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Introduction
From the origin of the Bible (canonized Old and New Testament) until now, there has
been enigmas surrounding the development of both Testaments from their embryonic stages
...
Some scholars believe that the New Testament has been critiqued more than
the Old Testament, others believe in the reserve and then the more open scholars simply agrees
that both Testaments have had their fair share of constructive and destructive criticism
...
Sure, there are controversial issues, uncertain ideologies and
variances in some areas of the canon, yet they are never too great to rid the Scriptures of its
inherent divine nature and its established proclivity of being the Word of God
...
It is pivotal to start off by defining the Old Testament and what is meant by “canon” before
we begin to look at the progress of the Old Testament in becoming a part of the canon
...
However, I

will agree with Michael Coogan who admits in his book, The Old Testament: A Very Short
Introduction, that as per usual in the study of Religion, things are often more complicated than
they appear; consequently, that simple definition of the Old Testament must be clarified and
even corrected
...
Tanakh is an acronym based on the three distinct parts of the Hebrew
Scriptures: the Torah (Law), the Nevi’im (Prophets), and the Kethuvim (Writings)
...

These texts are composed mainly in the Biblical Hebrew language, with some passages
in Biblical Aramaic (in the books of Daniel, Ezra and a few others)
...
For there are alterations in
books and structuring within the OT that is not found or funded by the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh)
...
Among these considerations, it
is considered a book, a part of a book and a collection of books
...
In the fullness
of time, as history progressed and ameliorated, Jesus Christ came, born, lived, taught, died, risen
and then ascended to heaven
...
The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction
...

2

John H
...
Hill
...
2nd
...


and to explore the theological and practical implications of what Christ had done
...
3
We also understand the Old Testament to be a collection of books
...
Thirty-nine books by various authors written over the span of a
millennium
...
4 Nonetheless, all these
thirty-nine books can be rendered thematic through systematic theology if one chooses such
route, though some scholars might argue that that is somewhat difficult, if not impossible
...

However, John H
...
Hill in their book, Old Testament Today: A
Journey from Original Meaning to Contemporary Significance posits,
In the pages of these books the reader will find consideration of origins,
tribal and national histories, collections of laws, collections of poetry,
philosophical discussions, and prophetic sermons
...
Though the genres (types of literature) may vary, each is
theological throughout
...
I would believe that this is the view, the
early clergies/church fathers had when they decided to involve these specific thirty-nine books
within what we now call the canon
...

John H
...
Hill
...

5
Ibid, 4
...


What is a canon?
The word “canon” comes from the Greek word κανών (Kanon) which means “rule” or
“measuring stick
...
Church rules are
called “canon law”; clerical vestments are sometimes called “canonics
...
e
...
William LaSor renders it this way: “since the fourth century A
...
this
term has been used in Christian circles to refer to the standard or official list of books that make
up the Bible, as a rule of faith and practice for God’s people
...
Particularly in the Old Testament field such a matter is
complicated by the fact that much of this process took place in the distant past for which
historical evidence is very scanty
...

Despite all the enigmatic issues surrounding the canonicity of the OT, there are still
faithful folks today both in Judaism and Christianity who holds the OT in high regards for a
number of reasons
...
LaSor, David A
...
Bush
...
2nd
...
Eerdmans Pub
...
, 1996), 598
...
al
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regards
...
So, being that
we have defined what a canon is, let us move a step closer to understanding why, how and when
did the books of the OT became canonized and I will start off by dealing with the inspiration of
the Old Testament
...
” In applying such definition to theology, one could have inspiration meaning, holy men
of God being mentally stimulated by the Spirit to (do something creative) inscribe what is
revealed to him by God
...

The most powerful and significant characteristic of the Bible according to Norman
Geisler and William Nix in their book, Form God to Us, is not its formal structure, it is rather the
fact that it had been divinely inspired
...
8
The word inspiration derives from the Greek word, theopneustos, which is used only
once in the New Testament (2 Tim
...
9 Christ used another phrase when He referred to the Old Testament
writings as “every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt
...
David also declared,
“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue
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Sam
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10
Paul wrote to Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be
8

Norman Geisler and William Nix
...
(Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2012), 16
...
al
...
“The term in 2
...
3:16 rendered “inspired by God” may literally mean “Godspirited): it alludes to the work of God’s Spirit as the medium of inspiration
...

9

thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim
...
That is, the Old Testament
Writings (Scriptures) are theopneustos “God Breathed,” and thus, authoritative for the doctrines
and practices of the believers
...
”12
Another great pericope in the NT on the inspiration of the Bible is 2 Pet
...
” “In other words, the prophets were men
whose messages did not originate with their own impulse but were “Spirit-moved
...
”13
With that being said, Geisler and Nix in their book offers this theological definition of
Inspiration:
Properly speaking, it is only the product that is inspired, not the persons
...
It is the Bible that is inspired and not the
human authors
...

However, since the Holy Spirit did, as Peter said, moved upon the men who
produced the inspired writings, we may by extension refer to inspiration in a
broader sense
...
14
The general claim for inspiration in the OT is based firmly upon the fact that it presented
itself to and was received by the People of God as prophetic utterance (2 Pet
...
Books

11

Geisler and Nix, 16
...
al
...

13
Geisler and Nix, 16
...

12

that were written by God’s prophets were preserved in a holy place (Deut
...
In fact, the
key to the inspiration of the OT is the prophetic function of its writers
...
There are a number of definite/precise claims in the individual books and
different sections (law, prophets, and writings) as to their divine origin
...
1:1; 8:9; 11:1; Num
...
1:3 and a few other instances
...
24:26; Judges
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3:11; 1 Sam
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29:29 and quiet a number of other instances throughout
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3:9-10; 3:5, 15; Ecc
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16 The NT
also testifies to the OT being sacred and divinely inspired both by Bible writers (Paul, Peter,
Luke & others) and Jesus Christ Himself (instances in the gospels)
...
Truth
be told, the issue of inspiration whether of the OT, NT or the Bible on a whole could take over
this entire research and satisfy some but still leave questions for others; consequently, I will
quickly run on to dealing with the authority of the OT despite the overwhelming information on
the inspiration of the OT
...

Ibid, 38 – 40
...
17 At the center of this authority is not so much
what the Bible tells us to do, even though its commands and instructions ought to be heeded
...
The evidence of such
statement is found in that the fact if the Bible tells us that an earthquake happened, we believe it
happened; if the Bible tells us that someone or something existed, we believe that it did indeed
existed; these are mere examples of the implication of its authority
...
18 Walton and Hill explains,
We are compelled by its (The bible) authority to accept this picture of God,
place it in the center of our worldview, and make it the basis for everything
we think and do
...
In our reorientation of the Old Testament, we need to come to know
the Old Testament not as laws and history, psalms and prophecy, but as God’s
authoritative revelation of Himself
...
Almost uniformly the
words “Scripture” or “Scriptures” in the NT referred to the OT (e
...
John 5:9; 10:35; Acts 8:32;
Gal
...
3:16) with 2 Pet
...
For about two decades after Christ the
only parts of the NT I existence were only fragmentations (fragmentary accounts) of his life and
teachings
...
Walton and Andrew E
...
Old Testament Today: A journey from original meaning to
contemporary significance
...
(Grand Rapids: MI: Zondervan, 1952-), 8
...

19
Ibid, 8
...
20
The Messiah recognized the binding authority of the Scripture, whilst reserving for
himself the right to be its only true interpreter
...
On the contrary, Christ appealed frequently to the Scriptures
as the grounds for his claims and teachings
...
21
Alike the issue of revelation and inspiration, the matter of the authority of the OT and the
entire Bible is also another enigmatic issue
...
According to Ekkhardt Mueller in his article on The Revelation, Inspiration, and
Authority of Scripture, in the ministry magazine, “the discussion of these issues creates heat
because they have far-reaching implications in fundamentally important arenas of theology
...
”22 The truth is, for
as long as the Scriptures exists, their will debates and most times unnecessary controversy over
these three issues and as the years go by, the views will continue flowing in; consequently,

20

LaSor, et
...
, 585
...
al
...

22
Ekkhardt Mueller
...
Ministry magazine: The Revelation, Inspiration, and Authority of Scripture
...
https://www
...
org/archive/2000/04/the-revelation-inspiration-and-authority-of-scripture
...
January 31, 2016)
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The Formation of the Old Testament
1In

the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word
came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the
words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other
nations from the time I began speaking to you in the reign of Josiah till
now
...
(Jer
...
NIV)
Oral tradition (Oral transmission of the OT)
The whole matter of oral tradition in biblical studies has a rather long history and a vast
amount of controversies in certain areas; consequently, I will only be surveying it in brief
...
Because it was accepted that Moses
had written the first five books of the Bible, some assumed that he must have had oral traditions
concerning those things recorded in the book of Genesis which had occurred before his
lifetime
...
Their views on oral tradition were quite

Robert C
...
” Oral Tradition and Biblical Studies, no
...
oraltradition
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pdf
...
For Wellhausen (1844-1918), authors and documents were the critical elements in any
study of composition of the Bible
...
His
version of the literary analysis of the Pentateuch entails four documents: J was the Yahwist
Document/source (ninth century B
...
E
...
Wellhausen
assumed that oral tradition lay behind the documents but consisted of individual stories only
loosely related to each other and bound originally to localities having special features like sacred
sites or geographical oddities reflected in the stories
...
Gunkel began from a basic distinction
which he made between the literature of ancient peoples and the literature of modern times
...
25
The notion of Gattung (German), sometimes translated in English as “form” but more
recently as “genre,” is a key concept in Gunkel’s general approach which he referred to as
Gattungsgeschichte but which is known in English as “form criticism
...
Even when writing and authors took over, ancient
patterns were still employed
...

Ibid, 32-33
...
Gunkel does not indicate how he arrived at his approach to biblical literature or where he
came by his perception of oral tradition, although he acknowledges a general debt to Johann
Gottfried Herder, a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic (1744-1803)
...

Not only are biblical texts by and large located in close affinity to speech, but the form critical
project has turned out to be largely misconceived
...
They invite us to be suspicious of imagining tradition
exclusively in closed-space, text-to-text relations, and instead to grow accustomed to notions
such as compositional dictation, memorial apperception, auditory reception, and the interfacing
of memory and manuscript
...
John Miles Foley's observation that “what we are wrestling
with is an inadequate theory of verbal art”27 applies with particular force to biblical studies
...
It is product of a distant time and place
and has endured centuries-long process of editing, collecting, copying, and translating
...

John Miles Foley
...
(Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1991)
...

28
Werner H
...
” Oral Tradition in Bible and Biblical Studies, no
...
jhu
...
1kelber
...

26
27

have been combined and transmitted by devoted but fallible hands
...
Of course a true Bible scholar or even simple
Bible students can answer questions like these and other questions related to the languages of the
Old and New Testament
...

One of the advantages of written language over other mediums of communication is its
precision
...
In addition, the reader can comprehend more fully and
precisely the thought transmitted through written expressions
...
Written languages provides a means by which a thought or expression can be
preserved rather than lost through memory lapse or vacillation of thought into other realms
...
A
written expression carries with it a note of finality not inherent in other modes of communication
at the time
...
Lastly, another
advantage of written language over other mediums of communication is its ability to be
propagated or disseminated
...
al
...

Geisler and Nix, 164-5
...
31
Biblical Languages
According to Geisler and Nix,
The languages used in recording God’s revelation in the Bible come from
the Semitic and Indo-European families of languages
...
In addition to them, Latin and Greek represent the IndoEuropean family
...
32
Being that the two languages of the Old Testament are Hebrew and Aramaic,
members of the Semitic33 family, we will only be focusing briefly on the two
immediately after I share a table that LaSor and company have drafted to show the
geographical classification of the kindred Semitic languages
...


Northeast
Semitic

Northwest
Semitic

Southeast
Semitic

Babylonian

Aramaic

Old South Arabic

Assyrian34

Amorite

Ethiopic

Eblaite35

Southwest
Semitic

Moabite

31

Arabic

Ibid, 164-5
...

33
LaSor, et
...
, 607
...

34
LaSor et
...
Babylonian and Assyrian are collectively called “Akkadian”
32

Phoenician
Ugaritic
Hebrew

Hebrew
This is the primary language of the Old Testament and it is particularly suited for
its task of relating the biography of God’s people and His dealing with them
...
In addition, Hebrew is a personal language, it
address its self to the heart and emotions rather than to the mind and reason alone
...
36
The similarities/harmony between Hebrew and the other Canaanite languages are
recognized by the Old Testament itself, for one of the names applied to it is literary “lip
of Canaan” in Isa
...
37 This Semitic language was developed between River Jordan
and the Mediterranean Sea (Canaan) during the latter half of the second millennium BCE
...
It was to be the language of the Bible as well as the idiom in which people would
compose a large part of its literature, both prose and verse, a language which in spite of
periods of obscurity has never completed disappeared, and survives in our own time with

35

Ibid, 833
...
Some scholars
consider it Akkadian
...

37
LaSor, et
...
, 607
...
38 For Jews, it was the language of
sanctity, the holy tongue
...
39
The Hebrew texts were written in the Paleo-Hebrew script, which was borrowed
and adapted from the Phoenicians
...
e
...
The Paleo-Hebrew script apparently
gave way to the square type of the writing more characteristic of Aramaic about 200
B
...
, although the ancient style is found on occasion in the Dead Sea Scrolls, particularly
in referring to the divine name, Yahweh (YHWH)
...
40
The written vowels which appear in printed Hebrew Bibles were added shortly
after A
...
500 by the Masoretes
...
Hebrew
words, like those of other Semitic languages, are usually based on roots containing three
consonants
...
For example words based on the root
mlk includes melek “king,” malkâ “queen,” malkuṯ “rulership,” malaṯ “he ruled,” and
mamlaṯâ “kingdom
...
A History of the Hebrew Language
...

39
Ibid, 1-2
...
al
...

41
LaSor, et
...
, 609
...
For instance, there are two basic tense in Hebrew, the perfect and the
imperfect tense, which actually denote kind of action (that is, whether completed or not)
rather than time distinctions (usually determined from the context)
...
For instance, coordinate
clauses are found far more commonly than the subordination familiar in English
...
During
the sixth century B
...
it became the basic language throughout the entire Near- East
...
2:4 -7:28
...
During the heyday of the Persian Empire (ca
...
The
Hellenizing conquest\s of Alexander spread Greek throughout this area, but it supplanted
Aramaic only partially and gradually, as the New Testament suggests
...
For this reason, scholars have refrain and have become

42

Ibid, 609
...

44
LaSor, et
...
, 609
...

43

extremely cautious about branding passages in the Hebrew Bible “late” on the basis of
Aramaic words occurring in them
...
31:47)
...
701; 2 Kings
...
Later it
was adopted as the first language of many commoners during the Captivity and
afterwards
...
47
Text
The scroll or the roll was the standard form in which Scriptures were preserved in
OT times
...
Made of delicately prepared leather (parchment), the
scrolls are composed of many pieces sewn together and carefully scraped
...
The task of the scribes was rather laborious and took pain to mark both
horizontal and perpendicular lines on the leather to serve as guides for the lines and
columns (Jer
...
48
The earliest biblical documents are said to have probably be written on papyrus
...
al
...

Ibid, 609
...

47

1100’s the latest
...
Although the Harris
papyrus49 measures more than 120 feet, scrolls longer than about 30 feet were difficult to
make and awkward to handle
...
50
The more formal writing was on papyrus, but many other materials were used,
generally for shorter messages: tablets of wood, clay or wax, and fragments of broken
pottery
...
The transition from papyrus to leather apparently took place in the
late pre-Christian centuries
...
D
...
51

The Concept of Canonicity
“People of the book” has often been a phrase used to refer to the three oldest and
largest monotheistic religions in the world, i
...
Judaism, Christianity and
Islam
...
Its technical designation is
Papyrus British Museum EA 9999
...
” It was found in a tomb near Medinet Habu, across the Nile river from Luxor, Egypt, and purchased by
collector Anthony Charles Harris (1790–1869) in 1855; it entered the collection of the British Museum in 1872
...
al
...

51
Ibid, 610
...
It is a truism that Christianity was basically born with a book in her
hands; the same book that Jesus and His sincere followers revered, the faithful OT which
was of course the Hebrew Bible then
...
I have already examined and
dealt with the word “Conon” in the introduction by way of definition; as a result, I will
now quickly run deeper in the issue of canonicity
...
”52 Nevertheless, they have
notified us that there are however, ample materials to provide us with an overall sketch
and illustration of some crucial links
...

It is quite evident through history and scripture, that there was a collection and
immediate progression of the prophetic writings/books included in the canon
...

31:24-26; 2 Kings 22:8; Josh
...
In addition to that (the collection, preservation and
progression of prophetic writings), there appear to be some form of continuity among the
writings themselves
...


linked his or her history to that of his predecessors to produce an unbroken chain of
books
...
There are
scholars who endorses the fact that there have always been three parts to the OT canon
(Hebrew Bible/Jewish Canon) with the resolution that there is enough evident to prove
such a fact, whilst on the contrary, other scholars believe that the evidence put forward
for a three-partite canon is false and canon withstand critical, constructive and biblical
scrutiny/criticism
...
e
...
” Our
Christian community is most definitely acquainted with the concept of a three-partite
canon, and most of us stick this world view, and then we have other who hold to a twopartite canon, both scholars and ordinary members alike
...
C
...
C
...
),
when Ben Sira’s grandson who translated the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus, referred

53

Geisler and Nix, 108
...
54
Those who refute the idea of a three-partite canon will tell you that there is no
substantial evidence to back any of the claims of a third division, especially rejecting the
idea that the third part was canonized in 90 C
...
when the so-called “Council of Jamnia”
met
...
56
I cannot end this segment without mentioning that, in almost every religious
debate within Christendom, there is always a third group amongst the debaters who
stands neutral, and declares that once the issue is not slavific then they will not make a
commotion or ruckus over it
...

The Test of Canonicity
During and throughout the time when the canonical books of the Bible were being written
and afterward, other literatures were produced which was asserted to be the word of God
...
al
...

Geisler and Nix, 111
...

55

to judge the validity of these claims
...
However, these tests enable us to
recognize whether or not any literature is canonical or worthy of canonization
...
Upon the believing community laid the
task of positively discriminating and deciding which books were from God
...

In the test of canonicity, a number of questions were being asked and explored
...
Different scholars shares
different questions and postulates them with different wordings of which they assume or have
gained from researches and investigations on the matter of canonicity
...

Some of the variables considered, though refuted by some scholars, are partially helpful
and does assist canonicity
...
Antiquity assists
...
e
...
The books being in agreement with the Torah (the
Law) assists with canonization
...
The view that the book’s religious value helps to determine canonicity is not

altogether wrong either or far-fetched but must be carefully used
...
For it is said
that “the books of the Bible are not considered God-given because they are found to have value
in them; they are valuable because they are given by God—the source of all value
...
There must be an
inclusion of them all, for they are very shaky and even inaccurate if stand alone
...
These
are:
1
...
Does the book claim to be divinely inspired? Is it
inspired?
2
...
Is the book written, by an accredited agent of God,
such as a prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, or one of His apostles?
3
...
Is the book factually true? It is noteworthy?
4
...
Was the book universally recognized by the Jews and/or by the
Christian church as being God's Word? Does the Holy Spirit bear witness to the
regenerated reader that the book is His Word?
5
...
Does the book agree doctrinally with the teachings of known
canonical books? While there is progression in the Bible's revelation of doctrine, there is

57

Geisler and Nix, 92
...
Is the content of the book of such spiritual character that it is in
harmony with the dignity and majesty of God?
Then, some scholar formulates these variables and tests in the form of some simple
questions
...
They are as follows:
1
...

3
...

5
...
As a result, whether we choose to examine the variables, work with the different tests
which falls under the test of canonicity or whether we want to do like Geisler and Nix and put
them in a question form, we are sure to have some form of rubric that the people used to test the
canonical books that form the Old and New Testament that we have today
...

Yet, it survived, the malignant and carcinogenic attacks to its existence, from its embryonic stage
till now
...

It is a fascinating book, and carries much more drama to it than the New Testament
...


this two or three partite canon to soap-operas, action-war movies and all sorts of real life
instances, but more important, is the message and the underling factor of the OT; more important
is the person, that all the writings of the OT points to; more important is the God the literatures
of the OT highlights
...
Old Testament: Canon, Literature and Theology: Collected Essays of
John Barton
...
, 2013
...
“Oral Tradition
...
1(January 1986):
30-31, assessed January 10, 2016,
http://journal
...
org/files/articles/1i/3_culley
...

Coogan, Michael
...
USA: Oxford University Press,
2008
...
2003
...
April
...
ministrymagazine
...
(accessed
...

Elwolde, John and Angel Sáenz-Badillos
...
Cambridge CB2
8RU, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1996
...
and John H
...
Old Testament Today: A journey from original meaning to
contemporary significance
...

Hill, Andrew E
...
Walton
...
Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2004
...
and John H
...
A Survey of the Old Testament
...

John Miles Foley
...

Bloomington: Indiana University Press1991
...
, David A
...
Bush
...
2nd
...

Eerdmans Pub
...
, 1996
...
Formation of the Bible: the Story of the Church's Canon
...

McDonald, Lee Martin
...
Peabody,
Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2007
...
Old Testament Theology: Its History and Development
...

Toorn, A Van Debeek and Karel Van Der
...
Leiden, South
Holland: BRILL, 1998
...
Kelber, “Oral Tradition
...
2 (January
2003): 40-41, assessed January 10, 2016,
https://muse
...
edu/journals/oral_tradition/summary/v018/18
...
html
...
The Essence of the Old Testament: A Survey
...




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