Composed in the late eighth or early seventh century BCE in the southern Kingdom of Judah, 'J' is one of the primary sources of the Masoretic text of the the Hebrew Bible, The J source was responsible for the first major metamorphosis of the oldest recognized kernel of the Biblical narrative (known as the E source). By combining the book of E, the Book of the Covenant (a law code found in Exodus 21–24), and the northern book of Judges (predecessor to the canonical book of Judges), and supplementing them with J's own text, J composed a cohesive historical work which chronicles the events from the creation of the world to the crowning of King David in nine story cycles, focusing on the Israelite line. J’s editorial style is highly invasive. In adding their own voice to that of their predecessor E, J often overwhelms the reader with their point of view to the extent that E’s original narrative threads are no longer apparent.