Authors of the Bible

This list of authors of the Bible gives the traditional and modern scholarly views. The books of the Old Testament are listed according to their order in the Jewish Tanakh.
==Table==
===Old Testament===
(This table follows the canon of the Hebrew bible. The various Christian canons - Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox - differ significantly, both in the books regarded as biblical and in the order in which they are presented)
Book 	Author according totraditional thought 	Author according tomodern thought
Genesis 	Moses: A few early authors, notably Josephus and Philo, believed that Moses wrote the entire Torah, including the account of his own death; later Talmudic scholars felt it more likely that this section at least was written by another. The problem of Genesis, to which Moses was not an eyewitness, also gave rise to alternative theories, expressed in the Oral Torah and the midrashim.	Documentary hypothesis: Various unnamed editors combining originally complete and independent documents;From the Introduction to Richard Elliot Friedman's The Bible with Sources Revealed, 2003. OR Supplementary hypothesis: Various anonymous authors making additions (supplements) to a base text; OR Fragmentary hypothesis: Single unknown author drawing on multiple documentary and oral sources.
Exodus 	Moses: A few early authors, notably Josephus and Philo, believed that Moses wrote the entire Torah, including the account of his own death; later Talmudic scholars felt it more likely that this section at least was written by another. The problem of Genesis, to which Moses was not an eyewitness, also gave rise to alternative theories, expressed in the Oral Torah and the midrashim.	Documentary hypothesis: Various unnamed editors combining originally complete and independent documents;From the Introduction to Richard Elliot Friedman's The Bible with Sources Revealed, 2003. OR Supplementary hypothesis: Various anonymous authors making additions (supplements) to a base text; OR Fragmentary hypothesis: Single unknown author drawing on multiple documentary and oral sources.
Leviticus 	Moses: A few early authors, notably Josephus and Philo, believed that Moses wrote the entire Torah, including the account of his own death; later Talmudic scholars felt it more likely that this section at least was written by another. The problem of Genesis, to which Moses was not an eyewitness, also gave rise to alternative theories, expressed in the Oral Torah and the midrashim.	Documentary hypothesis: Various unnamed editors combining originally complete and independent documents;From the Introduction to Richard Elliot Friedman's The Bible with Sources Revealed, 2003. OR Supplementary hypothesis: Various anonymous authors making additions (supplements) to a base text; OR Fragmentary hypothesis: Single unknown author drawing on multiple documentary and oral sources.
Numbers 	Moses: A few early authors, notably Josephus and Philo, believed that Moses wrote the entire Torah, including the account of his own death; later Talmudic scholars felt it more likely that this section at least was written by another. The problem of Genesis, to which Moses was not an eyewitness, also gave rise to alternative theories, expressed in the Oral Torah and the midrashim.	Documentary hypothesis: Various unnamed editors combining originally complete and independent documents;From the Introduction to Richard Elliot Friedman's The Bible with Sources Revealed, 2003. OR Supplementary hypothesis: Various anonymous authors making additions (supplements) to a base text; OR Fragmentary hypothesis: Single unknown author drawing on multiple documentary and oral sources.
Deuteronomy 	Moses: A few early authors, notably Josephus and Philo, believed that Moses wrote the entire Torah, including the account of his own death; later Talmudic scholars felt it more likely that this section at least was written by another. The problem of Genesis, to which Moses was not an eyewitness, also gave rise to alternative theories, expressed in the Oral Torah and the midrashim.	Documentary hypothesis: Various unnamed editors combining originally complete and independent documents;From the Introduction to Richard Elliot Friedman's The Bible with Sources Revealed, 2003. OR Supplementary hypothesis: Various anonymous authors making additions (supplements) to a base text; OR Fragmentary hypothesis: Single unknown author drawing on multiple documentary and oral sources.
Joshua 	Joshua with a portion by Phinehas or Eleazar 	Deuteronomist using material from the Yahwist and Elohist
Judges 	Samuel 	Deuteronomist
1 Samuel 	Samuel, Gad, and Nathan 	Deuteronomist or a combination of a Jerusalem source, republican source, the court history of David, the sanctuaries source, the monarchial source, and the material of various editors who combined these sources
2 Samuel 	Samuel, Gad, and Nathan 	Deuteronomist or a combination of a Jerusalem source, republican source, the court history of David, the sanctuaries source, the monarchial source, and the material of various editors who combined these sources
1 Kings 	JeremiahWho were the authors of the books of the Bible? 	Deuteronomist
2 Kings 	JeremiahWho were the authors of the books of the Bible? 	Deuteronomist
1 Chronicles 	Ezra 	The Chronicler, writing between 450 and 435 BC, after the Babylonian captivity
2 Chronicles 	Ezra 	The Chronicler, writing between 450 and 435 BC, after the Babylonian captivity
Ezra 	Ezra 	The Chronicler, writing between 450 and 435 BC, after the Babylonian captivity
Nehemiah 	Nehemiah using some material by Ezra 	The Chronicler, writing between 450 and 435 BC, after the Babylonian captivity
Tobit 	 	A writer in the second century BC
Judith 	Eliakim (Joakim), the high priest of the story 	
Esther 	The Great Assembly using material from Mordecai 	An unknown author writing between 460 and 331 BC
1 Maccabees 	A devout Jew from the Holy Land. 	An unknown Jewish author, writing around 100 BC
2 Maccabees 	Based on the writing of Jason of Cyrene 	An unknown author, writing in the second or first century BC
3 Maccabees 	 	An Alexandrian Jew writing in Greek in the first century BC or first century AD
4 Maccabees 	Josephus 	An Alexandrian Jew writing in the first century BC or first century AD
Job 	Moses 	A writer in the 4th century BC.
Psalms 	Mainly David and also Asaph, sons of Korah, Moses, Heman the Ezrahite, Ethan the Ezrahite and Solomon 	Various authors recording oral tradition. Portions from 1000BC to 200BC.
Proverbs 	Solomon, Agur son of Jakeh, Lemuel and other wise men 	An editor compiling from various sources well after the time of Solomon
Ecclesiastes 	Solomon 	A Hebrew poet of the third or second centuries BC using the life of Solomon as a vista for the Hebrews' pursuit of Wisdom. An unknown author in Hellenistic period from two older oral sources (Eccl1:1-6:9 which claims to be Solomon, Eccl6:10-12:8 with the theme of non-knowing)
Song of Solomon 	Solomon 	
Ruth 	Samuel 	A later author, writing after the time of David
Wisdom 	Solomon 	An Alexandrian Jew writing during the Jewish Hellenistic period
Sirach 	Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem 	
Isaiah 	Isaiah 	Three main authors and an extensive editing process. Is1-39 "Historical Isaiah" with multiple layers of editing. Is40-55 Exilic & Is56-66 post-exilic.
Jeremiah 	Jeremiah 	Baruch ben Neriah. Chapters 1-6 and 10-23 seem to derive from Jeremiah himself, as dictated to Baruch.Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
Lamentations 	Jeremiah 	Disputed and perhaps based on the older Mesopotamian genre of the "city lament", of which the Lament for Ur is among the oldest and best-known
Letter of Jeremiah	Jeremiah 	A Hellenistic Jew living in Alexandria
Baruch 	Baruch ben Neriah 	An author writing during or shortly after the period of the Maccabees
Ezekiel 	Ezekiel 	Disputed, with varying degrees of attribution to Ezekiel
Daniel 	Daniel 	An editor in the fourth century to mid-second century BC
Hosea 	Hosea 	
Joel 	Joel 	
Amos 	Amos 	
Obadiah 	Obadiah 	
Jonah 	Jonah 	A post-exilic (after 530 BC) author writing under the name of the 8th century prophet
Micah 	Micah 	The first three chapters by Micah and the remainder by a later writer
Nahum 	Nahum 	
Habakkuk 	Habakkuk 	
Zephaniah 	Zephaniah 	Disputed; possibly a writer after the time period indicated by the text
Haggai 	Haggai 	
Zechariah 	Zechariah 	Zechariah (chapters 1-8); the later remaining designated Deutero-Zechariah, were possibly written by disciples of Zechariah
Malachi 	Malachi or Ezra 	Possibly the author of Deutero-Zechariah
=== New Testament ===
Book 	Author according totraditional thought 	Author according tomodern thought
Matthew 	Matthew the Evangelist is said by the early 2nd century writer Papias to have written a "Sayings of Jesus" in Aramaic. The Gospel is not a sayings collection and shows clear signs of having been composed in Greek, but it is accepted by tradition as the document referred to by Papias. Dated c.80-100 AD. 	An anonymous author who borrowed from both Mark and a source called Q
Mark 	Mark the Evangelist, otherwise known as John Mark, a cousin of Barnabas the companion of Paul and later himself a companion of Paul. According to the 4th century writer Eusebius, who claims to be quoting a lost work by the early 2nd century author Papias, Mark was asked to write his account by the Christians of Rome, and recorded the preaching of the apostle Peter. (The First Epistle of Peter, dated around 100 AD, mentions Mark as a companion of Peter). Usually dated no earlier than AD 70.	An unknown author.
Luke 	Luke the Evangelist, the companion and contemporary of Paul. The earliest representation of Luke as the author of this Gospel (and of Acts) comes from the Muratorian Canon, a catalogue of the New Testament from c.180 AD. The Gospel itself is usually dated 70-100 AD. 	An anonymous author who borrowed from both Mark and a source called Q
John 	John the Evangelist. The Church father Iranaeus reported c.180 AD that the Evangelist was John the Apostle, but there is no earlier record of the tradition that the two were identical. The first evidence of the existence of the Gospel dates from the mid 2nd century. 	An anonymous author with no direct connection to the historical Jesus Jn 21 finished after death of primary author by follower(s)
Acts 	Luke the Evangelist 	The author of Luke
Romans 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
1 Corinthians 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
2 Corinthians 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
Galatians 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
Ephesians 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle or edited dictations from Paul
Philippians 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
Colossians 	Paul the Apostle 	Disputed; perhaps Paul coauthoring with Timothy
1 Thessalonians 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
2 Thessalonians 	Paul the Apostle 	An associate or disciple after his death, representing what they believed was his messageEhrman, Bart D. (2004). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford, p.385; Beverly Roberts Gaventa, First and Second Thessalonians, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998, p.93; Vincent M. Smiles, First Thessalonians, Philippians, Second Thessalonians, Colossians, Ephesians, Liturgical Press, 2005, p.53; Udo Schnelle, translated by M. Eugene Boring, The History and Theology of the New Testament Writings (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998), pp. 315-325; M. Eugene Boring, Fred B. Craddock, The People's New Testament Commentary, Westminster John Knox Press, 2004 p652; Joseph Francis Kelly, An Introduction to the New Testament for Catholics, Liturgical Press, 2006 p.32
1 Timothy 	Paul the Apostle 	Perhaps someone associated with Paul, writing at a later date
2 Timothy 	Paul the Apostle 	Perhaps someone associated with Paul, writing after his death
Titus 	Paul the Apostle 	Perhaps someone associated with Paul, writing after his death
Philemon 	Paul the Apostle 	Paul the Apostle
Hebrews 	Paul the Apostle or possibly Luke the Evangelist, Clement of Rome or Barnabas 	An unknown author, but almost certainly not Paulhttp://religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=531&C=563 Richard Heard, Introduction To The New Testament
James 	James the Just 	A writer in the late first or early second centuries, after the death of James the Just
1 Peter 	Peter 	An author, perhaps Silas, proficient with Greek writing
2 Peter 	Peter 	Certainly not PeterCarson, D.A., and Douglas J. Moo. An Introduction to the New Testament, second edition. HarperCollins Canada; Zondervan: 2005. ISBN 0310238595, ISBN 978-0310238591. p.659.
1 John 	John the Evangelist 	An unknown author with no direct connection to the historical Jesus Same as Gospel of John.
2 John 	John the Evangelist 	An unknown author with no direct connection to the historical Jesus Final Editor of Jn 21
3 John 	John the Evangelist 	An unknown author with no direct connection to the historical Jesus Final Editor of Jn 21
Jude 	Jude the Apostle or Jude, brother of Jesus 	A pseudonymous work written between the end of the first century and the first quarter of the 2nd century
Revelation of Christ to John	John the Apostle or John the Elder 	Perhaps John of Patmos
==See also==
*Books of the Bible
==References==
*Gledhill, Tom. The Message of the Song of Songs. InterVarsity Press: 1994.
*Kidner, Derek. The Message of Ecclesiastes. InterVarsity Press: 1984.
==Notes==
Category:Biblical people
Category:Religious writers
Category:Christian Biblical canon