Which book of the Old Testament is longest?

Answer 1

Books of the Bible With Their Authors:

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy - Moses

Joshua mainly by Joshua with later edits by an unknown author/s

Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel by Samuel

2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Chronicles - anonymous but possibly Ezra;

Ezra by Ezra

1 and 2 Kings unknown but possibly by Jeremiah

Nehemiah by Nehemiah

Esther - unknown but possibly by Mordecai or Ezra

Job - unknown but possibly by Job or edited by Moses

Psalms - 73 by David plus two more ascribed to him in the New Testament, 12 to Asaph, 10 Sons of Korah, and one each to Solomon, Moses, Heman, and Ethan, while 50 are anonymous but some are ascribed to Ezra by tradition.

Proverbs written or collected by Solomon, and the last two chapters by Agur and Lemuel.

Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon - by Solomon

Isaiah by Isaiah

Jeremiah and Lamentations by Jeremiah

Ezekiel by Ezekiel

Daniel by Daniel

Hosea by Hosea

Joel by Joel

Amos by Amos

Obadiah by Obadiah

Jonah by Jonah

Micah by Micah

Nahum by Nahum

Habakkuk by Habakkuk

Zephaniah by Zephaniah

Haggai by Haggai

Zechariah by Zechariah

Malachi by Malachi

Another answer:

The Old Testament, or Tanach, was penned by many men, but is considered to be the Word of God.

The first BOOK of the modern Bible (Genesis) is attributed to Moses.

Another answer:

The Old Testament consists of a large number of separate books collected together into a single volume. In most cases the author of each book is unknown, although tradition or scholarly research may point to an author.

• The Pentateuch (Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are traditionally believed to have been written by Moses, although most modern scholars do not believe Moses to have been the author of these books and generally accept that they were written by a number of anonymous authors, principally those now known as the Yahwist (J source), Elohist (E source), Deuteronomist (D source) and the Priestly source (P source).
• The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel (now 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel) and Kings (now 1 Kings and 2 Kings) form an integrated text now known as the Deuteronomic History, believed by most scholars to have been written by the Deuteronomist. However, the Book of Joshua is traditionally attributed to Joshua himself.
• The Book of Chronicles (now 1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles) was written by an anonymous author, now known as the Chronicler.
• The Psalms are traditionally attributed mainly to Kings David and Solomon. They are now considered to have been written several centuries later, by anonymous authors.
• The Book of Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed to King Solomon, but there is compelling evidence that it was written centuries later by an anonymous author.
• The Book of Daniel is traditionally attributed to Daniel himself, but there is compelling evidence that it was written centuries later by an anonymous author.
• The Book of Isiah is ascribed to the prophet Isaiah, and the first part of the book probably was written by Isaiah. The second part of the book was written over a century after the death of Isaiah, by an anonymous author.
• The Book of Proverbs is another book that seems to have had several authors, each adding to the previous work, and all anonymous.
• Some of the books attributed to minor prophets may well have been written by the minor prophets, as attributed.

The Old Testament was written by many different people. Moses for example is accredited for writing the first five books of the Bible. This collection of books is known as the Torah. King David wrote most of Psalms. The books of major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.) are traditionally attributed to authorship by the particular prophet as the name of the book.

Answer 2

During the 18th and 19th centuries scholars in Germany began to advance a theory which dated the Old Testament to a very late date (8th and 9th centuries BC). This theory postulated authors who wrote without leaving any other trace of their existence, despite the great importance of their writing and the high regard such scribes were held in Israel.

Many today acknowledge that Moses could have been the author if not of all but at least of substantial portions of the Pentateuch in around 1400 BC. Even earlier than this, some consider that Abraham could have written the earliest records, including most of Genesis. This is advance by scholars who recognize the 'toledoth phrases' which appear in a number of places in Genesis as marking the endings of tablets and describe the subject matter or 'heading' of each tablet.

Abraham was born in Ur in 2161 BC with him doing his writing work probably while in Canaan some years later. This would thus date Genesis as the earliest work of the Old Testament. In regard to writing,that existed for centuries before Abraham. The preservation of Abraham's material before its final editing by Moses is an insignificant time when one considers that tablets from this time have been discovered in the 20th century.

Answer 3

A:Most of the books in the Old Testament were written anonymously. This includes the Pentateuch. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), the Books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Job, Psalms, Proverbs and the Song of Solomon.

Of the above books, the Pentateuch is commonly attributed to Moses, a view that scholars do not accept. They have identified five main sources for the Pentateuch, whom they call the Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist and the Priestly Source, for ease of discussion, although these sources remain anonymous. The Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings form a well-integrated series written by a common author known as the Deuteronomist since he was also the author of the Book of Deuteronomy. The anonymous author of the Books of Chronicles is known simply as the Chronicler.

Many of the Psalms are commonly attributed to Kings David and Solomon, but scholars see them as compiled during and after the Babylonian Exile, in some cases using oral material from earlier times. Similarly, the Book of Proverbs is a compilation from the same period.

The Books of Daniel and Esther are commonly attributed to characters in the books, but scholars say they were actually novels written anonymously during the second century BCE.

The first part of the Book of Isaiah was actually written by Isaiah, son of Amoz, but later material, written anonymously, was appended to it. Some of the books attributed to various prophets were actually written pseudepigraphically.

Answer 4

Moses is considered by an increasing number of scholars to have been the author of the first five books of the Old Testament. Others note that writing was around for centuries before the time of Abraham. They thus propose that he was possibly the anonymous author of at least the early parts of Genesis, including the creation and flood accounts. Moses then 'inherited' these tablets and gave them their final edited form.

Certainly Moses claims to have written directly large portions of the works attributed to him. The words 'as the Lord spoke to Moses' or similar are repeated often in the other pentateuchal books after Genesis. Alternatively, Moses is stated to be the speaker, often addressing the Israelites and a direct participant in the action described. Considering also his training 'in all the wisdom of the Egyptians' it is considered he would have been in the best position to author such works.

Answer 5

The first Old Testament book written more or less as we know it today is believed to be the Book of Deuteronomy, written during the seventh-century-BCE reign of King Josiah. However, parts of the Book of Genesis are believed to have been written as far back as the ninth century BCE, by the anonymous source now known as the Yahwist (or 'J Source'). Other material in the Book of Genesis, written by the Elohist, is almost as old as that by the Yahwist.

Some passages in the Old Testaments could have originated in the eleventh or twelfth century BCE and was passed down orally before being committed to writing.

Answer 6

According to tradition, the entire Torah was written by Moses (Deuteronomy 31:24) as dictated by God (Exodus 24:12), before Moses died in 1272 BCE.
See also:

How Moses wrote the Torah

Debunking the Bible critics

The authorship of the Hebrew Bible

Did Josiah change anything?

Answer 7

Genesis.

According to tradition, Moses wrote a scroll containing the narratives of Genesis, at God's command, before the formal Giving of the Torah (Rashi commentary, Exodus ch.24). It was this scroll which he read to the Israelites (Exodus 24:7) as an introduction to what God's covenant would entail. These narratives were not unknown to the Israelites, since they had carefully preserved the traditions of the events of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 5:18 and 22).
The words of this scroll were soon incorporated in the complete Torah itself by God, including the ancient traditions of the Creation, the Flood etc. (These traditions had been known by mankind worldwide, except that among the other nations [the idolaters] they had become garbled with idolatrous drivel.)

Later, at God's command and precise dictation (Deuteronomy 1:3), Moses penned the entire Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24) immediately before his death, so that it included events that had happened in the preceding months (such as Numbers ch.20).

See also:

What is the history of the Hebrew Bible?

Some facts about Torah-scrolls

Answer 8

The Old Testament consists of many books, with many authors, most of them anonymous. In fact, the decision as to what to include in the Hebrew Bible was not finalised until the Christian era. And the decision as to what would be in the Christian Old Testament was only made in the fourth century, when Bishop Melito of Sardis went to Palestine to discover which books belonged in the Hebrew canon. Even now, the Catholic Church includes books that most Protestant Churches do not accept. Had different books been chosen the list of authors, such as we know, would have been different.
The most important books of the Old Testament are the 5 books we call the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Tradition says that they were written by Moses. However, there is nothing in the books themselves to suggest that Moses wrote them; in fact there is strong evidence that they were written centuries after the time of Moses and had several authors. Modern scholars call these authors the Yahwist (or 'J') source, the Elohist (or 'E') source, the Deuteronomist (or 'D') source and the Priestly (or 'P') source.

The most important contributor to the Old Testament is considered to be the Deuteronomist. Not only did this source contribute to the Pentateuch, this source is also regarded as the author of the Deuteronomic history - the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings. The Deuteronomic history forms an integrated block of text covering the period from the conquest of Canaan through to the end of the kingdom of Judah and the beginning of the Babylonian Exile.

The Psalms are traditionally attributed to ancient Hebrew leaders, particularly David and Solomon. However, Modern scholars believe that most were written during and after the Babylonian Exile.
Some books are considered to be conflations of independent works by two or more authors. The Book of Isaiah is one such. One author introduces himself as Isaiah, son of Amoz, who lived in the reigns of the Judahite kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. This Isaiah, who is generally referred to as I Isaiah or First Isaiah, wrote the first 39 chapters of the Book of Isaiah, apart from some minor later insertions. One and a half centuries after this period, the story is taken up again by a new author now known as 2 Isaiah or Second Isaiah, and finally a third author now known as Third Isaiah..

The Book of Daniel is written in the first person as by Daniel, an actual participant in history. Such was Daniel's importance, according to this account, that he was second only to the king, in both the Babylonian Empire and the Persian. Yet the Babylonians and the Persians left no record of any such person. Scholars tell us that the Book of Daniel was written by an anonymous author in the second century BCE.

Answer 9

Genesis
The Book of Genesis is believed to have been written over a period of several centuries, by a number of authors known to us today as the Yahwist ('J' source), Elohist ('E' source) and the Priestly ('P') source. We know this because each author had his own distinctive style and regional context, as well as from variations over time in the Hebrew language.

• The Yahwist lived early in the first millennium BCE and wrote from the perspective of the southern kingdom, Judah.
  
• The Elohist also lived early in the first millennium BCE but wrote from the perspective of the northern kingdom, Israel.
  
• The Deuteronomist lived in Judah in the 7th century BCE, during the reign of King Josiah.
  
• The Priestly source lived during or shortly after the Babylonian Exile.
  

So, material, that would eventually become part of the Book of Genesis as we know it today, was already being written by two different authors around the ninth and eighth centuries BCE. A redactor combined texts from his predecessors into a single book, as well as adding further material. The Priestly source added further material and a later redactor harmonised and published the composite work. The Book of Genesis was only completed much as we see it today, by the sixth century BCE.
The Deuteronomic History

The Book of Deuteronomy is believed to be the Book of Lawthat was said to have been found in the Temple during the reign of King Josiah - around 622 BCE. Many scholars believe that the book was actually written at this time, but placed in the Temple, to be found, so as to lend antiquity to it. The Book of Deuteronomy may be one of the first Old Testament books to be written and completed in much the same form as we see it today.

The group of books now known as the Deuteronomic History (Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings) are attributed to the same anonymous author as Deuteronomy.

Early Prophets

A book containing the first 39 chapters of the Book of Isaiah was completed shortly before Deuteronomy, as was the Book of Micah.

Because Micah underwent relatively little change over the subsequent centuries, it may be the earliest Old Testament book, more or less in the form we know today.

Answer 10

According to the unanimous and continuous tradition of the Jewish people, Genesis was written first, and it together with the rest of the Torah was complete by the time of Moses' death. Moses wrote a scroll containing the narratives of Genesis, at God's command, before the formal Giving of the Torah (Rashi commentary, Exodus ch.24). It was this scroll which he read to the Israelites (Exodus 24:7) as an introduction to what God's covenant would entail. These narratives were not unknown to the Israelites, since they had carefully preserved the traditions of the events of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 5:18 and 22).
The words of this scroll were soon incorporated in the complete Torah itself by God, including the ancient traditions of the Creation, the Flood etc. (These traditions had been known by mankind worldwide, except that among the other nations [the idolaters] they had become garbled with idolatrous drivel.)
At God's command and precise dictation (Deuteronomy 1:3), Moses penned the entire Torah (Deuteronomy 31:24) immediately before his death, so that it included events that had happened in the preceding months (such as Numbers ch.20).

No Hebrew copy of the Torah has ever been found to differ with the others, worldwide. The Torah we possess today contains the exact wording written by Moses.

See also:

What is the history of the Hebrew Bible?

Debunking the JEPD Documentary Hypothesis

Archaeology