Dating Deuteronomy: The Wellhausen Fallacy

by Josef Schubert

Publisher:

Wipf and Stock

, 2018

Overview

The Torah was recognized as a unit before the separation between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. This book challenges established biblical scholarship derived from two assumptions of the Wellhausen Fallacy: a) Deuteronomy could not have been written before the time of Josiah (650 BCE); b) The existence of a group of redactors in the fifth century BCE or later. The first premise is based on the mistranslation of the biblical text. The second is based on the unlikely assumption that the scribes of the Second Temple era felt free to edit old documents or to ascribe their own writings to Mosaic times. The Samarian version of the Pentateuch is virtually identical to the traditional (Masoretic) text. It is preposterous to assume that the Samarians would accept a fictitious Torah composed by Judean exiles of the Persian period or later as authoritative. Neither Samarians nor Judeans copied the Pentateuch from each other. The biblical text and the Samarian texts are merely different editions of the same document.

Contents

Top Highlights

“There is no independent evidence indicating that Deuteronomy was composed during the Josianic period. This theory relies entirely on exegesis, which is always open to revision.⁵¹ Segal points out that Deuteronomy does not refer to any of topics relevant to the time of Josiah.⁵² It does not mention Manasseh, the bamoth, any of the sanctuaries, or the divided kingdom.” (source)

“Archaeological Evidence Will Rarely Prove or Disprove a Biblical Report” (source)

“Extensive archives in Alakh, Ebla, Emar, Hamath, and Ugarith” (source)

“‘The book of Joshua is historico-theological fiction. The primary purpose of its authors was to present a theological construct.’” (source)

“The elements of these treaties are as follows: the treaty starts with the title (generally the name of the suzerain king), followed by a historical introduction. Then follow the main stipulations of the treaty (including the injunction against serving another overlord). Then comes the report of the deposition of the treaty (generally in the temple), of public reading, of the naming of witnesses, and finally a list of blessings and curses.” (source)

Product Details

• Title : Dating Deuteronomy: The Wellhausen Fallacy
• Author: Schubert, Josef
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Publication Date: 2018
• ISBN: 9781532638749

About the Author

Josef Schubert, Professor Emeritus of the University of Regina, Saskatchewan, was one of the founders of the secular department of religious studies where he taught a class on Judaism in addition to his duties in the Department of Psychology.