▁theory ▁was ▁a ▁later ▁understanding ▁of ▁Well hausen ▁produced ▁by ▁form ▁criticism . ▁This ▁theory ▁arg ues ▁that ▁fragments ▁of ▁various ▁documents , ▁and ▁not ▁continuous ▁documents , ▁are ▁the ▁sources ▁for ▁the ▁Pent ate uch . ▁This ▁accounts ▁for ▁divers ity ▁but ▁not ▁struct ural ▁and ▁chron ological ▁consist ency . ▁The ▁Supp lement ary ▁hypothesis ▁can ▁be ▁seen ▁as ▁an ▁evolution ▁of ▁the ▁Document ary ▁hypothesis ▁that ▁solid ified ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁Pro ponents ▁of ▁this ▁view ▁assert ▁three ▁sources ▁for ▁the ▁Pent ate uch , ▁with ▁the ▁De uter onom ist ▁as ▁the ▁oldest ▁source , ▁and ▁the ▁Tor ah ▁assemble d ▁from ▁a ▁central ▁core ▁document , ▁the ▁E lo h ist , ▁then ▁supp lement ed ▁by ▁fragments ▁taken ▁from ▁other ▁sources . ▁ ▁Adv oc ates ▁of ▁the ▁Document ary ▁hypothesis ▁cont end ▁it ▁accounts ▁well ▁for ▁the ▁differences ▁and ▁dup lication ▁found ▁in ▁each ▁of ▁the ▁Pent ate uch al ▁books . ▁Furthermore , ▁they ▁argue , ▁it ▁provides ▁an ▁explanation ▁for ▁the ▁peculiar ▁character ▁of ▁the ▁material ▁l abeled ▁P , ▁which ▁reflect s ▁the ▁perspective ▁and ▁concerns ▁of ▁Israel ' s ▁pri ests . ▁However , ▁the ▁original ▁theory ▁has ▁also ▁been ▁heavily ▁critic ized . ▁Old ▁Testament ▁scholar ▁Ernest ▁Nich ol son ▁says ▁that ▁by ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s ▁and ▁into ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁" one ▁major ▁study ▁after ▁another , ▁like ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁ham