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. [1] Virtually no biblical text is contemporaneous with the events it describes.[2]
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 |
|
References
Citations
- ↑
Evans, Craig A. (October 2008). "Introduction". In Evans, Craig A.; Tov, Emanuel (eds.). Exploring the Origins of the Bible: Canon Formation in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective. Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology. Baker Academic (published 2008). ISBN 9781585588145. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
The oldest Masoretic manuscripts date from the late ninth century CE (e.g., Codex Cairensis [C] on the Prophets).
- ↑ Bernstein 1996, p. 134
Selected Bibliography[edit source]
- Bernstein, Alan E. (1996). The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801481314.
- 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.