The individual laws did not originate with the compiler of the code. Internal evidence makes it probable that the author of the code had access to earlier collections, which may have been made at different times and places and in different priestly circles, embodying laws handed down in oral or written form for gen erations and centuries. No doubt he may have formulated and inserted new laws, but, on the whole, his work was that of adapting older laws to present conditions, of .bringing them into harmony with his own point of view, and of re-enforcing them by supplying suitable motives. Kent is undoubtedly right when, in speaking of these laws, he says, "Their roots are probably to be traced to the Mosaic and nomadic periods of Israelitish history.° In language, thought and general aim the Law of Holiness resembles Ezekiel. For in stance, the principle underlying the more formal teaching of Ezekiel is the same kind of holiness as is insisted upon in the Law of Holiness. The similarities are, indeed, so striking that some scholars have considered Ezekiel the author, or at least the redactor, of the code. However, there are also such obvious differences that it is practically impossible to believe that they came from one and the same author.
Are, then, the resemblances a matter of coincidence? Or, was Ezekiel influenced by the Law of Holiness? Or, was the compiler of the code influenced by the thought and language of Ezekiel? • The evidence is so slight that there exists wide difference of opinion on these questions among scholars. On the whole, it seems most satisfactory to ex plain the resemblances by assuming that the Law of Holiness and the Book of Ezekiel originated in the same priestly circles and under the inspiration of the same religious •concep dons and ideals. In the words of Kent, "It is
probable, therefore, that the original draft of this code was made between the first and final captivity (B.c. 597-586), a period in which. the more enlightened leaders, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, saw clearly that the state was doomed and that Israel's laws and institutions, if they were to be preserved, must be put into written form .° This code served as a nucleus around which a later writer or compiler arranged legal material taken from various sources; the com pilation which resulted is now known as P, or, the Priestly Code.
In addition to the discus sions named in the body of the article, atten tion may be called to the following books in English: Chapman, A. T., 'Introduction to the Pentateuch' (Cambridge 1911) ; and, in co operation with A. W. Streane,
Bible,) Cambridge 1914) ; Cornill, C. H.,
(London 1907) ; Creel man, H., 'Introduction' (New York 1917) ; Driver, S. R., 'Introduction' (1891) ; new ed., 1910) ; and in co-operation with H. A. White, 'Leviticus)
Books of the Old Testa ment,' New York 1898) ; Gray, G. B.,
duction' (New York 1913) ; Harper, W. R.,