Dating the Bible
The oldest surviving Hebrew Bible manuscripts date to about the 2nd century BCE. The oldest complete text is a Greek translation called the Septuagint. It dates to the 4th century CE (Codex Sinaiticus). The oldest manuscripts of the Masoretic Text (the basis of modern editions of the Hebrew Bible), date to the 9th century CE. Virtually no biblical text is from the time of the events it describes.
Table I: Chronological overview of the Hebrew Bible[edit source]
These tables summarises the chronology of the Bible and serves as a guide to the historical periods mentioned. Much of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament may have been assembled in the 5th century BCE. The New Testament books were composed largely in the second half of the 1st century CE. The Deuterocanonical books fall largely in between.
Period | Date or dates when books were written |
---|---|
During the monarchic period of Ancient Israel and Ancient Judah
(History of Ancient Israel and Ancient Judah) 8th–7th centuries BCE c. 745–586 BCE |
|
Exilic period: when people were in exile in Babylon.
6th century BCE 586–539 BCE |
|
The post-exilic period when Judah
was under Persian control 6th–4th centuries BCE 538–330 BCE |
|
Post-exilic during the Hellenistic
period 3rd–2nd centuries BCE 330–164 BCE |
|
Maccabean/Hasmonean
2nd -1st centuries BCE 164 - 4 BCE |
|
Table II: Chronological overview of Deuterocanonical Old Testament[edit source]
Period | Date or range of dates when books written |
---|---|
Post-exilic during the Hellenistic
period 3rd–2nd centuries BCE 330–164 BCE |
Tobit 225–175 BCE |
Maccabean/Hasmonean
2nd -1st centuries BCE 164 - 4 BCE |
|
Table III: Chronological overview of the New Testament[edit source]
Period | Date or range of dates when book or letter was written |
---|---|
Roman rule of Judea.
Roman Emperors: Claudius - 41–54 CE Nero - 54–68 CE Galba - 68–69 CE Otho -January–April 69 CE Aulus Vitellius - July–December 69 CE Vespasian - 69–79 CE Titus - 79–81 CE Domitian - 81–96 CE Nerva - 96–98 CE Trajan - 98–117 CE |
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Selected Bibliography[edit source]
- Brettler, Mark Zvi (2007). "Introduction to the Historical Books". In Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288803.
- Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann (2007). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288803.
- Dunn, James D. G.; Rogerson, John William, eds. (2003). Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837110.