Dört Kaynak Hipotezi Karşıtı Olarak John Van Seters ve Tevrat Eleştirisi

Abstract

Asırlarca Tevrat’ın Musa tarafından yazılan vahiy mahsulü bir eser olduğuna inanıldı. Geleneksel Yahudiliğin günümüzde de devam ettirdiği bu inanç Batı dünyasında yapılan eleştirel çalışmalarla sorgulanmaya başlandı. Bu araştırmalarda, Tevrat’ın değişik zamanlarda yaşayan farklı isimler tarafından kaleme alınan bir eser olduğu ortaya konuldu. Bu eleştirel araştırmaların zirve noktasını Julius Wellhausen tarafından son şekli verilen ve Tevrat’ın dört farklı kaynaktan oluştuğunu ileri süren Dört Kaynak Hipotezi oluşturur. Çoğunlukla kabul gören bu görüşe, 1970’lerden itibaren yapılan bazı çalışmalarla ciddi anlamda itiraz edildi. Bu makalenin konusu, Dört Kaynak Hipotezi’ne büyük ölçüde karşı çıkan ve Tevrat’ın üç temel kaynaktan oluştuğunu ileri süren Kanadalı araştırmacı John Van Seters’in (d. 1935) Tevrat eleştirisidir. Van Seters’in en dikkat çekici iddiası, Tevrat’ın kaynaklarından Yahvist metnin milattan önce altıncı yüzyılda Babil Sürgünü’nde yaşamış bir tarihçi yazar tarafından başta Tesniye olmak üzere Tesniyeci Tarih, peygamber kitapları ve Antik Yakın Doğu anlatıları dikkate alınarak yazıldığıdır. Çalışmada, Van Seters’in bu iddiası üzerinde durulacaktır.

Keywords

• Dinler Tarihi
• Yahudilik
• Tevrat
• Dört Kaynak Hipotezi
• John Van Seters
• Yahvist Kaynak

As an Opponent of Four Sources Hypothesis John Van Seters and his Pentateuch Criticism

Abstract

For centuries, the Pentateuch has been believed to be a revelational work written by Moses. This belief, which traditional Judaism holds even today, has begun to be questioned by critical studies in the Western world. In these researches, it was revealed that the Pentateuch is a work written by different people who lived in different times. The peak of these critical researches is The Four Source Hypothesis, which was finalized by Julius Wellhausen. He claimed that the Pentateuch consists of four different sources. This widely accepted view has been seriously challenged by some studies since the 1970s. The subject of this article is the Pentateuch criticism of the Canadian researcher John Van Seters (b. 1935), who opposed the Four Source Hypothesis and suggested that the Pentateuch consists of three basic sources. His most striking claim is that the Yahwist source -one of the sources of the Pentateuch- was written by a historian writer who lived in the Babylonian Exile in the sixth century B.C., taking into account of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomistic History, prophetic books and Ancient Near Eastern narratives. Van Seters’s most striking claim will be emphasized in this study.

Keywords

• History of Religions
• Judaism
• Pentateuch
• Four Source Hypothesis
• John Van Seters
• Yahwist Source

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