How long did the Torah take to write?
However, others people believe that the Torah was written by several authors over a period of several hundred years in the first half of the first millenium BCE. The principal authors, or sources, were the Yahwist (‘J’), Elohist (‘E’), Deuteronomist (‘D’) and Priestly (‘P’) sources. The Yahwist and Elohist sources are believed to have lived early in the millenium. The Deuteronomist is believed to have lived during the reign of King Josiah. The Priestly source is believed to have lived during or shortly after the Babylonian Exile. A Redactor, who edited and completed the Torah much as we see it today, lived some time after the Exile. Since they all contributed to the Books, it took several centuries to write the Torah.
