This radical reconstruction starts by observing that Josephus's sources on the early history of Israel do not agree with the Bible and that the oldest rabbinic traditions show no sign of a biblical foundation but only of secondary offshoots from the Bible. Another interesting question is raised by the Samaritan claim, at the time of the persecutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, that they had only recently received the Sabbath from the Jews.

From such details, Nodet builds up a comprehensive line of argument that reveals two major sources of Judaism, as symbolized in the subtitle of his work: Joshua was the one who established locally in writing a statute and a law at the Shechem assembly, while the Mishnah was the ultimate metamorphosis of traditions brought from Babylon and mixed in with Judaean influences.