What is meant by 'Deity E' and 'Deity J'?

essaychess

Many biblical scholars talk of several biblical 'sources', to account for certain discrepencies, etc. Deity E refers to Elohim, or the Elohist source, using a generic name for god. Deity J refers to Jehovah, or the Yahwist source, using the more personal Hebrew name for god. Apr 06 00, 3:27 AM

keats27

Essaychess, I've been aware of this for awhile, but never knew it was explained in this way before. Where did you find that answer? Dec 10 07, 2:50 PM

Baloo55th

If you read the early parts of the Bible carefully you will find the name used for God changes in places. And the style changes. One main style is racy and popular, the other main one is drier and more bean-counting. The two were obviously both very well known in the days when the early books of the Bible were put together, and the compilers were rather stretched at times to fit them both in. This is why you get different accounts of the Creation, and of the Flood. Look in Wikipedia for Jahwist and Elohist, and Google also for P-source and J-source. And read the Bible as I said. Dec 10 07, 3:22 PM

Arpeggionist

The terms "E" and "J" are a popular tool in biblical criticism these days. Their differenciation is based on the idea that each way of referring to God refers to a different side of God's work or a different author (or set of authors). In fact, the words "Elohim" and "Y'hovah" are used much more interchangably than biblical scholars and critics like to think, and are often mixed (as in "Y'hovah Elohim") in the text, so the simple "E-J" dichotomy can only get one so far when discussing biblical matters. Dec 10 07, 3:43 PM

AyatollahK

While there are certainly interchangeable uses of E & J (in German, Y in Hebrew) in the text, the idea that the sources refer to God differently is fundamental to the 18th century analysis of "doublets" in the Pentateuch/Torah/Bible and the later development of the "Documentary Hypothesis". http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_tora1.htm "These doublets appeared to contradict each other. In most cases, one referred to God as Yahweh while the other used the term Elohim." Dec 10 07, 4:16 PM

Baloo55th

More obvious than the name used (if one refers back to Arpy's origional Hebrew) is the style. One source is from a story-teller, someone used to entertaining an audience. The other is, as I said, bean-counting. This is the Priestly source, which is keen on numberings and rules as opposed to action and a good tale. Dec 11 07, 5:09 PM