SOURCE: "The Formation of the Pentateuch" in Old Testament Interpretation: Past, Present, and Future: Essays in Honor of Gene M. Tucker, edited by James Luther Mays, David L. Petersen, and Kent Harold Richards, Abingdon Press, 1995, pp. 31-45.

In this essay, Petersen examines the compositional history of the Pentateuch and its effect on interpreting the literary and historical unity of the text.

The title of this essay betrays one way of thinking about the Pentateuch, namely, a concern with its history, how it came to exist. To be sure, not all scholars today are interested in this issue. Some would prefer to talk about the literary configuration of the Pentateuch, its theme, canonical shape, or theological purport. In fact, the move away from questions about compositional history mark one major development in Pentateuchal studies during the twentieth century. Nonetheless, concern about Pentateuchal origins continues to generate important contributions to...