📘 Who Wrote the Bible? Unraveling the Origins of the Sacred Text

For more than two thousand years, the Bible has stood at the heart of Western civilization — shaping faith, philosophy, literature, and law. Yet despite its universal influence, a fundamental question persists: who actually wrote it?

“In Who Wrote the Bible?”, biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman traces this mystery through centuries of investigation, revealing that the Bible is not the work of a single hand but a tapestry woven from multiple voices across hundreds of years.

🔍 From Tradition to Investigation

For centuries, both Jewish and Christian tradition maintained that Moses wrote the first five books — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy — collectively known as the Torah or Pentateuch. However, inconsistencies within the text—such as repeated stories, contradictory timelines, and the account of Moses’s own death—challenged that belief.

Scholars across time, from medieval rabbis like Ibn Ezra to Enlightenment philosophers like Spinoza, began to recognize that these books contained multiple distinct styles, vocabularies, and perspectives, suggesting multiple authors.

🧩 The Discovery of the Four Sources

By the 19th century, biblical scholars identified four major literary sources behind the Torah, each representing a different time, community, and theological viewpoint. Friedman details how these sources were ultimately woven together by later editors into the unified narrative we now call the Bible.

1. ✍️ J – The Yahwist (Earliest, c. 950 BCE)

Region: Southern Kingdom of Judah

Divine name used: Yahweh (Jehovah)

Tone: Earthy, vivid storytelling; emphasizes humanity and the closeness of God

Themes: God as directly involved in human affairs; focus on Judah’s royal line, especially David

Historical Context: Likely written during the early monarchy when Judah flourished under David and Solomon

2.🕊️ E – The Elohist (c. 850 BCE)

Region: Northern Kingdom of Israel

Divine name used: Elohim (God)

Tone: More abstract, moralistic, and distant portrayal of God

Themes: Focuses on prophets, dreams, and moral testing (e.g., Abraham and Isaac); favors northern heroes like Joseph

Historical Context: Written in a time of tension between the northern and southern kingdoms, showing Israel’s distinct identity

3. 📖 D – The Deuteronomist (c. 622 BCE)

Region: Jerusalem, during the reign of King Josiah

Divine name used: Yahweh

Tone: Preaching, legalistic, reform-oriented

Themes: Centralization of worship in Jerusalem, covenant loyalty, divine justice

Historical Context: Likely written during Josiah’s religious reforms, when the “Book of the Law” was rediscovered in the Temple (2 Kings 22). This source forms nearly all of the book of Deuteronomy.

4. 🛐 P – The Priestly Source (Latest, c. 550–400 BCE)

Region: During or after the Babylonian Exile

Divine name used: Elohim (early on), later Yahweh

Tone: Structured, ritualistic, concerned with laws, genealogies, and priestly duties

Themes: Emphasizes holiness, sacred order, ritual purity, and the authority of the priesthood

Historical Context: Composed when Israel’s identity was in crisis during exile; aimed to preserve religious traditions and priestly authority

📚 Together, these four documents form the Documentary Hypothesis, which holds that the Pentateuch is a composite of these sources, edited into one continuous story by later redactors.

⚔️ From Controversy to Acceptance

Initially, these discoveries were met with fierce opposition. Religious authorities denounced scholars who challenged Mosaic authorship — from Spinoza’s excommunication to John Colenso’s condemnation as “the wicked bishop.” But over time, evidence prevailed.

By the mid-20th century, even the Catholic Church, once cautious about historical criticism, encouraged scholarly study of the Bible’s human authors. Pope Pius XII’s 1943 encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu invited researchers to explore “the sources and the peculiar character of the sacred writers.”

🕰️ The Earliest and the Latest Voices

According to Friedman’s synthesis:

The earliest biblical writings emerged around 950 BCE (J) in Judah, painting a vivid, personal vision of God’s relationship with humanity.

The latest writings (P) appeared nearly five centuries later (c. 500–400 BCE), after the Babylonian exile, systematizing worship and laws to preserve Israel’s faith and identity in a foreign land.

Thus, the Bible evolved over roughly half a millennium, reflecting a dialogue across generations — from storytellers and prophets to priests and reformers.

🌟 A Human and Divine Collaboration

Friedman concludes that understanding the Bible’s human authors does not undermine its sacredness — it deepens it. Knowing that the text was forged in the fires of history, politics, and faith allows modern readers to see it as a living conversation between humanity and God, across centuries of change.

🏛️ Conclusion

“Richard Elliott Friedman’s Who Wrote the Bible?” transforms a mystery of faith into a story of human creativity and divine inspiration. The Bible emerges not as a monologue dictated from heaven, but as a chorus of voices — from the Yahwist poet of Judah to the priestly scribes of the Exile — each adding depth, struggle, and beauty to the world’s most

🕊️ A Nontraditional Chronological Reading of Genesis: Ishmael’s Role in the Sequence of Covenants

This argument represents a nontraditional chronological reading of Genesis that seeks to reconcile narrative and covenantal tensions surrounding Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac. It reorders the events to portray Ishmael—not Isaac—as the son tested in the near-sacrifice episode, interpreting Genesis as a progressive unfolding of divine trials and covenantal ratifications.

➤ 1. Premise: The Covenants and Promises Are Sequentially Related

Proponents begin by noting that Genesis presents several covenantal moments with Abraham—particularly in Genesis 15, Genesis 17, Genesis 21, and Genesis 22—which they view as successive stages of a single divine plan rather than separate, unrelated episodes.

★ Genesis 15: God promises Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars.

★ Genesis 17: God formalizes this promise through the covenant of circumcision, renaming Abram as Abraham, “father of many nations.”

★ Genesis 21:14–20: Abraham faces his first test concerning Ishmael’s fate when Hagar and Ishmael are sent away into the wilderness.

★ Genesis 22: Abraham faces the ultimate test—offering his “only son” to God.

In this interpretive model, the episodes are not arranged chronologically in the canonical order. Genesis 21 and 22, both dealing with Ishmael, are understood to precede Genesis 17, forming the experiential foundation upon which the covenant of circumcision is later ratified.

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➤ 2. Genesis 22 — The Supreme Test: Abraham’s Willingness to Sacrifice Ishmael

In the canonical order, Genesis 22 features the near-sacrifice of Isaac. But the description of the son as “your only son” cannot apply to Isaac if Ishmael is alive and older. By placing Genesis 22 earlier—before Isaac’s conception—the narrative unfolds with perfect coherence:

* Ishmael is Abraham’s firstborn.

* Ishmael is Abraham’s only son at that stage.

* Ishmael is the son through whom Abraham has already received divine promises.

Thus, in non-canonical interpretations where Genesis 22 precedes Genesis 17, the son offered in the near-sacrifice must be Ishmael, since Isaac had not yet been born or even promised.

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➤ 3. Genesis 21:14–20 as the First Test of Abraham

Before the near-sacrifice in Genesis 22, the episode in Genesis 21:14–20 portrays Abraham’s earlier emotional trial involving Ishmael. In this narrative, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael into the wilderness at Sarah’s insistence. The text describes Ishmael as an infant carried by Hagar, a detail that aligns closely with the Islamic tradition in which Ishmael is still a small child when Abraham leaves him in the desert (Mecca).

According to Genesis 21:5, Ishmael would have been 16–17 years old at the time. Yet the surrounding verses (vv. 14–20) treat him as if he were a helpless toddler. This is not merely a literary flourish but a direct inconsistency in age and behavior within the same episode.

Therefore, in non-canonical interpretations, Genesis 21:14–20 is understood to occur prior to Genesis 17—specifically because the passage depicts Ishmael as an infant or small child, in stark contrast to Genesis 17, which explicitly states that Ishmael was already 13 years old. By placing the desert episode before Genesis 17, the age contradiction is resolved, and the narrative fits naturally within an earlier phase of Abraham’s life.

Viewed this way, the “banishment test” becomes Abraham’s first trial involving Ishmael, testing his faith in God’s promise concerning Ishmael’s survival and future greatness (“I will make him a great nation,” Gen 21:18).

The subsequent “sacrifice test” in Genesis 22 then functions as the second and supreme trial, where Abraham’s obedience reaches its deepest expression. Together, these two Ishmael-centered episodes frame the development of Abraham’s faith before the covenantal ratification of Genesis 17.

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➤ 4. Identification of the Sacrificed Son as Ishmael

On this reordered chronology:

★ The “only son” of Genesis 22 refers to Ishmael, Abraham’s firstborn by Hagar.

★ The phrase “your son, your only son” (Gen 22:2) fits Ishmael prior to Isaac’s birth.

★ The later introduction of Isaac (Gen 17–18) is not a replacement but a continuation of the divine plan—rewarding Abraham’s faithfulness through a second lineage that expands the original covenant.

Hence, the Akedah (binding of the son) becomes a test of Ishmael’s line, and Genesis 17 becomes a ratification of that obedience through the promise of “many nations.”

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➤ 5. Genesis 17 as Covenant Ratification

In this model, Genesis 17 does not precede but follows the tests of Genesis 21–22. It represents God’s ratification of Abraham’s proven obedience:

★ Abraham is renamed and blessed as “father of many nations.”

★ Circumcision is introduced as a covenantal sign, extending the promise to all his progeny.

★ The birth of Isaac is announced as a reward and continuation of divine favor.

Thus, Genesis 17 serves as the formalization of the faith demonstrated earlier through Abraham’s trials involving Ishmael.

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➤ 6. Literary-Critical Perspective

From a literary-critical standpoint, this interpretation draws upon source-critical and redactional insights. Scholars employing the Documentary Hypothesis often distinguish between several compositional layers within Genesis, each reflecting different theological emphases and historical contexts:

★ Genesis 21 and Genesis 22 are generally attributed to the Elohist (E) and Jahwist (J) sources, which are earlier traditions. These sources emphasize vivid narrative, moral testing, and divine encounter—often conveyed through the figure of the angel of the Lord.

★ Genesis 17, by contrast, is assigned to the Priestly (P) source, which is later in composition and is marked by formal covenantal language, ritual precision, and theological systematization.

Within this framework, proponents of the chronological reordering argue that the older E/J traditions—which may have originally centered on Ishmael—were subsequently integrated and reinterpreted by Priestly editors. These later redactors inserted Genesis 17’s covenantal structure before the narrative of Genesis 22, thereby reshaping the sequence to emphasize Isaac as the covenantal heir.

Thus, from a literary-critical perspective, the hypothesis that Genesis 22 predates Genesis 17 in origin aligns with the idea that an earlier Ishmaelite-focused narrative was overlaid by a later Priestly redaction, producing the canonical order familiar today.

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➤ 7. Summary Articulation

To summarize:

★ 1. Genesis 21:14–20 presents Abraham’s first test concerning Ishmael’s separation, aligning with the Islamic account of the desert episode.

★ 2. Genesis 22 (the near-sacrifice) represents the second and climactic test, also involving Ishmael.

★ 3. Genesis 17, announcing Isaac’s birth and instituting circumcision, follows these trials and serves as God’s ratification of Abraham’s faith.

Therefore, the sequence Genesis 21 → Genesis 22 → Genesis 17 portrays a coherent theological and narrative progression in which Abraham’s obedience regarding Ishmael becomes the foundation for his establishment as the “father of many nations.”

This reading not only restores textual coherence to the phrase “your only son,” but also resolves the age contradiction, places the narrative within an earlier phase of Abraham’s life, integrates Ishmael’s covenantal significance, and provides a bridge between Biblical and Qur’anic portrayals of Abraham’s faith.

— Azahari Hassim

Founder, The World of Abrahamic Theology