Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ucf-cs.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!mcnc!duke!ucf-cs!yiri From: yiri@ucf-cs.UUCP (Yirmiyahu BenDavid) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Previously posted questions re history of Jewish Bible Message-ID: <1792@ucf-cs.UUCP> Date: Mon, 3-Dec-84 10:22:57 EST Article-I.D.: ucf-cs.1792 Posted: Mon Dec 3 10:22:57 1984 Date-Received: Thu, 6-Dec-84 03:16:51 EST Organization: UCF, Orlando, FL Lines: 39 I am reposting this article since it was originally posted here and a) no complete answers were offerred to the original poster and b) I can't get the path correct in order to mail to him after repeated attempts (perhaps he will send me a correct path with no parsing errors able to creep in, etc.?) If no good answers are forthcoming in the interim, I'll try to answer as best I can as soon as winter break gets here (I'm really in deep until then). ------------------------------ I have some questions for any and all Bible/Torah/Talmud scholars out there. It concerns the earliest dates of the written source for the Old Testament. I learned in Religious Studies that the Pentateuch (sic?) was passed down from generation to generation orally until sometime after the reign of King David c. 1000 B.C. The first book of the OT to ever be written was the First Book of Samuel, at least according to the religious historians I encountered at school. The purpose of this book was to legitimatize the monarchy instituted by King Saul. The transcribing of the oral tradition that make up the five books of the Pentateuch followed the writing of the First Book of Samuel. This is what I learned in school. We all know that a lot of time what one learns in school is not necessarily (unfortunately) true. Here are my questions: 1) What is the first book of the bible ever written? 2) When was the earliest source still extant today written? 3) How long were the books that comprize the Pentateuch orally transmitted before they were transcribed? Please include source references wherever possible.