The Age of the Books of the Bible


This is a list of the books of the Bible in the approximate order in which they were written. I say "approximate" because there are three factors that greatly complicate such a list:

  1. Nobody knows exactly when most books were written.
  2. There is much disagreement about when most books were written, with opinions differing by many centuries at times.
  3. Some books were written over the course of many centuries, being compilations of oral histories and records from different sources, and even being edited or updated by later authors.
Order: The order in which the book appears in the standard Protestant Bible.
Name: The commonly understood name.
Author: The traditional, primary, and/or probable author(s). Some books were written by multiple authors and others were edited, translated, or compiled by a later scribe, like Ezra, working from a collection of manuscripts or oral traditions.
Subject Period: The period of time covered by the books contents. Like the date of authorship, the subject period is a fuzzy concept for many books. Some books combine historical narrative with prophecy of the future (Isaiah, for example), and the precise subject period of prophecy is always up for interpretation.
Written: The approximate period of time in which the book was written. Some books, like the Psalms, were written over vast periods of time and other books are of very uncertain date, so their placement in the list is fuzzy, to say the least.

OrderNameAuthor(s)Subject PeriodWritten
1 GenesisMoses4000-1600 BC2000-1400 BC
2 ExodusMoses1600-1400 BC1600-1400 BC
3 LeviticusMoses1600-1400 BC1600-1400 BC
4 NumbersMoses1600-1400 BC1600-1400 BC
5 DeuteronomyMoses, Joshua1600-1400 BC1600-1400 BC
6 JoshuaJoshua, Phinehas1500-1300 BC1500-1300 BC
7 JudgesSamuel/Unknown1500-1000 BC1400-900 BC
8 RuthUnknown1100-1000 BC1050-900 BC
9 1 SamuelSamuel, Nathan, Gad, Jeremiah, Unknown1000-700 BC1000-500 BC
10 2 SamuelSamuel, Nathan, Gad, Jeremiah, Unknown1000-700 BC1000-500 BC
19 PsalmsDavid, Asaph, et al1600-400 BC1600-400 BC
22 Song of SolomonSolomon1000-950 BC1000-900 BC
20 ProverbsSolomon, Agur/Hezekiah, Lemuel1000-700 BC1000-700 BC
18 JobUnknown2000-1500 BC1000-500 BC
21 EcclesiastesSolomon950-900 BC950-900 BC
31 ObadiahObadiahProphetic900-550 BC
29 JoelJoelProphetic850-600 BC
32 JonahJonah800-750 BC800-750 BC
30 AmosAmosProphetic800-725 BC
28 HoseaHoseaProphetic750-700 BC
33 MicahMicahProphetic750-700 BC
23 IsaiahIsaiah and compiler700-500 BC700-500 BC
34 NahumNahumProphetic650-600 BC
35 HabakkukHabakkukProphetic650-600 BC
36 ZephaniahZephaniahProphetic650-600 BC
11 1 KingsJeremiah/Unknown950 BC-850 BC650-570 BC
12 2 KingsJeremiah/Unknown855 BC-560 BC650-570 BC
24 JeremiahJeremiah and compilerProphetic600-550 BC
26 EzekielEzekielProphetic600-550 BC
25 LamentationsJeremiah/Zedakiah/Unknown600-550 BC600-500 BC
38 ZechariahZechariahProphetic550-500 BC
27 DanielDanielProphetic550-500 BC
37 HaggaiHaggaiProphetic550-500 BC
17 EstherUnknown500-400 BC500-300 BC
15 EzraEzra500-400 BC450-400 BC
16 NehemiahNehemiah450-400 BC450-400 BC
39 MalachiMalachiProphetic450-400 BC
13 1 ChroniclesEzra4000-400 BC450-400 BC
14 2 ChroniclesEzra4000-400 BC450-400 BC
59 JamesJames the Just40-50 AD40-50 AD
40 MatthewMatthew10 BC-30 AD40-65 AD
41 MarkMark, Peter10 BC-30 AD45-53 AD
48 GalatiansPaul47-55 AD47-55 AD
52 1 ThessaloniansPaul50-55 AD50-55 AD
53 2 ThessaloniansPaul50-55 AD50-55 AD
45 RomansPaul54-57 AD54-57 AD
42 LukeLuke10 BC-30 AD60-64 AD
46 1 CorinthiansPaul50-60 AD54-56 AD
47 2 CorinthiansPaul50-60 AD50-55 AD
44 ActsLuke30-65 AD60-64 AD
49 EphesiansPaul60-65 AD60-65 AD
50 PhilippiansPaul60-65 AD60-65 AD
51 ColossiansPaul60-65 AD60-65 AD
54 1 TimothyPaul60-65 AD60-65 AD
57 PhilemonPaul60-65 AD60-65 AD
60 1 PeterPeter60-65 AD60-65 AD
56 TitusPaul60-65 AD60-67 AD
55 2 TimothyPaul65-70 AD62-67 AD
58 HebrewsApollos(?)65-70 AD65-70 AD
61 2 PeterPeter65-70 AD65-70 AD
65 JudeJude65-70 AD65-70 AD
43 JohnJohn10 BC-30 AD60-96 AD
62 1 JohnJohn90-95 AD90-95 AD
63 2 JohnJohn90-95 AD90-95 AD
64 3 JohnJohn90-95 AD90-95 AD
66 RevelationJohnProphetic90-100 AD
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3 comments:

  1. DanielJuly 9, 2020 at 9:51 PM

    Oooh. Thank you. I have been working on a supernatural history of earth, and these authorship ranges are the most consistent and flexible/generous I have found. I'll be using this a lot. Bless you.

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    Replies
    1. jay cJuly 10, 2020 at 8:58 AM

      You're welcome, Daniel!

      FYI. I just updated it again to move the writing of Job to a later date based on information from Dr. Michael Heiser. It sounds to me like Job is about the patriarchal period, but written at a much later date and in a style that was intended to evoke an ancient feel without making it too difficult to comprehend by contemporary readers. Alternatively, it could be a later adaptation of an earlier work with some of the archaic language left unchanged.

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    2. DanielJuly 13, 2020 at 5:21 PM

      Dating the authorship is very tricky and imprecise, but it is clear that the generally tighter, more recent dating trend was ideological. It was critical for both Enlightenment scholars and the Catholic Church, for example, to date the Book of Daniel to as close to AD 1 as possible without being ridiculous.

      This list is fat more reasonable, although even with Heiser's dating, I could see Job being inspired by more ancient source material. In any case I love the style of that book, possibly because of its unique pastiche.

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