Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch (the first five books of Scriptures) consists of four sources which have been put together. These four sources are Yahwist, Deuteronomist, Elohist and Priestly sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE. This theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years.[8] The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuch's book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings (the Deuteronomistic history, or DtrH) and also in the book of Jeremiah.

The term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. It is widely used in academic writing and interfaith discussion in relatively neutral contexts meant to include dialogue among all religious traditions but not widely in the inner discourse of the religions that use its text.