Hexateuch

The first six books of the Bible; the Pentateuch taken together with the Book of Joshua as one originally connected work. Two reasons are given for this connection. On the assumption that it was the intention of the historian to show how the promise of Yhwh concerning the possession of the Holy Land was fulfilled, the argument is advanced that he can not have broken off at the death of Moses, but must have carried his narrative down through the conquest of Canaan, recounted in Joshua. The second reason is that the sources for the Pentateuch appear to have been the sources for the Book of Joshua. But even if there were no objections to either of these contentions, they would not be sufficient to undermine the independence and completeness of the Pentateuch, evident throughout its entire composition, and verified by an uncontradicted tradition which goes back to Biblical times. The Torah has never been connected with the Book of Joshua, and has always constituted the first part of the Bible, in contradistinction to the two other parts. See Joshua, Book of; Pentateuch.

E. G. H. B. J.