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This article is about an element in the documentary hypothesis, concerning the torah. JE can also refer to a Mazda J engine, and can be the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Jersey.

JE is an intermediate source text postulated by the documentary hypothesis for the torah. It is a combination and redaction of the Jahwist (J) and Elohist (E) source texts. For the purpose of this article we accept the documentary hypothesis; see documentary hypothesis for disputes of the theory as a whole.

Nature of the JE source

JE treats God as a human-like figure, capable of regret, and appearing in person at events. JE also makes use of supernatural creatures such as angels as intermediaries, as well as mystical talking creatures, and supernatural objects. In JE, God is shown as merciful, and capable of being persuaded to change His mind.

The redactor of JE

JE was created when J and E were combined and edited together. The documentary hypothesis asserts that this occurred shortly after biblical Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, as a result of trying to assimilate the refugees (whose traditions and religion were asserted by the E source) into the society of Judah (whose traditions and religion were asserted by the J source).

Since the majority of each text was composed of traditions about events and people associated only with one or other nation, combining them would not cause conflict. However, where they differ, (for example one refers to the holy mountain as Sinai, and the other as Horeb), because of the presence in a general audience of both groups, neither text could be suppressed, and the differences had to be kept in order that the resulting text was generally acceptable.

It is generally considered as unknown how much of the two texts (if any) was cut to produce JE.

Passages ascribed to JE

The parts of the Torah usually identified as JE are

  • Genesis
  • 2:4(ii) - 25 (Creation)
  • 3, 4, 5:29 (Temptation, Cain and Abel, Cain's descendents)
  • 6:1 - 8, 7:1 - 5, 7:7, 7:10, 7:12, 7:16(ii) - 20, 7:22 - 23, 8:2(ii) - 3(i), 8:6, 8:8 - 12, 8:13(ii), 8:20 - 22 (The Nephilim, The flood)
  • 9:18 - 27 (Ham's rape of Noah)
  • 10:8 - 19, 10:21, 10:24-30 (Noah's descendents)
  • 11:1 - 9 (The Tower of Babel)
  • 12:1 - 4(i) (Abraham's journey)
  • 12:6 - 20 (The promise to Abraham, Abraham pretending his wife is his sister)
  • 13:1 - 5, 13:7 - 11(i), 13:12(ii) - 18, 14 (Lot and Abraham)
  • 15 (Abraham's covenant)
  • 16:1 - 2, 16:4 - 14 (Hagar, Ishmael)
  • 18, 19:1 - 28, 19: 30 - 38 (Sodom and Gomorrah)
  • 20 (Abraham pretending his wife is his sister)
  • 21:1(i), 21:2(i), 21:6 - 34 (Isaac's birth, Hagar, Ishmael, Abimelek)
  • 22:1 - 10, 22:16(ii) - 24 (Isaac's Binding, Abraham's relations)
  • 24 (Rebekah)
  • 25:1 - 4 (Keturah's sons)
  • 25:8(i) (Abraham's death)
  • 25:11(ii), 25:21 - 34, 26:1 - 33, 27:1 - 45 (Abimelek, Esau)
  • 28:10 - 22 (Jacob at Bethel)
  • 29, 30:1 - 24 (Jacob's descendents)
  • 30:25 - 43, 31:1 - 18(i), 31:19 - 54, 32, 33:1 - 17 (Laban and the return of Jacob, Jacob is renamed Israel)
  • 33:18(except Paddan Aram) - 20 (Israel obtains Shechem)
  • 34 (Israel obtains Shechem)
  • 35:1 - 8 (Jacob returns to Bethel)
  • 35:16 - 22 (Rachel dies, Reuben and Jacob's concubine)
  • 36:31 - 43 (Esau's descendents)
  • 37:2(ii) - 36 (Joseph and his brothers)
  • 38, 39, 40 (Tamar, Potiphar's wife, Butler and baker)
  • 41:1 - 45(i), 41:46(ii) - 57 (Joseph meets the pharaoh)
  • 42, 43, 44, 45 (Joseph's brothers in Egypt)
  • 46:1 - 5, 46:28 - 34, 47:1 - 27(i), 47:29 - 31, 48:1 - 2, 48:8 - 22, 49:1 - 27, 50:1 - 11, 50:14-26 (Jacob in Egypt)
  • Exodus
  • 1:6 (Descendents)
  • 1:8 - 12 (The hebrews become slaves)
  • 1:15 - 22 (The slaying of the firstborn)
  • 2:1 - 23(i) (Moses' birth)
  • 3, 4:1 - 21(i), 4:22 - 31 (Moses' summoning)
  • 5, 6:1, 7:14 - 18, 7:20(ii) - 21(i), 7:23 - 29, 8:3(ii) - 11(i), 8:16 - 28, 9:1 - 7, 9:13 - 34, 10:1 - 19, 10:21 - 26, 10:28 - 29, 11:1 - 8 (Moses faces the pharaoh)
  • 12:21 - 27, 12:29 - 36, 12:37(ii) - 39, 13:1 - 16 (The escape of the slaves)
  • 13:17 - 19, 13:21 - 22, 14:5 - 7, 14:9(i), 14:10(ii), 14:11 - 14, 14:19 - 20, 14:21(ii), 14:24 - 25, 14:27(ii), 14:30 - 31, 15:1 - 18, 15:20 - 21 (Crossing the Red Sea)
  • 15:22(ii) - 26 (A water supply, Instructions)
  • 16:4 - 5, 16:35(ii) (A food supply)
  • 17:2 - 16 (A water supply, Amalak)
  • 18 (Jethro)
  • 19:2(ii) - 25, 20:18 - 26 (The holy mountain)
  • 21, 22, 23 (The Covenant Code)
  • 24:1 - 15(i), 24:18(ii) (The holy mountain)
  • 32:1 - 33:11 (The Golden Calf)
  • 33:12 - 23, 34:1(i), 34:2 - 28 (Moses' theophany, The ten commandments)
  • Leviticus
  • Nothing
  • Numbers
  • 10:29 - 36 (Leaving the holy mountain)
  • 11, 12 (Taberah, a food source, Moses' wife)
  • 13:17 - 20, 13:23 - 24, 13:27 - 31, 13:33, 14:1(ii), 14:4, 14:11 - 25, 14:39 - 45 (The report of the scouting party)
  • 16:1(ii) - 2(i), 16:12 - 14, 16:25, 16:27(ii) - 32(i), 16:33 - 34 (The rebellion against the official priesthood)
  • 20:14 - 21 (Edom)
  • 21:1 - 3 (Arad)
  • 21:4(ii) - 9 (Nehustan the bronze serpent)
  • 21:21 - 35 (Sihon, Og)
  • 22:2 - 24:25 (Balaam)
  • 25:1 - 5 (Heresy of Peor)
  • Deuteronomy
  • 31:14 - 15, 31:23 (The appointing of Joshua)
  • 33:1 (Moses' blessing)
  • 34:1 - 6 (Moses' death)