Yahwist, or Jahwist, The

Name given to one of the four sources of the Pentateuch by scholars who accept the Documentary Theory of the Pentateuch's composition. It is called the Yahwist because it uses the name Yahweh for God from the time of creation (Gn 2). It is found in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and perhaps Judges 1:1-2:5. It tells of the creation and the primeval history, the ancestors, the oppression of the Hebrew people and the call of Moses, the Exodus, the covenant at Sinai, and the wilderness wanderings. Thus it provided the basic outline for the entire Pentateuch. It may have been written in Jerusalem around 950 B.C.