View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Friedman classify as a brilliant mistake?
(a) the identification of Josiah as the J author.
(b) the identification of four authors of the Torah.
(c) the identification of Moses as Author P.
(d) the identification of the P author of the Bible.

2. What is Freidman's analogy to the problem of the fall of Judah?
(a) a Shakespearean play with no final act.
(b) an American history that ends with JFK.
(c) a movie with the last reel missing.
(d) a British history that ends with Henry VIII.

3. Who conquered the Babylonians in 538 B.C.?
(a) the Romans.
(b) the Egyptians.
(c) the Greeks.
(d) the Persians.

4. What is the great irony of P's writing that favored the Aaronid priesthood?
(a) it was approved even by Authors J, E, and D.
(b) it was re-written to fit J, E, and D.
(c) someone later pieced it all together with J, E, and D.
(d) it was left out of the final Torah all together.

5. Why is the period 587-400 B.C. difficult to understand?
(a) Egyptians and Babylonians did not keep records.
(b) there is little or no archeological evidence about the exile.
(c) secular history glosses over that period.
(d) no writing was done at that time.

Short Answer Questions

1. When did the early scholars consider that Author D wrote?

2. What had most early scholars scholars considered that J and E had come from?

3. What is Author P's interpretation of God?

4. According to the laws of Deuteronomy, where was the central place for sacrifices?

5. What goes against the First Commandment?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the brilliant mistake made in regard to discovering the identity of writer P?

2. What is problematic about the mistake in locating writer P in history?

3. Why is the period 587-400 B.C. difficult to understand?

4. During what historical time frame does Friedman place the writer P?

5. Describe the great irony of the P version of the Torah.

6. Where does Friedman place the Tabernacle at the time of the First Temple?

7. How does Friedman identify as writer R, the redactor who stitched together all the various versions into one Torah?

8. Describe clues to who wrote Deuteronomy.

9. Why does Friedman finally identify Jeremiah as the author of Deuteronomy?

10. How does Friedman react to the idea that the prophets did not know about writer P?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 857 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample