Making of the Pentateuch, first published in 1987, has become one of the most important books on Pentateuchal origins published in a generation. In this volume, Whybray surveys the field of Pentateuch origins first developed by Julius Wellhausen in the late nineteenth century and Hermann Gunkel in the early twentieth century.
Making of the Pentateuch is divided into three sections. Part one examines literary hypotheses, looking at the Documentary Hypothesis in particular. Whybray surveys Pentateuchal criticism since Wellhausen, assesses the Documentary Hypothesis, and compares the Documentary Hypothesis to other literary hypotheses. In part two, Whybray surveys the form-critical and tradition-critical hypotheses, devoting extensive discussion to the methods of Martin Noth, Georg Fohrer, R. Rendtorff, E. Blum, and others. The final part of Making of the Pentateuch proposes an alternate approach, examining the possibility of a single author and introducing new methods of studying Pentateuchal sources. This volume also contains a massive bibliography and author index.
