rated from the E source (Miller and Miller 698-699).
Diversions between the Old Epic version and the Priestly version help to identify when passages were written and by whom. Williams states that even readers of an English translation can discern variations in style as well as inconsistencies and breaks in the text, such as those that involve references to God as Yahweh in such a way that it is implied that the name "Yahweh" was not known to Israel before this time. Scholars thus designate the writer of this passage as E and attribute to him many of the passages in Genesis which use "Elohim" rather than "Yahweh" to refer to the deity. Those passages using Yahweh are referred to the Yahwist source (J). According to this theory, the Yahwist knew nothing of the revelation of a new name at Sinai and thus used Yahweh throughout his narrative (Williams 98-99).
Davidson points out that a reading of Genesis suggests that there is a change in the character of the writing between verses 4 and 5 of chapter 2:
The opening chapter is hymn-like, formal in structure, very carefully schematized. Certain key words and phrases occur again and again. . . Throughout the chapter the language used to describe God is very restrained and dignified (Davidson 3).
After this, however, the language becomes more vivid, and certain key words have disappeared:
The language used to describe god is much more homely. He is like a potter forming man; he breathes into man's nostrils the breath of life (Davidson 3).
Another element in the opening book of the Bible that is suggestive is the fact that the book tells the same story three times, the story of a patriarch who passes off his wife as his sister. In two of these stories, Abraham and his wife are featured, while the third story involves Isaac and his wife. Davidson notes that there are differences in style and vocabulary, a duplication of narratives, contradictions, and different ...