Footnote 3 – The Exodus from Egypt: Myth or Reality?

J, E, P and D are the names scholars give to the four principal textual strands that comprise the Pentateuch—J for Yahwist (Jahwist in German), E for Elohist, P for priestly code and D for Deuteronomist. JE, used below, designates an early combination of the two. R designates the redactor, or editor, who combined strands.