The Exodus-Conquest Narrative

In this study, Stephen Germany investigates the literary development of the non-priestly narratives in Exod 1-18; 19-24; 32-34; Num 10-16; 20-24; and Josh 1-12. Through a new comparison of the various literary strata in these narratives to priestly texts, the author concludes that a significant portion of the non-priestly narratives in Exodus-Joshua belong to a post-priestly stage of composition. The reconstruction of the remaining pre-priestly narrative in these books supports the theory of an exodus-conquest narrative as one of the literary precursors to the Pentateuch and book of Joshua, challenging both the Documentary Hypothesis and the Deuteronomistic History hypothesis in their various forms.