Part 1 of Essay
The Old Testament is a compilation, and like every compilation it has a wide variety of contributors who have their individual influence upon the final work. “Today, thanks to the rediscovery of (ancient) literature, it is possible to recognize that the Old Testament is in fact saturated with the popular lore of the ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... Book of Genesis may have been formed, we must place it somewhere in time, and then define the cultures of that time. The influences must be explained, and then we may draw our conclusions. If we trace back to the first appearance of the Bible in written form, in its earliest translation, we arrive at approximately 450 B.C. Two texts, components of the Pentateuch referred to as J and E texts, can be traced to around 650 B.C. The J texts refer to Yahweh texts, ....