Editing Book of Numbers (section)

==Composition==
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles f 30r 2.png|thumb|[[Balaam]] and the Angel (illustration from the 1493 ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'')]]

The majority of modern biblical scholars believe that the [[Torah]]—the books of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[Leviticus]], Numbers, and [[Deuteronomy]]—reached its present form in the [[Second Temple Judaism|post-Exilic period]] (i.e., after c. 520 BC), based on preexisting written and oral traditions, as well as contemporary geographical and political realities.{{sfn|Enns|2012|p=5}}{{sfn|Finkelstein|Silberman|2002|pp=68-69}}{{sfn|McDermott|2002|p=21}} The five books are often described as being drawn from four "sources", generally regarded as the works of schools of writers rather than individuals: the [[Yahwist]] and the [[Elohist]] (frequently treated as a single source), the [[Priestly source]], and the [[Deuteronomist]].{{sfn|Coogan|Brettler|Newsom|2007|p=6}} There is an ongoing dispute over the origins of the non-Priestly source(s), but it is generally agreed that the Priestly source is post-exilic.{{sfn|Carr|2000|p=492}} Below is an outline of the hypothesis:
*[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] is made up of Priestly and non-Priestly material.{{sfn|Carr|2000|p=492}}
*[[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] is an anthology drawn from nearly all periods of Israel's history.{{sfn|Dozeman|2000|p=443}}
*[[Leviticus]] is entirely Priestly and dates from the exilic/post-exilic period.{{sfn|Houston|2003|p=102}}
*Numbers is a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a non-Priestly original.{{sfn|McDermott|2002|p=21}}
*[[Deuteronomy]], now the last book of the Torah, began as the set of religious laws that make up the bulk of the book, was extended in the early part of the 6th century BCE to serve as the introduction to the [[Deuteronomistic history]] (the books from Joshua to Kings), and later still was detached from that history, extended and edited again, and attached to the Torah.{{sfn|Van Seters|2004|p=93}} 
However, the [[Ketef Hinnom scrolls]] do point to the plausibility of a pre-exilic written tradition of the passage from Numbers 6 and Deuteronomy 7.{{sfn|Lawrence|2020|p=58}} Although this does not decisively prove that there was a canonical written tradition it does point to a possibility of such a tradition.