B. Distinctions in E are not so frequently in- sisted on, but some critics have referred to an earlier source, E', such passages as show traces of archaic ideas or expressions, such as the an- thropomorphic expressions of Gn 20*-' (cf. Nu 22™, etc.), the ancient custom referred to in Gn 20", the word n9'i:'i3 in Gn 33'», Jos 24"^.
C. In D we can trace several different stages. It is now generally admitted that the Deuteronomic rode begins either with Dt 5 or with Dt 12. Dt 1-4, and perhaps also 5-11, were afterwards written as an introduction, and still later the history was con- tinued with the Deuteronomic recension of Joshua. It seems likely that these were the gradual work of the Deuteronomic school, extending well on into the period of the Jewish captivity. The D elements of the earlier books of the Hexatench are sometimes ascribed, not to this school, but to the compilers of JE. At any rate, they probably belong to a com- paratively early period.
D. In P the fact of constant revision and gradual compilation is easy to prove, but it is not so easy to say how many distinct stages there V3re in its history, still less to assign the exact dates to which they belong. The following facts are, however, capable of easy demonstration.
(1) Tlie nucleus of P lies in what is known as the Code of Holiness (P'') contained in Lv 17-26, though these cliajiters now contain many interpolations (esp. 22"--»- =»• *> 23'-e- ^^ 24'-"). This section is marked off from the rest of the P legislation (a) by its highly spiritual character and intense feeling of reverence for the holiness of God and everything connected with His service. P"" is the centre ana kernel of the new religious movement ; (i) by its intimate relation to the ideal of ritual, etc. , sketched out by Ezekiel, chs. 40-48 ; (c) by its use of a special terminology, words and phrases being found which occur no-n-here else. It will be suthcient here to
call attention to such phrases as ' I am J",' ' I J" am your (iud,' 'I your tJod am holy,' and the like ; 'walk in my (etc.) ordinances,' 'do and keep my statutes and mj- judgments,' -jy \p\<, ' I will set my face,' ' that man shall be cut oil" from his people,' 'my {J'"s, etc.) Sabkaths.' For a mora complete list see Driver, LOT', 49. (rf) By dis- crepancies between P'' and the "eneral body of Levitical law. Thus in P'' the later distinction between the lii^h priest and the ordinary priests ia still in the making. The chief priest is but primus inter ptrci (the priest who is greater than his brethren, Lv 21'"). Notice that the injunction which in Lv 21'° is laid upon the chief i>riest only, not to let the hair of his head go loose, or rend his clothes, is in Lv 10'- ' laid upon all the priests. The Feast of Hoot lis lasted, according to the original text of Lv 23®-'", 7 days instead of 8, and is still determined by the season, 'when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land' ; the addition of the 8tli day and the words 'on the 15th day of the 7th month' in v.", evidently are interpolations (incon- sistent with w.-""*-) added when the laws were incorporated into the larger code. On the other hand, it is possible that P'' included passages now outside Lv. 17-26, as esp. Ex 6»-', Lv U'-a*'-" in their oriijinal form. With reference to the relation of P"" to Ezekiel, it should be noticed that the resemblance extends not only to the general tenor of the 8ul)ject, a thing in itself striking enough, but even to the style and phrase- ology; and in this respect it is not conlined to these chapters of Ezekiel, but several expressions of !"• are found scattered in various parts of the prophet [see Kuenen, § 15, note 10]. That I"', therefore, was wTitten either by Ezekiel himself or by one imbued with his spirit, and in all probabirity a contemporary, does not admit of rea.sonable doubt, and we cannot be far wrong in assigning it to the latter half of the Exile.
(2) The next in order of time, and the most important of the Priestly documents, is the historical and legislative work known frequently as P«, which contains all of P excepting P"" on the one hand, and certain later accretions in the legis- lative portions on the other. The central feature of P' is the promulgation of the laws, which are all represented as revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai. P» was probably, as already suggested, the law promulgated by Ezra, Neh 8. 9*. Notice that the Feast of Booths is kept eight days according to P«, see Nu 29*>.
(3) A third stage is reached in the union of P» and P*", but whether it took place before or after the promulgation of P by Ezra cannot be determined. All that can be said with certainty is that Ezra was the head, perhajis the founder, of a sehoul of scribes specially suited for carrying out a work of this kind.
(4) Lastly, there is evidence of various additions and revisions of the Priestly Code m.ade from time to time (P*). The most important of the former in Ex-Nu are Ex 30. 31'-" 34»-s» 35-40, Lv 1-7. 8. 1124-4U i2_i5. 16 (in part), most of Nu 1-10=« 15. 19, the whole of 28-31. To these we should add the additiims to P'>, esp. in Lv 23, to make it a^ee with P*. The necessity of supposing such additions to P« cannot be here proved at length. It is enough to say generally that the proof lies in certain repetitions, inconsistencies, and want of sequence. For example, Ex 35-40 Lv 8 taken together are a repetition of Ex 25-29. Ex 30'-"> describes a special altar of incense of which there is no mention in the list of holy things in 26"'". Cf. Lv 16'^ which seems to imply that the one altar was used both for incense and sacrifice. Ex 30 (or at any rate 35) -Lv 8 breaks the seqiienca between Ex 29 and Lv 9, and Lv 1-7 is itself a