The documentary hypothesis of the bible’s creation and redaction claims that several different sources were combined together to create the book and stories we know today. This has been a rock solid theory since the nineteenth century, and nearly all biblical scholars support its veracity. Finding a manuscript of the bible from before this great merger of sources has been an ardent wish of many scholars – one that has been unfulfilled.
The Lost Book of Moses: The Hunt for the World's Oldest Bible, by Chanan Tigay, is just such a search. Of course, there is no such “primal” bible, and it seems unlikely one will ever be found. Tigay, however, presents a great story of the quest for just such a document. If he did not find it we can’t fault him. When the bible was stitched together, why would the redactors keep the scraps?
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