Question: How was the Old Testament Canon agreed?
Answer:
a) Uncertainty
The origin of the Old Testament canon is unknown and there is little or no evidence outside the books themselves.
The fully developed canon clearly existed by the 2nd century BC.
b) Excluded writings
Not all books of Hebrew antiquity were included.
A number of writings between what we now have as Old & New Testaments were excluded.
Similarly other previous books, referred to in the Old Testament itself, were excluded, e.g.:
“So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.” (Josh 10:13 )
and
“David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, 18 and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar): “Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen!” (2 Sam 1:17-19).
and
“That is why the Book of the Wars of the LORD says….” (Num 21:14)
and
“As for the other events of Solomon’s reign–all he did and the wisdom he displayed–are they not written in the book of the annals of Solomon?” (1 Kings 11:41)
and
“The other events of Jeroboam’s reign, his wars and how he ruled, are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel.” (1 Kings 14:19) [Not Chronicles]
c) How was the canon created?
Some suggest it was venerated documents that were considered inspired.
But how were they thus tested?
It probably started with the writings of Moses which would have been considered authoritative, simply because of his position and having encountered the Lord face to face at Sinai.
We have noted on a previous page about Inspiration, how Moses received God’s word and wrote it down:
- see Ex 17:14, 24:4-7, 34:27,28 referring to the wars, the Ten Commandments, the treatment of the Israelites and various festivals,
- Num 33:2 referring to a daily recording of their journeys,
- Deut 31:9,22,24 referring to the law and the song.
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy have Moses’ ‘finger prints’ all over them.
Tradition had it that Moses wrote down a combination of direct revelation from the Lord and tradition passed down to form Genesis and thus the first five books together came to be called the Law of Moses, or the Torah.
In respect of Joshua, the Talmud, the earliest Jewish traditions claim that Joshua wrote his own book except for the final section in respect of his funeral (Attributed to Eleazar son of Aaron with the last verse being added by a later editor.)
Joshua gives credence to the earlier books being the work of Moses:
“Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.” (Josh 1:7,8)
and
“He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses…… There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua copied on stones the law of Moses, which he had written.” (Josh 8:31,32)
and
“Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses.” (Josh 23:6)
Similarly, later books make reference to Moses’ Law, e.g.
“Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses.” (1 Kings 2:3) etc.
Many of the Old Testament books refer back to the Law of Moses.
The principle of including the Pentateuch in the canon was not simply antiquity but Moses’ authority as God’s spokesman.
Now Moses was considered a prophet of significance for Israel – because he spoke from God.
Now the O.T. is littered with prophets and their prophecies – all of which take their authority from their encounter and experience of God. Most books after the Pentateuch have some prophetic dimension to them – foretelling or forth-telling the word of God.
Indeed, with this in mind, we can observe that most if not all of the books of the Old Testament get their credence in the eyes of Israel, from their recording of encounters with God. Even the so-called historical books have considerable references to God in them.
Thus the canon or credibility of the Old Testament books is based upon the fact that they provide a record of the divine encounters with Israel.
