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
Society for Old Testament Study Old Testament at the time of publication, namely The People and the Book (ed. A.S. Peake; Oxford, 1925), Record and Revelation (ed. H.W. Robinson; Oxford, 1938), The Old Testament and Modern Study (ed. H.H. Rowley; Oxford, 1951), Tradition and Interpretation (ed. G.W. Anderson; Oxford, 1979), and Text in Context (ed. A.D.H. Mayes; Oxford, 2000). The Society has also commissioned from time to time other multi-essay volumes devoted to specific topics, namely Documents from Old Testament Times (ed. D.W. Thomas; London, 1958), Archaeology and Old Testament Study (ed. D.W. Thomas; Oxford, 1967), Peoples of Old Testament Times (ed. D.J. Wiseman; Oxford,