to form what became the Tetrateuch or Hexateuch: the promise to the pa-
triarchs, the guidance out of Egypt, the wandering through the wilderness,
the revelation at Sinai, and the occupation of the land. Historically it is un-
likely that any single group experienced the events behind all five of these
traditions. Rather, different groups experienced different events which
eventually were memorialized in these themes, and some individuals wove
the themes together, probably adding new insights and commentary, to
form what could be called a national epic. As the unity among the dispa-
rate groups developed, all groups increasingly accepted all components of
the tradition as “our” story, giving it a pan-Israelite significance.
In addition to the origins narratives, various preexilic traditions would
have survived in the memory of the people, including the Deuteronomistic
History, or at least many of the tribal, royal, military, and religious tradi-
tions which served as the sources of that History. Included also in that early
heritage were collections of sayings of and stories about prophets, such as
Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah of Jerusalem, as well as collections of
priestly rituals, liturgical hymns, and wisdom instructions.
For the most part Second Temple tradents or scribes assiduously re-
cited or recopied those traditions as accurately as they could, but occasion-
ally there were creative minds that sought to revise and expand the texts
with insights addressing new situations and making the works meaningful
to the current generation. A priestly edition of the Torah was produced
and interwoven into the earlier origins traditions to help the people un-
derstand that the ancient covenant was not ephemeral and did not neces-
sarily rest on land, autonomous kingship, and the historical process, but
rather was eternal and rested on theocracy, Temple liturgy, and adherence
to Torah. The Deuteronomistic History was also updated, putting heavier
emphasis on the curse which would result in war, defeat, and exile from the
land that had flowed with milk and honey. In contrast, certain prophetic
collections with oracles of judgment were supplemented with much-
needed oracles of salvation or consolation (e.g., Amos 9:11-15, and Isaiah
40–55 joined to Isaiah 1–33).
New compositions were also produced in reaction to the shocking loss
of independence, land, king, and temple. In addition to the expanded and
retheologized editions of the Torah and the Deuteronomistic History, Sec-
ond Isaiah joyously trumpeted the exiles’ imminent and glorious return to
Jerusalem, typologically promising a new creation, new exodus, new cov-
enant, and new Jerusalem. Job may be seen as an attempt to understand
and deal with life and the God-human relationship after the Exile. New123The Jewish Scriptures: Texts, Versions, CanonsEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
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