The Origins of the Canon of the Hebrew Bible

The Origins of the Canon of the Hebrew Bible
Author: Juan Carlos Ossandón Widow
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2018-09-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004381619

In The Origins of the Canon of the Hebrew Bible: An Analysis of Josephus and 4 Ezra, Juan Carlos Ossandón Widow examines the thorny question of when, how, and why the collection of twenty-four books that today is known as the Hebrew Bible was formed. He carefully studies the two earliest testimonies in this regard—Josephus’ Against Apion and 4 Ezra—and proposes that, along with the tendency to idealize the past, which leads to consider that divine revelation to Israel has ceased, an important reason to specify a collection of Scriptures at the end of the first century CE consisted in the need to defend the received tradition to counter those that accepted more books.

The Formation of the Jewish Canon

The Formation of the Jewish Canon
Author: Timothy H. Lim
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0300164343

DIVThe discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls provides unprecedented insight into the nature of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament before its fixation. Timothy Lim here presents a complete account of the formation of the canon in Ancient Judaism from the emergence of the Torah in the Persian period to the final acceptance of the list of twenty-two/twenty-four books in the Rabbinic period./divDIV /divDIVUsing the Hebrew Bible, the Scrolls, the Apocrypha, the Letter of Aristeas, the writings of Philo, Josephus, the New Testament, and Rabbinic literature as primary evidence he argues that throughout the post-exilic period up to around 100 CE there was not one official “canon” accepted by all Jews; rather, there existed a plurality of collections of scriptures that were authoritative for different communities. Examining the literary sources and historical circumstances that led to the emergence of authoritative scriptures in ancient Judaism, Lim proposes a theory of the majority canon that posits that the Pharisaic canon became the canon of Rabbinic Judaism in the centuries after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple./div

Exploring the Origins of the Bible (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology)

Exploring the Origins of the Bible (Acadia Studies in Bible and Theology)
Author: Craig A. Evans
Publisher: Baker Academic
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2008-10-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1585588148

How did the Bible we have come to be? What do biblical scholars mean when they talk about canon, the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, or the Masoretic Text? All this biblical study is interesting, but does it really matter? Leading international scholars explain that it does. This thought-provoking and cutting-edge collection will help you go deeper in your understanding of the biblical writings, how those writings became canonical Scripture, and why canon matters. Beginning with an explanation of the different versions of the Hebrew Bible, scholars in different areas of expertise explore the complexities and issues related to the Old and New Testament canons, why different Jewish and Christian communities have different collections, and the importance of canon to theology.

The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church

The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church
Author: Roger T. Beckwith
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 545
Release: 2008-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1606082493

This new study of the Old Testament canon by Roger Beckwith is on a scale to match H. E. Ryle's classic work, which was first published in 1892. But Beckwith has the advantage of writing after the Qumran (and other) discoveries; and he has also made full use of all the available sources, including biblical manuscripts and rabbinical and patristic literature, taking into account the seldom studied Syriac material as well as the Greek and Latin material. The result of many years of study, this book is a major work of scholarship on a subject which has been neglected in recent times. It is both historical and theological, but Beckwith's first consideration has been to make a thorough and unprejudiced historical investigation. One of his most important concerns - and one that is crucial for all students of Judaism, and Christians in particular - is to decide when the limits of the Jewish canon were settled. In the answer to this question lies an important key to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, and the resultant beliefs of the New Testament church. Furthermore, any answers to questions about the state of the canon in the New Testament period would help to open a way through the present ecumenical (and interfaith) impasse on the subject. With its meticulous research and evenhanded approach, this book is sure to become the starting point for study of the Old Testament canon in the years to come.

The Origin of the Bible

The Origin of the Bible
Author: Frederick Fyvie Bruce
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2020-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1414379323

Many books have been written about the Bible, but few explain its origins. This volume provides a fascinating overview of how the Bible was first inspired, canonized, read as sacred literature, copied in ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, and eventually translated into the languages of the world. No other one-volume work can match this wealth of information about the historical development of the Bible.

From Revelation to Canon

From Revelation to Canon
Author: James C. VanderKam
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 630
Release: 2002
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780391041363

The essays collected in "From Revelation to Canon" include several studies of passages in the Hebrew Bible, the history of the high priesthood, calendars and festivals, 1 Enoch, and the Book of Jubilees. A previously unpublished paper examines the evidence for the development of a canon of scripture in Judaism. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.

The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity

The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity
Author: Edmon L. Gallagher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2017-10-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0192511033

The Bible took shape over the course of centuries, and today Christian groups continue to disagree over details of its contents. The differences among these groups typically involve the Old Testament, as they mostly accept the same 27-book New Testament. An essential avenue for understanding the development of the Bible are the many early lists of canonical books drawn up by Christians and, occasionally, Jews. Despite the importance of these early lists of books, they have remained relatively inaccessible. This comprehensive volume redresses this unfortunate situation by presenting the early Christian canon lists all together in a single volume. The canon lists, in most cases, unambiguously report what the compilers of the lists considered to belong to the biblical canon. For this reason they bear an undeniable importance in the history of the Bible. The Biblical Canon Lists from Early Christianity provides an accessible presentation of these early canon lists. With a focus on the first four centuries, the volume supplies the full text of the canon lists in English translation alongside the original text, usually Greek or Latin, occasionally Hebrew or Syriac. Edmon L. Gallagher and John D. Meade orient readers to each list with brief introductions and helpful notes, and they point readers to the most significant scholarly discussions. The book begins with a substantial overview of the history of the biblical canon, and an entire chapter is devoted to the evidence of biblical manuscripts from the first millennium. This authoritative work is an indispensable guide for students and scholars of biblical studies and church history.

Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament

Old Testament Quotations in the New Testament
Author: Gleason L. Archer
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2005-01-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1597520403

"New Testament writers drew heavily from Old Testament Scriptures as the demonstrated the fulfillment of the plan and promises of God in Christ. The New Testament is filled with such quotations, but their use raises several problems. How do we account for the occasions when the New Testament writers seem to take liberties with the Hebrew text, or when the wording of other New Testament citations of the Old Testament is closer to the Greek Septuagint (LXX) than to the original Hebrew? [The authors] have undertaken a systematic study of the use of Old Testament quotations in the New Testament. In three parallel columns for ready reference and study they have affixed the Masoretic Hebrew, Septuagint, and Greek New Testament texts pertinent to each quotation. A fourth column-- the largest segment of the valulable language tool--provides a critical commentary of orthographic, linguistic, and textual notes on the 312 entries. In addition, the authors include the results of a statistical survey in which every quotation is assigned to one of six levels to determine its degree of difficulty regarding the faithfulness of the New Testament to the Old Testament quotation. Helpful introductory material, including complete cross-references to the tool in both Old and New Testament order, make the work invaluable to scholars and students alike" -- BOOK JACKET from Moody Press.