M. Seligsohn Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. George A. Barton
?Critical View:
There is abundant evidence that the Book of Numbers was not written by Moses, and that it was not contemporary with the events which it describes. Throughout Moses is referred to in the third person, and in one passage (xii. 3) in terms which have long been felt to preclude Mosaic authorship. One passage only, namely, xxxiii. 2, lays claim to the authorship of Moses; but this is so closely related to others which are clearly later than Moses, and, indeed, the latest in the Pentateuch, that it is evident he did not write it. It has been abundantly demonstrated that the same great sources, J, E, and P, which furnished material for the other books of the Hexateuch, furnished the material for Numbers also. Even D appears in one passage.
There is no unity of thought or of material in Numbers . Its material may be most conveniently grouped geographically, under which arrangement the following three divisions are obtained: (1) ch. i.-x. 10, which treat of the camp at Sinai; (2) ch. x. 11-xix., which contain accounts of wanderings; and (3) ch. xx.-xxxvi., the scene of which is the plains of Moab.
Ch. i.-x. 10: The first section of the book covers the last nineteen days of the encampment at Sinai. The material all comes from P; but it is not all from one hand. Ch. i. 1, 16, 54 is from P g , the author of the priestly "Grundschrift," who recorded the command to number Israel, and briefly told how it was accomplished. Verses 17 to 53 give the tribes in a different order from the preceding, and are from the hand of a priestly expander or supplementer, P s . Ch. ii., which gives the plan of encampment, has still a different order for the tribes, so that Judah assumes the first place. It is generally agreed that this comes from the hand of a still later priestly supplementer. Ch. iii. contains the account of the choice of the tribe of Levi instead of all the first-born of the Israelites. This main narrative from P g (verses 5-22, 27, 28, 33, 34, 39, 44, 45) has been supplemented by P s (verses 1-4, 23-26, 29-32, 35-38, 40-43, 46-51), with the position of their encampment and some other matters. Ch. iv., a fresh census of adult Levites with a statement of their duties, contains (verse 11) a reference to the golden altar, of which there is an account in Ex. xxx., a supplementary chapter. This is, therefore, from P s . In all these passages from P s there are seen great elaboration of style and much repetition.
Amplification of Older Laws.
Ch. v., concerning the ordeal provided for a wife suspected of infidelity, comes from a priestly writer possibly older than P g , whom Carpenter and Harford-Battersby, because he writes as a teacher, designate as P t . The law in its present form combines two older laws, according to one of which the proof of the woman's guilt is presupposed, while the other regarded it as indeterminate and provided an ordeal to ascertain the truth. For details compare Stade in his "Zeitschrift," 1895, pp. 166 et seq.; Carpenter and Harford-Battersby, "Hexateuch," ii. 192; and Baentsch in Nowack's "Hand-Kommentar," ad loc. Ch. vi., on the law of vows, is from the same source as ch. v., namely, P t . The benediction at the end (verses 22 to 27) is from a supplementary source. Ch. vii., relating to the gifts of the princes of the different tribes, is dated the day Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle, and accordingly follows immediately on Ex. xl. It is regarded as one of the latest amplifications of P s . One verse (89) is from P g . Ch. viii., the ceremonial cleansing of the Levites, is from P s , but it consists of two strata, 1-15a and 15b-26. These cover much the same ground, 15b-26 being later than the other. Ch. ix., on the regulations of the delayed Passover, is likewise from P s . Ch. x. 1-8 recounts the signals for journeying. It is from P g . Verses 9 and 10 contain regulations concerning the blowing of trumpets in war and as a memorial. It bears the characteristic marks of the Holiness Code, P h .
Ch. x. 11-xix.: In the second division of Numbers the sources are more complex, J, E, and P being each represented. It is by no means possible to separate the three strands with certainty. Ch. x. 11-26, describing the departure from Sinai, contains first (verses 11-12) P g 's statement of the departure. This has been amplified (verses 13-28, 34) by P s . In verses 29-33, 35, and 36 the J narrative, which was interrupted at Ex. xxxiv. 28, is resumed. As in the J narratives elsewhere, Moses' father-in-law, who accompanies the Israelites on their way, is called Hobab. Ch. xi. 1-3, narrating the Taberah incident, is plausibly attributed to E because marks of J are wanting and because E elsewhere ascribes a similar function to prayer (xxi. 7 and Gen. xx. 7, 17). The story of the quails (xi. 4-15, 18-24a, 31-35; xii. 16) is clearly from J: the style, language, and point of view are his. On the other hand, xi. 16, 17, 24b-30, and xii. 1-15 are, by their conception of the tent of meeting as apart from the camp, shown to be from E.
Complexity of Sources.
Ch. xiii-xiv., describing the sending out of the spies, is very complex. J, E, and P are all represented in the story. The following analysis is tentative only: To P belong xiii. 1-17a, 21b, 25, 26a, 32; xiv. 1a, 2, 5-7, 9a, 10, 26-30, 32-39a. According to P, Caleb, Joshua, and ten others went through the land to Rehob in the neighborhood of Lebanon; they reported the people to be of great stature; the congregation murmured; and forty years of wandering were announced. From J come xiii. 17b, 18b, 19, 22, 27a, 28, 30, 31; xiv. 1c, 3, 8, 9b, 11-17, 19-24, 31, 41-45. According to J, Caleb and other spies go up to the "negeb" (A. V. "south"), and reach Hebron; they report that the children of Anak are there; the people weep with fear; only Caleb and the little ones are, accordingly, to see the promised land; the presumptuous attempt of the people to go up is defeated. To E belong xiii. 17c, 18a, 18c, 20, 21a, 23, 24, 26b, 27b, 29, 33; xiv. 1b, 4, 25, 39b, 40. The beginning of E's account may be found underlying Deut. i. 22-25. He describes the despatch of twelve men, who reach the valley of Eshcol, cut down some fruit, and take it back to Kadesh, with a report that numerous Nephilim are in the country; the people cry unto the Lord and are directed to march by way of the Red Sea, but they propose to enter the land direct instead.
Ch. xv., on the general law of oblation and on a law concerning fringes on garments, is from P t , though P s has interpolated verses 32 to 36, which refer to the man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Ch. xvi. is composite: an account by J of how a Judean headed a rebellion against Moses, an E account of the rebellion of two sons of Reuben, and a P g account of how a number of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron have been combined and transformed by P s into the attempt of Levites headed by Korah to obtain the priesthood. To J belong verses 1d, 13, 14a, 15, 26b, 27c-31, 33a; to E, 1c, 12, 14b, 25, 27b, 32a, 33b, 34; to P g , 1a, 2b-7, 18-24, 26a, 27a, 35, 41-50; and to P s , 1b, 8-11, 16, 17, 32b, 33c, and 36-40. Ch. xvii., on the budding of Aaron's rod, and ch. xviii., on the responsibilities and perquisites of the priests, are from the main priestly narrative, P g . Ch. xix. contains regulations for the purification of those who have touched the dead. Verses 1 to 13, on the ceremonial of the red heifer, is tentatively assigned to P s ; the parallel law in verses 14 to 22 is connected by its title with P t .
Ch. xx.-xxxvi.: In the third section of the book, ch. xx. 1-13, narrating the strife at Meribah, is mainly derived from P g , but the reference to Miriam (1b) seems to be taken from E, while 3a, 5, and 8b are fragments of a J account in which Aaron was not mentioned. Verses 14 to 22a, the refusal of Edom to allow Israel to pass through his territory, is combined from J and E. E furnished verses 14-18, 21a, and 22a; J, 19, 20, and 21b. Verses 22b to 29, describing the death of Aaron, is clearly from P g .
Ch. xxi. is a JE narrative. J supplied verses 1-3 (the devotion of Hormah), 16-20 (the journey from Hormah to Pisgah), and 24b-32 (the conquest of Heshbon and Jazer); E supplied 4b-9 (the origin of the brazen serpent), 11b-15 (the journey to the Arnon), 21-24a (the conquest of Heshbon). Verses 4a, 10, and 11a are a part of P's itinerary, as is xxii. 1.
Antiquity of Poems in Ch. xxiii., xxiv.
The story of Balaam (xxii.2-xxiv.) has been woven together from J and E. The J sections are xxii. 3b-5a, 5c-7, 11, 17, 18, 22-36a, 37b, 39; xxiii. 28; xxiv. 1-25. These sections describe Moab's distress, and the sending of elders of Midian to Balaam, apparently in the land of Ammon (emended text
In ch. xxv. it is thought that 1b, 2, 3b, and 4, which narrate whoredom with the daughters of Moab, are from J; verses 1a, 3a, and 5 are an E account of Israel's worship of Baal-peor and its punishment; verses, 6 to 15 preserve a kindred account by P g of a Hebrew's marriage with a Midianitish woman and its punishment. P s has supplemented this (verses 16, 17) by a command to vex the Midianites. Ch. xxvi., a second census of the Hebrews, is so repetitious that it is clearly from a priestly supplementer. Ch. xxvii. 1-11, concerning the inheritance of daughters when male issue is wanting, is from a similar source. This is also true of verses 12 to 14, which once introduced at this point the P account of the death of Moses that is now found at Deut. xxxiv. 1. Ch. xxvii. 15-23, on the selection of Joshua to lead Israel, is a part of the original priestly narrative of P g , Ch. xxviii.-xxxvi. are, with the exception of xxxii. 39-42 (a part of J's itinerary), from the various priestly supplementers, P s . Ch. xxviii. and xxix. contain late regulations for the feasts, differing materially from the P regulations in Lev. xxiii. The reasons which lead critics to assign the treatment of vows in ch. xxx., the itinerary in xxxiii. 1 et seq., and other parts of this material to P s are the elaborate and repetitious style, and various modifications of earlier priestly material. For details the reader is referred to such works as those mentioned in the bibliography below.
It is clear from a careful examination of the material, when it is grouped as in the above analysis, that the Book of Numbers is a part of the same literary process which produced the Pentateuch. A trace of D (R d ) appears in ch. xiv. 18; so that all four strata of the Pentateuch are present.
Bibliography : Kuenen , The Hexateuch , 1886 ;
Bacon , The Triple Tradition of the Exodus , 1894 ;
Carpenter and G. Harford-Battersby , The Hexateuch , 1900 ;
Baentsch , Exodus-Leviticus-Numeri , in Nowack 's Handkommentar , 1903 ;
G. Buchanan Gray , Numbers , in the International Critical Commentary , 1903 . E. C. G. A. B.
