The contributors to this volume on the literary and editorial history of the books from Genesis to Joshua present a collection of programmatic papers dealing with the history of research and individual points of exegesis which demonstrate the problematic nature of the Yahwist hypothesis and take new approaches to an interpretation of the redaction history of the Hexateuch, particularly in the parts not emanating from the priestly code. The individual papers are written by international Old Testament authorities from Europe, Israel and the USA. The contributors are: A. Graeme Auld, Uwe Becker, Joseph Blenkinsopp, Erhard Blum, Thomas B. Dozeman, William Johnstone, Ernst Axel Knauf, Reinhard Gregor Kratz, Albert de Pury, Thomas Römer, Hans-Christoph Schmitt, Jean Louis Ska.