FROM THE TRANSLATOR'S FORWORD: Despite the passage of time, this little volume remains a classic in the filed of Biblical studies. Though summary in form and popular in presentation, it provides a masterly exposition of the Documentary Hypothesis and subjects its exegetical methods and conclusions to a critical probe. The writer challenges the widely-held theory that the Pentateuch is an amalgam of fragments excised from various source-documents of different authorship, date, style and outlook. . . The Documentary Hypothesis serves as a valuable introduction to the late Professor Cassuto's Hebrew Commentaries on the Pentateuch, which have helped so much to illumine our understanding of Scripture with the light of new knowledge and interpretation, expounded by one of the most original minds among modern Biblical exegetes.

Although originally published more then 50 years ago, this little Cassuto book is still probably the best, most focused attack on Wellhausen's Documentary Hypothesis and a powerful defense of the integrity of the biblical text.