Editing Hebrew Bible (section)

==Development==
=== Traditional attribution ===
Religious tradition ascribes [[Mosaic authorship|authorship of the Torah to Moses]]. In later Biblical texts, such as Daniel 9:11 and Ezra 3:2, it is referred to as the "[[Law of Moses|Torah (Law) of Moses]]".<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Schmid | first1 = Konrad | author-link1 = Konrad Schmid (theologian) | last2 = Schröter | first2 = Jens | title = The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture | publisher = Harvard University Press | translator-last = Lewis | translator-first = Peter | year = 2021 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0AlBEAAAQBAJ | isbn = 9780674269392 | page = 44}}</ref> However, the Torah itself credits Moses with writing only some specific sections.{{efn|See Exodus 17:14, 24:4, 34:28; Numbers 33:2; and Deuteronomy 31:9, 31:22.{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=43}}}} According to scholars{{who|date=November 2024}}, Moses would have lived in the [[2nd millennium BC|2nd millennium BCE]], but this was before the development of Hebrew writing{{citation needed|date=March 2025}}. The Torah is dated to the [[1st millennium BCE]] after Israel and Judah had already developed as states. Nevertheless, "it is highly likely that extensive oral transmission of proverbs, stories, and songs took place during this period", and these may have been included in the Hebrew Bible.{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=44}} Elements of Genesis 12–50, which describes the [[patriarchal age]], and the Book of Exodus may reflect [[oral tradition]]s. In these stories, Israelite ancestors such as Jacob and Moses use [[Trickster|trickery]] and deception to survive and thrive.{{Sfn|Carr|2021|pp=51 & 56}}

King [[David]] ({{circa|1000 BCE}}) is credited as the author of at least 73 of the Biblical [[Psalms]]. His son, [[Solomon]], is identified as the author of [[Book of Proverbs]], [[Ecclesiastes]], and [[Song of Songs|Song of Solomon]]. The Hebrew Bible describes their reigns as a [[Golden Age|golden age]] when Israel flourished both culturally and militarily. However, there is no archeological evidence for this, and it is most likely a "retrospective extrapolation" of conditions under King [[Jeroboam II]] ({{reign|781|742}} BCE).{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=44–45}}

=== Before the exile ===
{{Further|Tradition history}}

Modern scholars{{who|date=November 2024}} believe that the ancient Israelites mostly originated from within Canaan. Their material culture was closely related to their Canaanite neighbors, and Hebrew was a [[Canaanite languages|Canaanite dialect]]. Archaeological evidence indicates Israel began as loosely organized tribal villages in the [[Geography of Israel#Central hills|hill country of modern-day Israel]] {{circa|1250|1000 BCE}}. During crises, these tribes formed temporary alliances. The [[Book of Judges]], written {{circa|600 BCE|lk=no}} (around 500 years after the events it describes), portrays Israel as a grouping of decentralized tribes, and the [[Deborah#The Song of Deborah|Song of Deborah]] in Judges 5 may reflect older oral traditions. It features archaic elements of Hebrew and a [[Twelve Tribes of Israel#Scholarly examination|tribal list]] that identifies Israel exclusively with the northern tribes.{{Sfn|Carr|2021|pp=37–38, 45, 42–49 & 54}}

By the 9th or 8th centuries BCE, the [[Scribe#Judaism|scribal]] culture of Samaria and Judah was sufficiently developed to produce biblical texts.{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=66}} The Kingdom of Samaria was more powerful and culturally advanced than the Kingdom of Judah. It also featured multiple cultic sites, including the sanctuaries at [[Bethel]]  and [[Dan (ancient city)|Dan]].{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|pp=71 & 73}}

Scholars estimate that the Jacob tradition (Genesis 25–35) was first written down in the 8th century BCE and probably originated in the north because the stories occur there. Based on the prominence given to the sanctuary at Bethel (Genesis 28), these stories were likely preserved and written down at that religious center. This means the Jacob cycle must be older than the time of King [[Josiah]] of Judah ({{reign|640|609 BCE}}), who pushed for the centralization of worship at Jerusalem.{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|pp=73–74}}

The story of Moses and the [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] appears to also originate in the north. It existed as a self-contained story in its oral and earliest written forms, but it was connected to the patriarchal stories during the exile or post-exile periods. The account of Moses's birth ([[Book of Exodus|Exodus 2]]) shows similarities to the birth of [[Sargon of Akkad]], which suggests [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] influence sometime after 722 BCE. While the Moses story is set in Egypt, it is used to tell both an anti-Assyrian and anti-imperial message, all while appropriating Assyrian story patterns.{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|pp=76–79}} [[David M. Carr]] notes the possibility of an early oral tradition for the Exodus story: "To be sure, there may have been a 'Moses group,' themselves of Canaanite extraction, who experienced slavery and liberation from Egypt, but most scholars believe that such a group—if it existed—was only a small minority in early Israel, even though their story came to be claimed by all."{{Sfn|Carr|2021|pp=45 & 54}}

Scholars believe [[Psalm 45]] could have northern origins since it refers to a king marrying a foreign princess, a policy of the [[Omrides]].{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=79}} Some psalms may have originated from the shrine in the northern city of Dan. These are the [[Sons of Korah (Bible)|Sons of Korah]] psalms, [[Psalm 29]], and [[Psalm 68]]. The city of Dan probably became an Israelite city during the reign of King [[Jeroboam II]] (781–742{{nbsp}}BCE). Before then, it belonged to [[Aram (region)|Aram]], and [[Psalm 20]] is nearly identical to an [[Aramaic]] psalm found in the 4th century BCE [[Papyrus Amherst 63]].{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=74–75}}

The author of the [[Books of Kings]] likely lived in Jerusalem.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} The text shows a clear bias favoring Judah, where God's worship was centralized in Jerusalem. The Kingdom of Samaria is portrayed as a godless breakaway region whose rulers refuse to worship at Jerusalem.{{Sfn|Schmid|Schröter|2021|p=71}}

===Fixing the canon===
{{Main|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}

The books that make up the Hebrew Bible were composed and edited in stages over several hundred years. According to biblical scholar [[John J. Collins]], "It now seems clear that all the Hebrew Bible received its final shape in the postexilic, or [[Second Temple period|Second Temple]], period."{{Sfn|Collins|2018|p=15}}

Traditionally, [[Moses]] was considered the author of the Torah, and this part of the Tanakh achieved authoritative or canonical status first, possibly as early as the 5th century BCE. This is suggested by [[Ezra 7]]:6, which describes [[Ezra]] as "a scribe skilled in the law (''torah'') of Moses that the Lord the God of Israel had given".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coogan |first1=Michael D. |title=The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures |last2=Chapman |first2=Cynthia R. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0190608651 |edition=4th |pages=4–5 |author-link1=Michael Coogan}}</ref>

The Nevi'im had gained canonical status by the 2nd century BCE. There are references to the "Law and the Prophets" in the [[Book of Sirach]], the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], and the [[New Testament]]. The Book of Daniel, written {{circa|164 BCE}}, was not grouped with the Prophets presumably because the Nevi'im collection was already fixed by this time.{{Sfn|Collins|2018|p=5}}

The Ketuvim was the last part of the Tanakh to achieve canonical status. The prologue to the Book of Sirach mentions "other writings" along with the Law and Prophets but does not specify the content. The [[Gospel of Luke]] refers to "the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" ([[Luke 24]]:44). These references suggest that the content of the Ketuvim remained fluid until the canonization process was completed in the 2nd-century CE.{{Sfn|Coogan|Chapman|2018|p=5}}

There is no scholarly consensus as to when the Hebrew Bible canon was fixed: some scholars argue that it was fixed by the [[Hasmonean dynasty]],<ref name="Davies662">{{cite book |last=Davies |first=Philip R. |title=The Canon Debate |publisher=Baker Academic |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-4412-4163-4 |editor1-last=McDonald |editor1-first=Lee Martin |page=PT66 |chapter=The Jewish Scriptural Canon in Cultural Perspective |quote=With many other scholars, I conclude that the fixing of a canonical list was almost certainly the achievement of the Hasmonean dynasty. |editor2-last=Sanders |editor2-first=James A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kxW-AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT66}}</ref> while others argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later.<ref name="Neusner2">McDonald & Sanders, ''The Canon Debate'', 2002, p. 5, cited are Neusner's ''Judaism and Christianity in the Age of Constantine'', pp. 128–145, and ''Midrash in Context: Exegesis in Formative Judaism'', pp. 1–22.</ref> The speculated late-1st-century [[Council of Jamnia]] was once credited with fixing the Hebrew canon, but modern scholars believe there was no such authoritative council of rabbis. Between 70 and 100&nbsp;CE, rabbis debated whether certain books "make the hands unclean" (meaning the books are holy and should be considered scripture), and references to fixed numbers of canonical books appear.{{Sfn|Collins|2018|p=5}} There were several criteria for inclusion. Books had to be older than the 4th century BCE or attributed to an author who had lived before that period. The original language had to be Hebrew, and books had to be widely used. Many books considered scripture by certain Jewish communities were excluded during this time.{{Sfn|Coogan|Chapman|2018|pp=5 & 7}}

[[File:Texts of the OT.svg|thumb|right|350px|The inter-relationship between various significant ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible (some identified by their siglum). Mt being the Masoretic text. The lowermost text "(lost)" would be the [[Urtext (Biblical studies)|Urtext]].]]

There are various [[textual variants in the Hebrew Bible]] resulting from centuries of hand-copying. [[Sofer|Scribes]] introduced thousands of minor changes to the biblical texts. Sometimes, these changes were by accident. At other times, scribes intentionally added clarifications or theological material. In the Middle Ages, Jewish scribes produced the Masoretic Text, which became the authoritative version of the Tanakh.{{Sfn|Carr|2021|pp=6–7}} [[Biblical Hebrew|Ancient Hebrew]] was written without vowels, but the Masoretes added vowel markings to the text to ensure accuracy.{{Sfn|Collins|2018|pp=7–8}}

Rabbi and Talmudic scholar [[Louis Ginzberg]] wrote in ''[[Legends of the Jews]]'', published in 1909, that the twenty-four book canon was fixed by Ezra and the scribes in the [[Second Temple period]].<ref>[[Louis Ginzberg|Ginzberg, Louis]] (1909). ''[[Legends of the Jews|The Legends of the Jews]] [http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/e-books/misc/Legends/Legends%20of%20the%20Jews.pdf Vol. IV : Chapter XI Ezra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313050820/http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/e-books/misc/Legends/Legends |date=2020-03-13 }}'' (Translated by [[Henrietta Szold]]) Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.</ref>{{Failed verification|date=January 2024}} According to the [[Talmud]], much of the Tanakh was compiled by the men of the [[Great Assembly]] (''Anshei K'nesset HaGedolah''), a task completed in 450&nbsp;BCE, and it has remained unchanged ever since.<ref>(Bava Batra 14b–15a, Rashi to Megillah 3a, 14a)</ref> The 24-book canon is mentioned in the [[Ecclesiastes Rabbah|Midrash Koheleth]] 12:12: ''Whoever brings together in his house more than twenty four books brings confusion''.<ref>[[Ecclesiastes Rabbah|Midrash Qoheleth]] 12:12</ref>