This change has naturally had a decisive effect also upon our conception of the biblical narrative. Once it was believed that in the early chapters of the Bible we possessed the record of a divine revelation concerning the origin of the world and of mankind, delivered to Moses and by him Written down. Now we know that these chapters are rather the introduction to a great historical compilation from sources of varied dates and very varied character, which did not attain its present form until after the Babylonian Exile. As was often the case in early times this com pilation was attached to the name of a famous hero of antiquity.