The Formation of the Old Testament | xxxiii
EARLY REFERENCES TO THE OLD TESTAMENT COLLECTIONS AND CANON
The Old Testament— and Jewish literature written between the Old Testament and New Testament— attests to the belief that God has delivered divine messages through prophetic figures( like Moses and Isaiah), as well as through the Psalms. The followers of Jesus inherited this notion of sacred Scripture and the Hebrew Scriptures themselves— although they often read them in Greek. Early Christ followers also inherited the commonly accepted designations for sections of the Scriptures, namely, the Law and the Prophets( e. g., Lk 24:27).
The New Testament generally only includes references to the Law and the Prophets( see Mt 5:17; 7:12; Lk 24:27; Ac 28:23), but in Lk 24:44, Jesus mentions that everything about him in the“ Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” must be fulfilled. The categories may suggest that a third grouping(“ psalms”) was emerging at that time.
Both Jesus and his followers cited the Jewish Scriptures as an authoritative collection of sacred books( Lk 24:13 – 35). Those books influenced virtually the entire life and ministry of the community of Jesus’ followers. The central teachings of the church were rooted in Scripture( see 1Co 15:3 – 8), and early Chris tians regularly incorporated Scripture as they told their story. All of the New Testament authors regularly cite the Jewish Scriptures; in particular, the book of Hebrews includes more Scripture citations than any other New Testament book. The books that are most frequently cited in the New Testament and early church writings are Deuteronomy, Isaiah and the Psalms. Not all of the Old Testament books are cited in the New Testament, and there are allusions to some nonbiblical books( e. g., 1 Enoch in 2Pe 2:4 and Jude 14).
In the late first century AD, the historian Josephus is the first Jewish writer to limit the number of books that make up the Jewish Scriptures. He mentions a limited 22-book collection identified only by category, not specific titles. In Against Apion, he writes:
Our books, those which are justly accredited, are but two and twenty, and contain the record of all time. Of these, five are the books of Moses, comprising the laws and the traditional history from the birth of man down to the death of the lawgiver... The prophets subsequent to Moses wrote the history of the events of their own times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God and precepts for the conduct of human life( Against Apion 1.38 – 40).
While it is not entirely clear which books were included in Josephus’ collection, he is likely referring to the books that later comprised the Hebrew Bible, though that is not clear in Josephus’ writings.
At about the same time as Josephus, the author of the Jewish apocalyptic work 4 Ezra referred to 24 books to be read by both the worthy and unworthy alike, but 70 others that were reserved for the“ wise among your people. For in them is the spring of understanding, the fountain of wisdom, and the river of knowledge”( 4 Ezra 14:45 – 7 nrsv). The 24 books are likely the same as those that Josephus had mentioned, only counted differently by combining books in different ways. The later tripartite Hebrew Bible( Law, Prophets and Writings) appears for the first time in the middle to late second century BC. Those books are also likely the same as those in the Protestant Old Testament, but not in the same order. In the late first century AD we cannot be certain about all of the books that Josephus had in mind, but we can be sure that he wanted the number to be the same as the letters in the Hebrew alphabet( 22) by combining the books to equal that number.