Elohist

Elohist (often abbreviated E) is a proposed source within the Documentary Hypothesis, a scholarly model of the Pentateuch’s composition. It is named for its characteristic use of the term Elohim for God, rather than the Yahwist’s use of Yahweh, and for its association with material believed to originate in the northern kingdom of Israel. As a reconstructed source, E is not a surviving document but a scholarly hypothesis about strands of tradition that contributed to Genesis and Exodus, usually in combination with the J source to form the JE composite.

Characteristics commonly attributed to the Elohist include a focus on prophetic revelation, dreams, and angelic messengers as mediators of divine communication. The deity is predominantly referred to as Elohim, and the narrative often centers on early patriarchal experiences and on cultic and prophetic motifs tied to northern sites such as Bethel. In the Exodus material, the E tradition is thought to present Moses as a central figure and to frame divine revelation in distinctive theological terms, sometimes using the Angel of the Lord as a mediator.

Dating and provenance attributed to E place it roughly in the 9th to 8th centuries BCE, associated with the northern Israelite milieu. The Elohist is considered to have operated alongside J and to have been combined with it, and later redacted with Deuteronomistic (D) and Priestly (P) elements to produce the Pentateuch as a unified work.

Modern assessment notes that the existence, extent, and boundaries of E are debated. Some scholars treat E as a coherent literary strand; others view it as a set of traditions mediated by redactors or as part of a broader, layered documentary theory. The term Elohist remains a scholarly tool for describing ancient Israelite religious-writing patterns.