Jewish Responses to Wellhausen’s Documentary Hypothesis

Author’s Note: This essay contains responses to the Documentary Hypothesis espoused by both Orthodox scholars and less traditional figures. The essay’s primary focus is the exploration of and reaction to this important academic theory. The essay will begin with an exploration of the Documentary Hypothesis and its components. Afterwards, it will present the views and reactions of various scholars, both how this theory impacted their religious evaluation of the Bible and how they tried to reconcile it with their religious assumptions. The author will present three views out of the plethora that exist but does not endorse any particular view mentioned in this essay.

The methodological, critical study of the Bible did not begin in Germany with the birth of the Wissenschaft des Judentums.[i] In order to justify this claim, we must first understand what “critical study of the Bible” actually means. Critical study, contrary to the perception of many, does not mean approaching a text with intent to debase, void, or ridicule anything written therein. Rather, it entails using various academic tools to understand, evaluate, and hopefully appreciate the text at hand. Tools such as literary theory, archeology, etymology, and general linguistics are only a few of those which help the scholar explore and uncover the Bible’s true meaning. One who honestly employs the critical method does not approach the Bible with negative skepticism but rather with open eyes and a perceptive mind.