This volume collects papers originally presented at an international meeting held in March
2017. They compellingly demonstrate the necessity for a Paradigm Change in Pentateuchal
Research from various angles. It is by now generally recognised that the old paradigm
classically formulated in Wellhausens Prolegomena zu einer Geschichte Israels can no longer
command a dominant position in the reconstruction of the genesis and structure of the
Pentateuch. While the studies collected in this volume do not suggest that there is only one
specific direction for the search of a new paradigm they make clear that an important element
for the furthering of the discussion is the use of empirical methods in contradistinction to a
dominance of subjective criteria and approaches developed in circumstances that are foreign to
the cultural world of the ancient Near East.The authors of the studies represent diverse
backgrounds not only in terms of geography but especially in terms of professional
specialization: Besides Biblical Studies also the fields of Assyriology Legal History and
Linguistics are represented. Some of the studies address methodological questions in an
explicit and detailed way while others are more focused on the analysis of specific texts. A
majority of the studies convincingly demonstrate that most of the Pentateuch can be solidly
rooted in the pre-exilic period.
