[1] Whybray read French and Theology at Oxford and was ordained as priest in the Church of England.
[1] After a number of minor teaching posts, he held the position of Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Central Theological College, Tokyo, 1952–1965.
[1] Whybray put forward the proposition that the evidence for any such group of wise men in ancient Israel was lacking, that 'wisdom' was not the preserve of a class or an institution, and the wise were simply educated citizens "who were accustomed to read for education and pleasure".
[1] His alternative proposal was that the Pentateuch was essentially the work of a single author who drew upon multiple sources and disregarded, or was ignorant of, modern notions of literary consistency and smoothness of style and language.
[1] The book remained the most complete critique of the documentary hypothesis by a mainstream biblical scholar for at least a decade from its publication.