Linguistic Evidence for the Pre-exilic Date of the Yahwistic Source

For the past few decades a growing number of scholars have attempted to overthrow the traditional Wellhausian view that the so-called ''Yahwist'' or ''J'' source of the Pentateuch is the oldest of the four major sources. These scholars have argued that J was composed during the exilic or post-exilic periods of ancient Israel. Their arguments have focused on the literary, historiographic, and theol...