06.06. How the Books Came Together
Chapter 5 How the Books Came Together In chapters 2 (page 4) and 3 (page 9) we traced the history of the Old and New Testaments to the period of Christ in the one case, and to the third century before Christ in the other, and the remark was made that while sometime had elapsed in both instances between the passing away of the last of the inspired writers and the appearance of the books in canonical arrangement, yet after all the distance was not so great, under the circumstances, as to place an insupportable strain on the imagination in supplying the missing link.
We are now to inquire how much of a strain this is, or whether it is a strain at all. We shall try to pierce the darkness and exercise ourselves to find the missing link. How did the books come together?
Confining ourselves to the Old Testament in this chapter and those immediately following, we shall consider first, what is known as the traditional view in which the Canon was formed, and then take up each division of the Old Testament in detail, giving attention to the more serious objections to this view, which come under the modern name of the “higher criticism.” The traditional view is somewhat as follows: The first five books of the Law were written by Moses and deposited in the Tabernacle by the side of the Ark of the Covenant in which lay the two tables of the Decalogue (see Deuteronomy 17:1-20; Deuteronomy 18:1-22; Deuteronomy 31:9-26). It was in this same book that Joshua wrote the Covenant of Shechem (Joshua 24:26), and that afterward Samuel added the manner of the kingdom (1 Samuel 10:25). This collection of writings, subsequently transferred from the Tabernacle to the Temple, was used in the consecration of Joash (2 Kings 11:12). Disused and practically lost for a while, it was discovered and brought forth again in the reign of Josiah, B.C. 621, the reading of which promoted a revival (2 Kings 22:8). The earlier prophets were subsequently added to this collection, as indicated by the circumstance that the later prophets were acquainted with them and quoted from them (Daniel 9:2; Zechariah 7:12).
Though the Temple was destroyed at the time of the captivity, B.C. 588, yet all the copies of the sacred books could not have been destroyed. Many such, doubtless, had been made for the kings (Deuteronomy 17:18), and also for the schools of the prophets (2 Kings 2:3-5). Moreover, from these books the prophets quoted during the captivity (Daniel 9:2; Daniel 9:11-13), and finally after that event, the worship of the Jews was restored in accordance with their teachings (Ezra 6:18; Nehemiah 8:1-18). In all probability the preparation of the Canon so called, was begun at about this time. Prior to the captivity it might be said that there was no need of a Canon or authorized declaration of the inspired books, because between the period of Moses and the captivity Israel had never been left without some living representative of God’s presence and some revealer of His will. For example, the priests and prophets were the custodians of the revelation that had already come, and the latter particularly were the channel through which the revelation continued to come. Then also the Levites stationed at the convenient centers throughout the land instructed the people continually out of the books of the Law and in the history of God’s dealings with them. With the return from exile, however, a new state of things came into existence, and with the passing of Haggai and Zechariah there was no longer one who could say, “Thus saith the Lord,” or whose interpretation of the Law would be received by all. The inspired books only remained, and by degrees, the returning exiles came to feel that none others need be expected and that on these only must their souls be nourished.
Ezra, it is thought, gave the earliest stimulus to religious inquiry of this kind, in which he was supported later by Nehemiah. See the books under their names, and consult also, the preface to the Apocryphal book, “Second Maccabees.” in which Nehemiah is said to have “Founded a library into which he gathered books about the kings and the prophets and the books of David,” alluding evidently to the second and third divisions of the Old Testament. The Law, or the first division, had doubtless already been canonized, as we may gather from the books of Ezra and Nehemiah already referred to.
After the period of Ezra and Nehemiah, tradition holds that the completion of the Canon was carried forward by a company of scribes known as the “Great Synagogue,” over which Ezra, himself, at first presided, and whose names are recorded probably in Nehemiah 10:1-39. Of course it is not necessary to explain to the reader that this traditional view of the history of the Canon of the Old Testament, especially the Pentateuch or the Law, is disputed by certain critics. Their number is not large as compared with the great body of the church, but they are influential and can be heard a great ways. Consideration will be given to them in succeeding chapters.