The Writers of the Bible

• We have already studied the following writers:

• (1) Moses.• To Moses is rightly credited the

writing of the first five books in the Bible.

• (2) Writer of Joshua.

• Certainly no one better qualified to write it than Joshua.

• (3) Writer of Judges.

• The book of Judges covers over 300 years, so obviously no one man simply wrote a running account.

• Again, the most logical choices were the judges themselves, or prophets in their day, in order that a record might be kept of the deeds done during the period.

• The accounts were assembled by someone such as Samuel.

• (4) Samuel.

• He is certainly the most logical writer of most of 1 Samuel.

• (5) Author of Ruth.

• It could have been Samuel, or David, or one of the other writers mentioned in that period.

• (6) David. About half of the Psalms are attributed to David by very ancient titles.

(7) Solomon.

• The Proverbs are almost altogether attributed to Solomon (1:1; 10:1; 25:1).

• The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes claims to have been Solomon (1:1, 12; 2:9).

• The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s (1:1).

• (8) Writer of Job.

• Whoever wrote Job knew intimately what Job and his friends said.

• Even more importantly, he knew the background, which, during the unfolding of the story itself, Job himself did not know.

• We do not know who wrote the book of Job, but it fits into the kind of literature that flourished in Solomon’s day.

• Therefore, either one of the participants of the story, such as Job himself, told the story with God Himself supplying what Job had not known before.

• Or God revealed the whole thing, speeches, background, and all to someone who was not immediately connected with the story.

• It definitely fits into the wisdom literature that flourished in the time of Solomon.

(9) Agur the son of Jakeh (Prov. 30:1).

• Either Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle (or message).

• Or Agur the son of Jakeh of Massa.

• In the second possibility, Massa could be a reference to a city named after one of the sons of Ishmael, according to Genesis 25:14-15, which lists names that do refer to cities also, such as Dumah, Massa, and Tema.

• Thus Agur could have been an Ishmaelite who continued to honor the God of Abraham.

(10) King Lemuel (Prov. 31:1).• Either the words of King Lemuel; the

oracle which his mother taught him.

• Or the words of Lemuel king of Massa, which his mother taught him.

• In the latter case, he would have been the king of this city of northern Arabia.

(11) Isaiah.• Isaiah 1:1.

• Isaiah is also mentioned in the historical record in the days of Hezekiah (2 Kings chs. 19-20).

• The rest of the acts of Hezekiah are written in the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz (2 Chron. 32:32).

• Not only is Isaiah listed as the writer in the book of Isaiah itself, but in the New Testament 21 times his writing is quoted and attributed to him with 13 times occurring in the gospel accounts, and three of those times at the mouth of Jesus.

(12) Jeremiah.• Jer. 1:1-3.• Jeremiah dictated his book to Baruch (Jer.

36:4, 17-18, 32; 45:1).• Jeremiah is referred to by name in the New

Testament a few times (Matt. 2:17), where Jeremiah 31:15 is quoted (Matt. 2:18). Also in Matthew 16:14.

• His writings, however, are quoted quite prominently in the book of Hebrews (31:31-34 in Hebrews 8:8-12).

(13) Ezekiel.

• Ezek. 1:1-3.

• The chronological references in Ezekiel are so detailed that one must think that the prophecy was written as it was delivered.

• Though Ezekiel is quoted in the New Testament (37:27 in 2 Cor. 6:16), he is not mentioned by name.

(14) Daniel.• The first half of Daniel (chapters 1-6) is

written in the third person, but the last half is written in the first person.• A good big chunk of the book is written

in Aramaic (2:4-7:28) which would have been the language used in the courts of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia• Two references are made by Jesus, to

the writings of Daniel (Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14).

(15) Hosea.

• Hosea 1:1.

• He is quoted by name once in the New Testament (Rom. 9:25), and his writings quoted several times (Matt. 2:15; 9:13; Rom. 9:25-26; 1 Cor. 15:55).

(16) Joel.

• Joel 1:1.

• Joel is mentioned by name and quoted by the apostle Peter in Acts 2 (Joel 2:28ff).

(17) Amos.

• Amos 1:1.

• Amos is quoted in Acts 11:16-18, but he is not named.

• Nevertheless he is referred to as one of “the prophets.”

(18) Obadiah.

• 1:1.

• Obadiah is quoted a number of times in Jeremiah 49 but is not quoted or named in the New Testament.

(19) Jonah.

• Jonah 1:1.

• Jonah is mentioned a number of times in the New Testament, several times in Matthew 12:39-41; 16:4; Luke 11:29-11:32.

(20) Micah.

• Mic. 1:1.

• (21) Nahum.

• Nah. 1:1.

• Not quoted or named in the New Testament.

(22) Habakkuk.

• Hab. 1:1.

• Habakkuk is not mentioned in the New Testament, but he is quoted as one of the “prophets” (1:5 in Acts 13:41, and 2:3-4 in Hebrews 10:37-38 and in Rom.1:17).

(23) Zephaniah.

• Zeph. 1:1.

• Zephaniah is not mentioned in the New Testament, nor is his book quoted in the New Testament.

(24) Haggai.

• Hag. 1:1.

• Haggai is not mentioned in the New Testament, but his book is quoted (2:6 in Heb. 12:26), as the word of God.

(25) Zechariah.

• Zech. 1:1.

• Not mentioned in the New Testament but is quoted (9:9 in Matt.21:5; 11:12 in Matt. 27:3-10; 13:7 in Matt. 26:31).

(26) Malachi.

• Mal. 1:1.

• Malachi is not mentioned in the New Testament, but his work is quoted (1:2-3 in Rom. 9:13; 3:1 in Matt. 11:10 and 4:5 in Luke 1:17).

(27) Ezra.

• Ezra is described as a “competent scribe” (Ezra 7:6).

• He is the author of the history of two of the returns of the Jews, first, the one in 536, and second, the one in 458.

• Ezra would be high on the short list of men who did a great deal of the work of assembling the books and records that make up the Old Testament as we have it.

(28) Writer of Esther.

• We do not know who wrote the book of Esther.

• It might have been Mordecai.

• It might very well have been Ezra.

• Esther’s part in the story began about 479 B.C.

• It would have been quite possible for Ezra to have known about this story.

• The crisis that arose when Haman determined to slay the Jews of the empire was about 474, only 16 years before Ezra led his return.

(29) Nehemiah.

• Nehemiah wrote this account of his work in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.• Often he refers to himself in the

first person.