[net.religion] Some questions on the Old Testament

jefff@cadovax.UUCP (Jeff Fields) (10/26/84)

[In the beginning there was this turtle... ]


I have some questions for any and all Bible/Torah/Talmud scholars  out
there.  It  concerns  the earliest dates of the written source for the
Old Testament.  I learned in Religious  Studies  that  the  Pentateuch
(sic?)  was  passed  down  from  generation to generation orally until
sometime after the reign of King David c. 1000 B.C.  The first book of
the  OT  to  ever  be  written  was the First Book of Samuel, at least
according to the religious historians I encountered  at  school.   The
purpose  of  this  book was to legitimatize the monarchy instituted by
King Saul.  The transcribing of the oral tradition that  make  up  the
five books of the Pentateuch followed the writing of the First Book of
Samuel.

This is what I learned in school.  We all know that a lot of time what
one learns in school is not necessarily (unfortunately) true.

Here are my questions:

     1) What is the first book of the bible ever written?

     2) When was the earliest source still extant today written?

     3) How long were the books that comprize  the  Pentateuch  orally
transmitted before they were transcribed?

Please include source references wherever possible.  Please  post  the
answers to net.religion.

            Thanks in advance, Jeff Fields
-- 
Your navel is a bowl well rounded
with no lack of wine,
your belly a heap of wheat
surrounded with lilies.
Your two breasts are two fawns
twins of a gazelle.
			-"The Song of Songs" 7:3-4

yiri@ucf-cs.UUCP (Yirmiyahu BenDavid) (10/28/84)

I'm trying to avoid contributing to net.religion as much as
possible. You might want to post this article on net.religion.
jewish?