The Making of the Pentateuch Pentateuchal origins the composition and dates of the first five books of the Old Testament. In the closing decades of the 19th century Julius Wellhausen published "Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels", in which he had set out the definitive version of the historical development of the Hebrew bible. According to this hypothesis, the Pentateuch Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy was originally four separate documents, retelling the same episodes and stories, but with differing emphases designed to further the theological and political agendas of their authors. Their combination by a Redactor (editor) into a single narrative spread over five books had
Leviticus Rabbah extent of Leviticus Rabbah is the same as that of the edition quoted by Nathan ben Jehiel in the "Aruk", since he refers to passages from chapters 36 and 37 as "the end." Aside from some transpositions, eliminations, and glosses, the printed text of Leviticus Rabbah is noteworthy as containing, at the end of the first three chapters, annotations from Tanna debe Eliyahu which were not contained in the older manuscripts. Leviticus Rabbah Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus ("Vayikrah" in Hebrew). It is referred to by Nathan ben