sections (exodus, wilderness, occupation of the land) so different from one another that they could not have formed a continuous narrative at a relatively early date, and at any rate earlier than Deuteronomy?10 While it is still too early to assess adequately the long-term impact of these studies of the last two decades, they have at least produced a situation in which the documentary hypothesis, in the form proposed by Wellhausen, can no longer be taken for granted.