In this book the relationship between the Hexateuch and Pentateuch redaction, on the one hand, and the prophetic literature on the other hand, is stressed. The authors of the Hexateuch emphasized the importance of land as the greatest gift of Yahweh. These post-exilic Hexateuch redactors (who were priestly scribes) fought against the claims of diaspora communities in Babylon (represented by Nehemiah) who demanded a new distribution of the land. In opposition to these land claims, the Pentateuch redaction emphasized the importance of the Torah as the most important of Yahweh's gifts. In the long run the editors of the Pentateuch triumphed and the Torah grew in importance. In the course of time the prophets opposed this concept of the Torah and someone like Jeremiah expected something totally new: a new people and a new covenant.
