I encourage you to research the individual propositions within this entry yourself. In your research, please be aware of the bias of your source material (e.g. religious sites versus sceptic's sites versus material meant for pure scientific/philosophical knowledge).
THE OLD TESTAMENT
There are some things to note on how I went about populating this table:
- The “traditionally regarded as authored by” column is based on the general religious consensus of who wrote the biblical book – usually they are attributed to some biblical character, although the bible does not always explicitly state who wrote that section
- The “likely authored by” and “estimated period authored” columns relate to who actually authored the manuscript and when it was written, and they are based primarily on secular research.
- The “historical period covered” is based largely on the dating within the bible itself
- I researched each book individually.
- There are typically a range of opinions with respect to the likely author, therefore I typically went with the author suggested by the majority of historians, ignoring opposing opinions where these opinions do not appear to have wide support, and mentioning other possible authors if there is a good deal of support, but not a considerable amount.
- There are typically a range of opinions with respect to the period during which the book was written, therefore I generally took the earliest suggested dates and the latest suggested dates to get my range. For example, where some scholars considered the date 700BCE and other scholars considered it closer to 550BCE, I would typically put the range as 700BCE to 550BCE unless the dates suggested did not receive a good deal of support (i.e. a few scholars think so-and-so).
- In some cases, the range of dates may be wide not only because of disagreement between scholars, but also because the book itself was compiled over a period of time. To extend the example above, if some scholars believe it was compiled between 700BCE and 650BCE while other scholars believe it was compiled between 600BCE and 550BCE, then the date range will be the same as per above.
| Book of the Bible | Traditionally regarded as authored by? | Likely authored by? | Historical period covered (BCE) | Estimated period authored (BCE)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis | Moses | Several anonymous authors | Human beginnings to 1615 | 950 to 550 |
| Exodus | Moses | Several anonymous authors | 1615 to 1477 | 950 to 550 |
| Leviticus | Moses | Several anonymous authors | Circa 1477 | 950 to 550 |
| Numbers | Moses | Several anonymous authors | Circa 1477 | 950 to 550 |
| Deuteronomy | Moses | Several anonymous Deuteronomists | Circa 1437 | 950 to 550 |
| Joshua | Joshua | Several anonymous authors | 1436 to 1390 | 640 to 550 |
| Judges | Samuel | A single anonymous author who brought together a collection of loosely connected stories about tribal heroes, selecting and editing the various sources into one cohesive work. A few of the sources from which the book was formulated may have been originally authorised by Samuel, the last of the Hebrew Judges. | 1380 to 1050 | Circa 550 possibly using fragments attributed to Samuel (circa 1050) |
| Ruth | Samuel | Unknown | Circa 1050 | Circa 300 |
| 1 Samuel | Samuel | Several anonymous authors | 1050 to 970 | 630 to 540 |
| 2 Samuel | Samuel | Several anonymous authors | 1050 to 970 | 630 to 540 |
| 1 Kings | Jeremiah | A single anonymous author followed by possible editing of several other anonymous persons | 9 70 to 560 | 800 to 550 |
| 2 Kings | Jeremiah | A single anonymous author followed by possible editing of several other anonymous persons | 9 70 to 560 | 800 to 550 |
| 1 Chronicles | Ezra and Nehemiah | One or more anonymous authors who used public records, registers and genealogical tables belonging to the Jews, as well as other books of the bible written up until then. | 560 to 500 | 325 to 275 |
| 2 Chronicles | Ezra and Nehemiah | One or more anonymous authors who used public records, registers and genealogical tables belonging to the Jews, as well as other books of the bible written up until then. | 560 to 500 | 325 to 275 |
| Ezra | Ezra | Several anonymous authors followed by extensive editing by several other anonymous persons | 5 40 to 400 | Circa 400 |
| Nehemiah | Nehemiah | One or more anonymous authors followed by extensive editing by several other anonymous persons | Circa 450 | Circa 400 |
| Esther | Mordecai | One or more anonymous authors | Circa 480 | Circa 350 |
| Job | Moses | Several anonymous authors | Circa 1380 although there are serious doubts about the historical existence of this character | 400 to 500 |
| Psalms | David | Several anonymous authors | N/A – does not cover a historical period | 950 to 550 |
| Proverbs | Solomon | Several anonymous authors with original texts but also borrowing material from Ancient Egyptian texts dated between 1300 and 1075 | N/A – does not cover a historical period | Circa 550 |
| Ecclesiastes | Solomon | A powerful lord unlikely to be Solomon, then later extensively edited by one or more anonymous persons | 980 to 930 | Circa 250 |
| Songs of Solomon | Solomon | A single anonymous author | N/A – does not cover a historical period | Circa 900 |
| Isaiah | Isaiah | 1) Chapters 1-39 – Isaiah, with later possible editing by one or more anonymous authors; 2) Chapters 40-55 – a single anonymous authors; 3) Chapters 56 to 66 – several anonymous disciples committed to completing Isaiah's work | 1) 740 to 687; 2) 687 to 538; 3) 538 to 510 | 1) 740 to 687; 2) Circa 540; 3) Circa 515 |
| Jeremiah | Jeremiah | Several anonymous Deuteronomists | 655 to 586 | Circa 550 |
| Lamentations | Jeremiah, edited by Baruch ben Neriah | Jeremiah, edited by Baruch ben Neriah | Circa 586 | Circa 586 |
| Ezekiel | Ezekiel ben-Buzi | Ezekiel ben-Buzi with later extensive editing by an order of priests | 593 to 571 | 593 to 57 0 |
| Daniel | Daniel | A single anonymous author | 605 to 5 00 | Circa 165 |
| Hosea | Hosea | Hosea, historicity unclear | 780 to 725 | Circa 750 |
| Joel | Joel | Joel or some other anonymous author. The historicity of Joel is unclear therefore it is difficult to pin him down to a particular period. | Varies widely – 900 to 500 | Varies widely – 900 to 500 |
| Amos | Amos | Amos or one or more of his disciples/followers | Circa 750 | Circa 750 |
| Obadiah | Obadiah | Obadiah, historicity unclear | Could relate to one of two periods: 853 to 841 or (more likely) 605 to 586 | Circa 550 |
| Jonah | Jonah | Unknown | 786 to 746 | Circa 400 |
| Micah | Micah | 1) Chapters 1-3 – Micah; 2) Chapters 4-7 – several unknown authors | 750 to 700 | 1) 750 to 700; 2) Circa 500 |
| Nahum | Nahum | Nahum, historicity unclear | Varies widely 740 to 610 | Varies widely 740 to 610 |
| Habakkuk | Habakkuk | Habakkuk, historicity un known | Circa 6 00 | Circa 6 00 |
| Zephaniah | Zephaniah | Zephaniah, historicity unknown | 640 to 609 | 640 to 609 |
| Haggai | Haggai | Haggai, historicity un clear | Circa 520 | Circa 520 |
| Z echariah | Z echariah | Z echariah, historicity unknown, along with possibly a second anonymous author | 520 to 518 | 520 to 518 |
| Mal achi | Malachi | A single unknown author who may or may not have been assigned the title Malachi (as Malachi is not a proper name but simply means messenger) | Circa 445 | Circa 445 |
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