Dating the Bible

With the exception of a few fragments in the prophets, virtually no biblical text is contemporaneous with the events it describes, and every part was subject to revision by later authors.

The oldest surviving Hebrew Bible manuscripts date to about the 2nd century BCE (fragmentary), the oldest record of the complete text survives in a Greek translation called the Septuagint, dating to the 4th century CE (Codex Sinaiticus) and the oldest extant manuscripts of the vocalized Masoretic text upon which modern editions are based date to the 9th century CE.

From the internal testimony of the texts, the individual books of the 27-book New Testament canon are likely dated to the 1st century CE. The first book written was probably 1 Thessalonians, written at around 50 CE. The last book of the canon is the Book of Revelation said to be written by John of Patmos during the reign of Domitian (81-96).^{[citation needed]} Since the original writing of the Scriptures, huge volumes of copies have been made of the originals, which are no longer extant, and copies have been made of those copies, resulting in several text types. Archaeologists have recovered about 5500 New Testament manuscripts, being fragments or complete books. The earliest extant fragment of the New Testament is the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, a piece of the Gospel of John dated to the first half of the 2nd century. Dating the composition of the texts relies primarily on internal evidence, including direct references to historical events, as resorting to textual criticism, philological and linguistic evidence is very subjective.

Dating methods

There are numerous ways in which the various copies of the books of the Bible are dated:

Manuscripts

Manuscripts can be dated from their archaeological context (i.e., pottery and other datable objects found with them), their script (handwriting changes over time and styles can be dated fairly accurately), and other means. The oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew bible/Old Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, have been dated to the two centuries before the time of Christ, although a fragment from the Book of Numbers has been found which dates from the early 6th century BCE.

External references

Incidents in the bible can sometimes be correlated with non-biblical records.

The Hebrew Bible

Torah

Main articles: Torah and Documentary hypothesis

The traditional religious view on the origin of the Torah is that it was written by Moses between 1446 BCE and 1406 BCE.^{[citation needed]} While this view is still held by a few conservative Christians and Jews, modern scholars argue that the whole of the Torah was composed in the mid-1st millennium BCE as a "prequel" to the prophetic books (books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings). In addition, modern scholars point out that there is no evidence that Hebrews were able to write, nor any evidence of written Hebrew literature of any kind prior to the 10th Century BC.

There are currently three broad approaches to the question of the date and method of its composition. The documentary hypothesis holds that the Torah was composed by interweaving four originally separate and complete narratives, each dealing with the same material. This, it is claimed, accounts for many of the puzzling features of the five books, notably the appearance of multiple names for God and doubled incidents. The documentary hypothesis held a near-monopoly on scholarly approaches to the date and composition of the Torah until the last quarter of the 20th century, when scholars have advanced alternative theories which can be grouped into two broad models.

The first is the "fragmentary model", which holds that the Torah grew gradually from a host of fragments of various lengths. The alternative view is the "supplementary model", which holds that it is largely the work of an editor, or group of editors, working on ("supplementing") a mass of existing material.

View	Proposed Date
Traditional religious view	Torah composed between 1446 BCE and 1406 BCE, with the remaining books composed between 1400 BCE to 400 BCE.
Documentary hypothesis	Four independent documents (the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist and the Priestly source), composed between 900-550 BCE, redacted c 450 BCE, possibly by Ezra.
Supplementary models (e.g. John Van Seters)	Torah composed as a series of authorial expansions of an original source document, usually identified as J or P, largely during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, final form achieved c. 450 BCE.
Fragmentary models (e.g. Rolf Rendtorff, Erhard Blum)	Torah the product of the slow accretion of fragmentary traditions, (no documents), over period 850-550 BCE, final form c. 450 BCE.
Biblical minimalism	Torah composed in Hellenistic-Hasmonean period, c. 300-140 BCE.

Nevi'im (Prophets)

Main article: Nevi'im

Book of Nevi'im	Scholarly dating[citation needed]
Book of Joshua	ca. 625 BCE by the Deuteronomist (called D) working with traditional materials
Book of Judges	ca. 625 BCE by the Deuteronomist (called D) working with traditional materials
Book of Samuel	ca. 625 BCE by the Deuteronomist (called D) working with traditional materials
Book of Kings	ca. 625 BCE by the Deuteronomist (called D) working with traditional materials
Book of Isaiah	Three main authors and an extensive editing process: Isaiah 1-39 "Historical Isaiah" with multiple layers of editing, 8th century BCE Isaiah 40-55 Exilic(Deutero-Isaiah), 6th century BCE Isaiah 56-66 post-exilic(Trito-Isaiah), 6th-5th century BCE
Book of Jeremiah	late 6th century BCE or later
Book of Ezekiel	6th century BCE or later
Book of Hosea	8th century BCE or later
Book of Joel	unknown
Book of Amos	8th century BCE or later
Book of Obadiah	6th century BCE or later
Book of Jonah	6th century BCE or later
Book of Micah	mid 6th century BCE or later
Book of Nahum	8th century BCE or later
Book of Habakkuk	6th century BCE or later
Book of Zephaniah	7th century BCE or later
Book of Haggai	5th century BCE or later
Book of Zechariah	5th century BCE or later
Book of Malachi	Early 5th century BCE or later

Ketuvim (Writings)

Main article: Ketuvim

Scholarship on the dating of the Book of Daniel largely falls into two camps: one dates the book in its entirety to a single author during the desecration of the Jerusalem Temple (167–164 BCE) under the Syrian-Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes (ruled 175–164 BCE); the other sees it as a collection of stories dating from different times throughout the Hellenistic period (with some of the material possibly going back to very late Persian period), with the visions in chapters 7–12 having been added during the desecration of Antiochus. For example, Hartman and Di Lella, 1978 suggest multiple authorship, with some material dating to the 3rd century, culminating with a 2nd-century editor and redactor.

The reasons for these dates include a use of Greek and Persian words in the Hebrew of the text unlikely to happen in the 6th century, that the style of the Hebrew and Aramaic was more like that of a later date, that the use of the word "Chaldean" occurs in a fashion unknown to the 6th century, and that repeated historical gaffes betray an ignorance of the facts of the 6th century that a high official in Babylon would not have, while the 2nd-century history was found to be far more accurate (see Farrell Till's analysis).

John Collins, on the other hand, finds it impossible for the "court tales" portion of Daniel to have been written in 2nd century BCE because of textual analysis. In his 1992 Anchor Bible Dictionary entry for the Book of Daniel, he states, "it is clear that the court-tales in chapters 1–6 were 'not written in Maccabean times'. It is not even possible to isolate a single verse which betrays an editorial insertion from that period."

Book of Ketuvim	Scholarly dating[citation needed]
Psalms	The bulk of the Psalms appear to have been written for use in the Temple, which existed from around 950-586 BCE and, after rebuilding, from the 5th century BCE until 70 CE.
Book of Proverbs	Some old material from the ancient sages, some later material from the 6th century BCE or later, some material borrowed from the ancient Egyptian text called the Instructions of Amenemopet
Book of Job	5th century BCE
Song of Songs or Song of Solomon	scholarly estimates vary between 950 BCE to 200 BCE
Book of Ruth	6th century BCE or later
Lamentations	6th century BCE or later
Ecclesiastes	4th century BCE or later
Book of Esther	4th century BCE or later
Book of Daniel	ca. 165 BCE
Book of Ezra-Book of Nehemiah	4th century BCE or slightly later
Chronicles	4th century BCE or slightly later

Deuterocanonical books

Deuterocanonical books are books considered by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy to be canonical parts of the Christian Old Testament but are not present in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Protestant Bible.

Book of Deuterocanon	Scholarly dating
Tobit	2nd century BCE
Judith
1 Maccabees	ca. 100 BCE
2 Maccabees	ca. 124 BCE
3 Maccabees	1st century BCE or 1st century CE
4 Maccabees	1st century BCE or 1st century CE
Wisdom	during the Jewish Hellenistic period
Sirach	2nd century BCE
Letter of Jeremiah	unknown
Additions to Daniel	2nd century BCE
Baruch	during or shortly after the period of the Maccabees

Oldest manuscripts

The oldest known preserved fragment of a Torah text is a good luck charm inscribed with a text close to, although not identical with, the Priestly Blessing found in Num 6:24–27, dated to approximately 600 BCE. The oldest complete or nearly complete texts are found in the Dead Sea Scrolls from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE. The collections contain all the books of the Tanakh except for the Book of Esther, although not all are complete.

The Tanakh, including the Deuterocanonical books, was translated into Greek (the Septuagint) between the 3rd and 1st century BCE. The oldest Greek manuscripts include 2nd century BCE fragments of Leviticus and Deuteronomy and 1st century BC fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the Minor Prophets. Relatively complete manuscripts of the Septuagint include the Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209 and the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century and the Codex Alexandrinus of the 5th century—these are the oldest surviving nearly complete manuscripts of the Old Testament in any language.

The Hebrew or Masoretic text of the Torah is held by tradition to have been assembled in the 4th century CE, but the oldest extant complete or near-complete manuscripts are the Aleppo Codex, ca. 920 CE, and the Westminster Leningrad Codex, dated to 1008 CE.

Additional manuscripts include the Samaritan Torah and the Peshitta, the latter a translation of the Christian Bible into Syriac, the earliest known copy of which dates to the 2nd century CE.

The New Testament

The most accepted historical understanding of how the Synoptic gospels developed is known as the two-source hypothesis. This theory holds that Mark is the oldest gospel. Matthew and Luke are believed to come later, and draw on Mark and also on a source that is now believed to be lost, called the Q document, or just "Q".

Traditional views assume that the bulk of New Testament texts date to the period between 45 CE and AD 100 CE, with the Pauline epistles among the earliest texts. Other views may pre- or post-date the individual books by several decades. The earliest preserved fragment for each text is included as well.

Book	Dates determined by scholars	Earliest Known Fragment
Gospel of Matthew	60-85 CE[citation needed]	𝔓104 (150–200 CE)
Gospel of Mark	60-70 CE[citation needed]	𝔓88 (350 CE)
Gospel of Luke	60-90 CE[citation needed]	𝔓4, 𝔓75 (175–250 CE)
Gospel of John	80-95 CE[citation needed]	𝔓52 (125–160 CE)
Acts	60-90 CE[citation needed]	𝔓29, 𝔓45, 𝔓48, 𝔓53, 𝔓91 (250 CE)
Romans	57–58 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
Corinthians	57 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
Galatians	45-55 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
Ephesians	65 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
Philippians	57–62 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
Colossians	60 CE +[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
1 Thessalonians	50 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
2 Thessalonians	50 CE[citation needed]	𝔓92 (300 CE)
Timothy	60-100 CE[citation needed]	Codex Sinaiticus (350 CE)
Titus	60-100 CE[citation needed]	𝔓32 (200 CE)
Philemon	56 CE[citation needed]	𝔓87 (3rd century CE)
Hebrews	80-90 CE[citation needed]	𝔓46 (late 2nd century or 3rd century CE)
James	50-200 CE[citation needed]	𝔓20, 𝔓23 (early 3rd century CE)
First Peter	60-96 CE[citation needed]	𝔓72 (3rd/4th century CE)
Second Peter	60-130 CE[citation needed]	𝔓72 (3rd/4th century CE)
Epistles of John	90-100 CE[citation needed]	𝔓9, Uncial 0232, Codex Sinaiticus (3rd/4th century CE)
Jude	66-90 CE[citation needed]	𝔓72 (3rd/4th century CE)
Revelation	68-100 CE[citation needed]	𝔓98 (150–200 CE)

The Gnostic Scriptures

The Nag Hammadi library, a collection of books found in 1945, some refer to as Gnostic Scriptures (which include the Gospel of Thomas), were not accepted as canonical by the orthodox early Christian communities. They were written in Coptic and are generally dated to the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, though the Gospel of Thomas has ignited some debate. The majority of New Testament scholars and historians place the composition of the latter no earlier than the 2nd century whereas a minority argue dates as early as the 60's.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Authorship of the Bible
• The Bible and history
• Biblical manuscripts
• Categories of New Testament manuscripts
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Higher Criticism
• Markan priority
• Nag Hammadi library
• Synoptic problem

Further reading

• Bernstein, Alan E. (1996). The Formation of Hell: Death and Retribution in the Ancient and Early Christian Worlds. Cornell University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=y8wAdna_YY0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+formation+of+Hell&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RhEET_6HH6TImQWp3th9&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20formation%20of%20Hell&f=false. 
• Bruce, F. F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (6th Edition), Eerdmans, 2003. 5th edition
• Metzger, Bruce M. The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origins, Development, and Significance
• Dever, William G. What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It? Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2001.
• Fox, Robin Lane The Unauthorized Version: Truth and Fiction in the Bible, NY, 1992.
• Hartman, Louis Francis, and Alexander A. Di Lella (eds.). The Book of Daniel. The Anchor Bible Commentary, vol. 23. New York: Doubleday, 1978.
• Külling, Samuel. Zur Datierung der Genesis "P" Stücke. Ph.D. dissertation, 1970
• Larsson, G. "The Chronological System of the Old Testament". Peter Lang GmbH, 2007.
• Pagels, Elaine. The Gnostic Gospels. Vintage, reissued 1989.
• Robinson, John A. T. Redating the New Testament. 1976. Wipf & Stock Publishers, Reprint edition, October 2000. ISBN 1-57910-527-0

External links

• Dates for the Sacred Texts of the Jewish and Christian Traditions
• Review of the Leningrad Codex
• Textual Criticism of the Torah
• The Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament)
• When was the Book of Daniel Written? (C.H. Salvia versus J.P. Holding)