Source criticism and feminism are two important methodologies within pentateuchal studies, and yet the two are seldom combined, in part because of the skepticism with which the practitioners of each discipline regard each other. This separation is neither necessary nor useful, and thus this dissertation attempts to combine the two. The first chapter provides a history of source criticism from Wellhausen to the present, paying particular attention to recent trends that significantly revise Wellhausen's formulation. Based on this overview, I adopt a model that divides the narrative into a preexilic non-P and an exilic/postexilic P, leaving D aside as it is more hortatory than narrative and does not concern women. The second chapter is an overview of feminist biblical interpretation since the 1970s, highlighting the split between historians and literary critics, neither of whom employ source criticism to any great degree.

The third and fourth chapters treat the non-P narrative concerning women. Many prominent women appear here, and whether depicted positively or negatively, they are quite active in the narratives; however, as Moses comes to the fore, women recede into the background. The fifth chapter looks at the priestly narrative, where women appear in a more circumscribed set of roles. Actions such as naming children, which in non-P may be performed by women, are assigned to men in P. Women in P are more frequently subsumed by the men in the text.

Many feminist scholars have noted that women's status decreases with increased centralization, and this view is supported by the evidence presented in this dissertation. Whereas the non-P material reflects a period before centralization had become entrenched, in P, centralization has taken hold, with the result that women's status is curtailed. Although the narratives about women are not enough to independently justify a complete source-critical model, they support conclusions about the sources based on a broader range of evidence.