I found this list for comparisons.
1440-1000 BC
Genesis #1
Exodus #2
Leviticus #3
Numbers #4
Deuteronomy #5
Joshua #6
Judges #7
1000 – 586 BC Period of David and Solomon (ca. 1000 -931):
Psalms #19
Ruth #8
1st Samuel #9
2nd Samuel #10
Job #18
Proverbs #20
Ecclesiastes #21
Song of Solomon #22
Period of Rehoboam to HezekiahIsaiah #23
Hosea #28
Joel #29
Amos #30
Obadiah #31
Jonah #32
Micah #33
Period of Hezekiah to the exile (686 – 586):
Nahum #34
Habakkuk #35
Zephaniah #36
1st Kings #11
2nd Kings #12
1st Chronicles #13
2nd Chronicles #14
Jeremiah #24
Lamentations #25
Ezekiel #26
Daniel #27
Post Exilic
Ezra #15
Nehemiah #16
Esther #17Haggai #37
Zechariah #38
Malachi #39
Here is a Wikipedia page on the matter. You can see that almost all of it seems to be written in response to the major events of Assyrian destruction and Babylonian destruction, with most of it centered on Babylonian destruction.
Perhaps the Seleucid persecution motivated more of it than we currently give credit for. For example, why write Chronicles when you already have Kings? Why make up Ezra-Nehemiah? These motivations may tell us who wrote them and why.
| Monarchic 8th-7th centuries BCE c. 745-586 BCE |
* Most of the individual psalms making up the first two-thirds of the ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * 8th century: ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * 7th century: ** you do not have permission to see this link ** |
| Exilic 6th century BCE 586-539 BCE |
* Core of ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * Completion of ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * “** you do not have permission to see this link ** * Expansion and reshaping of ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * Possible early Psalms collection (psalms “of David”) ending with psalm 89.** you do not have permission to see this link ** |
| Post-exilic Persian 5th-4th centuries BCE 538-330 BCE |
* ** you do not have permission to see this link ** ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * “** you do not have permission to see this link ** * Later version (the Masoretic Hebrew version) of ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * Origins of ** you do not have permission to see this link ** |
| Post-exilic Hellenistic 3rd-2nd centuries BCE 330-164 BCE |
* ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * Most of the individual psalms making up the final third of the ** you do not have permission to see this link ** |
| Maccabean/Hasmonean 2nd-1st centuries BCE 164-4 BCE |
* ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** |
| Roman 1st century CE onward after 4 BCE |
* ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * ** you do not have permission to see this link ** * New Testament (between c. 50-110 CE – see Table IV). |
Kings is pre-exiilic and assumes the monarchy will be perpetual. Chronicles is post-exilic and has to to reinterpret the same events in light of the end of the monarchy. Remember Yahweh promised that David’s lineage would always reign forever. Got some explaining to do as to why that didn’t happen.
All this raises the question as to how much influence the destruction of Jerusalem during the First Revolt in 70 ACE might have had on the formation of the NT corpus. (Hey I got to use the word corpus in a sentence. How often does that happen?)
I date The Book of Daniel at 164 BCE. The Book of Daniel is a forgery of prophecy but who is responsible for the forgery.
Nearly all Biblical Scholars say the Book of Daniel was written in the 2nd Century BCE not the 6th Century BCE. They say it was written AFTER the events it “prophesied.” at around 164 BCE. Hence the forgery of prophecy.
This video link provides an account by Prof. Dale Martin and his dating including references to the Bible as Proof :
The Book of Daniel is not technically a forgery since it doesn’t actually claim to be written by Daniel. In the Hebrew Bible it is listed among the “Writings” and not among the Prophets.
How come everybody can successfully embed a YouTube video in this here forum but me? I’m not hinting darkly of a conspiracy. I assume there is something wrong in one of my parameters. I shall endeavor to persevere.
Stephen said
The Book of Daniel is not technically a forgery since it doesn’t actually claim to be written by Daniel. In the Hebrew Bible it is listed among the “Writings” and not among the Prophets.How come everybody can successfully embed a YouTube video in this here forum but me? I’m not hinting darkly of a conspiracy. I assume there is something wrong in one of my parameters. I shall endeavor to persevere.
Are you using the “insert media” button when you past the link?
I do not think the 164 dating is accurate. The important chapter here is 11. As it is now, it appears that Daniel predicts a third invasion of Egypt, then the death of Antiochus iv between Zion and the Mediterranean.
The attack on Jerusalem needs to be taken out. This is not a part of any non-Judean sources. Still, it sounds a lot like a third invasion of Egypt, but we don’t know exactly what order this was in originally.
2. This account is being told from Elam, not Jerusalem. The other mention of Antiochus is in chapter 8, and the author tells us Daniel is dreaming in Elam. Its unclear in chapter 11 where Daniel is, but it rolls into the end of ages of chapter 12, where Daniel sees Michael, who is helping the king of Persia. Susa, Elam was a secondary capital of Persia, replete with royal palaces. It is the central site for the Emperor and his wife Esther in that tale. So I think Daniel is talking from Elam in chapter 11. We know from other sources Antiochus iv died after attacking the temple is Susa, Elam, not the one in Jerusalem. And he retreated and died between the holy mountain and “the sea.” The holy mountain would be the temple site in Elam. Either this source for Daniel has it correct and he retreated to the plains, or the one Greco-Roman source is correct and he retreated into the mountainous area and died there. This is an inaccuracy by one of the two sources. This does not mean that Daniel switched from “history” to “prophecy!”
3. Switching from history to prophecy. Nothing in the text to indicate this except the supposed inaccuracy of a third invasion and the circumstances of Antiochus death. IT seems to be based of Porypherry, who takes Daniel as it stands and tries to rationalize it away, rather than simply contrasts what really happened. Porypherry is the first and sometimes only Greco-Roman historian to document anything Daniel claims about Antiochus’ agression against YHWH worship.
In sum, the dating of 164 BCE does not need to remain for Daniel. Consider it loosed!
Unless there’s some major archeological breakthrough, I don’t think it’ll ever be possible to fully arrange the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the order in which they were written. This isn’t the end of the world, since the Jews (like the Christians) were unusually dedicated to perfect accuracy when it came to copying and preserving the scriptures, to an extent unseen amongst their neighbors.
I think the second poster who used the Wikipedia rubric was correct. At most, we’ll roughly know when various fragments of books were first written and then rewritten, and we can mostly trust in the preservation of accuracy over time, but we won’t be able to chronologically order and date each book with the same level of precision we can for the New Testament.
It’s a shame, since I always wanted to read the entirety of the Christian Bible (Old and New) in chronological order by date written. Right now, that only seems possible with the books of the New Testament.
Welcome John.
I agree with your intuition that reading the Hebrew Bible sequentially is not the best way to do it. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that doing the deep dive is better than attempting an overall “reading”. Frankly it’s not all worthy of the same level of attention anyway. I spent the pandemic reading Robert Alter’s translation and commentary on Ezekiel. I spent much of this year reading Zechariah and so-called “First” Isaiah. To me the part of the Hebrew Bible where the engine is firing on all cylinders is Samuel. The story of David is where the Hebrews matched the Greek and Hindu epics.
I agree that the court tales of David especially are fascinating.
What do you think of Solomon as a possibly being from a foundational myth of Jerusalem. I think it was Lester Grabbe who drew my attention to the “solom”on and Jeru”salem” connection. He was commenting on who from the bible actually existed so he was focused on actual kings. So I could see how he might have overlooked Ab”salom”, Solomon’s brother, as part of a foundational myth of Jerusalem before the myth became part of Samuel and then Samuel was forced to fit the chronological imperatives of later generations.
I do think the gospel writers, focused on the destruction of Jerusalem, used the Son of David, meaning here Absalom, to inform their Jesus of Nazareth stories. Absalom rode a mule (ok, so its not a donkey). He arrived in Jerusalem as king, which had been previously shouted. Absalom was hung on a tree. He was pierced in the side. He was surrounded and beaten to death. Absalom’s advisor commits suicide by hanging after he realizes the gig is up. Absalom’s general is killed by being gutted after being fooled by a fake kiss from Joab. David forgives people for the rebellion while crossing the Jordan. Twice David is referred to as being “like God” if only in his speech or decisions.
Mark in particular seems to be pointing to the Absalom story when Jesus heals Bertimeaus, who is blind. Bartimaeious calls out “son of David” to get Jesus of Nazareth’s attention. Shortly thereafter Jesus rides into Jerusalem victorious on a donkey.
So I think the gospel writers were also paying homage to the Son of David, Absalom, in their portrayals of Jesus.
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