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Writers or Sources of Writers in the Bible

The Bible, a collection of sixty-six books, is understood by many traditions to have a single divine author, despite being penned by numerous human writers across diverse circumstances and social ranks [2, 3]. These human authors included statesmen, peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, and tentmakers [3]. The term "Bible" itself comes from the Greek "ta biblia," meaning "the books," and was adopted into English by Wycliffe [2, 3].

The concept of divine inspiration is central to understanding the role of these writers. Inspiration is described as an "extraordinary or supernatural divine influence" that rendered the writings infallible [1]. This means the writers were "supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended them to express as a revelation of his mind" [1]. The apostle Paul states, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16, KJV), or "Every scripture inspired of God" (2 Timothy 3:16, RV) [1]. John Gill notes that this applies to all holy Scripture, encompassing both Old and New Testaments, as they are "breathed by God" [12].

While divinely inspired, the human authors retained their individual styles and modes of thought [8]. Charles Hodge explains that God uses his instruments "according to their nature," meaning a cultured writer would write as such, and an uneducated one likewise [10]. A logical mind, like Paul's, would reason, while an emotional and contemplative one, like John's, would write accordingly [10]. This means the sacred writers impressed their own peculiarities on their works, even while under extraordinary divine influence [10]. Inspiration did not make them astronomers or agriculturists, nor did it prevent them from having common human limitations, such as Paul forgetting how many people he had baptized [9]. However, it ensured that what they taught was infallible [9, 14].

The question of authorship for specific biblical books has been a subject of tradition and scholarly discussion. The Babylonian Talmud attributes the authorship of the Torah, the portion of Balaam, and the book of Job to Moses [7]. It also states that Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses in the Torah describing Moses' death [7]. Samuel is credited with writing his own book, Judges, and Ruth [7]. David is said to have compiled the book of Psalms, including compositions by ten elders from previous generations, such as Adam, Melchizedek, and Abraham, alongside his own [7].

For the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew is widely attributed to the apostle Matthew, with "seventeen independent witnesses of the first four centuries attest[ing] its genuineness" [5]. Early Church testimony suggests Matthew originally wrote in Hebrew, though this point remains debated among scholars [5]. Augustine, in his Homilies on the Gospels, discusses the order of the evangelists, noting that Matthew is believed to have written first among the four whose names gained widespread circulation [15].

The Bible does not explicitly detail the origin of writing itself [4]. However, evidence suggests that Egyptians were acquainted with a form of writing by Joseph's time, though it is not clear if this knowledge extended to the Hebrew family [4]. Writing is first distinctly mentioned in Exodus 17:14, implying it was already a familiar practice used for historical records [4]. The presence of scribes, such as Elihoreph and Ahiah, and chroniclers like Jehoshaphat, in the court of King Solomon (1 Kings 4:3) further indicates the established practice of writing and record-keeping in ancient Israel [6].

The Christian church holds that all books of Scripture are equally inspired and infallible in what they teach, with inspiration extending to all their contents, not just moral or religious doctrines [14]. This view contrasts with theories of "partial inspiration," which suggest only certain parts or books are inspired [11]. The divine authority of the entire collection of books, as understood by Christ and the Apostles when they referred to "the Scriptures" or "the law and the prophets," affirms the canon of the Old Testament [13].

Sources

  1. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Inspiration — That extraordinary or supernatural divine influence vouchsafed to those who wrote the Holy Scriptures, rendering their writings infallible. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God" (R.V., "Every scripture inspired of God"), 2 Tim. 3:16. This is true of all the "sacred writings," not in the sense of their being works of genius or of supernatural insight, but as "theopneustic," i.e., "breathed into by God" in such a sense that the writers were supernaturally guided to express exactly what God intended them to express as a revelation of his mind and ”
  2. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Bible — The Bible is the name given to the revelation of God to man contained in sixty-six books or pamphlets, bound together and forming one book and only one, for it has in reality one author and one purpose and plan, and is the development of one scheme of the redemption of man. I. ITS [301]Names.-- (1) The Bible, i.e. The Book, from the Greek "ta biblia," the books. The word is derived from a root designating the inner bark of the linden tree, on which the ancients wrote their books. It is the book as being superior to all other books. But the application of the w”
  3. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Bible — Bible, the English form of the Greek name Biblia, meaning "books," the name which in the fifth century began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists of sixty-six different books, composed by many different writers, in three different languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; e”
  4. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Writing — There is no account in the Bible of the origin of writing. That the Egyptians in the time of Joseph were acquainted with writing of a certain kind there is evidence to prove, but there is nothing to show that up to this period the knowledge extended to the Hebrew family. At the same time there is no evidence against it. Writing is first distinctly mentioned in (Exodus 17:14) and the connection clearly implies that it was not then employed for the first time but was so familiar as to be used for historic records. It is not absolutely necessary to infer from t”
  5. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Matthew, Gospel Of — + Its authorship .--That this Gospel was written by the apostle Matthew there is no reason to doubt. Seventeen independent witnesses of the first four centuries attest its genuineness. + Its original language .--The testimony of the early Church is unanimous that Matthew wrote originally in the Hebrew language. On the otherhand doubt is thrown over this opinion, both statements of by an examination of the fathers and by a consideration of peculiar forms of language employed in the Gospel itself. The question is unsettled, the best scholars not agr”
  6. I Kings “I Kings 4:3 (Darby) — Elihoreph and Ahiah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, chronicler;”
  7. Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 14b.12: The baraita now considers the authors of the biblical books: And who wrote the books of the Bible? Moses wrote his own book, i.e., the Torah, and the portion of Balaam in the Torah, and the book of Job. Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses in the Torah, which describe the death of Moses. Samuel wrote his own book, the book of Judges, and the book of Ruth. David wrote the book of Psalms by means of ten elders of previous generations, assembling a collection that included compositions of others along with his own. He included psalms authored by Adam th”
  8. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 41: revealed religion, there are others which cannot be thus summarily disposed of. The most obvious of these is, that the sacred writers contradict each other, and that they teach error. It is, of course, useless to contend that the sacred writers were infallible, if in point of fact they err. Our views of inspiration must be determined by the phenomena of the Bible as well as from its didactic statements. If in fact the sacred writers retain each his own style and mode of thought, then we must renounce any theory which assumes that inspirat”
  9. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 41: of God. Their inspiration no more made them astronomers than it made them agriculturists. Isaiah was infallible in his predictions, although he shared with his countrymen the views then prevalent as to the mechanism of the universe. Paul could not err in anything he taught, although he could not recollect how many persons he had baptized in Corinth. The sacred writers also, doubtless, differed as to insight into the truths which they taught. The Apostle Peter intimates that the prophets searched diligently into the meaning of their own pr”
  10. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 41: as a man of culture; if uneducated, he spoke as such a man is wont to speak. If his mind was logical, he reasoned, as Paul did; if emotional and contemplative, he wrote as John wrote. All this is involved in the fact that God uses his instruments according to their nature. The sacred writers impressed their peculiarities on their several productions as plainly as though they were the subjects of no extraordinary influence. This is one of the phenomena of the Bible patent to the most cursory reader. It lies in the very nature of inspiratio”
  11. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 42: for our hopes of salvation. C. Partial Inspiration. Under this head are included several different doctrines. 1. Many hold that only some parts of Scripture are inspired, i.e., that the writers of some books were supernaturally guided by the Spirit, and the writers of others were not. This, as mentioned above, was the doctrine of Coleridge, who admitted the inspiration of the Law and the Prophets, but denied that of the rest of the Bible. Others admit the New Testament to be inspired to an extent to which the Old was not. Others again hol”
  12. 2 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 2 Timothy 3:15: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God,.... That is, all holy Scripture; for of that only the apostle is speaking; and he means the whole of it; not only the books of the Old Testament, but of the New, the greatest part of which was now written; for this second epistle to Timothy is by some thought to be the last of Paul's epistles; and this also will hold good of what was to be written; for all is inspired by God, or breathed by him: the Scriptures are the breath of God, the word of God and not men; they are "written by the Spirit", as the Syriac version ren”
  13. 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”
  14. CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 41: are sufficient to show, that according to the Scriptures, inspired men were the organs, or mouth of God, in the sense that what they said and taught has the sanction and authority of God. F. Inspiration extends equally to all Parts of Scripture. This is the fourth element of the Church doctrine on this subject. It means, first, that all the books of Scripture are equally inspired. All alike are infallible in what they teach. And secondly, that inspiration extends to all the contents of these several books. It is not confined to moral and ”
  15. Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 6: Augustine — Homilies on the Gospels — CHAP. II.--ON THE ORDER OF THE EVANGELISTS, AND THE PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THEY WROTE. (part 1): 3. Now, those four evangelists whose names have gained the most remarkable circulation(2) over the whole world, and whose number has been fixed as four,--it may be for the simple reason that there are four divisions of that world through the universal length of which they, by their number as by a kind of mystical sign, indicated the advancing extension of the Church of Christ,--are believed to have written in the order which follows: first Matthew, th”
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