Session 2 – Why the Books we have?In this second session we will tackle the

question of the Old Testament Canon, and why certain books are part of it while

others are “left out” We will spend quite some time looking at

the Apocryphal booksand see the problems with adding those

books to our Bible

http://www.tektonics.org/lp/otcanon.php

The Old Testament CanonWhy are certain books in the Old Testament

while others are not?

When looking at the Old Testament we have minimal outside sourcing on why certain

books are in a certain books are out (because it’s been thousands of years)

But what we do have can give us a good idea

Dates that Old Testament books were written

Job--UnknownGenesis--1445-1405 B.C.Exodus --1445-1405 B.C.

Leviticus --1445-1405 B.C.Numbers--1445-1405 B.C.

Deut--1445-1405 B.C.Psalms--1410-450 B.C.

Joshua--1405-1385 B.C.Judges--ca. 1043 B.C.

Ruth--ca. 1030-1010 B.C.Song of Sol--971-965 B.C.

Proverbs--ca. 971-686 B.C.Ecclesiastes--940-931 B.C.

1 Samuel--931-722 B.C.2 Samuel--931-722 B.C.Obadiah--850-840 B.C.

Joel--835-796 B.C.Jonah--ca. 775 B.C.Amos--ca. 750 B.C.

Hosea--750-710 B.C.Micah--735-710 B.C.Isaiah--700-681 B.C.

Nahum--ca. 650 B.C.Zephaniah--635-625 B.C.Habakkuk--615-605 B.C.

Ezekiel--590-570 B.C.Lamentations--586 B.C.Jeremiah--586-570 B.C.1 Kings--561-538 B.C.2 Kings--561-538 B.C.Daniel 536-530 B.C.

Haggai--ca. 520 B.C.Zechariah--480-470 B.C.

Ezra--457-444 B.C.1 Chronicles--450-430 B.C.2 Chronicles--450-430 B.C.

Esther--450-331 B.C.Malachi--433-424 B.C.

Nehemiah--424-400 B.C.

The Old Testament wasn’t finished until around 400 B.C., which means an official

Canon has to come after that

Some scholars have suggested that Ezra and/or Nehemiah were responsible for the

first true organization

They propose Judas Maccabeaus would be the one who put an "official" deposit of the

sacred writings in the Temple.

This would have taken place around 150 B.C. (A few

hundred years after the OT completion)

Outside of the Bible itself, the earliest writings we have that Categorize the Old

Testament into different sections is from the Wisdom of Sirach, a book dated to approximately 175-200 B.C. (Greek

translation by his Grandson around 125 B.C.)

The classification scheme in Sirach refers to the law, the prophets, and the "other"

ancestral books as being a set (note: If it’s common knowledge at this time, that means

the idea originates even earlier)

This book (Also also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus) turns out to be one of the

Apocrypha books, so we will return to look at why we don’t consider it inspired

We have documentation of the books of Moses being recognized as Scripture as early as the 2nd century BC, being named as such

in the Letter of Aristeas

Keep in mind this is outside sourcing, the Bible itself says it even earlier

the Book of Jubilees indicates that there are 22 accepted books in the Jewish Scripture, but realize that had a completely different way of counting them (unfortunately the writer doesn’t list them, but it could be

understood as the whole OT)

How far back does this put us? Well there is some debate on that topic

The hand writing style of our oldest copy dates around 100 B.C. (Not the original)

There is evidence that it was written prior to this date though

For example, the author of Jubilees seems to be aware of 1 Enoch's "Book of Dreams"; but the oldest copy we have (DSS-13 4Q208) has

been dated to ca. 200 BC.

Which means Jubilees could have been written between 400-200 B.C., which would

go along with the idea that Ezra or Nehemiah compiled the final Canon

There is still another camp that believe that the book had to be written between 150-160 B.C. because it seems to allude (very subtly)

to the events of 1 Maccabees

Philo, In his Contemplative Life, written early in the first century, writes of "the laws and

the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and

all kinds of other things"

The next piece of data comes from Josephus' description of the Jewish holy books

in Contra Apion 1.8, dated c. 93-95 AD.

After clearly identifying the Pentateuch as the work of Moses Josephus writes:

From the death of Moses until Artaxerxes...the prophets who followed after

Moses recorded their deeds in thirteen books. The remaining four comprise hymns to God and rules of ethical conduct for men.

We again get the number 22, is it possible for this to refer to the OT?

Genesis – 1Exodus – 1

Leviticus – 1Numbers – 1

Deuteronomy – 1 (the 5 books of Moses)

Joshua – 1Judges and Ruth, folded together on one scroll

as they were in Josephus' time – 1

1 and 2 Samuel - also considered one book in Josephus' time - 1

1 and 2 Kings - Ditto. - 11 and 2 Chronicles - Ditto. - 1

Jeremiah and Lamentations - also considered as one book at the time - 1

Isaiah - 1Amos, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Malachi, Jonah,

Haggai, Habakkuk, Nahum, Micah, Hosea, Joel, Obadiah - all folded together at the time

of Josephus (and prior) - 1

Daniel - 1Ezekiel - 1

Ezra and Nehemiah, folded together - 1Esther - 1

Job - 1 (the 13 prophetic books)

Proverbs - 1Psalms - 1

Song of Songs - 1Ecclesiastes - 1.

(the 4 instructional books)

If this accurately represents the way their books were compiled, this again could go

back to the time of Ezra or Nehemiah

Our first external Biblical source would be the book of Jubilee which identified 22

books, just like Josephus

The same number of books is listed by the Bryennius List and the canon of Epiphanus,

both dated to near the time of Josephus

Around 100 A.D. there is a list (in the book of 4 Ezra) that says 24 books are part of the

Old Testament (not 22)

One explanation is this list likely has Ruth and Lamentations separated

Some critics don’t think we are justified in combining these books before this time, that

remains a debate (later witnesses like Eusebius agree with us on this point)

While the books of the Old Testament were probably recognized early on, the idea of a

solid Canon does take a bit to develop

This explains why the Apocrypha was originally in the Septuagint version

While they may have not had a solid idea right away of an entire OT Canon, they

certainly understood the books of Moses as being a closed unit (and possible

other sets of books)

What were the standards for being considered part of the OT?

The dates the books were written

Josephus limits his books to those written between the time of Moses and Artaxerxes - which is to say, the time of Ezra, Nehemiah,

Malachi, Zecharaiah, and Haggai.

There was an understanding among the Jews that the books written after the end of our

current OT were different from before

After that, Josephus observed that "(Jewish) history hath been written since Artaxerxes

very particularly but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the

former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of

prophets since that time."

It’s unlikely that Josephus originates this idea, it was probably what he was taught (meaning

that the teaching goes back earlier)

Tosfeta Sotah has a similar reading: “…the Holy Spirit departed after the death of Haggai, Zecharaiah, and Malachi. Thus

Judaism defined the limits of the canon that was and still is accepted within

the Jewish community."

There was little debate over the books that were considered part of the OT at this time, some discussion on Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, but the bulk was never disputed

The quality of the books

Many writers recognize and difference in quality between the Old Testament books

and the other books of the time

The historical quality of the book could also come into play, for example, if the book has historical facts wrong it couldn’t/wouldn’t

be inspired by God

Authorship of the Books

The author of the books likely held more weight on if it would be part of the Old

Testament than any other criteria

The authors had to have a special relationship with God, which is why the

writings of Moses were included from the very beginning (Moses was God’s chosen

leader/prophet for the Jewish people)

Books that were authored by true prophets of God (as laid out in the book of

Deuteronomy) would be prime candidates for books in the Old Testament

Other books written by David, Solomon, or Joshua would also make it into the Bible because of their special relationship with

God (as leaders of his people)

The author was very important

Keep in mind, books are not inspired because they made it into the Bible

Man does not decide what is inspired and what is not inspired, God does

Our job was to recognize what God has inspired, and we had criteria for doing so

with the Old (and New) Testament

God used people who had special relationships with him, at certain times in

history, to reveal himself to us

What about the Apocrypha?

Added to the Bible by the Roman Catholic church in 1546

These books are Tobit, Judith, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach

(also known as Ecclesiasticus), and Baruch. (also extensions to some of the books in the

Old Testament like Daniel)

Do they belong in the Bible?

Additions to Esther

The Nine part addition is 1) a dream of Mordecai; 2) the conspiracy against

Artaxerxes; 3) the edict ordering extermination of the Jews; 4) the prayer of Mordecai; 5) the prayer of Esther; 6) Esther before Artaxerxes;

7) the edict in favor of the Jews; 8) interpretation of Mordecai's dream; and 9)

naming of the translator. The problem is these additions can be dated

to 100 B.C. (long after the original)

Additions to DanielThe most known of these additions is the

tale of Bel and the Dragon

The text exists only in Greek (while the oldest copies of the Book of

Daniel are entirely in Hebrew and Aramaic,

which is why many believe (us included) that it was

an addition

The book of BaruchThis book is supposed to be written by

Jeremiah’s scribe, but actually contradicts the book of Jeremiah itself

And while some portions may be earlier, the book was not complete until the first century! Jeremiah lived hundreds of

years before that (570 B.C.)

Letter of Jeremiah - This has been dated to 300 B.C. and has the same problem

Baruch 6:2 , "And when you are come into Babylon, you shall be there many years, and for a long time, even to seven generations:

and after that I will bring you away from thence with peace."

Baruch 6:2 says the Jews would serve in Babylon for seven generations where Jer. 25:11 says it was for 70 years. "And this whole land shall be a desolation and a

horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."

The Book of Tobit There is false/weird teaching inside this

bookSalvation by works:

Tobit 12:9, "For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away

sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting."

Tobit 4:11 , "For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul

to go into darkness."

Tobit 6:5-9: “The angel said to him, “Cut open the fish and remove its gallbladder, heart, and liver and keep them with you, and throw away

the guts. Its gallbladder, heart, and liver are useful medicines.” So Tobias cut open the fish and gathered up the gallbladder, heart, and liver. He cooked the fish and ate it; and the

remaining part of it, which he salted, he put aside. Then they both journeyed together until

they approached Media. Tobias asked the angel, “Brother Azariah, what medicine is there in the

fish’s heart, liver, and gallbladder?”

Raphael replied, “If you burn the fish’s heart and liver in the presence of a man or woman

under attack by a demon or evil spirit, the spirit will flee and never bother that person again. As for the gallbladder, if you smear the gall on a person’s eyes in which white

spots have appeared, and then blow on the white spots, the eyes will heal.”

There’s a new formula for spiritual warfare! The problem is it’s wrong and unbiblical

The book of Judith In this book, a Jewish Hero named Judith

deceives Nebuchadnezzar's general, Holofernes, and assassinates him, saving

Jerusalem from certain doom

Judith 1:5, "Now in the twelfth year of his reign, Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians,

who reigned in Ninive the great city, fought against Arphaxad and overcame him."

It contains a horrible historical error

1st and 2nd Esdras

1st book was a mixture of Ezra, Nehemiah, an 2 Chronicles, along with some other stories.

The book has many errors according to Metzger, and was assembled around 150 B.C.

2nd book contains seven visions supposedly written by Ezra (during time in Babylon) but

it’s dated to the first century A.D.

Catholics do not accept these books

The book of Ecclesiasticus

This is the most esteemed book in the Apocrypha, and is a book of wisdom

It doesn’t contain any outright absurdities like

many of the other books, but it was written around 190-180 B.C., which takes it out of the timeframe for

inspired books

Wisdom of Solomon

This book has three parts to it

1. It tells us wisdom will be granted to the righteous man

2. It contains Solomon’s admonition to the kings to seek after wisdom (and he explains

how his wisdom has been beneficial)

3. Recounts what God has done in history delivering his people and punishing their foes

This book uses material from Daniel, Enoch, and Tobit, which disqualifies it immediately

as being written by Solomon

Although some would wonder if the book ever meant to be taken as written by

Solomon (because it’s so obviously not)

The dating of the book falls somewhere between 100 B.C. and 40 A.D.

1 and 2 MaccabeesThese books are mostly historical recording

some events between 330-135 B.C.

Their dating disqualifies them from being canonical, coming about hundreds of years

after the OT is finished

There are also some historical and doctrinal problems with the books, which can’t be the

case if they are inspired

Offering of money for the sins of the dead

2 Maccabees 12:43, "And making a gathering, he sent twelve thousand drachms of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice to be offered for the

sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection."

Historical errors exist, such as the placing of Antiochus Epiphanes’ death prior to the

cleansing of the Temple by Judas (2 Macc 1:11-18; 9:1-10:9)

Jesus rejected the Apocrypha as Scripture by referring to the entire accepted Jewish

Canon of Scripture when he said: “From the blood of Abel [Gen. 4:8] to the blood of

Zechariah [2 Chron. 24:20], who was killed between the altar and the house of God;

yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation (Lk. 11:51; cf. Mt. 23:35).”

Final thoughts and problems

Jesus supports the timeline we’re using

The Apocrypha isn’t quoted

There are over 260 quotations of the Old Testament in the New Testament and not one

of them is from these books

There may be illusions historically to them, but

never in the same way as the OT books where they are quoted as the word of

God, and authoritative

Memory VerseMatthew 5:17: "Do not think that I came to

abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill,"