Bible

Bible (Greek τὰ βιβλία, "the books"): name of a collection of Jewish and Christian religious literature, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. 

Coptic translation of Isaiah

The Bible is, essentially, a library of monotheistic texts, with a central message that God takes care of his creation and his people. The Jewish texts were composed over a long period, stretching from the late second millennium BCE (e.g., Psalms 29 and 68) until about c.165 BCE (Daniel). Rabbinical Judaism added the Mishnah; the Christians added the New Testament, consisting of four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, epistles, and the Book of Revelation. In both cases, the process of canonization started in the second century CE. Religious texts that were not considered inspired were left out of the canonical Bible and are called apocryphal.

Jewish Literature, Chronological

No attempt has been made on this page to include the five first books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) or the majority of the Psalms, because it is impossible to reconstruct the history of their composition. For similar reasons, the Scrolls of the Dead Sea have been left out. Most of the texts below are included in the Bible, but some non-Biblical Jewish literature (e.g., the Enochite literature) has also been included. Many texts contain later interpolations. Contemporary events and texts are indicated in red.

Green Included in the Jewish and Protestant Bible
Grey Deuterocanonical: recognized by Catholics
Yellow Enochite literature
Pink Other

Psalm 29, 68 Canaanitic?      
Psalm 110 Davidic?      
Proverbs 10-24 Tenth century     Oldest part of collection
  c.930 Sheshonq's campaign Sheshonq's stela  
  853 Battle of Qarqar Kurkh stela  
  c.845 Independence of Moab Mesha stela  
  c.820 Jehu pays tribute to Assyria Black obelisk  
Amos c.760-750      
Hosea c.730      
Micah 6-7 c.730      
  c.724 Fall of Samaria ABC 1  
Micah 1 c.720      
Isaiah, first stage c.720     = Isaiah 2-9, 14-23, 28-31
  701 Fall of Lachish; siege of Jerusalem Lachish reliefs  
Proverbs 25-31 c.700      
Ruth c.700      
Micah 2-3 Pre-exilic      
Nahum c.640      
Zephaniah c.630      
Deuteronomistic Historynote c.620     First stage
Isaiah, Josian redaction c.620     = Isaiah 10-12, 32, 36-39
  612 Fall of Nineveh ABC 3  
Psalm 2, 20, 21, 72 Pre-exilic      
Habakkuk 604-600      
  597 First capture of Jerusalem ABC 5  
Jeremiah 600-587      
  587 Fall of Jerusalem; Exile    
Ezekiel After 587      
Lamentations After 587      
Obadiah After 587      
Micah 4-5 After 587      
Additions to the Deuteronomistic Historynote c.550     Addition (2 Kings 23-25)
    Jehoiachin in Babylonia ANET3 308  
Isaiah, second stage A 545-540     = Isaiah 13-14, 21, 33, 40-48
  539 Fall of Babylon; end of Exile Cyrus Cylinder  
Psalm 126, 137 Post-exilic      
Micah 2-5note Post-exilic     Collection of prophecies
Isaiah, second stage B c.520     = Isaiah 49-55
Isaiah, third stage A c.500     = Isaiah 34-35, 60-62
Maleachinote c.470      
Isaiah, third stage B Fifth century     = Isaiah 56-59, 63-66
Haggainote c.450      
Zechariah, part 1 c.450     = Zechariah 1-13
  c.450 Rebuilding of the Templenote    
Proverbs 1-9 Fifth century     Youngest part of collection
Isaiah, third stage C End fifth century     = Isaiah 1, 24-27
Joel? c.400     Alternative date: c.600-586
Job Fourth century      
Esther Fourth century     Chapters added in c.80
Jonah Fourth century      
Chronicles Fourth century      
Ezra-Nehemiah after 336     a.k.a. 2 Esdras
  332 Alexander the Great    
Song of Songs After 332      
Zechariah, part 2 After 332     = Zechariah 9-14
Epistle of Jeremiah c.325      
Astronomical Book Third century     = 1 Enoch 72-82
Ecclesiastes Third century      
Book of Watchers 225-175     = 1 Enoch 1-36
Tobit c.200      
  202-195 Fifth Syrian War    
Jesus Sirach c.180     Original, Hebrew version
Epistle of Enoch c.175     = 1 Enoch 91-108
Jubilees c.175      
  175-164 Antiochus IV Epiphanes    
Daniel 165     Chapters added in c.100?
Death of Isaiah c.165      
Book of Dream Visions 165-160     = 1 Enoch 83-90
Baruch 163-162     a.k.a. 1 Baruch
Judith c.150      
Book of Giants Second century      
3 Ezra c.125     a.k.a. 1 Esdras
Jesus Sirach 117     Greek translation
Letter of Aristeas c.110      
Prayer of Manasseh 150-50      
1 Maccabees c.100      
2 Maccabees c.100      
Additions to Daniel c.100?      
Additions to Esther 80      
  63 Romans take Jerusalem    
3 Maccabees First century      
Book of Similitudes First century     = 1 Enoch 37-71
Psalms of Solomon c.45      
  40-4 BCE King Herod the Great    
  6 CE Annexation by the Romans    
Assumption of Moses c.25      
2 ("Slavonic") Enoch c.25      
Wisdom 37-41      
  70 Destruction of the Temple    
4 Ezra after 70      
Flavius Josephus 75-100      
4 Maccabees c.100      
2 ("Syriac") Baruch 100-117      
3 ("Greek") Baruch c.150      

This page was created in 2007; last modified on 12 October 2020.