The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version

by Michael D. Coogan

In fact, it is possible to trace distinctive styles and theological notions that typify individual Pentateuchal sources. For example, the J source is well known for its highly anthropomorphic God, who has a close relationship with humans, as seen in Gen 2.4–3.24, which includes, for example, a description of the Lord God “walking in the garden” (3.8) and says that the Lord God “made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them” (3.21). On the other hand, in E, the Elohist source, God is more distant from people, typically communicating with them by dreams or through intermediaries, such as heavenly messengers (NRSV “angels”) and prophets. The P or Priestly source is characterized by a strong interest in order and boundaries (see Gen 1), as well as an overriding concern with the priestly family of Aaron that supervises the Temple‐based religious system, which is prefigured by worship at the tabernacle in the wilderness. D, or Deuteronomy, is characterized by a unique hortatory or preaching style and insists strongly that God cannot be seen, as in this source’s description of revelation: “Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice” (Deut 4.12). This explains why this source, uniquely, insists that God does not physically dwell in the Temple or tabernacle; rather, the Temple is “the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name” (Deut 12.11). D further emphasizes th...

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