Last Scriptures in the Jewish Canon and Their Composition

The term "canon" refers to the collection of books recognized as the authoritative and original written rule for faith and practice ^{[1, 2]}. In the context of the Jewish canon, this primarily denotes the Old Testament, which Christians also recognize as divinely inspired ^[4]. The question of which books constitute the final Jewish canon and when they were composed has been a subject of ongoing discussion across different traditions.

For many Christian traditions, the Old Testament canon is understood to have been settled by the time of Jesus and the Apostles, who frequently referred to "the Scriptures" or "the law and the prophets" as a definite body of divine authority ^{[4, 5]}. Charles Hodge, one theologian, argues that Christ and the Apostles sanctioned the divine authority of all books contained in the volume then known as the Scriptures ^[5]. This perspective suggests that the Jewish canon was essentially closed before the New Testament era.

The traditional Jewish understanding of the canon, often referred to as the Tanakh, includes the Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). While the exact timeline of the canon's finalization is debated, rabbinic tradition, as seen in the Babylonian Talmud, sometimes refers to the Hebrew alphabet's 22 letters in connection with blessings, which some interpret as an allusion to the number of books in the Hebrew canon ^[9].

The book of Malachi is often considered the last prophetic book in the Old Testament canon by many Christian traditions. Matthew Henry, a Nonconformist commentator, views Malachi 4:4 as a "solemn conclusion" not only to that prophecy but to the entire Old Testament canon, indicating that no further divine inspiration in written form was expected until the advent of the Messiah ^[8]. This view implicitly excludes the Apocrypha, which Jews never received as part of holy writ ^[8].

However, the composition dates of some books within the Jewish canon extend into the post-exilic period. For instance, books like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles are generally dated to the Persian period (5th-4th centuries BCE). Second Chronicles, for example, refers to "the book of the kings of Israel and Judah" ^[3], indicating a reliance on earlier historical records. The book of Daniel, while placed among the Prophets in the Christian Old Testament, is categorized in the Ketuvim (Writings) in the Jewish Tanakh, and its composition is often dated to the Hellenistic period (2nd century BCE) by many scholars, though traditional views place it earlier.

The Eastern Orthodox tradition, as articulated by John of Damascus, also recognizes a specific set of canonical books, often grouped into "four Pentateuchs" and two others, including the Law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and the Hagiographa (Writings) such as Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Kings ^[6]. This reflects a similar structure to the Jewish canon, though the ordering and sometimes the inclusion of certain books may vary slightly across traditions.

The concept of "last words" or final compositions within the canon is also seen in texts like 2 Samuel, where the "last words of David" are presented ^[7]. Commentators like Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown suggest this phrase indicates a concluding section of David's poetical compositions or a final statement collected by the compiler of the sacred canon ^[7]. This highlights the editorial processes involved in the formation of the biblical corpus.

Sources

Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Canon Of Scripture, The — may be generally described as the "collection of books which form the original and authoritative written rule of the faith and practice of the Christian Church," i.e. the Old and New Testaments. The word canon, in classical Greek, is properly a straight rod, "a rule" in the widest sense, and especially in the phrases "the rule of the Church," "the rule of faith," "the rule of truth," The first direct application of the term canon to the Scriptures seems to be in the verses of Amphilochius (cir. 380 A.D.), where the word indicates the rule by ”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Canon — This word is derived from a Hebrew and Greek word denoting a reed or cane. Hence it means something straight, or something to keep straight; and hence also a rule, or something ruled or measured. It came to be applied to the Scriptures, to denote that they contained the authoritative rule of faith and practice, the standard of doctrine and duty. A book is said to be of canonical authority when it has a right to take a place with the other books which contain a revelation of the Divine will. Such a right does not arise from any ecclesiastical authority, but fr”
II Chronicles “II Chronicles 35:27 (YLT) — even his matters, the first and the last, lo, they are written on the book of the kings of Israel and Judah.”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Scripture — Invariably in the New Testament denotes that definite collection of sacred books, regarded as given by inspiration of God, which we usually call the Old Testament (2 Tim. 3:15, 16; John 20:9; Gal. 3:22; 2 Pet. 1:20). It was God's purpose thus to perpetuate his revealed will. From time to time he raised up men to commit to writing in an infallible record the revelation he gave. The "Scripture," or collection of sacred writings, was thus enlarged from time to time as God saw necessary. We have now a completed "Scripture," consisting of the Old and New Testa”
CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 40: Word of God. When we refer to the Bible as 153 of divine authority, we refer to it as a volume and recognize all the writings which it contains as given by the inspiration of the Spirit. In like manner when Christ or his Apostles quote the “Scriptures,” or the “law and the prophets,” and speak of the volume then so called, they give their sanction to the divine authority of all the books which that volume contained. All, therefore, that is necessary to determine for Christians the canon of the Old Testament, is to ascertain what books wer”
CCEL (Eastern Orthodox) “John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, section 93: collected together in four Pentateuchs and two others remain over, to form thus the canonical books. Five of them are of the Law, viz. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. This which is the code of the Law, constitutes the first Pentateuch. Then comes another Pentateuch, the so-called Grapheia 2529 2529 Writings . , or as they are called by some, the Hagiographa, which are the following: Jesus the Son of Nave 2530 2530 Joshua the Son of Nun . , Judges along with Ruth, first and second Kings, which are one boo”
2 Samuel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 2 Samuel 22 (introduction): DAVID PROFESSES HIS FAITH IN GOD'S PROMISES. (Sa2 23:1-7) Now these be the last words of David--Various opinions are entertained as to the precise meaning of this statement, which, it is obvious, proceeded from the compiler or collector of the sacred canon. Some think that, as there is no division of chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures, this introduction was intended to show that what follows is no part of the preceding song. Others regard this as the last of the king's poetical compositions; while still others consider it the last of his”
Malachi (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Malachi 4:4: This is doubtless intended for a solemn conclusion, not only of this prophecy, but of the canon of the Old Testament, and is a plain information that they were not to expect any more sayings nor writing by divine inspiration, any more of the dictates of the Spirit of prophecy, till the beginning of the gospel of the Messiah, which sets aside the Apocrypha as no part of holy writ, and which therefore the Jews never received. Now that prophecy ceases, and is about to be sealed up, there are two things required of the people of God, that lived then: - I. They must k”
Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 88b.10: And Rabbi Levi says: Come and see that the attribute of flesh and blood is unlike the attribute of the Holy One, Blessed be He. The Holy One, Blessed be He, blessed the Jewish people with twenty-two, and cursed them with only eight. Rabbi Levi explains: He blessed them with the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, from the first letter, alef , that begins the verse: “If [ im ] you walk in My statutes” (Leviticus 26:3), until “upright [ komemiyyut ]” (Leviticus 26:13), which ends with the letter tav , the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.”

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