They have taken it literally, figuratively, or symbolically. They have regarded it as divinely dictated, revealed, or inspired, or as a human creation. They have acquired more copies of it than any other book.
People read it, study it, admire it, disdain it, write about it, argue about it, and love it.
People have lived by it and died for it. It began with individuals raising questions about problems existing within the text. It progressed like a detective story with investigators continually uncovering clues about the bible's origin. In the first stage , investigators accepted the tradition that Moses wrote the first five books of the bible, but, conceded that a few lines may have been inserted here or there. In the second stage , investigators suggested that a few editors may have changed portions of the text, but Moses was still the author.