The Canon Of The Old Testament
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Rob VandeWeghe
Apr 25, 2013, 6:00:03 AM4/25/13
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Article Title: The Canon Of The Old Testament
Author: Rob VandeWeghe
Word Count: 527
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=192992&ca=Religion
Format: 64cpl
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The word canon is derived from the Greek word kanon (�kanon�), a rod, ruler, staff, or measuring rod. The Biblical canon is the list of books recognized by the leaders of the church, based on objective criteria, to be inspired by God and to authoritatively and accurately express the historical relationship between God and His people.
For the Old Testament, the canon was initially implicit and undisputed. When the Torah was written, it was immediately recognized as inspired by God, handled with great reverence, maintained by the priests and stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Most other books of the Old Testament were handled in the same manner. While the Jewish nation was flourishing under judges and kings, and prophets were recognized as men from God, their history and prophecies were written and protected by the priests and scribes. After the captivities of the two Jewish kingdoms and the scattering of the people this became problematic. Even so, the work was still manageable as the priests in Jerusalem continued to maintain the Scriptures.
The first serious discussion about the canon began with the translation of the Septuagint or LXX (the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek in Alexandria, Egypt around 285 BC). A number of texts included in the LXX were not part of the Scriptures recognized by Jerusalem. These are mostly writings after 400 BC, whereas Jews in Jerusalem considered Malachi (ca. 450 BC) the last prophet. The Hebrew canon had informally been established before 150 BC; this is corroborated by various rabbinical writings of those days stating �the voice of God had ceased to speak directly.� In other words, the prophetic voice had gone quiet, as without prophets there is no new scriptural revelation.
The rise of Christianity (which, in its earliest days, used only the LXX) caused Jewish leaders to recognize the need for a formal canon. Likely by the end of the first century the canon of the Hebrew Old Testament had been officially closed. Some claim this happened at the Council of Jamnia around 100 AD. Most scholars now believe that there was never a council, but that the Rabbinic school at Jamnia became the substitute for the Sanhedrin after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and through the teachings of the school, the canon was fixed in the 70-135 AD period.
The completed canon of the Hebrew Bible contains the same books and texts (in a slightly different order) as the modern Protestant Old Testament. However, in 1546 the Roman Catholic clergy accepted the entirety of the Septuagint as the canon for its Old Testament. Therefore Roman Catholic Bibles contain additional books of the OT Apocrypha (also known as deuterocanonical � �second canon�). These are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (also called Sirach or Ben Sira), Baruch (including the Letter of Jeremiah), First and Second Maccabees, and additions to the books of Esther and Daniel.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has accepted the Septuagint as the definition of the canon for its Old Testament, adding further the books of First Esdras, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, and Third Maccabees, with Fourth Maccabees as an appendix.
About The Author: Rob VandeWeghe is a sceptic turned Christian by studying the foundations for Christianity. Read more about the Old Testament at http://www.windmillministries.org/CH9.htm Rob�s book �Prepared to Answer� and more evidences for Christianity are available at http://www.windmillministries.org.
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=192992
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
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Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Rob VandeWeghe
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=192992
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=192992
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: The Canon Of The Old Testament
Author: Rob VandeWeghe
Word Count: 527
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=192992&ca=Religion
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=192992
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=192992
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
The word canon is derived from the Greek word kanon (�kanon�), a rod, ruler, staff, or measuring rod. The Biblical canon is the list of books recognized by the leaders of the church, based on objective criteria, to be inspired by God and to authoritatively and accurately express the historical relationship between God and His people.
For the Old Testament, the canon was initially implicit and undisputed. When the Torah was written, it was immediately recognized as inspired by God, handled with great reverence, maintained by the priests and stored in the Ark of the Covenant. Most other books of the Old Testament were handled in the same manner. While the Jewish nation was flourishing under judges and kings, and prophets were recognized as men from God, their history and prophecies were written and protected by the priests and scribes. After the captivities of the two Jewish kingdoms and the scattering of the people this became problematic. Even so, the work was still manageable as the priests in Jerusalem continued to maintain the Scriptures.
The first serious discussion about the canon began with the translation of the Septuagint or LXX (the translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek in Alexandria, Egypt around 285 BC). A number of texts included in the LXX were not part of the Scriptures recognized by Jerusalem. These are mostly writings after 400 BC, whereas Jews in Jerusalem considered Malachi (ca. 450 BC) the last prophet. The Hebrew canon had informally been established before 150 BC; this is corroborated by various rabbinical writings of those days stating �the voice of God had ceased to speak directly.� In other words, the prophetic voice had gone quiet, as without prophets there is no new scriptural revelation.
The rise of Christianity (which, in its earliest days, used only the LXX) caused Jewish leaders to recognize the need for a formal canon. Likely by the end of the first century the canon of the Hebrew Old Testament had been officially closed. Some claim this happened at the Council of Jamnia around 100 AD. Most scholars now believe that there was never a council, but that the Rabbinic school at Jamnia became the substitute for the Sanhedrin after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and through the teachings of the school, the canon was fixed in the 70-135 AD period.
The completed canon of the Hebrew Bible contains the same books and texts (in a slightly different order) as the modern Protestant Old Testament. However, in 1546 the Roman Catholic clergy accepted the entirety of the Septuagint as the canon for its Old Testament. Therefore Roman Catholic Bibles contain additional books of the OT Apocrypha (also known as deuterocanonical � �second canon�). These are Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (also called Sirach or Ben Sira), Baruch (including the Letter of Jeremiah), First and Second Maccabees, and additions to the books of Esther and Daniel.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has accepted the Septuagint as the definition of the canon for its Old Testament, adding further the books of First Esdras, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, and Third Maccabees, with Fourth Maccabees as an appendix.
About The Author: Rob VandeWeghe is a sceptic turned Christian by studying the foundations for Christianity. Read more about the Old Testament at http://www.windmillministries.org/CH9.htm Rob�s book �Prepared to Answer� and more evidences for Christianity are available at http://www.windmillministries.org.
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=192992
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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