Bible
Bible (Greek τὰ βιβλία, "the books"): name of a collection of Jewish and Christian religious literature, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
The Bible is, essentially, a library of monotheistic texts, with a central message that God takes care of his creation and his people. The Jewish texts were composed over a long period, stretching from the late second millennium BCE (e.g., Psalms 29 and 68) until about c.165 BCE (Daniel). Rabbinical Judaism added the Mishnah; the Christians added the New Testament, consisting of four gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, epistles, and the Book of Revelation. In both cases, the process of canonization started in the second century CE. Religious texts that were not considered inspired were left out of the canonical Bible and are called apocryphal.
Jewish Literature, Chronological
No attempt has been made on this page to include the five first books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) or the majority of the Psalms, because it is impossible to reconstruct the history of their composition. For similar reasons, the Scrolls of the Dead Sea have been left out. Most of the texts below are included in the Bible, but some non-Biblical Jewish literature (e.g., the Enochite literature) has also been included. Many texts contain later interpolations. Contemporary events and texts are indicated in red.
| Green | Included in the Jewish and Protestant Bible |
| Grey | Deuterocanonical: recognized by Catholics |
| Yellow | Enochite literature |
| Pink | Other |
| Psalm 29, 68 | Canaanitic? | |||
| Psalm 110 | Davidic? | |||
| Proverbs 10-24 | Tenth century | Oldest part of collection | ||
| c.930 | Sheshonq's campaign | Sheshonq's stela | ||
| 853 | Battle of Qarqar | Kurkh stela | ||
| c.845 | Independence of Moab | Mesha stela | ||
| c.820 | Jehu pays tribute to Assyria | Black obelisk | ||
| Amos | c.760-750 | |||
| Hosea | c.730 | |||
| Micah 6-7 | c.730 | |||
| c.724 | Fall of Samaria | ABC 1 | ||
| Micah 1 | c.720 | |||
| Isaiah, first stage | c.720 | = Isaiah 2-9, 14-23, 28-31 | ||
| 701 | Fall of Lachish; siege of Jerusalem | Lachish reliefs | ||
| Proverbs 25-31 | c.700 | |||
| Ruth | c.700 | |||
| Micah 2-3 | Pre-exilic | |||
| Nahum | c.640 | |||
| Zephaniah | c.630 | |||
| Deuteronomistic Historynote | c.620 | First stage | ||
| Isaiah, Josian redaction | c.620 | = Isaiah 10-12, 32, 36-39 | ||
| 612 | Fall of Nineveh | ABC 3 | ||
| Psalm 2, 20, 21, 72 | Pre-exilic | |||
| Habakkuk | 604-600 | |||
| 597 | First capture of Jerusalem | ABC 5 | ||
| Jeremiah | 600-587 | |||
| 587 | Fall of Jerusalem; Exile | |||
| Ezekiel | After 587 | |||
| Lamentations | After 587 | |||
| Obadiah | After 587 | |||
| Micah 4-5 | After 587 | |||
| Additions to the Deuteronomistic Historynote | c.550 | Addition (2 Kings 23-25) | ||
| Jehoiachin in Babylonia | ANET3 308 | |||
| Isaiah, second stage A | 545-540 | = Isaiah 13-14, 21, 33, 40-48 | ||
| 539 | Fall of Babylon; end of Exile | Cyrus Cylinder | ||
| Psalm 126, 137 | Post-exilic | |||
| Micah 2-5note | Post-exilic | Collection of prophecies | ||
| Isaiah, second stage B | c.520 | = Isaiah 49-55 | ||
| Isaiah, third stage A | c.500 | = Isaiah 34-35, 60-62 | ||
| Maleachinote | c.470 | |||
| Isaiah, third stage B | Fifth century | = Isaiah 56-59, 63-66 | ||
| Haggainote | c.450 | |||
| Zechariah, part 1 | c.450 | = Zechariah 1-13 | ||
| c.450 | Rebuilding of the Templenote | |||
| Proverbs 1-9 | Fifth century | Youngest part of collection | ||
| Isaiah, third stage C | End fifth century | = Isaiah 1, 24-27 | ||
| Joel? | c.400 | Alternative date: c.600-586 | ||
| Job | Fourth century | |||
| Esther | Fourth century | Chapters added in c.80 | ||
| Jonah | Fourth century | |||
| Chronicles | Fourth century | |||
| Ezra-Nehemiah | after 336 | a.k.a. 2 Esdras | ||
| 332 | Alexander the Great | |||
| Song of Songs | After 332 | |||
| Zechariah, part 2 | After 332 | = Zechariah 9-14 | ||
| Epistle of Jeremiah | c.325 | |||
| Astronomical Book | Third century | = 1 Enoch 72-82 | ||
| Ecclesiastes | Third century | |||
| Book of Watchers | 225-175 | = 1 Enoch 1-36 | ||
| Tobit | c.200 | |||
| 202-195 | Fifth Syrian War | |||
| Jesus Sirach | c.180 | Original, Hebrew version | ||
| Epistle of Enoch | c.175 | = 1 Enoch 91-108 | ||
| Jubilees | c.175 | |||
| 175-164 | Antiochus IV Epiphanes | |||
| Daniel | 165 | Chapters added in c.100? | ||
| Death of Isaiah | c.165 | |||
| Book of Dream Visions | 165-160 | = 1 Enoch 83-90 | ||
| Baruch | 163-162 | a.k.a. 1 Baruch | ||
| Judith | c.150 | |||
| Book of Giants | Second century | |||
| 3 Ezra | c.125 | a.k.a. 1 Esdras | ||
| Jesus Sirach | 117 | Greek translation | ||
| Letter of Aristeas | c.110 | |||
| Prayer of Manasseh | 150-50 | |||
| 1 Maccabees | c.100 | |||
| 2 Maccabees | c.100 | |||
| Additions to Daniel | c.100? | |||
| Additions to Esther | 80 | |||
| 63 | Romans take Jerusalem | |||
| 3 Maccabees | First century | |||
| Book of Similitudes | First century | = 1 Enoch 37-71 | ||
| Psalms of Solomon | c.45 | |||
| 40-4 BCE | King Herod the Great | |||
| 6 CE | Annexation by the Romans | |||
| Assumption of Moses | c.25 | |||
| 2 ("Slavonic") Enoch | c.25 | |||
| Wisdom | 37-41 | |||
| 70 | Destruction of the Temple | |||
| 4 Ezra | after 70 | |||
| Flavius Josephus | 75-100 | |||
| 4 Maccabees | c.100 | |||
| 2 ("Syriac") Baruch | 100-117 | |||
| 3 ("Greek") Baruch | c.150 |