Bible Origin video

Did Ezra Rewrite the Torah?

Reconsidering JEDP, Jeremiah, and the “Two Torahs”

About this video

What is the documentary hypothesis (JEDP) and how do the Yahwist (J), Elohist (E), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P) sources explain the Torah’s formation? Is P misclassified, so that only J, E, and D are needed when the sources are grounded in historical attestations rather than literary analysis? Do Jeremiah 8:8 and Jeremiah 7:22 show that scribes produced a deceptive “Torah of Yahweh” centered on sacrifices? What did Hilkiah find in the temple under Josiah, and why was it not Deuteronomy? Did Ezra rewrite the Torah during the Babylonian exile by weaving J and E and composing Deuteronomy as a “second law”? How do Genesis creation accounts, Noah’s flood details, and sacrificial themes distinguish Elohim from Yahweh? What do Jesus’ temple actions, the Clementine Homilies, the Didascalia Apostolorum, Esdras, and the golden calf narrative say about Torah corruption and competing “first” and “second” legislations?

“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.”

Psalm 40:6, BSB

“Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.”

Genesis 2:15, BSB