ÒÉ the reconstruction of
the history of Israel and its religion, which Wellhausen
carried out on the foundation of his literary
analysis, has almost entirely broken downÉ. It was assumed that a document of a particular period could be
utilized by the historian only for evidence of the
period in which it was writtenÉ. This ÔhyperskepticismÕ did not result
in a Ôhistory,Õ for it lacked
foundations, and its builders lacked yardsticks.Ó
– Mendenhall in BANE, 29.