Canon of the Old Testament
See the article on the canon for the general idea of how the "official list of books in the Old Testament" developed from TNK and LXX.
The Chronological order is approximately by the date of the topical material in the book. The book of Jonah, for example, tells a story that would have taken place in the 8th century BC but almost certainly was composed after the exile.
The Composition order is only very roughly indicative of when the books (or the material in them) might have been begun. Scholars disagree endlessly over when composition may have begun and when the final edition may have been completed.
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Exile: The time of the Babylonian Captivity (587-520 BC).
The complete canon
| Biblical order | Topic | Composition | Genre | LXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Click on the  sort symbols above to sort the table by the values in that column.
| ||||
| Genesis | 17th to 16th BC | 11th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Exodus | Exodus | 11th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Leviticus | Exodus | 13th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Numbers | Exodus | 13th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Deuteronomy | Exodus | 649 to 609 BC | Torah | TNK |
| Joshua | Judges | 9th to 6th BC | History | TNK |
| Judges | Judges | 7th to 6th BC | History | TNK |
| Ruth | Judges | 10th / 5th BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Samuel | Kings | 9th BC | History | TNK |
| 2 Samuel | Kings | 9th BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Kings | Kings | 640 to 609 BC | History | TNK |
| 2 Kings | Kings | 640 to 609 BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Chronicles | Kings | 8th to 3rd BC | History | TNK |
| 2 Chronicles | Kings | 8th to 3rd BC | History | TNK |
| Ezra | 458, 428, 398 BC? | 5th to 3rd BC | History | TNK |
| Nehemiah | Before or after Ezra | 5th to 3rd BC | History | TNK |
| Tobit | 7th BC | 2nd BC | History | LXX |
| Judith | 6th BC | 1st BC | History | LXX |
| Esther | 485-465 BC | 5th-3rd BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Maccabees | 167-139 BC | 2nd to 1st BC | History | LXX |
| 2 Maccabees | 164 BC | 2nd to 1st BC | History | LXX |
| Job | N/A | Post-exilic | Wisdom | TNK |
| Psalms | 13th to 5th BC | 13th to 5th BC | Wisdom | TNK |
| Proverbs | Solomon | 10th to 6th? | Wisdom | TNK |
| Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) | Solomon | 3rd to 2nd BC | Wisdom | TNK |
| Song of Songs | Solomon | Post-exilic | Wisdom | TNK |
| Wisdom | 1st BC | 1st BC | Wisdom | LXX |
| Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) | 180 BC | 180 BC | Wisdom | LXX |
| Isaiah | 8th & 6th-5th BC | 8th to 5th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Jeremiah | 627-587 BC | 7th to 6th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Lamentations | 587 BC | Exile | Prophecy | TNK |
| Baruch | 587 BC | Post-exilic | Prophecy | LXX |
| Ezekiel | 593-573 BC | Exile | Prophecy | TNK |
| Daniel | 587-539 BC | 2nd BC | Prophecy | LXX & TNK |
| Hosea | 8th BC | 8th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Joel | 450 to 350 BC? | 5th to 4th? | Prophecy | TNK |
| Amos | 786-742 BC | 8th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Obadiah | 450 to 312 BC? | 5th to 4th BC? | Prophecy | TNK |
| Jonah | 786-746 BC | Post-exilic | Prophecy | TNK |
| Micah | 740 to 687 BC | 8th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Nahum | 612 to 609 BC? | 7th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Habakkuk | 612 to 609 BC? | 7th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Zephaniah | 640 to 609 BC | 7th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Haggai | 520 BC | 6th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Zechariah | 520 to 499 BC | 6th to 5th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Malachi | after 515 BC | 6th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
The Pentateuch
| Biblical order | Topic | Composition | Genre | LXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Click on the sort symbols above to sort the table by the values in that column.
| ||||
| Genesis | 17th to 16th BC | 11th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Exodus | Exodus | 11th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Leviticus | Exodus | 13th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Numbers | Exodus | 13th BC to 6th BC | Torah | TNK |
| Deuteronomy | Exodus | 649 to 609 BC | Torah | TNK |
History
| Biblical order | Topic | Composition | Genre | LXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua | Judges | 9th to 6th BC | History | TNK |
| Judges | Judges | 7th to 6th BC | History | TNK |
| Ruth | Judges | 10th / 5th BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Samuel | Kings | 9th BC | History | TNK |
| 2 Samuel | Kings | 9th BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Kings | Kings | 640 to 609 BC | History | TNK |
| 2 Kings | Kings | 640 to 609 BC | History | TNK |
| 1 Chronicles | Kings | 8th to 3rd BC | History | TNK |
| 2 Chronicles | Kings | 8th to 3rd BC | History | TNK |
Prophecy
| Biblical order | Topic | Composition | Genre | LXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah | 8th & 6th-5th BC | 8th to 5th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Jeremiah | 627-587 BC | 7th to 6th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Lamentations | 587 BC | Exile | Prophecy | TNK |
| Baruch | 587 BC | Post-exilic | Prophecy | LXX |
| Ezekiel | 593-573 BC | Exile | Prophecy | TNK |
| Daniel | 587-539 BC | 2nd BC | Prophecy | LXX & TNK |
| Hosea | 8th BC | 8th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Joel | 450 to 350 BC? | 5th to 4th? | Prophecy | TNK |
| Amos | 786-742 BC | 8th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Obadiah | 450 to 312 BC? | 5th to 4th BC? | Prophecy | TNK |
| Jonah | 786-746 BC | Post-exilic | Prophecy | TNK |
| Micah | 740 to 687 BC | 8th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Nahum | 612 to 609 BC? | 7th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Habakkuk | 612 to 609 BC? | 7th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Zephaniah | 640 to 609 BC | 7th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Haggai | 520 BC | 6th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Zechariah | 520 to 499 BC | 6th to 5th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
| Malachi | after 515 BC | 6th BC | Prophecy | TNK |
Wisdom
| Biblical order | Topic | Composition | Genre | LXX |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job | N/A | Post-exilic | Wisdom | TNK |
| Psalms | 13th to 5th BC | 13th to 5th BC | Wisdom | TNK |
| Proverbs | Solomon | 10th to 6th? | Wisdom | TNK |
| Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) | Solomon | 3rd to 2nd BC | Wisdom | TNK |
| Song of Songs | Solomon | Post-exilic | Wisdom | TNK |
| Wisdom | 1st BC | 1st BC | Wisdom | LXX |
| Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) | 180 BC | 180 BC | Wisdom | LXX |
Rejection of Seven Old Testament books
The proper name of the Hebrew Scriptures is "TNK," which stands for:
- "Torah," the Hebrew word for "Law."
- "Nebi'im," the Hebrew word for "Prophets."
- "Kethub'im," the Hebrew word for "Writings."
After Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great (356–323 BC), Jewish children growing up in cities outside of the Holy Land tended to speak Greek as their first and most natural language. In the third century BC, probably in Alexandria, Egypt, TNK was translated into Greek by Jewish rabbis on behalf of Greek-speaking Jews. A legend sprang up that 70 rabbis independently translated TNK into Greek in one month's time and found that their translations matched letter-for-letter. The meaning of the legend is clear: those who could only read the Scriptures in Greek were reading an edition that was just as good as the Hebrew. Because of the legend of the 70 rabbinic translators, the Greek translation of TNK was called the "Septuagint" (the Greek word for "70"). "Septuagint" then came to be abbreviated as "LXX," using the Roman numerals for "70."
The Septuagint did not just translate TNK. Seven new books composed in Greek or else whose Hebrew original has been lost were added to the canon.
Catholics accept these books as inspired by God:
Martin Luther judged that these books were not inspired by the Holy Spirit. He also tried, but failed, to eliminate Esther from the OT canon. Those Protestants who follow Luther's teachings accept only the 39 books found in TNK as inspired by God and set aside these 7 books from LXX as "apocryphal" or "deuterocanonical."
"Of the approximately 300 Old Testament quotes in the New Testament, approximately 2/3 of them came from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) which included the deuterocanonical books that the Protestants later removed. This is additional evidence that Jesus and the apostles viewed the deuterocanonical books as part of canon of the Old Testament."[1]
No book of the Bible resolves the question of exactly which scriptures from the time of the Old Testament were inspired by God. The question can only be decided on extra-Biblical considerations.
References