Source Criticism of the Bible

The Source Criticism Dataset gives Logos Bible Software users a new tool for studying the bible and its literary structure. Source Criticism is a form of literary analysis that attempts to discover the sources an author or editor used in the creation of a text, and to outline where those sources occur in a particular version of a text. It also tries to determine the relationship between similar texts. When used to study biblical texts, this method of analysis assumes that the biblical authors were dependent on many different sources as they composed their stories.

Based on the work of Otto Eissfeldt, the text of the first six books of the Old Testament are analyzed and given a label: JEPL (rather than the more widely known JEDP). In the future, the work and analyses of additional source critics are planned to be added. Each source has been given a searchable label:

• J Source (Jahwist): These are texts which explicitly use the divine name.
• E Source (Elohist): These are texts which refer to God with the generic term elohim.
• P Source (Priestly): These are texts which refer to the rights of the priesthood.
• L Source (Lay or Layman): These are texts centered around the duties of lay Israelites.

Users may access the Source Criticism Dataset in one of three ways: either through a search window, the right-click context menu, or through the information pane. For the first time, Source Criticism research is annotated directly onto the biblical text.