee, and shalt possess it and dwell therein, - and shalt say - I will set over me a king, like all the nations that are round about me,
And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law, upon a scroll, - until he had finished them,
And there arose not a prophet any more in Israel, like unto Moses, - whom Yahweh acknowledged, face to face;
And Joshua wrote these words in the scroll of the law of God, - and took a great stone, and set it up there, under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh.