Numa Verse

Biblical studiesWhat does the text say?

Old Testament

What is Old Testament?

Old Testament studies is the scholarly study of the books Christians call the Old Testament and Jews call the Tanakh: their text, language, composition, history, setting in the ancient Near East, theology and interpretation. Its critical branches include textual, philological, literary, tradition, form, redaction and historical criticism, and it draws on archaeology, linguistics, literary theory and the social sciences.

  • 121Sources
  • 10Traditions
  • 16Dated entries
  • 12Minutes

Study v1.1, 14 October 2026

Old Testament

At a glance

Why it matters for reading Scripture

Three quarters of Scripture sits here. The field maps the books, their genres and the scholarship on each.

What the study found

There is no single Old Testament: canons run from 24 books (Jewish) and 39 (Protestant) to 46 (Catholic), with wider Orthodox and Ethiopian collections; the older consensus on how the Pentateuch was made no longer holds.

Where traditions divide

Scholars divide over the Pentateuch's composition, early Israel's history and dating; traditions divide over canon, inerrancy and whether to say Tanakh, Old Testament or Hebrew Bible.

How the traditions compare

  • Jewish

    Reads the Written Torah with the Oral Torah, held in Orthodox teaching to have been given to Moses at Sinai and handed down until Rabbi Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah about 200 CE.

    Its canon has twenty-four books in three divisions: Torah, Prophets and Writings. The medieval mnemonic PaRDeS names four kinds of reading: peshat (plain), remez (hint), derash (homiletic) and sod (esoteric). The Jewish movements read critically to different degrees, and the Orthodox positions all keep a unique revelation at Sinai.

    Sources1–5

  • Roman Catholic Church

    Distinguishes the literal sense from the spiritual sense, which divides into the allegorical, moral and anagogical, and places interpretation under the teaching authority of the Church.

    Its Old Testament has 46 books, among them the deuterocanonical books that the Council of Trent listed in its decree of 8 April 1546. Dei Verbum (1965) teaches that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old is made manifest in the New, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission (1993) calls the historical-critical method indispensable.

    Sources6–10

  • Eastern Orthodox Church

    Receives the Septuagint as its Old Testament, which Eugen Pentiuc calls quasi-official though no council mandates it, and relies on the mind of the Fathers rather than a fixed corpus.

    Patristic reading moves from the literal sense through allegory to moral and mystical senses, and exegesis is also liturgical, in hymns, psalmody, lectionaries, icons and frescoes. The status of the further Septuagint books varies: the Confession of Dositheus (1672) counts them as Scripture, while many Orthodox writers call them anagignoskomena, books to be read for edification.

    Sources11–13

  • Oriental Orthodox churches

    Hold wider and distinct canons.

    The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church speaks of "the 81 books" and counts Enoch and Jubilees as canonical; in the Syriac churches no Greek version displaced the Peshitta, and the Armenian lists show a fluid canon.

    Sources14–16

  • Lutheran

    Reads the Old Testament through law and gospel, with Christ at the center of all Scripture.

    In the preface to his Old Testament of 1523, Luther called the Scriptures the swaddling clothes and manger in which Christ lies, and the chief teaching of the Old Testament the law, which reveals sin. His German Bible of 1534 was the first to call the further books "Apocrypha".

    Sources17–20

  • Reformed

    Reads the two Testaments as one covenant of grace under two administrations, differing in administration but not in substance, and holds that Scripture interprets Scripture.

    The Westminster Confession speaks of the covenant of grace administered under the law by promises, prophecies, sacrifices and types that foreshadowed Christ, and declares the further books no part of the canon.

    Sources21–23

  • Anabaptist

    Reads the Old Testament in relation to the New, with the intention of Christ as the standard of interpretation, as Menno Simons taught, and submits reading to the gathered congregation.

    Sources24

  • Evangelical

    Holds the Bible inerrant in the autographs and reads it by grammatico-historical exegesis.

    The Evangelical Theological Society's basis of 1949 affirms the same, and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (1978), signed by nearly 300 evangelical scholars, denies that inerrancy is limited to spiritual themes.

    Sources25–27

  • Pentecostal

    Reads text, Spirit and community together, in the hermeneutic that Kenneth Archer describes (2009).

    Sources28

  • Seventh-day Adventist

    Rejects the historical-critical method, in a statement of 1986, and reads apocalyptic time periods as longer spans: the church teaches that in 1844, at the end of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14, Christ began the final phase of his ministry.

    Sources29–30

How the field developed

  1. Early church
    c. 200

    Rabbi Judah the Prince compiles the Mishnah, committing the Oral Law to writing.2

  2. Early church
    Before 245

    Origen compiles the Hexapla at Caesarea, setting the Hebrew text, its transliteration into Greek letters and four Greek versions in parallel columns. The original is lost; a Cairo Genizah palimpsest of Psalm 22 at Cambridge University Library is the oldest direct witness to its layout.3132

  3. Late antiquity
    390 to 405

    Jerome, settled at Bethlehem, translates the Old Testament into Latin from the "Hebrew truth" with the help of a Jewish teacher; the Council of Trent later declares his Vulgate authentic.333435

  4. Medieval
    10th century

    Saadia Gaon, head of the academy at Sura, translates the Torah into Arabic with a commentary and is credited with founding Hebrew philology and a rational exegesis. His Arabic Bible becomes the most widely used among Jews, Copts and Arabic-speaking Christians.36373839

  5. Reformation
    1523 to 1534

    Luther's German Old Testament appears, and his Bible of 1534 is the first to call the further books "Apocrypha".1720

  6. Modern
    1670 and 1678

    Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise (1670) questions Mosaic authorship, and Richard Simon's Histoire critique du Vieux Testament (1678), which notes double narratives and changes of style in the Pentateuch, is called by the Catholic Encyclopedia the father of biblical criticism.4041

  7. Modern
    1753

    Jean Astruc, a physician, uses the divine names Elohim and Jehovah to separate the sources of Genesis, in the year that Robert Lowth's Oxford lectures on Hebrew poetry are published.4243

  8. Modern
    1780 to 1783

    Johann Gottfried Eichhorn extends source analysis to the whole Pentateuch in his Einleitung ins Alte Testament; the term "higher criticism" first appears in its second edition, of 1787.4441

  9. Modern
    1878 and 1883

    Julius Wellhausen's Geschichte Israels (1878), in its second edition Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels (1883), gives the documentary hypothesis its classic form, with the Priestly source the latest of the four.4546

  10. Modern
    1890

    Marie-Joseph Lagrange opens the École pratique d'études bibliques in Jerusalem on 15 November, and in 1892 founds the Revue Biblique.47

  11. Modern
    1895 to 1901

    Hermann Gunkel publishes Schöpfung und Chaos (1895) and Genesis (1901), works of form criticism and the history of religions. Gunkel founded form criticism, the study of genres and their setting in life.484950

  12. Modern
    1943

    Martin Noth sets out the Deuteronomistic History, and Pius XII's Divino afflante Spiritu tells Catholic exegetes to work from the original languages and to identify the literary forms of ancient authors. A member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission describes the encyclical as often called the "magna carta" of Catholic biblical studies.515253

  13. Modern
    1947

    A young Bedouin shepherd first finds the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran Cave 1, copied about 125 BCE, is roughly a thousand years older than the oldest Hebrew manuscripts known until then.5455

  14. Modern
    1970s

    John Van Seters, Rolf Rendtorff and then Erhard Blum challenge the documentary hypothesis, and Gordon Wenham finds that no new consensus has replaced it.56

  15. Modern
    1979

    Brevard Childs's Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture makes the final canonical form of each book the object of theological reading, and Norman Gottwald's The Tribes of Yahweh brings social theory into the study of early Israel.5758

  16. Modern
    2025

    On 4 June a team led by Mladen Popović publishes "Enoch", a model trained on 24 radiocarbon-dated samples and applied to 135 undated scrolls, whose dates are often older than traditional estimates.59

How to study Old Testament

The questions it asks

  • Which canon, which text and which translation is in view, since the traditions differ on all three?
  • How did the text come to be, and what does it mean?10
  • What is the most reliable text?41
  • What earlier documents lie behind the text, and how did editors assemble and extend it?60
  • What genres does the text use, and in what setting in life?50
  • How far are the narratives of the patriarchs, the exodus and the conquest historical?61
  • How has the text been read, used and represented?62

Its method

Start

  1. State which canon, which text and which translation is in view, because the traditions differ on all three.

  2. Establish the most reliable text by comparing the later Hebrew copies with the ancient translations: this is textual, or "lower", criticism41.

  3. Know the edition in use: a diplomatic edition prints a single manuscript and records variants in an apparatus, while an eclectic edition chooses the best reading verse by verse and justifies each choice63.

  4. Ask how the text came to be: source criticism looks for earlier documents, tradition criticism traces the oral traditions that preceded the written text, form criticism classifies its genres by their setting in life, and redaction criticism studies how editors assembled it6050.

  5. Read the text as literature: rhetorical criticism studies the structure and devices of literary units, and narrative criticism how biblical prose and poetry work as art6465.

  6. Compare Israel's texts with those of its neighbors, weighing contrast as carefully as comparison: Shemaryahu Talmon asks that compared texts be close in time and place, that parallels inside the Bible be considered first, and that the social function of the texts correspond6667.

  7. Weigh archaeology and the texts against each other, since the history of Israel and the history told by the Bible are studied together but are not the same68.

  8. Read the final form as Scripture for a community, as the canonical approach does, and ask how the text has been received6962.

What to read

Its primary witnesses

  • The Masoretic Text, the traditional Hebrew text with vowel signs and accents added by the Masoretes, a work begun about the sixth century CE and completed in the tenth70.
  • The Aleppo Codex, written at Tiberias about 929 to 930 CE and pointed by Aharon Ben Asher, a third or more of whose leaves were lost after the Aleppo riots of 19477172.
  • The Leningrad Codex of 1008 or 1009 CE, the oldest complete Hebrew Bible and the base text of most modern editions7374.
  • The Dead Sea Scrolls, found from 1947: over 900 texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, attesting every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther5475.
  • The Septuagint, the earliest extant Greek translation, made for the Jews of Egypt in stages from about the mid-third century BCE, and the Old Testament of the early church7677.
  • The Samaritan Pentateuch, an independent Hebrew witness with about 6,000 differences from the Masoretic Text78.
  • The Targums, Aramaic translations and paraphrases, of which Onkelos on the Torah became authoritative7980.
  • The Peshitta, the Syriac Old Testament, of the first or second century CE81.
  • The Vulgate, Jerome's Latin translation from the Hebrew of about 390 to 405 CE3533.

Standard reference works

  • Biblia Hebraica (1906; third edition, on the Leningrad Codex, 1937), Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (1967 to 1977) and Biblia Hebraica Quinta, whose fascicles from 2004 to 2024 do not yet complete it82838485.
  • The Hebrew University Bible Project, based on the Aleppo Codex, and The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition, an eclectic edition8687.
  • The Göttingen Septuagint (from 1908) and Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, the official editions of the scrolls (from 1951)8889.
  • The lexicons of Brown, Driver and Briggs (1906), Koehler and Baumgartner (HALOT) and Gesenius (18th edition), and the Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993 to 2016)90919293.
  • The Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, completed in 2021 in seventeen volumes94.
  • Otto Eissfeldt's Einleitung in das Alte Testament (1934) and Brevard Childs's Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (1979)9557.
  • The Old Testament theologies of Walther Eichrodt (from 1933), Gerhard von Rad (1957 to 1960) and Walter Brueggemann (1997)969798.
  • J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (second edition, 2006), and Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (third edition, 2012)99100.
  • The Jewish Study Bible (2004; second edition 2014) and Eugen Pentiuc's The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Tradition (2014)10112.
  • The Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (De Gruyter, from 2009)62.
  • Commentary series such as Hermeneia, the Anchor Yale Bible, the International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament, the JPS Torah Commentary and the Wisdom Commentary102103104105106.

Scholarship referenced in this study

The works below shaped the field and are cited in this study, from the earliest to the most recent. Hover over a book, or select it, to see its author and the sources behind it.

  • 390 to 405VulgateJeromeVulgate (390 to 405)Jerome (c. 347 to 419 or 420)Sources33–34
  • 1670Theological-Political TreatiseBaruch SpinozaTheological-Political Treatise (1670)Baruch Spinoza (1632 to 1677)Sources40
  • 1678Histoire critique du Vieux TestamentRichard SimonHistoire critique du Vieux Testament (1678)Richard Simon (1638 to 1712)Sources41
  • 1878 and 1883Prolegomena zur Geschichte IsraelsJulius WellhausenProlegomena zur Geschichte Israels (1878 and 1883)Julius Wellhausen (1844 to 1918)Sources45–46
  • 1901GenesisHermann GunkelGenesis (1901)Hermann Gunkel (1862 to 1932)Sources48–49
  • 1933 to 1935Theologie des Alten TestamentsWalther EichrodtTheologie des Alten Testaments (1933 to 1935)Walther Eichrodt (1890 to 1978)Sources96
  • 1941The Documentary HypothesisUmberto CassutoThe Documentary Hypothesis (1941)Umberto Cassuto (1883 to 1951)Sources107
  • 1943Überlieferungsgeschichtliche StudienMartin NothÜberlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien (1943)Martin Noth (1902 to 1968)Sources51
  • 1957 to 1960Theologie des Alten TestamentsGerhard von RadTheologie des Alten Testaments (1957 to 1960)Gerhard von Rad (1901 to 1971)Sources97
  • 1979Introduction to the Old Testament as ScriptureBrevard S. ChildsIntroduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (1979)Brevard S. Childs (2007)Sources57
  • 1997Theology of the Old TestamentWalter BrueggemannTheology of the Old Testament (1997)Walter Brueggemann (1933 to 5 June 2025)Sources98
  • 2014The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox TraditionEugen J. PentiucThe Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Tradition (2014)Eugen J. PentiucSources12

Listed because this study draws on their published work; no association with or endorsement of Numa Verse is implied. Suggest a correction.

Key terms

The words that carry the most weight in this field, each defined from the sources of this study. Turn a card over to read its definition.

The Jewish name for the Bible, an acronym of Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings), its three divisions108.

An academic name that avoids a supersessionist overtone; Christopher Seitz and others answer that it is neither neutral nor exact, since parts are in Aramaic and it leaves out the Greek books of the Christian canon109.

The books of the Catholic Old Testament beyond the Hebrew canon: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees and the Greek parts of Esther and Daniel110.

The Orthodox name for the Septuagint additions as books to be read for edification, neither canonical in the Catholic sense nor apocrypha in the Protestant sense11.

Lower, or textual, criticism recovers the most accurate text from manuscripts and versions; higher criticism asks about the authorship, date and composition of whole books41.

The model of the Pentateuch as four sources, which in its classic form places the Yahwist in the early monarchy, the Elohist a little later in the north, Deuteronomy at Josiah's reform and the Priestly source in or after the exile111112113.

The setting in life of a genre, which Gunkel's form criticism treated as its chief object50.

Martin Noth's account (1943) of Joshua to 2 Kings, prefaced by a revised Deuteronomy, as one history written by a single Deuteronomist in Judah about 550 BCE to explain the fall of Judah51.

The plain sense of the text, at first nearly a synonym of derash, the homiletic sense; the Babylonian Talmud holds that a verse does not depart from its plain sense114.

The reworking of earlier biblical texts by later ones, made a standard part of Hebrew Bible training by Michael Fishbane's Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (1985)115.

Where it sits

Builds on

Old Testament

Leads to

Questions people ask

It depends on the tradition. The Jewish canon has twenty-four books and the Protestant thirty-nine, the same books counted differently, while the Catholic Old Testament has forty-six31167. The Orthodox churches also receive the further Septuagint books, whose status varies, and the Ethiopian church counts Enoch and Jubilees among its eighty-one books131114.

No: Jews speak of the Tanakh, Christians of the Old Testament, a phrase Paul coined in 2 Corinthians 3:14, and many scholars of the Hebrew Bible or the First Testament1087. James A. Sanders used "First Testament" because "Old Testament" can suggest something outmoded, while Christopher Seitz and others answer that "Hebrew Bible" is neither neutral nor exact117109.

Lawrence Schiffman finds no evidence at all that the canon was formally fixed at Yavneh108. Timothy Lim reports that Heinrich Graetz first called the gathering a "council" in 1871, and that the rabbinic canon was more or less formed by the end of the first century CE118.

The question remains open. The documentary hypothesis was almost universally accepted by the middle of the twentieth century and challenged from the 1970s56. Scholars now work with several influential models, among them Joel Baden's Neo-Documentary Hypothesis and a division between Priestly and non-Priestly material, and no survey measures how the field divides among them119120.

They are over 900 texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, first found by a young Bedouin shepherd in 1947; they are the oldest known copies of biblical books and attest every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther5475. The Great Isaiah Scroll, copied about 125 BCE, contains all sixty-six chapters of Isaiah and generally agrees with the Masoretic Text, though it has well over 2,600 variants, many of them in spelling55121.

Contribute to Old Testament

Register to contribute

  1. 1Chabad.org, What Is the Oral Torah?https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/812102/jewish/What-Is-the-Oral-Torah.htm (opens in a new tab)
  2. 2Jewish Virtual Library, The Oral Law: Talmud and Mishnahttps://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-oral-law-talmud-and-mishna (opens in a new tab)
  3. 3Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), Bible Canonhttps://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3259-bible-canon (opens in a new tab)
  4. 4Jewish Virtual Library, Pardes (Encyclopaedia Judaica)https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.ORG/pardes (opens in a new tab)
  5. 5T. Ross, Orthodox Solutions Thus Far, TheTorah.com (2014)https://www.thetorah.com/article/orthodox-solutions-thus-far (opens in a new tab)
  6. 6Catechism of the Catholic Church, Part One, Article 3, Holy Seehttps://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PQ.HTM (opens in a new tab)
  7. 7Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Jewish People and their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible (2001), Holy Seehttps://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/pcb_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20020212_popolo-ebraico_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  8. 8Council of Trent, Fourth Session (1546), Hanover College History Departmenthttps://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct04.html (opens in a new tab)
  9. 9Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum (1965), Holy Seehttps://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html (opens in a new tab)
  10. 10Pontifical Biblical Commission, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church (1993), Catholic Culturehttps://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7795 (opens in a new tab)
  11. 11E. J. Pentiuc, Old Testament, in The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (2012), azbyka.ruhttps://azbyka.ru/otechnik/world/the-encyclopedia-of-eastern-orthodox-christianity/222 (opens in a new tab)
  12. 12Oxford University Press, E. J. Pentiuc, The Old Testament in Eastern Orthodox Traditionhttps://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-old-testament-in-eastern-orthodox-tradition-9780195331233 (opens in a new tab)
  13. 13The Confession of Dositheus (1672), Christian Resourceshttps://www.crivoice.org/creeddositheus.html (opens in a new tab)
  14. 14R. W. Cowley, The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today (Ostkirchliche Studien 23, 1974), reproduced by Islamic Awarenesshttps://www.islamic-awareness.org/bible/text/canon/ethiopican (opens in a new tab)
  15. 15E. G. Mathews Jr, review of The Peshitta: Its Use in Literature and Liturgy, Hugoye 12:1https://hugoye.bethmardutho.org/pdf/vol12/HV12N1PRMathews.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  16. 16M. E. Stone on the Armenian canon lists (Harvard Theological Review 72, 1979), reproduced by Islamic Awarenesshttps://www.islamic-awareness.org/bible/text/canon/armenian (opens in a new tab)
  17. 17Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Luther's Bible 1523 to 1533https://gruber.lstc.edu/luthers_bible/1523_1533.php (opens in a new tab)
  18. 18Encyclopaedia Britannica, Biblical literature: The Reformation periodhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Reformation-period (opens in a new tab)
  19. 19S. M. Shoemaker, Luther's "Cradle of Christ", Christianity Today (1960)https://christianitytoday.com/1960/10/luthers-cradle-of-christ (opens in a new tab)
  20. 20Encyclopaedia Britannica, Biblical literature: The Christian canonhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Christian-canon (opens in a new tab)
  21. 21J. Calvin, Institutes IV.10, The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New, CCELhttps://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iv.xi.html (opens in a new tab)
  22. 22Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 7, Christian Classics Ethereal Libraryhttps://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous/westminster3.i.vii.html (opens in a new tab)
  23. 23Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 1, Christian Classics Ethereal Libraryhttps://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous/westminster3.i.i.html (opens in a new tab)
  24. 24B. C. Ollenburger, The Hermeneutics of Obedience, Direction 6/2 (1977)https://directionjournal.org/6/2/hermeneutics-of-obedience-study-of.html (opens in a new tab)
  25. 25Evangelical Theological Society, Constitutionhttps://www.etsjets.org/about/constitution (opens in a new tab)
  26. 26Carolina University, The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancyhttps://divinity.carolinau.edu/chicago-statement-biblical-inerrancy (opens in a new tab)
  27. 27On The Wing, Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy (text)https://www.onthewing.org/user/Chicago%20Statement%20on%20Biblical%20Inerrancy.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  28. 28Catholic Books Review, review of K. J. Archer, A Pentecostal Hermeneutichttps://catholicbooksreview.org/2010/archer.htm (opens in a new tab)
  29. 29Biblical Research Institute, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Methods of Bible Study (1986)https://www.adventistbiblicalresearch.org/materials/methods-of-bible-study/ (opens in a new tab)
  30. 30Ellen G. White Estate, Seventh-day Adventists Believe: Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuaryhttps://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/14102.63?hl=34 (opens in a new tab)
  31. 31Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hexaplahttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Hexapla (opens in a new tab)
  32. 32Cambridge University Library, The Oldest Fragment of Origen's Hexapla: T-S 12.182https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/node/447192 (opens in a new tab)
  33. 33Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), Vulgatehttps://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14739-vulgate (opens in a new tab)
  34. 34Encyclopaedia Britannica, Biblical literature: The patristic periodhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-patristic-period (opens in a new tab)
  35. 35Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vulgatehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Vulgate (opens in a new tab)
  36. 36Encyclopaedia Britannica, Saadia ben Josephhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Saadia-ben-Joseph (opens in a new tab)
  37. 37Chabad.org, 15 Facts About Rabbi Saadia Gaonhttps://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/6270229/jewish/15-Facts-About-Rabbi-Saadia-Gaon.htm (opens in a new tab)
  38. 38Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), Bible Exegesishttps://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3263-bible-exegesis-and-study (opens in a new tab)
  39. 39H. Freedman, Saadia Gaon's Bible Commentary and Translation, The Bible and Interpretation (2016)https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/2016/04/fre408026 (opens in a new tab)
  40. 40Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spinoza's Political Philosophyhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/spinoza-political/ (opens in a new tab)
  41. 41Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), Biblical Criticism (Higher), New Adventhttps://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04491c.htm (opens in a new tab)
  42. 42Encyclopedia.com, Astruc, Jean (Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography)https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/astruc-jean (opens in a new tab)
  43. 43Encyclopaedia Britannica, Robert Lowthhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Robert-Lowth (opens in a new tab)
  44. 44Encyclopaedia Britannica, Johann Gottfried Eichhornhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Johann-Gottfried-Eichhorn (opens in a new tab)
  45. 45Encyclopedia.com, Wellhausen, Juliushttps://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/wellhausen-julius (opens in a new tab)
  46. 46Project Gutenberg, J. Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israelhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4732 (opens in a new tab)
  47. 47École biblique et archéologique française, Our Founder, Father Marie-Joseph Lagrange, OPhttps://www.ebaf.edu/?p=979 (opens in a new tab)
  48. 48The Online Books Page (University of Pennsylvania), Hermann Gunkel, 1862 to 1932https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/who/Gunkel%2C%20Hermann%2C%201862-1932 (opens in a new tab)
  49. 49Encyclopaedia Britannica, Hermann Gunkelhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Hermann-Gunkel (opens in a new tab)
  50. 50Encyclopedia.com, Gunkel, Hermannhttps://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/gunkel-hermann (opens in a new tab)
  51. 51R. P. Gordon, review of The Deuteronomistic History, Themelios 9.1, The Gospel Coalitionhttps://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/review/the-deuteronomistic-history/ (opens in a new tab)
  52. 52Pius XII, Divino afflante Spiritu (1943), Holy Seehttps://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_30091943_divino-afflante-spiritu.html (opens in a new tab)
  53. 53Diocese of Brentwood, Scholar commemorates a wartime letter of hope from Pius XIIhttps://www.dioceseofbrentwood.net/news/scholar-commemorates-wartime-letter-hope-pius-xii/ (opens in a new tab)
  54. 54Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, Israel Antiquities Authority, Discovery and Publicationhttps://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-and-publication (opens in a new tab)
  55. 55The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, The Great Isaiah Scrollhttp://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah (opens in a new tab)
  56. 56G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, Themelios, The Gospel Coalitionhttps://www.thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/pentateuchal-studies-today/ (opens in a new tab)
  57. 57University of Pennsylvania Libraries, B. S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (catalogue record)https://find.library.upenn.edu/catalog/992154153503681 (opens in a new tab)
  58. 58Graduate Theological Union, Remembering Dr. Norman K. Gottwaldhttps://gtu.edu/news/remembering-dr-norman-k-gottwald (opens in a new tab)
  59. 59Popović and others, Dating ancient manuscripts using radiocarbon and AI-based writing style analysis, PLOS ONE (2025)https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0323185 (opens in a new tab)
  60. 60Encyclopaedia Britannica, Biblical criticismhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-criticism (opens in a new tab)
  61. 61I. Finkelstein and N. A. Silberman, The Bible Unearthed, The Bible and Interpretation (2001)https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/Finkelstein_Silberman022001 (opens in a new tab)
  62. 62De Gruyter Brill, Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Receptionhttps://www.degruyterbrill.com/serial/ebr-b/html?lang=de (opens in a new tab)
  63. 63Biblical Archaeology Society, Steps to a New Edition of the Hebrew Bible (review)https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/reviews/steps-new-edition-hebrew-bible/ (opens in a new tab)
  64. 64J. Muilenburg, Form Criticism and Beyond, JBL 88.1 (1969), Society of Biblical Literaturehttps://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/presidentialaddresses/JBL88_1_1Muilenburg1968.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  65. 65Hachette Book Group, R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrativehttps://specialsales.hbgusa.com/titles/robert-alter/the-art-of-biblical-narrative/9780465025558/ (opens in a new tab)
  66. 66B. T. Arnold, Assyriology and Biblical Studies: Time for Reassessment?, The Bible and Interpretation (2005)https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/node/4346 (opens in a new tab)
  67. 67M. Malul, review of Mesopotamia and the Bible, Journal of Hebrew Scriptureshttps://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/download/5903/4956?inline=1 (opens in a new tab)
  68. 68Faust, Garfinkel and Mumcuoglu, The Study of the 10th Century BCE in the Early 21st Century CE, Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 1 (2021)https://jjar.huji.ac.il/publications/study-10th-century-bce-early-21st-century-ce-overview (opens in a new tab)
  69. 69N. A. Janse van Rensburg, B. S. Childs se kanoniese benadering, Verbum et Ecclesia (1988)https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/download/981/1384 (opens in a new tab)
  70. 70Encyclopaedia Britannica, Masoretic texthttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Masoretic-text (opens in a new tab)
  71. 71UNESCO, Memory of the World nomination form: Aleppo Codex (2014)https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/2014_34_israel_aleppo_codex_en.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  72. 72Biblical Archaeology Society, A Jewel from the Crownhttps://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/exhibits-events/a-jewel-from-the-crown/ (opens in a new tab)
  73. 73Bible Society of South Africa, Codex Leningradensishttps://biblesa.co.za/resources/about-bible-translation/source-texts/codex-leningradensis (opens in a new tab)
  74. 74West Semitic Research Project, USC Dornsife, The Leningrad Codexhttps://dornsife.usc.edu/wsrp/?p=385 (opens in a new tab)
  75. 75Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library, Israel Antiquities Authority, Scrolls Contenthttps://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/scrolls-content (opens in a new tab)
  76. 76Encyclopaedia Britannica, Septuaginthttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint (opens in a new tab)
  77. 77Catholic Encyclopedia (1912), Septuagint Version, New Adventhttps://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13722a.htm (opens in a new tab)
  78. 78Encyclopaedia Britannica, Samaritan Pentateuchhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Samaritan-Pentateuch (opens in a new tab)
  79. 79Encyclopaedia Britannica, Targumhttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Targum (opens in a new tab)
  80. 80Encyclopedia.com, Targum (Oxford Dictionary of World Religions and others)https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/targum (opens in a new tab)
  81. 81Encyclopaedia Britannica, Peshittahttps://www.britannica.com/topic/Peshitta (opens in a new tab)
  82. 82German Bible Society, Hebrew Bible scholarly editionshttps://www.die-bibel.de/en/en/bible-society-and-biblical-studies/scholarly-editions/hebrew-bible (opens in a new tab)
  83. 83Encyclopaedia Britannica, Rudolf Kittelhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Rudolf-Kittel (opens in a new tab)
  84. 84German Bible Society, Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensiahttps://www.die-bibel.de/biblia-hebraica-stuttgartensia (opens in a new tab)
  85. 85German Bible Society, Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ)https://www.die-bibel.de/en/en/bible-society-and-biblical-studies/scholarly-editions/hebrew-bible/biblia-hebraica-quinta-bhq (opens in a new tab)
  86. 86Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bible Department, Hebrew University Bible Projecthttps://en.bible.huji.ac.il/node/24906 (opens in a new tab)
  87. 87SBL Press, The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Editionhttps://www.sbl-site.org/sbl-press/browse-books/the-hebrew-bible-a-critical-edition/ (opens in a new tab)
  88. 88Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Septuagintahttps://adw-goe.de/en/research/completed-research-projects/academies-programme/septuaginta/ (opens in a new tab)
  89. 89Parnassus Books, Discoveries in the Judaean Desert, volume XXXIX (publisher description)https://parnassusbooks.net/book/9780199249244 (opens in a new tab)
  90. 90Internet Archive, Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906)https://archive.org/details/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft (opens in a new tab)
  91. 91Accordance, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT)https://www.accordancebible.com/?p=299 (opens in a new tab)
  92. 92Springer, Hebräisches und Aramäisches Handwörterbuch über das Alte Testament, 18th editionhttps://link.springer.com/book/9783540580485 (opens in a new tab)
  93. 93Sheffield Phoenix Press, Dictionary of Classical Hebrewhttps://sheffieldphoenix.com/product-tag/dictionary (opens in a new tab)
  94. 94Woodslane, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, volume XVIIhttps://woodslane.com.au/products/9780802823441 (opens in a new tab)
  95. 95Encyclopedia.com, Eissfeldt, Ottohttps://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/eissfeldt-ottodeg (opens in a new tab)
  96. 96Accordance, Theology of the Old Testament (Eichrodt)https://www.accordancebible.com/eichrodt-theology-ot/ (opens in a new tab)
  97. 97Jewish Virtual Library, Rad, Gerhard von (Encyclopaedia Judaica)https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/rad-gerhard-von-x00b0 (opens in a new tab)
  98. 98Universidad Loyola library, W. Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament (1997)https://colectivo.uloyola.es/Record/T108037?lng=en (opens in a new tab)
  99. 99Westminster John Knox Press, J. M. Miller and J. H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2nd ed.)https://www.wjkbooks.com/Products/0664223583/a-history-of-ancient-israel-and-judah-second-edition.aspx (opens in a new tab)
  100. 100British Academy, Emanuel Tov FBAhttps://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/profiles/emanuel-tov-FBA/ (opens in a new tab)
  101. 101Duke University, Religious Studies, The Jewish Study Bible, Second Editionhttps://religiousstudies.duke.edu/books/jewish-studies-bible-second-edition (opens in a new tab)
  102. 102Accordance, Hermeneia Commentary Set (publisher statement)https://www.accordancebible.com/Hermeneia-Commentary-Set-51/ (opens in a new tab)
  103. 103Yale University Press, The Anchor Yale Bible Commentarieshttps://yalebooks.yale.edu/series/the-anchor-yale-bible-commentaries/ (opens in a new tab)
  104. 104Accordance, International Exegetical Commentary on the Old Testament (IECOT)https://www.accordancebible.com/?p=6675 (opens in a new tab)
  105. 105Jewish Publication Society, JPS Torah Commentary Serieshttps://jps.org/books/jps-torah-commentary-series-5-volume-set/ (opens in a new tab)
  106. 106Liturgical Press, Wisdom Commentary Serieshttps://litpress.org/wisdom-commentary-series (opens in a new tab)
  107. 107Jewish Virtual Library, Cassuto, Umbertohttps://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/cassuto-umberto (opens in a new tab)
  108. 108L. H. Schiffman, Creating the Canon, My Jewish Learninghttps://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/creating-the-canon/ (opens in a new tab)
  109. 109J. R. Edwards, What's in a Name?, Christianity Today (1999)https://christianitytoday.com/ct/1999/august9/9t9059.html (opens in a new tab)
  110. 110Catholic Encyclopedia (1910), Canon of the Old Testament, New Adventhttps://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03267a.htm (opens in a new tab)
  111. 111Encyclopaedia Britannica, Yahwist sourcehttps://www.britannica.com/print/article/651208 (opens in a new tab)
  112. 112D. Garrett, The Documentary Hypothesis, Bible and Spade (1993), Associates for Biblical Researchhttps://biblearchaeology.org/?p=69259 (opens in a new tab)
  113. 113Encyclopaedia Britannica, Biblical literature: Old Testament literaturehttps://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/Old-Testament-literature (opens in a new tab)
  114. 114Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), Peshathttps://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12060 (opens in a new tab)
  115. 115Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 11 (2011), review of Scriptural Exegesis: Essays in Honour of Michael Fishbanehttps://jhsonline.org/index.php/jhs/article/download/11539/8857?inline=1 (opens in a new tab)
  116. 116Encyclopaedia Britannica, Biblical literature: Old Testament canon, texts, and versionshttps://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/Old-Testament-canon-texts-and-versions (opens in a new tab)
  117. 117J. A. Sanders, "Spinning" the Bible, Bible Review 14:3 (1998), Biblical Archaeology Societyhttps://old.biblicalarchaeology.org/node/119288 (opens in a new tab)
  118. 118T. H. Lim, How was the Canon formed?, Expository Times 133.9 (2022), University of Edinburghhttps://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/266746153/LIimET2022HowWasTheCanonFormed.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  119. 119Yale University, Religious Studies, J. Baden, The Composition of the Pentateuch (2012)https://religiousstudies.yale.edu/publications/composition-pentateuch-renewing-documentary-hypothesis (opens in a new tab)
  120. 120K. Schmid, The Neo-Documentarian Manifesto: A Critical Reading, JBL 140.3 (2021), University of Zurichhttps://www.divlaw.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:e5504a99-6c03-4f12-97c9-a36421fc1ad7/Schmid2021_Neo_Documentarian_Manifesto.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  121. 121The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, A Voice from the Desert: The Great Isaiah Scroll (2026)https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/voice-desert (opens in a new tab)

Page record

Reviewed and approved by Duane Herholdt, BA (Theology), Chief Executive Officer, Numa Verse

Study version: v1.1, 14 October 2026 (theology map v1.27)

Last reviewed: 7 November 2026

How these pages are made

  • 7 November 2026: First draft from the approved assessment v1.1.