The Pentateuch: Five Books, One Canon

Abstract

This essay investigates the division of the Pentateuch into five scrolls of unequal length. It considers the dating of this division and the structuring that it creates, especially in relation to the Pentateuch’s narrative cycles; it also considers the ways that the combined text reflects its earlier compositional history. Finally, the essay considers the evidence for understanding each pentateuchal scroll/book as well as the Pentateuch overall as a literary unit. In the latter discussion, it gives special attention to the book of numbers.