Dating the Bible

• Late 8th–early 7th: Amos (initial composition of earliest layer, Amos 2:6-9:10);^[9] "First Isaiah" (Isaiah 1–39),^[10] Hosea,^[11] Micah (second half).^[12]
• 7th: Nahum (based on its assumption of the fall of Thebes and call for the destruction of Nineveh),^[13] Zephaniah (in the reign of Josiah, c. 649–609 BCE),^[14] Habakkuk (possibly shortly before the battle of Carchemish, 605 BCE);^[15] first edition of the Deuteronomistic history (books of Joshua/Judges/Samuel/Kings) in the reign of Josiah;^[16] Deuteronomy 5–26 in the reign of Josiah.^[17]

• Core of Obadiah around the fall of Jerusalem, 586 BCE.^[18]
• Completion of Deuteronomistic history (Joshua/Judges/Samuel/Kings).^[19]
• Deuteronomy expanded with addition of chapters 1–4 and 29–30 to serve as an introduction to the Deuteronomistic history.^[17]
• Jeremiah active in the last decade of the 7th century and first decades of the 6th;^[20]
• Ezekiel active in Babylon 592–571 BCE;^[21]
• "Second Isaiah" (author of Isaiah 40–55) active in Babylon around mid-century.^[22]
• Expansion and reshaping of Hosea, Amos, Micah and Zephaniah.^[23]
• Possible early Psalms collection (psalms "of David") ending with psalm 89.^[23]

• Torah (books of Genesis/Exodus/Leviticus/Numbers), with 250 BCE as terminus ad quem (last possible date) for the production of the final text on the basis of the extant manuscript evidence.^[24][25]
• Deuteronomy revised with expansions to chapters 19–25 and addition of chapter 27 and 31–34 to serve as conclusion to the Torah.^[17]
• "Third Isaiah" (Isaiah 56–66)^[22]
• Later version (the Masoretic Hebrew version) of Jeremiah^[26]
• Haggai (self-dated to the second year of the Persian king Darius 520 BCE),^[27]
• Zechariah (chapters 1–8 contemporary with Haggai, chapters 9–14 from the 5th century)^[28]
• Malachi (5th century BCE, contemporaneous or immediately prior to the missions of Nehemiah and Ezra)^[29]
• Chronicles (between 400–250 BC, probably in the period 350–300 BCE)^[30]
• Origins of Ezra–Nehemiah (may have reached its final form as late as the Ptolemaic period, c. 300–200 BCE).^[31]

• Job, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs (Could have been written in the 4th or even 5th centuries, but seem to reflect contact with Greek culture).^[32]
• Book of Jonah (Persian or Hellenistic, no later than 2nd century BCE).^[33]
• Most of the individual psalms making up the final third of the Book of Psalms.^[34]

• Daniel (164 BCE, combining newly-written visions, chapters 7–12, with the Persian and Hellenistic tales of chapters 1–6).^[35]
• 1 Maccabees/2 Maccabees/3 Maccabees/possibly 4 Maccabees; Tobit, Judith, Additions to Daniel and Additions to Esther^{[citation needed]}
• Wisdom of Solomon late 1st century BCE or early to mid 1st century CE.^[32]

• 4 Maccabees (after 63 BCE, probably mid-1st century CE).^[36]
• Wisdom of Solomon (late 1st century BCE or early to mid 1st century CE).^[32]
• New Testament (between c. 50–110 CE – see Table IV).

The five books are drawn from four "sources" (distinct schools of writers rather than individuals): the Priestly source, the Yahwist and the Elohist (these two are often referred to collectively as the "non-Priestly" source), and the Deuteronomist.^[37] There is general agreement that the Priestly source is post-exilic, but there is no agreement over the non-Priestly source(s).^[37]

• Genesis is a post-exilic work combining "Priestly" and "non-Priestly" material.^[37]
• Exodus is an anthology drawn from nearly all periods of Israel's history.^[38]
• Leviticus is entirely Priestly and dates from the exilic/post-exilic period.^[39]
• Numbers is a Priestly redaction (i.e., editing) of a Yahwistic/non-Priestly original.^[40]
• Deuteronomy, now the last book of the Torah, began as the set of religious laws (these make up the bulk of the book), was extended in the early part of the 6th century to serve as the introduction to the Deuteronomistic history, and later still was detached from that history, extended yet again, and edited to conclude the Torah.^[41]

Book of Joshua
Book of Judges
Books of Samuel
Books of Kings

Book of Isaiah
Book of Jeremiah
Book of Ezekiel

The Book of Jeremiah exists in two versions, Greek (the version used in Orthodox Christian Bibles) and Hebrew (Jewish, Catholic and Protestant Bibles), with the Greek representing the earlier version.^[44] The Greek version was probably finalised in the early Persian period and translated into Greek in the 3rd century BCE, and the Hebrew version dates from some point between then and the 2nd century BCE.^[45]

The Book of Ezekiel describes itself as the words of the Ezekiel ben-Buzi, a priest living in exile in the city of Babylon, and internal evidence dates the visions to between 593 and 571 BCE. While the book probably reflects much of the historic Ezekiel, it is the product of a long and complex history, with significant additions by a "school" of later followers.^[46][47]

• Book of Hosea: second half of the 8th century BCE^[11]
• Book of Joel: late Persian or Hellenistic^[51]
• Book of Amos: first half of the 8th century BCE^[52]
• Book of Obadiah: around the time of the fall of Jerusalem, 586 BCE^[18]
• Book of Jonah: Persian or Hellenistic, no later than 2nd century BCE^[33]
• Book of Micah: c. 750–700 BCE^[53]
• Book of Nahum: an "oracle concerning Nineveh", the Assyrian city destroyed in 612 BCE^[54]
• Book of Habakkuk: possibly shortly before the battle of Carchemish, 605 BCE^[15]
• Book of Zephaniah: reign of Josiah^[14]
• Book of Haggai: self-dated to the second year of the Persian king Darius (Darius the Great), 520 BCE^[27]
• Book of Zechariah: first eight chapters contemporary with Haggai; chapters 9–14 from the 5th century^[55]
• Book of Malachi: 5th century BCE, contemporaneous or immediately prior to the missions of Nehemiah and Ezra (which, however, are themselves difficult to date)^[29]