Canon of the Old Testament

The Chronological order in the tables below 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 in the tables is only very roughly indicative of when the books (or the material in them) might have been begun. Scholars disagree endlessly about how to date the composition and editing of the books.

In the notes below, "Exile" is a synonym for the time of the Babylonian Captivity (587-520 BC). "Post-exilic" therefore means "after the enslaved Jews were set free to return to Judea from Babylon."

TNK is the Jewish acronym for the Hebrew scriptures: Torah, Nebi'im, Kethub'im — Law, Prophets, and Writings.

LXX is the name given to the Greek translation and augmentation of TNK done by Jewish rabbis roughly two centuries before the time of Jesus. LXX is the Roman numeral for "70," and it refers to the legend that seventy Jewish rabbis independently translated TNK into Greek in one month's time, producing 70 manuscripts that were identical in every respect.

See "Rejection of Seven Old Testament Books" below for more details on the difference between TNK and LXX.

The complete canon

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Biblical order	Topic	Composition	Genre	LXX
01Genesis	0117th to 16th BC	04 11th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
02Exodus	02Exodus	0511th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
03Leviticus	04Exodus	0213th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
04Numbers	05Exodus	0313th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
05Deuteronomy	06Exodus	24649 to 609 BC	Torah	TNK
06Joshua	07Judges	089th to 6th BC	History	TNK
07Judges	08Judges	177th to 6th BC	History	TNK
08Ruth	09Judges	06 10th / 5th BC	History	TNK
091 Samuel	11Kings	09 9th BC	History	TNK
102 Samuel	12Kings	10 9th BC	History	TNK
111 Kings	13Kings	22640 to 609 BC	History	TNK
122 Kings	14Kings	23640 to 609 BC	History	TNK
131 Chronicles	15Kings	13 8th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
142 Chronicles	16Kings	14 8th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
15Ezra	36458, 428, 398 BC?	37 5th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
16Nehemiah	37Before or after Ezra	38 5th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
17Tobit	237th BC	402nd BC	History	LXX
18Judith	106th BC	451st BC	History	LXX
19Esther	40485-465 BC	365th-3rd BC	History	TNK
201 Maccabees	45167-139 BC	412nd to 1st BC	History	LXX
212 Maccabees	46164 BC	422nd to 1st BC	History	LXX
22Job	35N/A	30Post-exilic	Wisdom	TNK
23Psalms	0313th to 5th BC	0113th to 5th BC	Wisdom	TNK
24Proverbs	33Solomon	0810th to 6th?	Wisdom	TNK
25Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth)	41Solomon	393rd to 2nd BC	Wisdom	TNK
26Song of Songs	34Solomon	31Post-exilic	Wisdom	TNK
27Wisdom	441st BC	461st BC	Wisdom	LXX
28 Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)	43180 BC	44180 BC	Wisdom	LXX
29Isaiah	188th & 6th-5th BC	168th to 5th BC	Prophecy	TNK
30Jeremiah	26627-587 BC	217th to 6th BC	Prophecy	TNK
31Lamentations	28587 BC	26Exile	Prophecy	TNK
32Baruch	29.1587 BC	32Post-exilic	Prophecy	LXX
33Ezekiel	27593-573 BC	25Exile	Prophecy	TNK
34Daniel	29.2587-539 BC	432nd BC	Prophecy	LXX & TNK
35Hosea	198th BC	128th BC	Prophecy	TNK
36Joel	38450 to 350 BC?	345th to 4th?	Prophecy	TNK
37Amos	17786-742 BC	118th BC	Prophecy	TNK
38Obadiah	39450 to 312 BC?	355th to 4th BC?	Prophecy	TNK
39Jonah	22786-746 BC	33Post-exilic	Prophecy	TNK
40Micah	20740 to 687 BC	158th BC	Prophecy	TNK
41Nahum	21612 to 609 BC?	197th BC	Prophecy	TNK
42Habakkuk	25612 to 609 BC?	207th BC	Prophecy	TNK
43Zephaniah	24640 to 609 BC	187th BC	Prophecy	TNK
44Haggai	30520 BC	276th BC	Prophecy	TNK
45Zechariah	31520 to 499 BC	286th to 5th BC	Prophecy	TNK
46Malachi	32after 515 BC	296th BC	Prophecy	TNK

The Pentateuch

"Pentateuch" literally means "five vessels" in Greek. The Five Books of Moses are also known collectively as the Torah in rabbinic Judaism; they are contained in the Torah Scrolls used in synagogue services.

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Biblical order	Topic	Composition	Genre	LXX
00Click on the sort symbol above to sort the table by the values in that column.
01Genesis	0117th to 16th BC	04 11th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
02Exodus	02Exodus	0511th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
03Leviticus	04Exodus	0213th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
04Numbers	05Exodus	0313th BC to 6th BC	Torah	TNK
05Deuteronomy	06Exodus	24649 to 609 BC	Torah	TNK

History

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Biblical order	Topic	Composition	Genre	LXX
06Joshua	07Judges	089th to 6th BC	History	TNK
07Judges	08Judges	177th to 6th BC	History	TNK
08Ruth	09Judges	06 10th / 5th BC	History	TNK
091 Samuel	11Kings	09 9th BC	History	TNK
102 Samuel	12Kings	10 9th BC	History	TNK
111 Kings	13Kings	22640 to 609 BC	History	TNK
122 Kings	14Kings	23640 to 609 BC	History	TNK
131 Chronicles	15Kings	13 8th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
142 Chronicles	16Kings	14 8th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
15Ezra	36458, 428, 398 BC?	37 5th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
16Nehemiah	37Before or after Ezra	38 5th to 3rd BC	History	TNK
17Tobit	237th BC	402nd BC	History	LXX
18Judith	106th BC	451st BC	History	LXX
19Esther	40485-465 BC	365th-3rd BC	History	TNK
201 Maccabees	45167-139 BC	412nd to 1st BC	History	LXX
212 Maccabees	46164 BC	422nd to 1st BC	History	LXX

Prophecy

I've added six history books to this list because they contain important prophetic stories, including the prophetic ministries of Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, and Elisha. The whole of the Old Testament can be treated as a prophetic tradition, beginning with Abraham's call by God, continuing in the five books of Moses, and coming to a conclusion in the late apocalyptic visions of Daniel. In TNK, these six books are considered the "former ['earlier'] prophets."

In TNK, the "minor prophets" formed one book; in the Christian arrangement of the "Old Testament," the minor prophets are counted as twelve separate "books." The arrangement of the minor prophets is roughly chronological. The "major prophets" in the Jewish tradition are Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. They are "big books," while the "minor prophets" are short pieces.

The Christian organization of the "Old Testament" moves Lamentations, Baruch, and Daniel out of the "Ketuvim" (writings) into the prophetic section. Lamentations is also described as one of the "Five Megillot ["Scrolls"]", each of which is read on a special occasion during the Jewish liturgical year.

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Biblical order	Topic	Composition	Genre	Rank	LXX
06Joshua	07Judges	089th to 6th BC	History	Former prophet	TNK
07Judges	08Judges	177th to 6th BC	History	Former prophet	TNK
091 Samuel	11Kings	09 9th BC	History	Former prophet	TNK
102 Samuel	12Kings	10 9th BC	History	Former prophet	TNK
111 Kings	13Kings	22640 to 609 BC	History	Former prophet	TNK
122 Kings	14Kings	23640 to 609 BC	History	Former prophet	TNK
29Isaiah	188th & 6th-5th BC	168th to 5th BC	Prophecy	Major prophet	TNK
30Jeremiah	26627-587 BC	217th to 6th BC	Prophecy	Major prophet	TNK
31Lamentations	28587 BC	26Exile	Prophecy	Megilla	TNK
32Baruch	29.1587 BC	32Post-exilic	Prophecy	Ketav	LXX
33Ezekiel	27593-573 BC	25Exile	Prophecy	Major prophet	TNK
34Daniel	29.2587-539 BC	432nd BC	Prophecy	Ketav	LXX & TNK
35Hosea	198th BC	128th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
36Joel	38450 to 350 BC?	345th to 4th?	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
37Amos	17786-742 BC	118th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
38Obadiah	39450 to 312 BC?	355th to 4th BC?	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
39Jonah	22786-746 BC	33Post-exilic	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
40Micah	20740 to 687 BC	158th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
41Nahum	21612 to 609 BC?	197th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
42Habakkuk	25612 to 609 BC?	207th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
43Zephaniah	24640 to 609 BC	187th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
44Haggai	30520 BC	276th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
45Zechariah	31520 to 499 BC	286th to 5th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK
46Malachi	32after 515 BC	296th BC	Prophecy	Minor prophet	TNK

Wisdom

In my own interpretation, I include Jonah as part of Wisdom Literature, but if others followed this way of categorizing the book, that would leave us with just 11 "Minor Prophets."

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Biblical order	Topic	Composition	Genre	LXX
22Job	35N/A	30Post-exilic	Wisdom	TNK
23Psalms	0313th to 5th BC	0113th to 5th BC	Wisdom	TNK
24Proverbs	33Solomon	0810th to 6th?	Wisdom	TNK
25Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth)	41Solomon	393rd to 2nd BC	Wisdom	TNK
26Song of Songs	34Solomon	31Post-exilic	Wisdom	TNK
27Wisdom	441st BC	461st BC	Wisdom	LXX
28 Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)	43180 BC	44180 BC	Wisdom	LXX

Rejection of Seven Old Testament Books

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Biblical order	Topic	Composition	Genre	LXX
17Tobit	237th BC	402nd BC	History	LXX
18Judith	106th BC	451st BC	History	LXX
201 Maccabees	45167-139 BC	412nd to 1st BC	History	LXX
212 Maccabees	46164 BC	422nd to 1st BC	History	LXX
27Wisdom	441st BC	461st BC	Wisdom	LXX
28 Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)	43180 BC	44180 BC	Wisdom	LXX
32Baruch	29587 BC	32Post-exilic	Prophecy	LXX
34Daniel (additonal material)	42587-539 BC	432nd BC	Prophecy	LXX & TNK

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."

The acronym may sometimes be written as it is pronounced: "tanak" or "tanakh."

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 word-for-word and 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."

Some versions of the legend say that it was 72 rabbis, not 70. Either number can be factored into biblically significant numbers: 6 x 12 vs. 7 x 10.

The Septuagint did not just translate TNK. New books and new material composed in Greek or else whose Hebrew original has been lost were added to the canon. (Calling it a canon, meaning "official list", is not historically accurate; the concept of a canon is really a later development in the Christian era. The Roman Catholic Church accepts seven books of the Greek additions as canonical (i.e., as inspired by God); the Greek Orthodox, as a general rule, accept another two books from the Septuagint additions.

"The most striking difference between the Catholic and Protestant Bibles is the presence in the former of a number of writings which are wanting in the latter and also in the Hebrew Bible, which became the Old Testament of Protestantism. These number seven books: Tobias (Tobit), Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, I and II Machabees, and three documents added to protocanonical books, viz., the supplement to Esther, from x, 4, to the end, the Canticle of the Three Youths (Song of the Three Children) in Daniel, iii, and the stories of Susanna and the Elders and Bel and the Dragon, forming the closing chapters of the Catholic version of that book. Of these works, Tobias and Judith were written originally in Aramaic, perhaps in Hebrew; Baruch and I Machabees in Hebrew, while Wisdom and II Machabees were certainly composed in Greek. The probabilities favour Hebrew as the original language of the addition to Esther, and Greek for the enlargements of Daniel."^[1]

Catholics accept these books as inspired by God:

1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)	Aramaic and Hebrew versions found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Wisdom
Baruch
Tobit	Aramaic and Hebrew versions found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Judith

Catholics also accept these enlargements of other books as inspired by God:

Additions to Esther.

"The text of Esther, written originally in Hebrew, was transmitted in two forms: a short Hebrew form and a longer Greek version. The latter contains 107 additional verses, inserted at appropriate places within the Hebrew form of the text. A few of these seem to have a Hebrew origin while the rest are Greek in original composition. It is possible that the Hebrew form of the text is original throughout. If it systematically omits reference to God and his Providence over Israel, this is perhaps due to fear of irreverent response (see note on [4:14).^[2] The Greek text with the above-mentioned additions is probably a later literary paraphrase in which the author seeks to have the reader share his sentiments. This standard Greek text is pre-Christian in origin. The church has accepted the additions as equally inspired with the rest of the book."^[3]

"Canticle of the Three Young Men" in Daniel 3:51-90.
"Susanna and the Elders" in Daniel 13:1-64.
"Bel and the Dragon" in Daniel:14:1-42.

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."^[4]

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.^[5]

"Apocryphal" Books included in the Common Bible

- Tobit

- Judith

- Wisdom

- Ben Sira

- 1 Maccabees

- 2 Maccabees

- Baruch

— — — — — — —

- Additions to Esther

- Letter of Jeremiah

- Prayer of Azariah

- Susanna

- Bel

- Prayer of Manasseh

- Additions to Psalms

- 1 Esdras [3 Esdras]

- 2 Esdras [4 Esdras]

- 3 Maccabees

- 4 Maccabees

Old Testament Names in the Vulgate and Douay-Rheims

Four books of Kings	1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings
Paralipomenon	1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Prayer of Manasses.	books "of things passed over"
Esdras 1&2	Ezra and Nehemiah
Ecclesiasticus	Sirach	"The designation 'Liber Ecclesiasticus,' meaning 'Church Book,' appended to some Greek and Latin manuscripts was due to the extensive use which the church made of this book in presenting moral teaching to catechumens and to the faithful."^[6]
Song [of Solomon]	Song of Songs	"Song of songs" = "greatest of songs."

Eastern Orthodox canon

The Eastern Orthodox canon of the Old Testament is two books longer than the Roman Catholic canon. The two extra books are:

3 Maccabees.
4 Maccabees.

That gives these Churches 75 books in their canon (39 + 7 + 2 + 27 = 75).

The Ethiopian Orthodox also accept the book of Enoch, so they have a longer canon still.

References

↑ Catholic Encyclopedia, "Canon of the Old Testament."
↑ Footnote to Esther 4:14.
↑ New American Bible, "Introduction to the Book of Esther."
↑ "Septuagint Quotations in the New Testament."
↑ "Can Protestants Rely Upon the "Council of Jamnia" for Their Bible?"
↑ New American Bible, "Introduction to Sirach."

Links

"In other words, beneath the facade of a generally-applicable test, there were really two different tests: a relatively easy one for whites, and a much harder one for blacks. I think we see something similar here. The Books Protestants are used to seeing in their Bibles get a very easy test, while the Deuterocanon is held to a much stricter standard, a standard that much of the Protestant Bible couldn't meet."