For those who read this blog but are not biblical scholars, I am sure all of the different signs used to designate different layers in the Pentateuch can be a bit confusing. So, I thought I would present this handy guide.

  • P – the entirety of the Priestly Source; as classically formulated, P was an independent document from the post–exilic period that was later edited together with J, E, and D; P spans Genesis–Numbers, although some scholars see P continuing into Joshua and sometimes even further.
  • Pg – the narrative sections of P, sometimes seen as the earliest version of the Priestly Document.
  • Ps – later supplements to Pg, usually legal sections; Pg + Ps = P; Martin Noth in particular did a lot of work with Pg and Ps; the g and s are sometimes written in superscript.
  • PT – the Priestly Torah; this siglum was devised by Israel Knohl to indicate an early layer in P; although much of Pg is seen as belonging to PT, the two are by no means coterminous.
  • HS – the Holiness School, Knohl’s designation for the later layer in P; it contains much of what was classically designated by Ps plus some of Pg.
  • H or HC – the Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26); classically seen as being an independent document that was incorporated into the Pentateuch by P; contemporary scholarship now views H as being the last layer of P; Knohl developed his idea of HS by connecting H with other layers within P.

Unfortunately, scholars do not always use these sigla in a consistent way. I am guilty of this myself. I often refer to P and H when what I mean is PT and HS. Part of the problem is that the field of source criticism is in flux. The old consensus of JEDP has broken down and a new consensus has yet to emerge. This leads not only to a lack of clarity in the use of the sigla, but also to different scholars using the same signs to designate different layers in the Pentateuch.

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