BEMA Episode Link: 82: The Text — When, Where, Who, and Why
Episode Length: 49:21
Published Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2018 01:00:00 -0700
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings wrestle with the questions surrounding the authorship of the Text.

Discussion Video for BEMA 82

Documentary Hypothesis — Wikipedia

BEMA 71: The Prophetic Table

BEMA 62: Daniel — Son of Man

Silent Years — Welcome to Hellenism Presentation (PDF)

Transcript for BEMA 82

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 82: The Text — When, Where, Who, and Why

Title & Source Summary

This episode addresses fundamental questions about biblical authorship, timing, and composition. Marty Solomon explores when the Hebrew Scriptures were actually written, who wrote them, and why understanding these questions matters for reading Scripture faithfully. The discussion challenges traditional assumptions about biblical composition while affirming the inspiration and authority of the text, ultimately arguing that critical thinking about Scripture’s origins strengthens rather than weakens faith.

Key Takeaways

  • Oral Culture Foundation: Most biblical content existed in oral form long before being written down, as ancient Israel was primarily an oral culture where stories, laws, and teachings were memorized and transmitted verbally.

  • Babylonian Exile as Writing Catalyst: The common scholarly opinion suggests much of the Hebrew Scripture was written down during or after the Babylonian captivity (6th century BC), when the exiled community recognized the urgency of preserving their traditions in written form.

  • Documentary Hypothesis: The first five books of the Bible (Torah/Pentateuch) show evidence of multiple distinguishable authors based on Hebrew word usage, style, and theological emphases—not contradicting inspiration but demonstrating God’s work through diverse voices.

  • The Bible as Dialogue: Scripture functions as an ongoing conversation with multiple perspectives on the same events and questions, inviting readers to wrestle with the text rather than simply extracting information from it.

  • Dating Daniel: If the Book of Daniel was written in the mid-2nd century BC (as many scholars believe) rather than during the Babylonian exile, it transforms from distant prophecy into urgent commentary on the Hasmonean dynasty’s corruption, making Jesus’s “Son of Man” references even more provocative and politically charged.

Main Concepts & Theories

The Oral Culture Context

Ancient Israel functioned as an oral culture where information was primarily transmitted through memorization and verbal recitation rather than written records. This means:

  • Stories from Genesis through the conquest were likely passed down orally for centuries before being written
  • The five books of Moses (Torah) were attributed to Moses not because he physically wrote them, but because the teachings originated from his authority and leadership
  • Written records would have been expensive, time-consuming, and rare in the ancient world
  • Oral transmission doesn’t diminish reliability—oral cultures developed sophisticated memorization techniques
The Babylonian Writing Theory

The common scholarly consensus places much of the Hebrew Scripture’s composition during or after the Babylonian exile (586-538 BC):

Why this makes sense:

  • The exile created an urgent need to preserve traditions that had previously been passed orally
  • The Jewish community in Babylon was learning lessons about obedience and wanted to ensure these teachings weren’t lost
  • The synagogue system emerged during this period, centering on written texts and teaching
  • Writing materials and literacy were becoming more accessible

What this means:

  • Books like Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were written to record and interpret Israel’s history
  • The prophetic books were compiled and edited to preserve the prophets’ messages
  • Even the Torah may have been compiled from multiple earlier sources during this period
Documentary Hypothesis (Wellhausen Theory)

This theory proposes that the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy) was composed from at least four distinguishable sources, identified by different Hebrew vocabulary, names for God, theological emphases, and literary styles:

The Four Sources:

  1. Yahwist (J) - Uses the divine name YHWH, emphasizes southern kingdom traditions
  2. Elohist (E) - Uses the name Elohim for God, reflects northern kingdom perspectives
  3. Deuteronomist (D) - Responsible for most of Deuteronomy, emphasizes covenant faithfulness
  4. Priestly (P) - Focuses on ritual, genealogy, and priestly concerns

Important clarifications:

  • This theory doesn’t deny divine inspiration—God can work through multiple human authors
  • The eventual compilation (by a “redactor”) into a coherent narrative could itself be part of the inspired process
  • The existence of literary structures like chiasms spanning the entire Torah suggests divine orchestration beyond human authorship
  • Recognizing multiple voices doesn’t diminish authority—it enriches our understanding of how God speaks through Scripture
The Bible as “Prophetic Table”

Rather than presenting a single monolithic perspective, Scripture preserves multiple voices in conversation with each other:

Examples:

  • Joshua and Judges present different perspectives on the conquest of Canaan
  • Samuel/Kings versus Chronicles offer contrasting interpretations of Israel’s monarchy
  • Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi each approach the Persian period differently
  • Within the prophets, different voices address the same situations with varying emphases

Why this matters:

  • Scripture models wrestling with complex questions rather than providing simplistic answers
  • Multiple perspectives demonstrate that God works through human diversity
  • Readers are invited into the conversation rather than simply receiving dictation
  • This approach requires active engagement and critical thinking rather than passive reception
The Book of Daniel Reconsidered

Traditional interpretation places Daniel during the Babylonian exile (6th century BC), but common scholarly opinion dates the book to the mid-2nd century BC, during the Maccabean period:

Evidence for mid-2nd century dating:

  • The book’s chiastic structure contains two centers that don’t make clear sense in a Babylonian context
  • The detailed “prophecies” about successive kingdoms align precisely with actual historical developments from Babylon through the Hellenistic period
  • The book’s themes directly address concerns of the Hasmonean period: temple corruption, foreign influence, and the need for hope

First Chiasm Center (Daniel 4:37):

  • Nebuchadnezzar, the pagan king, praises the God of heaven
  • In a Babylonian context: remarkable story of conversion
  • In a 2nd century BC context: encouragement that even pagan empires (Greece/Rome) might eventually bow to God

Second Chiasm Center (Daniel 9:25-27):

  • Predicts Jerusalem’s rebuilding, the death of an “anointed one,” and an “abomination of desolation”
  • In a Babylonian context: distant prophecy about Jesus and Rome
  • In a 2nd century BC context: immediate critique of the corrupt Hasmonean high priests who defiled the temple after gaining power

Central Message (Daniel 7:13-14):

  • The “Son of Man” receives an eternal kingdom
  • This becomes Jesus’s primary self-designation, making a provocative claim
  • When Jesus calls himself “Son of Man” before the priests, he’s invoking a recent book that condemns corrupt religious leadership
  • The priests’ extreme reaction makes sense when we understand Daniel as a contemporary critique, not an ancient prophecy
Inspiration vs. Accuracy

Marty clarifies a crucial distinction often confused in fundamentalist approaches:

Inspiration means:

  • God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)
  • Empowered by God to transform and guide
  • Carrying divine authority
  • Part of God’s ongoing work with his people

Inspiration does NOT necessarily mean:

  • Written at the exact time the events occurred
  • Written by a single author
  • Literalistic historical recording without literary artistry
  • Free from human perspective and cultural influence

Key insight: God can inspire allegory, parable, poetry, and multiple perspectives just as surely as God can inspire historical narrative. The form doesn’t determine whether something is inspired—inspiration concerns the divine origin and purpose of the text.

Examples & Applications

The Scroll Found in the Temple (2 Kings 22-23)

When King Josiah ordered the temple cleaned, workers found “the scroll of the law” (not “book”—they didn’t have codex books yet). Traditional interpretation assumes this was all five books of Moses, but:

  • The text says “scroll” (singular), not “scrolls” (plural)
  • If any book would be kept in the temple, it would be Leviticus—the priestly manual for temple operations
  • This suggests written texts were rare and specific to function, not universally distributed
  • It implies much of Israel’s tradition was still oral even during the monarchy period
Jesus’s Use of “Son of Man”

Jesus’s repeated self-designation as “Son of Man” becomes far more provocative when understood against Daniel’s 2nd century BC context:

  • Daniel introduces “Son of Man” language as a figure who receives God’s eternal kingdom
  • Daniel’s chiastic structure condemns corrupt priests and predicts an “anointed one” who dies
  • When Jesus claims to be the Son of Man before the Sanhedrin, he’s not just claiming messiahship
  • He’s invoking a recent, controversial text that explicitly condemns the current religious leadership
  • Their violent reaction reflects not just theological disagreement but recognition of this political challenge
Reading with Historical Context

Instead of reading Job as the “oldest book in the Bible” (a common teaching), scholars generally date it to the 7th-4th centuries BC, between the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles:

What changes with this dating:

  • Job’s suffering addresses the experience of exile and national trauma
  • The book’s questions about innocent suffering speak to why Israel faced destruction
  • The non-Israelite setting (Edom or Arabia) reflects diaspora concerns
  • The book engages with wisdom literature from surrounding cultures Israel encountered in exile
The Prophetic Table in Action

The different approaches to Persia among post-exilic books:

Esther: Work within the system, use your position to save your people Ezra: Separate from foreign influence, purify the community Nehemiah: Rebuild infrastructure while maintaining distinct identity Malachi: Focus on internal spiritual renewal and proper worship

These aren’t contradictory—they’re different faithful responses to the same situation, preserved together to show that God’s people must discern wisdom rather than apply formulaic answers.

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  1. Ancient Near Eastern Parallels: How does Israel’s oral tradition and eventual writing compare to other ancient cultures? What can we learn from Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and Canaanite literature preservation?

  2. Textual Criticism Methods: What are the actual scholarly methods used to identify different sources in biblical texts? How do linguistic analysis, source criticism, form criticism, and redaction criticism work?

  3. The Redaction Process: Who were the editors/compilers (“redactors”) who brought multiple sources together? What can we learn about their theological concerns and literary skill?

  4. Chiastic Structures: How do large-scale literary structures like chiasms work across books with multiple sources? Does this strengthen or complicate source theories?

  5. Second Temple Judaism: What was the state of Jewish biblical interpretation during the period between Malachi and Jesus? How did groups like the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes approach Scripture differently?

  6. Gospel Formation: If we understand the Hebrew Scriptures as having complex compositional histories, how does this prepare us to read the Gospels? What do we know about how Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were composed?

  7. Canon Formation: How did the Jewish community decide which books were Scripture? When was this process completed? Why were some books included and others excluded?

  8. Conservative Responses: What are the most compelling scholarly responses to Documentary Hypothesis and late dating theories from conservative/traditional perspectives?

  9. Inspiration Theology: How have different Christian traditions understood biblical inspiration? What’s the difference between concepts like verbal inspiration, plenary inspiration, dictation theory, and dynamic inspiration?

  10. Application to Christian Life: If Scripture is a dialogue meant to provoke wrestling rather than provide simple answers, how does this change how we do Bible study, preach sermons, and make ethical decisions?

Comprehension Questions

  1. How does understanding ancient Israel as an oral culture change our assumptions about when and how the biblical texts were composed?
    • Consider the practical realities of writing in the ancient world, the sophisticated memorization techniques of oral cultures, and what it means to attribute authorship in an oral context.
  2. What is the Documentary Hypothesis, and why does Marty argue it doesn’t contradict belief in divine inspiration?
    • Explain the basic theory of multiple sources in the Torah and how literary structures like chiasms might actually support divine orchestration despite multiple human authors.
  3. Why does the dating of the Book of Daniel to the mid-2nd century BC (rather than the 6th century BC Babylonian exile) dramatically change how we read the book—and how Jesus used it?
    • Consider what “Son of Man” would have meant if Daniel was a recent critique of the Hasmonean priesthood rather than an ancient prophecy, and why the priests reacted so strongly to Jesus’s claim.
  4. What does Marty mean when he describes the Bible as a “prophetic table” or an “ongoing dialogue,” and how does this differ from viewing it as a single monolithic message?
    • Think about examples like Joshua/Judges or the different approaches to Persia in Esther/Ezra/Nehemiah, and what it means for Scripture to preserve multiple faithful perspectives.
  5. Marty acknowledges that critical approaches to biblical authorship were historically dismissed in his fundamentalist education. Why does he believe asking these questions strengthens rather than weakens faith?
    • Reflect on the difference between faith that can’t ask questions and faith that engages honestly with historical evidence and scholarly inquiry.

Personal Summary

Episode 82 represents a pivotal moment in BEMA’s journey, as Marty tackles questions about biblical authorship, composition, and dating that fundamentalist education often avoids or dismisses. The core message isn’t about undermining Scripture’s authority but about understanding how God actually worked through real human authors, editors, and communities over centuries to produce the texts we now call the Bible.

The recognition that much of the Hebrew Scripture was likely written during or after the Babylonian exile doesn’t diminish inspiration—it reveals a God who works through historical crisis to preserve and shape sacred tradition. The Documentary Hypothesis, rather than fragmenting Torah, demonstrates the miraculous coherence that emerged from multiple voices. The identification of dialogue and multiple perspectives within Scripture invites readers into active engagement rather than passive reception.

Particularly powerful is the reframing of Daniel as a mid-2nd century BC text addressing immediate concerns about Hasmonean corruption and Hellenistic pressure. This transforms Jesus’s use of “Son of Man” language from a claim about distant prophecy to a provocative invocation of a recent, politically charged text that condemned the very priests judging him. Understanding this context makes the Gospel accounts come alive with tension and meaning often missed in traditional readings.

Marty’s personal journey from angry Bible college student to someone seeking restoration with his educational institutions models how to think critically while maintaining faith. His fundamental conviction remains clear: the Bible is God-breathed, authoritative, and life-transforming—but we honor it more by asking honest questions than by defending positions based on incomplete information. The episode prepares listeners for reading the Gospels with the same critical engagement, understanding them not as simple biographies but as theologically sophisticated documents composed within specific historical contexts for particular communities.

The takeaway isn’t “believe everything Marty says” but rather “ask when, where, who, and why about every biblical text you read.” This approach treats Scripture as worthy of our deepest intellectual engagement precisely because it is God’s word—powerful enough to withstand and even flourish under critical examination. For those willing to wrestle, the reward is a more vibrant, historically grounded, and ultimately more transformative encounter with the biblical text.

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