The Yahwist Analysis

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The work of the J writer can be found in Genesis 2-50 and Exodus 1-2 and Exodus 20-40. The J writer is called Yahwist, Yahwist was engaged in “preserving and revisiting Israel’s traditions of the past”. (Meeks). The Yahwist is made up of narrative stories and begins in Genesis 2:4 and continues through the book of Numbers. The Yahwist narratives are made up of mostly myths and legends of Israel’s past and their traditions. He told stories such as Noah and his Ark. Adam and Eve, etc. The Yahwish epic extends from the creation of humankind, through the age of the ancestors, to Egypt and the journey through the Sinai wilderness. Yahwish was a gifted storyteller who was especially interested in the human side of things. Yahweh is represented…show more content…
Yahweh appears to people and expects a childlike faith and obedience. (Meeks). The Yahwish is very affectionate of word play, using them often for theological points. This is called an etiology. An example, “Eve, the mother of all living, from hawwah, “life” (Genesis 3:20). In Genesis 3:20, it reads that Eve was named this way because she was “mother of all life” (Meeks). The Hebrew word mother comes from the same root, mother city, tribe and people. One of the most important stories of Israel’s origins is in Genesis 17 when God comes to Abram and gives him the covenant. He changes Abrams name to Abraham and promises him to be the ancestor of many nations. He promises to make him successful and for the kinds to come from him. Another important quote in Genesis 11:9, Bebel, the place where all language was confused, from balal, “to confuse” (Genesis 11:9). It was called Bebel because the Lord did there, and found the language of all the earth. From there the Lord scattered them on the face of all earth. The Yahwish is very honest when he deals
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