A complete analysis of the contents of the Old Testament books is a very complex and difficult task, one in which there is no universal agreement among competent scholars. However, some conclusions have found general and widespread acceptance. For example, few people would question that the Pentateuch is composed of documents written by different persons who were widely separated both in time and in point of view. The hypothesis of four separate and distinct narratives, known respectively as J, E, D, and P, has been widely publicized. Although many corrections and modifications have been made since this hypothesis was first proposed, its main thesis is still relevant. Recent investigations merely indicate that the Pentateuch literature is even more complex and requires a larger number of documents to account for all the materials found in these books. In their final form, the historical writings are presented in a manner that is designed to account for the laws and institutions peculiar to the Hebrew people from the time of creation to the post-exilic period. Thus we find the laws of Deuteronomy, as well as those that belong to the so-called Holiness Code and the relatively late ones known as the Priests Code, included in historical narratives that attribute all of the laws to Moses.
During the post-exilic period, it was considered necessary to attach great significance to those religious institutions that were unique among the Hebrew people, and one of the most effective means for doing this was to indicate their ancient origins. Events belonging to the distant past were presented in a manner that would reflect the interpretation given to them at the times when the historical narratives were written. For example, the belief that the increasing sinfulness of man has shortened his life span is reflected in the accounts concerning the large number of years that the early patriarchs lived. And the sordid events so numerous in the Book of Judges reflect the sentiment of those who held that conditions that preceded the establishment of the religious monarchy were intolerable since they permitted everyone to "do that which was right in [their] own eyes."
