Bible Dictionaries
Hexateuch

Holman Bible Dictionary

A modern designation for the first six books of the Old Testament viewed as a literary unity. The term was coined by source critics impressed with the supposed similarity of sources behind Joshua and the Pentateuch as well as the need for fulfillment of the promise of land to Abraham in the conquest of Cannan. More recent scholarship has evidenced a renewed appreciation of the canonical arrangement in which Joshua begins the “former prophets” or history of Israel from its entrance into the Promised Land until its departure with the Exile. Joshua forms something of a bridge linking the promises to the Patriarchs and the story of Moses with the later history of Israel.