Rolf Rendtorff subjects, but was notable chiefly for his 1977 book, "Das überlieferungsgeschichtliche Problem des Pentateuch" ("The Problem of the Transmission of the Pentateuch"). The book was a study of the question of Pentateuchal origins (the question of how the first five books of the bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Book of Numbers and Deuteronomy – came to be written), and appeared at the same time as two other important books, John Van Seters' "Abraham in History and Tradition" (1975), and Hans Heinrich Schmid's "Der sogenannte Jahwist" ("The So-called Yahwist") (1976). The three studies, appearing almost together, inaugurated a heated discussion in
Book of Leviticus have concluded that the Pentateuch received its final form during the Persian period (538–332 BC). Nevertheless, Leviticus had a long period of growth before reaching that form. The entire book of Leviticus is composed of Priestly literature. Most scholars see chapters 1–16 (the Priestly code) and chapters 17–26 (the Holiness code) as the work of two related schools, but while the Holiness material employs the same technical terms as the Priestly code, it broadens their meaning from pure ritual to the theological and moral, turning the ritual of the Priestly code into a model for the relationship of Israel to