Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Development of the Hebrew Bible canon
There is no scholarly consensus as to when the canon of the Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) was fixed. Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text—five books of the Torah, eight books of the Nevi'im (Prophets), and eleven books of the Ketuvim (Writings)—as the authoritative version of the Tanakh. Of these books, the Book of Daniel of the Ketuvim has the most recent final date of composition (chapters 10–12 were written sometime between 168 and 164 BCE). The canon was therefore fixed at some time after this date. Some scholars argue that it was fixed during the Hasmonean dynasty (140–40 BCE), while others argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later.
The book of 2 Maccabees, itself not a part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah (around 400 BCE) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings". The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to the Second Temple of Jerusalem around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus (around 167 BCE) also collected sacred books.
The Book of Sirach provides evidence of a collection of religious texts similar to portions of the Hebrew Bible. The book, which is dated to between 196 and 175 BCE (and is not included in the Jewish canon), includes a list of names of biblical figures in the same order as is found in the Torah (Teaching) and the Nevi'im; it includes the names of some of those mentioned in the Ketuvim, as well. Based on this list of names, some scholars[weasel words] have conjectured that the author, Yeshua ben Sira, had access to—and considered authoritative—the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
His list omits names from the Book of Ruth, Song of Songs, Book of Esther, and the Book of Daniel, indicating that those mentioned in these works did not meet his criteria of great individuals, that he did not have access to these books, or that he did not consider them authoritative. In the prologue to the Greek translation of Ben Sira's work, his grandson, around 132 BCE, mentions l the Torah, the Nevi'im, and a third group of books that was not yet named as Ketuvim (the prologue simply identifies "the rest of the books").
The Septuagint (LXX) is a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, translated in stages between the 3rd to 2nd century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt.
According to Michael Barber, the Torah and Nevi'im are recognized as canonical books in the Septuagint, but the Ketuvim appear not to have been definitively canonized yet. The translation and editing work might have been carried out by a council of seventy (or seventy-two) elders, known historically as the Men of the Great Assembly (אַנְשֵׁי כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה, Anshei Knesset Ha'Gedolah), who translated the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek. Nonetheless, the historical evidence supporting the claim is incomplete, with uncertainties about the figures and process involved. Barber notes that it is virtually impossible to determine precisely when each of the other books was formally incorporated into the canon, given the complex, gradual process of canonization that varied across different Jewish communities and periods.[unreliable source?]
Philo and Josephus (both associated with first-century Hellenistic Judaism) ascribed divine inspiration to the Hebrew Bible translators, and the primary ancient account of the process is the c. 2nd-century BCE Letter of Aristeas. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls attest to Hebrew texts other than those on which the Masoretic Text was based; in some cases, these newly discovered texts accord with the Septuagint version.
In the 1st century CE, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria discussed sacred books, but made no mention of a three-part division of the Hebrew Bible;[citation needed] although his De vita contemplativa, though sometimes suggested in the 19th century to be of later (and Christian) authorship, does state in chapter 3 (line 25) that "studying… the laws and the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and all kinds of other things by reason of which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to perfection." Philo quotes almost exclusively from the Torah, but occasionally from Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, too.
Hub AI
Development of the Hebrew Bible canon AI simulator
(@Development of the Hebrew Bible canon_simulator)
Development of the Hebrew Bible canon
There is no scholarly consensus as to when the canon of the Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) was fixed. Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text—five books of the Torah, eight books of the Nevi'im (Prophets), and eleven books of the Ketuvim (Writings)—as the authoritative version of the Tanakh. Of these books, the Book of Daniel of the Ketuvim has the most recent final date of composition (chapters 10–12 were written sometime between 168 and 164 BCE). The canon was therefore fixed at some time after this date. Some scholars argue that it was fixed during the Hasmonean dynasty (140–40 BCE), while others argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later.
The book of 2 Maccabees, itself not a part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah (around 400 BCE) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings". The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to the Second Temple of Jerusalem around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus (around 167 BCE) also collected sacred books.
The Book of Sirach provides evidence of a collection of religious texts similar to portions of the Hebrew Bible. The book, which is dated to between 196 and 175 BCE (and is not included in the Jewish canon), includes a list of names of biblical figures in the same order as is found in the Torah (Teaching) and the Nevi'im; it includes the names of some of those mentioned in the Ketuvim, as well. Based on this list of names, some scholars[weasel words] have conjectured that the author, Yeshua ben Sira, had access to—and considered authoritative—the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
His list omits names from the Book of Ruth, Song of Songs, Book of Esther, and the Book of Daniel, indicating that those mentioned in these works did not meet his criteria of great individuals, that he did not have access to these books, or that he did not consider them authoritative. In the prologue to the Greek translation of Ben Sira's work, his grandson, around 132 BCE, mentions l the Torah, the Nevi'im, and a third group of books that was not yet named as Ketuvim (the prologue simply identifies "the rest of the books").
The Septuagint (LXX) is a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, translated in stages between the 3rd to 2nd century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt.
According to Michael Barber, the Torah and Nevi'im are recognized as canonical books in the Septuagint, but the Ketuvim appear not to have been definitively canonized yet. The translation and editing work might have been carried out by a council of seventy (or seventy-two) elders, known historically as the Men of the Great Assembly (אַנְשֵׁי כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה, Anshei Knesset Ha'Gedolah), who translated the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek. Nonetheless, the historical evidence supporting the claim is incomplete, with uncertainties about the figures and process involved. Barber notes that it is virtually impossible to determine precisely when each of the other books was formally incorporated into the canon, given the complex, gradual process of canonization that varied across different Jewish communities and periods.[unreliable source?]
Philo and Josephus (both associated with first-century Hellenistic Judaism) ascribed divine inspiration to the Hebrew Bible translators, and the primary ancient account of the process is the c. 2nd-century BCE Letter of Aristeas. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls attest to Hebrew texts other than those on which the Masoretic Text was based; in some cases, these newly discovered texts accord with the Septuagint version.
In the 1st century CE, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria discussed sacred books, but made no mention of a three-part division of the Hebrew Bible;[citation needed] although his De vita contemplativa, though sometimes suggested in the 19th century to be of later (and Christian) authorship, does state in chapter 3 (line 25) that "studying… the laws and the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and all kinds of other things by reason of which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to perfection." Philo quotes almost exclusively from the Torah, but occasionally from Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, too.